Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. 6 lin. ft. (2 1/2 archival boxes, 5 record cartons)

Summary

1. The Nathan Wright papers reflect his numerous interests and endeavors in the fields of religion, black power, education and race relations. The Personal Papers series includes Wright's lengthy CV's, printed information about him, a dissertation written about Wright's ideas about black education (1973), and papers regarding his ordination in 1950. Files pertaining to his education include papers he wrote as a college student, most concerning religious issues, as well as his 1964 Ph.D. dissertation entitled "The Life and Educational Thought of Bernard Iddings Bell" (1886-1958). Also contained in this series are genealogical files, his obituaries, papers regarding his funeral service, and biographical information written by Wright's children.
2. The Religious and Professional Activities series contains many of Wright's sermons, information regarding his stewardships, and his ministry which he called the "Greater Things Ministries." There are also files regarding the "Assault-on-Illiteracy-Program" (1981-1982) of which Wright served as national chairman. This program strove to rectify the devastating effects of a "functional illiteracy" rate of 44% among black youth nationwide. Included in this series are statements Wright prepared for a 1969 Senate investigation, particularly concerning economic and other changes that affected black people.
3. The series Speeches, Addresses and Papers covers drafts and final versions of papers which Wright presented, some of which express his views on black power and race relations. The Writings series is divided into published and unpublished works. Wright's drafts for published articles, many concerning black power, are in this series. Included are semi-monthly summaries, legislative alerts, articles regarding black empowerment, his column "Peace and Power" and papers which were published in such journals as "Laity Exchange Magazine," "Media Review and Viewpoint." Also included are his newspaper columns "Black Empowerment," and "Toward Empowerment."
4. A significant part of the collection is the Writings - Unpublished subseries. There are numerous drafts of Wright's autobiography, "Patrician Poor - Reflections on a Black Upbringing," what appears to be a complete version of his manuscript "God's History and Other Verse" as well as "Semitic Wisdom: Judaic Insights for Human Liberation," and "Let Zion Sing! Poetic Reflections on the Psalms." There is also a manuscript for "Urban Issues Facing the Churches," and "We've All Been Tricked (A Study of Black Power and Family Planning)," and folders labeled "Black Poetry" and "Words of Life."

Subject

1. Newark (N.J.) > Social conditions
2. African American families
3. Illiterate persons
4. Black author
5. African American clergy
6. Wright, Nathan
7. Racism > United States
8. Clergy > New Jersey > Newark
9. African Americans > Social conditions
10. African Americans > Civil rights
11. African American scholars
12. Poems
13. African American educators
14. African American civil rights workers
15. Birth control > United States
16. Bell, Bernard Iddings, 1886-1958
17. Sermons
18. African American intellectuals
19. Speeches
20. African Americans > Religion
21. African American Christian educators
22. African Americans > Education
23. Black power > United States
24. African Americans > New Jersey > Newark
25. African American political activists
26. Literacy
27. United States > Race relations

Genre/Form

1. Sermons.
2. Speeches.
3. Poems.

Call number

1. Sc MG 754

Note

1. Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.
2. Audiotapes, videotapes, films and a CD ROM transferred to Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.

Source (note)

1. Wright Family

Biography (note)

1. The Rev. Dr. Nathan Wright, Jr., an Episcopal minister and scholar, was an early and prominent advocate of black power. Born in 1923 in Louisiana and raised in Cincinnati, he earned five college degrees, including a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati, a master's degree from the Episcopal Theological School, and a doctorate of education from Harvard University. Having been ordained a deacon and priest in 1950, he served the Episcopal Church in a variety of roles in Boston, Newark and Harlem, among other locations. He was also the director of "Greater Things" Ministries.
2. An early civil rights advocate, Wright participated in one of the first Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) freedom rides in 1947. Wright's most influential role in black politics, however, came in 1967 as chairman of the National Conference on Black Power in Newark. This conference symbolized a major shift in black politics.
3. Wright authored eighteen books, many dealing with race in America, among them "Black Power and Urban Unrest; Creative Possibilities," "Let's Face Racism," "Let's Work Together, Race, Circumstance and Higher Education," "Ready to Riot," and "Urban Issues Facing the Churches." He also wrote poetry, and published a book of sermons and a volume on Christian philosophy. Several of his book-length manuscripts remain unpublished. As a theologian, he wrote scores of articles published in theological and popular journals. In addition, Wright was a columnist for the Star-Ledger, a newspaper in Newark; his articles were syndicated in one hundred newspapers around the country.
4. An urbanist and educator, Wright served as professor of urban affairs at the State University of New York at Albany from 1969 to 1981, and was the founding chairman of its Department of African and Afro-American Studies. He became the communications director at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, New Jersey in 1981. Wright maintained a busy schedule of lecturing at colleges, universities and other venues throughout the nation. The recipient of a number of honorary degrees and awards, Wright died in 2005 at the age of 81.

Author

1. Wright, Nathan.

Title

1. Nathan Wright papers, 1936-2005 (bulk ca. 1950-1990)

Biography

1. The Rev. Dr. Nathan Wright, Jr., an Episcopal minister and scholar, was an early and prominent advocate of black power. Born in 1923 in Louisiana and raised in Cincinnati, he earned five college degrees, including a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati, a master's degree from the Episcopal Theological School, and a doctorate of education from Harvard University. Having been ordained a deacon and priest in 1950, he served the Episcopal Church in a variety of roles in Boston, Newark and Harlem, among other locations. He was also the director of "Greater Things" Ministries.
2. An early civil rights advocate, Wright participated in one of the first Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) freedom rides in 1947. Wright's most influential role in black politics, however, came in 1967 as chairman of the National Conference on Black Power in Newark. This conference symbolized a major shift in black politics.
3. Wright authored eighteen books, many dealing with race in America, among them "Black Power and Urban Unrest; Creative Possibilities," "Let's Face Racism," "Let's Work Together, Race, Circumstance and Higher Education," "Ready to Riot," and "Urban Issues Facing the Churches." He also wrote poetry, and published a book of sermons and a volume on Christian philosophy. Several of his book-length manuscripts remain unpublished. As a theologian, he wrote scores of articles published in theological and popular journals. In addition, Wright was a columnist for the Star-Ledger, a newspaper in Newark; his articles were syndicated in one hundred newspapers around the country.
4. An urbanist and educator, Wright served as professor of urban affairs at the State University of New York at Albany from 1969 to 1981, and was the founding chairman of its Department of African and Afro-American Studies. He became the communications director at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, New Jersey in 1981. Wright maintained a busy schedule of lecturing at colleges, universities and other venues throughout the nation. The recipient of a number of honorary degrees and awards, Wright died in 2005 at the age of 81.

Connect to:

1. Finding Aid

Local subject

1. Black author.

Research call number

1. Sc MG 754