Carlton R. Young Collection of 1935 Methodist Hymnal Commission records

A Guide to the Collection

Organizational Note

In 1928 the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church appointed a commission to revise the hymnal and psalter which had been in use since 1905. The commission included thirty-six members from the Methodist Episcopal Church: bishops William F. Anderson, Edwin Holt Hughes, Frederick D. Leete, H. Lester Smith, and Titus Lowe; ministers Henry Hitt Crane, Joseph M. M. Gray, Earl E. Harper, John W. Langdale, and Oscar Thomas Olson; and laymen Karl P. Harrington, James R. Houghton, Howard Wilder Lyman, Robert G. McCutchan, and Albert Riemenschneider.

In 1930, the commission united with groups from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the Methodist Protestant Church to form the Joint Commission on the Revision of the Hymnal and the Psalter.

The Methodist Episcopal Church, South appointed the following: bishops Warren A. Candler, John M. Moore, Urban V. W. Darlington, Sam R. Hay, and A. Frank Smith; ministers Nolan B. Harmon, Jr., Ivan Lee Holt, D. N. Hotchkiss, Fitzgerald S. Parker, and Wilbur Fisk Tillett; laymen Walter Kirkland Greene, J. Abner Sage, Guy E. Snavely, Henry N. Snyder, and Charles C. Washburn.

The Methodist Protestant Church appointed ministers John C. Broomfield (President), Hugh Latimer Elderdice, Harlan Luther Feeman, Charles Edward Forlines, J. W. Hawley, and Eugene C. Makosky.

Robert Guy McCutchan was elected editor of the Joint Commission, and John W. Langdale was elected editor of the Editorial Committee. Thousands of hymns were examined, some from previous editions and some that were new. The tunes of twenty-six hymns which had been questioned were replaced by new tunes or adaptations under McCutchan’s leadership. Care was taken to continue to associate words and music that had grown familiar by long continued use.

Attention was given to the selection and arrangement of the most helpful responsive readings which were published for trial use in 1932. Thus, there is a 1932 date in the hymnal copyright notice. The Joint Commission constantly held in mind the perpetuation of the Wesley tradition, the varied desires of the church, the different ages of church members, the continued value of evangelism, and the emphasis upon applying the Gospel to everyday life.

The revised hymnal contained 210 new hymns, 206 new tunes, and 163 hymns from other hymnals. Two hundred hymns were removed. Hymns by Charles Wesley were reduced from 121 to 54 and those of John Wesley from 50 to 17. However, Wesley hymns continued to be the foundation of the hymnal. In 1939, the hymnal became the authorized hymnal of The Methodist Church, formed that year from the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1780; The Methodist Protestant Church, 1828; and The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1844.

Carlton R. Young, the creator and donor of the collection, served as the editor of the 1966 Methodist Church and 1989 United Methodist Church hymnal revisions. Young directed graduate studies in church music at the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University from 1964 to 1975.

Sources:

"Carlton R. Young," Carlton R. Young Collection of 1935 Methodist Hymnal Commission records, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

"Joint Hymnal Collection" article, Carlton R. Young Collection of 1935 Methodist Hymnal Commission records, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

"Religion: Hymns for 8,000,000." Time.com. October, 14, 1935.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Carlton R. Young Collection of 1935 Methodist Hymnal Commission records chronicle the seven year process the commission went through revising the Methodist Hymnal. The materials, produced and collected by Robert G. McCutchan and John W. Langdale, indicate the difficult process of compiling a hymnal that would suit a geographically scattered and theologically diverse faith community. The collection contains five linear feet of correspondence, tunes, hymns, minutes, pamphlets, programs, and photographs produced between 1897 and 2010.

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Restrictions

Access to Collection:

The collection is open for research use. Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.

Publication Rights:

Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Director of the Bridwell Library.

Copyright Statement:

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain copyright authorization.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Carlton R. Young Collection of 1935 Methodist Hymnal Commission records, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Carlton R. Young, 1964.

Custodial History

The contents of the collection were produced by Robert Guy McCutchan, hymnal editor, and John W. Langdale, Book Editor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, during their service on the 1935 Methodist Hymnal Commission. The records were from four related but separately maintained and organized repositories which Carlton R. Young obtained and combined to create this collection. Dr. Young deposited the records at Bridwell Library in 1964 and officially donated them in 2010.

Processing Information

This collection was arranged and described in 2010 by Allison Osborn.

Encoded by

Lara Corazalla, 2011.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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