David Maitland Papers, 1951-1986 | Carleton College Archives

Maitland was College Chaplain and Prof. of Religion from 1956 to 1986.  This collection includes some of his papers relating to the committees on which he served, the chapel building in which he worked, religious services which he conducted, symposiums and visiting lectures which he arranged, and routine administrative affairs in which he was involved.  Much of the material here gives insight into Miatland's thoughts about higher education and the role of religion in it.  Over 1/3 of the papers consists of the secondary sources used by Maitland in his research for courses, committees, and sermons.  The collection is organized into 6 series:  Faculty Committee on Religious Affairs (FCRA), 1955-72; Student Futures Task Force (SFTF), 1970-75; Religious Services, 1969-86; Chapel Building, 1970-82; Miscellaneous, 1951-84; Secondary Sources.

The FCRA, of which Maitland was chair, was charged with analyzing the status of religion at Carleton, making recommendations about the proper role of religion, and, more specifically, studying the chapel attendence requirement.  The material in this collection largely duplicates that found in the FCRA record group, except for Maitland's personal notes.

Maitland also headed the SFTF, 1970-75.  The task force studied the issues of a job placement service at Carleton, the role of a liberal arts education in preparing students for careers, and other issues relating to the employment of Carleton students.  Especially noteworthy in this series is the task force's report which recognized the need to counsel students to better prepare them for life after Carleton--one response to this suggestion was the Office of Career Planning and Placement.  Also of interest are the position papers of the task force members, outlining basic concerns.

Maitland's notes and memos make up much of the series relating to relgious services.  The "faculty and student conversations" were a series of discussions in the chapel, led by a group of professors, which dealty generally with the topic of education.  Included here are Maitland's memos to these professors and some transcriptions of the "conversations."  In the early 1980s, Maitland began the chapel "experiment," in which morning chapel services were abandoned in favor of evening vespers and various forums held in the mornings.  Programs, memos, and evaluations of this experiment will be found in this series.  Also in this series is correspondence, memos, and secondary material relating both to Black Church services and the Holocaust Memorials.

The Skinner Memorial Chapel banners were the brainchild of the chaplain.  The series on the chapel includes descriptions of the banners and memos relating to the making of the banners as well as some drawings of them.  Maitland's concerns over the phyisical state of the building, together with plans to develop a more flexible seating plan in the chapel, are also included in this series.

The Miscellaneous series contains some material relating to Maitland's development of a theological internship program in 1978.  Maitland was largely responsible for administering the Dana/Gingrich Lectures in theology (a program established in 1951), and the series contains some of his correspondence with potential lecturers and routine adminstrative matters surrounding the program.  Maitland's correspondence with Carleton administrative officers deals mainly with such routine matters as chapel maintenance, funding for trips to conferences, and refreshments for chapel services.  Student papers, material relating to student protest, and information about the funeral service for Dacie Moses are also found in the Miscellaneous series.

A considerable number of secondary sources are filed as part of their relevant series or subseries, according to Maitland's original arrangement.  Those secondary sources dealing with vocational issues which Maitland duplicated and circulated (as class assignments or committe readings) can be searched by key-word.  An alphabetical list is available as well.  Those secondary sources which were neither used as handouts nor filed with specific series or subseries are arranged alphabetically, but there is as yet no list or index available.  By and large, the secondary sources deal with some combination of the issues of higher education, morality, religion, campus unrest, and career planning.