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Frederick Sontag Papers http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c89p37ww No online items Frederick Sontag Papers Jamie Weber and Sean Stanley Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library 800 North Dartmouth Avenue Claremont, CA 91711 Phone: (909) 607-3977 Email: [email protected] URL: https://library.claremont.edu/scl/ © 2021 The Claremont Colleges Library. All rights reserved. Frederick Sontag Papers PC.0005 1 Descriptive Summary Title: Frederick Sontag Papers Dates: 1944-2008 Collection number: PC.0005 Creator: Sontag, Frederick H., 1924-2009 Extent: 13.6 Linear Feet(12 record cartons, 4 document boxes) Repository: Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711. Abstract: This collection contains the papers of Frederick Sontag, Pomona College professor of philosophy, author, and minister in the United Church of Christ. Over his five-decade career at Pomona College, Sontag served as Philosophy Department Chair and as a visiting professor for a number of theological institutions. He authored numerous publications and articles, his most well-known being "Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church" (1977). The collection includes correspondence, articles, book reviews, teaching materials, sermons, lectures, and research materials. Please consult repository. Language of Material: Languages represented in collection: English. Administrative Information Access Collection open for research. Publication Rights All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to the Archives. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Frederick Sontag Papers (PC-0005). Pomona College Archives, Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California. Provenance/Source of Acquisition Gift of the Sontag Family, 2011. Accruals Additions to the collection are not anticipated. Processing Information Processed and arranged by Jamie Weber. Biography / Administrative History Frederick Sontag was an author and long-time professor of philosophy at Pomona College, where he taught from 1952 to 2009. Sontag was born on October 2, 1924 in Long Beach, California. His father was a Jewish immigrant who escaped the pogroms in Russia and settled in California in the early 1900s, where he became a follower of the Baptist faith. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Sontag attended Stanford University where he developed an interest in philosophy. He graduated from Stanford in 1949 and went on to earn a master's degree and a doctorate from Yale University in 1951 and 1952, respectively. In 1952, Frederick Sontag joined the Pomona College faculty as an assistant professor in philosophy. During his tenure at Pomona College, Sontag served as chair of the Philosophy Department twice, from 1960 to 1967 and 1976 to 1977, and chair of the Committee on Honors Study, from 1961 to 1970. Sontag also served as a visiting professor for a number of institutions, including Union Theological Seminary, the Pontifical University of San Anselmo in Rome, University of Copenhagen, University of Kyoto, and the East-West Center in Honolulu. In addition to teaching, Sontag was a prolific author and wrote on a wide range of topics including existentialism, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, trends in American religious culture, and on notable figures like Danish philosopher-theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, and the Reverend Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church. Frederick Sontag was also an ordained minister in United Church of Christ. While he never held a pastorate, Sontag served as a mentor and counselor to many students. In 1997, Pomona College renamed its renovated outdoor theater the "Sontag Greek Theatre" in Frederick Sontag's honor. Sontag also received the Pomona College Trustees' Medal of Merit upon his retirement in May 2009. Sadly, Frederick Sontag passed away shortly after retirement on June 14, 2009. Both Sontag Residence Hall and the Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity (The Hive) continue to honor the late professor's legacy; both named for Sontag posthumously in his honor. Scope and Contents of the Collection Frederick Sontag Papers PC.0005 2 The collection includes correspondence, articles and book reviews written by Sontag, teaching and course materials, transcribed sermons and lectures, research materials, and collected reviews for his book "Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church." Notable items include a large selection of Sontag's articles and book reviews written over a five-decade period, 1952 to 2002, as well as his personal research notes for select articles and publications. The collection also contains Sontag's teaching materials related to his philosophy courses at Pomona College and materials related to Greek life on campus. Organization and Arrangement The collection is organized into the following five series: Series 1: Correspondence, 1952-2007 and undated Series 2: Articles and Book Reviews, 1952-2002 and undated Series 3: Pomona College, 1944-2008 and undated Series 4: Sermons and Lectures, 1970-2001 and undated Series 5: Manuscripts and Research, 1977-1996 and undated The collection is arranged at the file level. Items in Series 1 are arranged alphabetically. Items in the remaining series are arranged chronologically. Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library’s online public access catalog. Subject Terms Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.) Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.) -- Faculty Greek letter societies Philosophy Sontag, Frederick H., 1924-2009 United Church of Christ, Congregational, of Southern California Genre and Form of Materials Articles Book reviews Correspondence Lectures Manuscripts Research notes and studies Sermons Series 1: Correspondence 1952-2007 and undated Box 1, Folder 1 Correspondence and Recommendations A 1952-1977 Box 1, Folder 2 Correspondence and Recommendations A 1977-1989 Box 1, Folder 3 Correspondence and Recommendations A 1988-1994 Box 1, Folder 4 Correspondence A 1994-1997 Box 1, Folder 5 Correspondence A 1997-2004 Box 1, Folder 6 Recommendations B 1956-1973 Box 1, Folder 7 Correspondence B 1959-1966 Box 1, Folder 8 Correspondence B 1967-1973 Box 1, Folder 9 Correspondence B 1974-1978 Box 1, Folder 10 Correspondence B 1979-1983 Box 1, Folder 11 Correspondence B 1979-1982 Box 1, Folder 12 Recommendations B 1982-1997 Box 1, Folder 13 Correspondence B 1984-1988 Box 1, Folder 14 Correspondence B 1989-1994 Box 1, Folder 15 Correspondence B 1991-1996 Box 1, Folder 16 Correspondence B 1997-1999 Frederick Sontag Papers PC.0005 3 Series 1: Correspondence 1952-2007 and undated Box 1, Folder 17 Correspondence B 1999-2006 Box 1, Folder 18 Correspondence C 1962-1966 Box 1, Folder 19 Correspondence C 1966-1973 Box 1, Folder 20 Correspondence C 1972-1977 Box 1, Folder 21 Correspondence C 1974-1983 Box 1, Folder 22 Correspondence C 1984-1988 Box 1, Folder 23 Correspondence C 1989-1991 Box 1, Folder 24 Correspondence C 1991-1995 Box 1, Folder 25 Correspondence C 1995-1997 Box 1, Folder 26 Correspondence C 1997-1999 Box 1, Folder 27 Correspondence C 1999-2002 Box 1, Folder 28 Correspondence D 1959-1978 Box 1, Folder 29 Recommendations D 1976-1997 Box 1, Folder 30 Correspondence D 1979-1991 Box 1, Folder 31 Correspondence D 1991-1994 Box 1, Folder 32 Correspondence D 1994-1995 Box 1, Folder 33 Correspondence D 1995-1997 Box 1, Folder 34 Correspondence D 1997-2003 Box 1, Folder 35 Correspondence D 2003-2005 Box 1, Folder 36 Correspondence E 1961-1973 Box 1, Folder 37 Correspondence E 1974-1983 Box 1, Folder 38 Correspondence E 1982-2000 Box 1, Folder 39 Correspondence E 2002-2005 Box 1, Folder 40 Correspondence F 1960-1973 Box 1, Folder 41 Correspondence F 1974-1994 Box 1, Folder 42 Correspondence F 1987-1994 Box 1, Folder 43 Correspondence F 1995-2000 Box 1, Folder 44 Correspondence G 1972-1987 Box 1, Folder 45 Correspondence G 1990-1999 Box 1, Folder 46 Correspondence G 1999-2004 Box 2, Folder 1 Correspondence H 1959-1973 Box 2, Folder 2 Correspondence H 1974-1979 Box 2, Folder 3 Correspondence H 1980-1990 Box 2, Folder 4 Correspondence H 1991-2002 Box 2, Folder 5 Correspondence and Recommendations H 2003-2005 Box 2, Folder 6 Correspondence I 1959-1979 Box 2, Folder 7 Correspondence J 1955-1994 Box 2, Folder 8 Correspondence K 1960-1973 Box 2, Folder 9 Correspondence K 1974-1984 Box 2, Folder 10 Correspondence K 1985-1997 Box 2, Folder 11 Correspondence K 1997-2001 Box 2, Folder 12 Correspondence K 2001, 2003, 2005-2006 Box 2, Folder 13 Correspondence L 1958-1977 Box 2, Folder 14 Correspondence L 1978-1988 Box 2, Folder 15 Correspondence L 1989-1990, 1993-1995, 1997, 2000 Box 2, Folder 16 Correspondence Mc 1991-1992, 1994-1995, 1998, 2000 Box 2, Folder 17 Correspondence M 1960-1969 Box 2, Folder 18 Correspondence M 1970-1973 Box 2, Folder 19 Correspondence M 1974-1978 Box 2, Folder 20 Correspondence M 1980-1982 Box 2, Folder 21 Correspondence M 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988 Box 2, Folder 22 Correspondence M 1985-1986, 1989-1994 Box 2, Folder 23 Correspondence M 1995-1999 Box 2, Folder 24 Correspondence M 2000-2003 Box 2, Folder 25 Correspondence N 1957, 1959, 1961-1962, 1967, 1972, 1975-1978, 1981-1982 Box 2, Folder 26 Correspondence N 1984-1994, 1998-2000, 2005-2007 Box 3, Folder 1 Correspondence O 1965-1966, 1972-1973, 1976, 1978, 1984, 1991 Box 3, Folder 2 Correspondence O 1990-1993 Frederick Sontag Papers PC.0005 4 Series 1: Correspondence 1952-2007 and undated Box 3, Folder 3 Correspondence O 1998, 2000, 2003 Box 3, Folder
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