ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA

WILLIAM M. BLACKBURN PAPERS

COLLECTION: OGL #116

DATES: 1855-1904

SIZE: .75 linear feet and one microfiche

INTRODUCTION

ACQUISITION: The William M. Blackburn Papers were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection. The acquisition records are unavailable. An addition was deposited by by Ken Smith, Crookston, Minnesota, on July 14, 1997 (Acc.#97-2132).

ACCESS: Available for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

On April 9, 1884, William Maxwell Blackburn accepted the presidency of the University of North Dakota. Blackburn graduated from Princeton Seminary in 1854 and came to UND as its first president after thirty years of pastoral and ecclesiastical academic positions; his last two at the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, Chicago, and Central Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. Blackburn had established a solid reputation for his scholarly work and in addition served UND as a professor of Mental, Moral, and Political Science.

President Blackburn faced numerous challenges in organizing and administrating the new university; particularly in establishing the academic curriculum. Blackburn favored a more practical curriculum open to all, including mechanics and agriculture, while his colleagues, Professors Webster Merrifield and Henry Montgomery, favored a classical liberal arts curriculum. UND Regents supported Merrifield and Montgomery and Blackburn was dismissed. After his one year presidency at UND, Blackburn became president of Pierre University in South Dakota.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The William M. Blackburn Papers date from 1855-1910, and consist primarily of his handwritten sermons. Most of the sermons were delivered on multiple occasions, and are arranged chronologically by the date the sermon was first delivered. Also included are several folders of miscellaneous untitled manuscripts, and two folders of correspondence.

Also included is a copy of Blackburn’s sermon “The Crime Against the Presidency” reproduced on microfiche. The sermon was delivered on Sunday, April 16, 1865, at the Fourth Presbyterian Church, in Trenton, New Jersey. This was the first Sunday following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The microfiche was placed in the microfiche box in the Family History Room.

BOX AND FOLDER INVENTORY

Box 1
Folder

1. “Jesus Coming to Troubled Souls”: April 1, 1855
2. “Authenticity of the Scriptures”: October 26, 1856
3. “Endure Hardness”: June 30, 1858
4. “The Noble Bereans”: July 25, 1858
5. “A Good Conscience”: July 10, 1859
6. “Son Remember”: October 26, 1862
7. “Conflict with the Indwelling Sin”: August 15, 1863
   “Going Home Justified”: August 23, 1863
   “Our Beloved Brother Paul”: January 1864
8. “Sins of the Times: The Crime of Profanity”: July 1864
   “Sins of the Times: The Love of Money”: July 1864
9. “Responsibility for the Use of Liberty”: March 11, 1865
10. “The Perpetual Fire of Sacrifice and Consecration”: September 17, 1865
    “The Fugitive and the Refugee”: September 24, 1865
    “Activity and Assurance”: November 1865
    “Thinking and Fuming”: November 1865
11. “Analysis of 1st John”: March - May 1867
12. “John Calvin”: February 14, 1869
13. “Mohammed and the Conquest of Islam”: December 17, 1874
14. “The Levity of All Excuses”: May 1882
15. “Individual Influence”: April 1, 1883
16. “Reasons for Converting the Sinner”: March 16, 1884 (Digitized as part of the Chester Fritz Library Digital Collections)
17. “Opportunity Lost”: 1886
18. “More Abundant Life”: August 1886
19. “Reducing the Time to Redeem”: December 25, 1886
    “The Closing Year”: undated
20. “The Christians’ Indebtedness to the Heathen World”: November 1887
21. “Temperance”: 1889
22. “The Crisis in a Seaman's Life”: 1889
23. “Eclipse of Soul”: March 10, 1895
24. “New Year - 1898": January 2, 1898
25. “Things that Accompany Salvation”: March 20, 1898
26. “Prodigal Welcome”: undated
27. “Wasting and Rioting”: undated
28. “The Conviction of Sin”: undated
29. Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
30. Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
31. Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
32. Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
33. Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
34. Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
35. Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
36. Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
37. Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
38. Personal correspondence: 1863-1877, undated
39. Correspondence and miscellaneous items concerning the University of North Dakota: 1884-1904

SEPARATIONS RECORD

One microfiche was placed in the microfiche box in Family History Room. This consists of Blackburn's sermon "The Crime Against the Presidency" reproduced on microfiche. The sermon was delivered on Sunday, April 16, 1865, at the Fourth Presbyterian church, in Trenton, New Jersey. This was the first Sunday following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Return to: UND Presidents