The John A. Mackay Manuscript Collection

The collection has been arranged into the following series:

Series I: Writings by John A. Mackay 56 boxes

Arranged alphabetically,including published and unpublished writings and lecture notes. Contains primarily published works by Mackay, including copies of seven of his books and numerous pamphlets and magazine articles. Also included are both manuscripts and typescripts of longer works intended either for publication or presentation, as well as several bibliographies of works by Mackay.

Series II: Personal and Biographical 18 boxes

Contains a variety of materials relating to Mackay’s life, including: datebooks, notebooks, travel itineraries, newspaper clippings and magazine articles about him, programs and bulletins of events he attended or at which he spoke, lecture notes and transcripts, receipts and financial materials, records of correspondence both written and received, a list of books that influenced his life, biographical sketches, and listings in directories. Included at the end of the subseries are transcripts of a series of six interviews with Mackay conducted by Gerald W. Gillette between 1973 and 1976, as well as materials prepared by Mackay for an unfinished autobiography, The Hand and the Road.

Series III: Latin American Years 20 boxes

Contains a variety of materials from or relating to this formative period of Mackay’s life, including diaries, notebooks, address books, schedules and travel itineraries, letters and records of correspondence, newspaper and magazine clippings, lectures, and other materials relating to various Latin American organizations with which Mackay was associated.

Series IV: Princeton Theological Presidency 27 boxes

Contains material pertaining to Mackay's leadership at the Seminary.

Series V: Moderator of the General Assembly of the PCUSA 4 boxes

Series VI: Correspondence 152 boxes

Includes letters written and received by Mackay arranged alphabetically by correspondent, and later includes several series of correspondence relating to particular topics, including Mackay’s retirement, his 80th birthday, and his decision to donate his papers to the Princeton Theological Seminary Library.

Series VII: Organizations and topics 66 boxes

Includes folders on specific groups Mackay was involved with, including The Presbyterian Church U.S.A., The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, Princeton Theological Seminary, the International Missionary Council, the World Council of Churches, and Theology Today, as well as certain issues with which he was concerned, including the Vietnam War opposition movement and McCarthyism.

Series VIII: Works by others 8 boxes

Contains publications collected by Mackay by various authors on a variety of topics.

Series IX: Photographs, mixed media, ephemera 15 boxes

Contains a number of photographs from throughout Mackay’s life, as well as a variety of other materials, including: diplomas, plaques, awards, Dictabelt records, cassette tapes, a scrapbook, a banner, and a suitcase.

Series X: Addendum from John Metzger 1 box

Correspondence regarding Metzger's biography of John Mackay and Federal Bureau of Investigation file on John Mackay.

Series XI: Accrual

The accrual comprises the eleventh series of the and is divided into seven subseries:

Boxes 1-3: Writings by John A. Mackay

Boxes 4-10: Personal and biographical

Boxes 13-17: Correspondence

Boxes 18-19: Organizations and topics

Boxes 20-23: Photographs, mixed media, and ephemera

Boxes 24-25: Works by others

Within each subseries, materials are generally arranged chronologically by earliest folder date, except for Correspondence and Works by others, which are arranged alphabetically. In certain instances, exceptions are made to these rules, including: the inclusion of full-length books and bibliographical lists at the beginning of Writings by John A. Mackay and the shift to the end of Personal and biographical more comprehensive accounts, including interviews and Mackay’s notes for his unpublished autobiography. When two related folders exist, they are kept together and filed according to the date of the first folder. In cases of chronological arrangement, undated materials follow dated ones and are arranged alphabetically by title.

Given the formative significance of Mackay’s time in Latin America, the “Latin American Years (1916-1936)” subseries occasionally includes materials that, from another time in his life, might otherwise have been grouped into another subseries. For instance, certain correspondence dating from this period is included in Latin American Years, rather than Correspondence. Moreover, the date range provided for the Latin American years represents the time period when Mackay was living in Latin America, rather than dates of works represented in the subseries. A number of works date from after 1936, but were included for their thematic continuity with this period of Mackay’s life.

Within Correspondence, individual folders were assigned when five or more letters were exchanged with a single correspondent, or when one or more additional letters were exchanged with a correspondent who, in the original collection, had been assigned their own folder according to the same five-letter criteria.

Materials in Photographs, mixed media, and ephemera subseries do not always follow strict chronological order due to the need to group certain items according to size.

Whenever possible, materials were kept in their original order. However, some re-foldering was necessary in instances where materials were received loose or with no apparent order. Names were provided for very few of the original folders, but were retained whenever accurate and appropriate.