New Search > Return to Search Results> Guide to the The Reverend Doctor Marion O. Ballard Papers

Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Content

Arrangement

Preferred Citation

Restrictions on Access

Restrictions on Use

Subject Terms

Container List [ + ]

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Guide to the The Reverend Doctor Marion O. Ballard Papers

Prepared by Myong Shin Jeon, Student Assistant and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist

United Methodist Archives and History Center
General Commission on Archives and History, Madison, New Jersey
(Published for the African American Methodist Heritage Center)

4/28/2008


Overview of Records

Record Creator: Ballard, Marion O.
Title: The Reverend Doctor Marion O. Ballard Papers
Dates: 1903- 2007 Click here to view the finding aid format suitable for requesting material at the Archives
Abstract: Papers from Reverend Marion O. Ballard, pastor in the Eastern Pennslyvania and Delaware conferences.
Extent: 2.33 cubic feet
Resource ID: aamc.ms.4907



Biographical Note

Marion O. Ballard (1903- 2007), African-American Minister, was born on June 22, 1903 on Deals, Island, Maryland. Ballard was one of eleven children sired by James and Harriett Cottman Ballard. At the age of twenty, Ballard moved to Philadelphia where he met and later married Clara Adams in 1928. Gammon Theological Seminary awarded him a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1931. This was the same year he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Ballard continued his formal education by completing a Bachelor of Theology degree from Central University in 1935. In recognition of his work to the ministry, both Albright and Grambling Colleges in 1971 awarded him Doctor of Divinity degrees.

Ballard's work in the church was legion. He served a total of forty-four years in active ministries within the Delaware and Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference which ranged from pastoring local churches, district superintendent, delegate to the 1956 Jurisdictional Conference and a reserve delegate to the 1960 General Conference. A calendar of pastoral service is as follows: Fairlee, Maryland (1931-1934), Millington, Maryland (1934-1938), Nassau, Delaware (1938- 1941), St. Paul's in North Berlin, Delaware (1941-1945), Mother Zoar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1945-1953), District Superintendent for the Dover, Delaware district (1953-1959), Camphor Memorial in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1959-1965), Tindley Temple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1965-1976) where he officially retired and attended the Simpson Fletcher church in Philadelphia. In 1980, at the age of seventy-seven, served as pastor to the Spring Garden church in Philadelphia for one year. He also served as interim pastor at Union Memorial, Darby Pennsylvania, Siloam UMC, Chester, Pennsylvania as well as Mt. Zion and Sayers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ballard spent his final years at the Simpson House in Philadelphia until his death on October 17, 2007 at the age of one hundred and four. His funeral was held at the Tindley Temple United Methodist Church on October 24, 2007 and was interned at Valley Forge Memorial Gardens in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Ballard was survived by his son, Reverend Frank Tyson and a daughter, Hattie Hamilton.


Scope Note

The collection mainly consists of sermons that Ballard preached between 1928 and 1992. Many of the sermons were delivered in the churches Ballard was serving at that time. The sermon topics are diverse and range from spiritual matters on faith to social problems such as prejudice. There are three folders that contain miscellaneous sermons with no clear topics from 1931 to 1996 and one folder on biographical information which covers the years from 1903 to 2007. The photographic scrapbook documents two elements of Ballard's life, namely church work and family life. There are images of Ballard's Tindley Park ministry and meetings held by the Delaware Annual Conference from the 1940s to the 1960s. Youth work makes up a sizable number of these images. Family life images include representation of the Ballard family starting in 1926 and ending at 1976 with photographs of grandchildren and extended family members. There are a few images of friends and events as well.


Arrangement

Materials have been arranged in the following manner.

The collection did not lend itself to a standard series arrangement due to lack of volume. Folders are listed by both type and title.


Preferred Citation

When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Marion O. Ballard Papers, African American Heritage Center, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.


Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding this collection.


Restrictions on Use

Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.

Subject Terms

Subject Names - Corporate
United Methodist Church (U.S.). Delaware Conference
United Methodist Church (U.S.). Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
Methodist Church (U.S.). Delaware Conference
Subject Topics
Baptism
Faith
Family
Peace
Race
Religion.
Subject Geographic
Delaware
Maryland
Pennsylvania
Genre
Photograph albums
Sermons
Occupations
District Superintendent
Minister


Container List

Call Number Folder Title Date(s)
2411-2-1: 1 Advent 1966-1974
2411-2-1: 2 Achievement 1943-1971
2411-2-1: 3 Adversities 1948-1975
2411-2-1: 4 Age 1943-1950
2411-2-1: 5 Baptism 1961
2411-2-1: 6 Bible 1952-1963
2411-2-1: 7 Blessings 1936-1966
2411-2-1: 8 Brotherhood 1942-1977
2411-2-1: 9 Call/Calling 1943-1973
2411-2-1: 10 Christianity/Christian Life: Folder 1 1942-1977
2411-2-1: 11 Christianity/Christian Life: Folder 2 1932-1977
2411-2-1: 12 Christianity 1928-1975
2411-2-1: 13 Christmas/Messiah 1941-1985
2411-2-1: 14 Church: Folder 1 1943-1979
2411-2-1: 15 Church: Folder 2 1936-1972
2411-2-1: 16 Commitment 1974
2411-2-1: 17 Communion/Lord's Supper 1944-1983
2411-2-2: 1 Conversion 1944-1977
2411-2-2: 2 Cross, The 1935-1980
2411-2-2: 3 Death 1941-1977
2411-2-2: 4 Decisions 1969
2411-2-2: 5 Destiny 1947-1969
2411-2-2: 6 Disappointment, Discouragement, Despair 1934-1973
2411-2-2: 7 Discipleship 1961-1976
2411-2-2: 8 Duty 1936-1953
2411-2-2: 9 Easter 1943-1976
2411-2-2: 10 Education/Christian Education 1946-1965
2411-2-2: 11 Eternal Life 1948-1969
2411-2-2: 12 Evangelism 1949-1967
2411-2-2: 13 Evil/Evil Dispositions Need Revenge 1943-1972
2411-2-2: 14 Failures 1939
2411-2-2: 15 Faith 1 1926-1976
2411-2-2: 16 Faith 2 1941-1978
2411-2-2: 18 Faithfulness 1961
2411-2-2: 19 Family: Father-Mother's Day 1946-1970
2411-2-2: 20 Forgetting 1937-1942
2411-2-2: 21 Forgiveness 1936-1966
2411-2-2: 22 Freedom-Liberty 1936-1971
2411-2-3: 1 God 1 1928-1973
2411-2-3: 2 God 2 1961-1981
2411-2-3: 3 God 3 1942-1986
2411-2-3: 4 God: Power of God 1 1943-1974
2411-2-3: 5 God: Power of God 2 1928-1971
2411-2-3: 6 Good Friday 1985
2411-2-3: 7 Goodness 1951
2411-2-3: 8 Gospel 1963-1966
2411-2-3: 9 Grace 1941-1978
2411-2-3: 10 Heaven 1936-1973
2411-2-3: 11 Hell 1948-1951
2411-2-3: 12 Holiness 1942-1962
2411-2-3: 13 Holy Spirit: Spiritual Refreshment 1941-1981
2411-2-3: 14 Hope 1979
2411-2-3: 15 Jesus/Christ 1 1936-1976
2411-2-4: 1 Jesus/Christ 2 1935-1978
2411-2-4: 2 Jesus/Christ 2 1944-1975
2411-2-4: 3 Jesus/Christ 2 1928-1981
2411-2-4: 4 Judgements 1941-1979
2411-2-4: 5 Kingdom of God 1942-1973
2411-2-4: 6 Labor 1944-1946
2411-2-4: 7 Life 1937-1987
2411-2-4: 8 Love 1944-1981
2411-2-4: 9 Man 1944-1979
2411-2-4: 10 Mercy 1972-1988
2411-2-4: 11 Ministry/Gospel 1955-1976
2411-2-4: 12 Miracles 1946-1965
2411-2-4: 13 Miscellaneous 1941-1978
2411-2-4: 14 Missions 1947-1964
2411-2-4: 15 Mother's Day 1941-1983
2411-2-4: 16 Nation 1942-1980
2411-2-4: 17 Palm Sunday 1942-1988
2411-2-5: 1 Peace 1950-1972
2411-2-5: 2 Power 1941-1949
2411-2-5: 3 Prayer 1941-1981
2411-2-5: 4 Prejudice 1971
2411-2-5: 5 Redemption 1942-1964
2411-2-5: 6 Revelation 1955-1988
2411-2-5: 7 Religion 1927-1975
2411-2-5: 8 Repentance 1945-1975
2411-2-5: 9 Responsibility (Human) 1942-1975
2411-2-5: 10 Resurrection 1948-1977
2411-2-5: 11 Rewards 1943-1955
2411-2-5: 12 Righteousness 1948-1978
2411-2-5: 13 Salvation 1 1942-1969
2411-2-5: 14 Salvation 2 1943-1982
2411-2-5: 15 Salvation 3 1968-1989
2411-2-5: 16 Security 1941-1972
2411-2-5: 17 Service 1942-1973
2411-2-5: 18 Sin/Sinner 1 1933-1966
2411-2-5: 19 Sin/Sinner 2 1941-1981
2411-2-5: 20 Sin/Sinner 3 1953-1981
2411-2-5: 21 Social Problems 1951-1963
2411-2-5: 22 Spiritual 1941-1970
2411-2-6: 1 Stewardship 1934-1976
2411-2-6: 2 Struggle 1948-1970
2411-2-6: 3 Success 1941-1967
2411-2-6: 5 Suffering 2 1941-1967
2411-2-6: 6 Suffering 3 1957-1987
2411-2-6: 7 Suffering 4 1960-1984
2411-2-6: 8 Sunday Observance 1968-1969
2411-2-6: 9 Temperance 1951
2411-2-6: 10 Temptations 1946-1976
2411-2-6: 11 Thanksgiving 1944-1975
2411-2-6: 12 Trouble 1936-1986
2411-2-6: 13 Truth 1951-1952
2411-2-6: 14 Unity 1961
2411-2-6: 15 Values 1961
2411-2-6: 16 Victory 1941-1970
2411-2-6: 17 Witness 1941-1974
2411-2-6: 18 Wrath 1963
2411-2-6: 20 Miscellaneous Sermons 2 1967-1989
2411-2-6: 21 Miscellaneous Sermons 3 1976-1981
2411-2-7: 1 Photographic Scrapbook: Church work and Family Life 1926-1976