The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to Joseph M. Kitagawa Papers 1958-1990
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| Title: | Kitagawa, Joseph M. |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1958-1990 |
| Size: | 3.75 linear feet (8 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Joseph M. Kitagawa (b. March 8, 1915, d. October 7, 1992) was a prominent Japanese-American scholar of religion, professor, priest, and author of numerous books and articles. Kitagawa taught at the University of Chicago Divinity School for over thirty years and served the same institution as Dean from 1970-1980. He obtained academic degrees in Japan and in the U.S. Upon his arrival in the U.S., which coincided with the Second World War, he was taken to internment camps for three and a half years in New Mexico and Idaho. The collection documents his academic production and administrative activities, especially in the later stages of his career, and includes manuscript and offprint copies of his articles, chapters, book reviews, and books, the documents related to conferences he led or participated in, and other administrative materials. |
The collection is open for research, except Series V, Restricted, which contains budgetary, financial, and personnel information. Records in Series V are restricted for fifty years from date of record creation.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Kitagawa, Joseph M. Papers, [Box #, Folder Title], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
Joseph Mitsuo Kitagawa was born in Osaka, Japan on March 8, 1915, son of Chiyokichi Kitagawa, an ordained clergyman, and Kumi (Nozaki) Kitagawa. In 1937, he obtained a BA degree from Rikkyo University in Japan. In 1941, he left Japan for the United States with the intention to pursue further studies on the West Coast. He first enrolled in the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. After a while, he was transferred from his residence in Berkeley, CA to the Department of Justice Detention Camp in Santa Fe, NM as an “enemy alien” and later to the Army Internment Camp in Hunt, Idaho, where Japanese immigrants and their American-born children were imprisoned. During this time, he was ordained as an Episcopal Priest. As told by his colleague Martin E. Marty, Kitagawa assisted young Japanese-Americans in the concentration camp to contact colleges to which they could apply after their release. Later, he would also remark that, after the war, he worked for the smooth resettlement of Japanese Americans in Chicago until 1951, supported by the Episcopal Church, opening up housing and securing jobs for the Isseis (immigrants from Japan) and Niseis (American-born children of Japanese immigrants) regardless of their religious background.
After his release from the camp, in 1946, he married Evelyn Mae, sociologist and later professor of sociology at the University of Chicago. In 1947, Kitagawa received a BD degree from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL (federated with Bexley Hall in 2013 and merged into Chicago Theological Seminary in 2016). Afterwards, he enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of Chicago Divinity School to specialize in the history of religions under the supervision of Joachim Wach (d. 1955). His doctoral dissertation was completed in 1951 and focused on Kobo-Daishi and Shingon Buddhism. Upon the recommendation of his advisor Wach, Kitagawa began teaching in the Divinity School. He was also affiliated with the Committee of Far Eastern Civilizations. In 1955, he became a U.S. citizen.
During his tenure at the University of Chicago, Kitagawa taught various courses, published articles, and contributed to books and encyclopedias. Most notably, Kitagawa, together with Mircea Eliade and Charles H. Long, established the journal History of Religions in 1960 and served as its co-editor for years. In 1970, he was appointed as the Dean of the Divinity School, a post he held until 1980. During his deanship, Kitagawa spearheaded the establishment of the Shailer Mathews Professorship and the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professorship. After leaving the deanship, he continued to teach, give lectures, organize and attend conferences, and publish academic work. Due to health conditions, he retired from the faculty in 1985. Even after retirement, he continued to be productive, edited his teacher Joachim Wach’s Introduction to the History of Religions and Essays in the History of Religions (1988) and published numerous articles and books. On October 7, 1992 he died of pneumonia due to complications from a stroke he suffered in January 1992.
His books include Religion in Japanese History (1965), On Understanding Japanese Religion (1987), The History of Religions: Understanding Human Experience (1987), Spiritual Liberation and Human Freedom in Contemporary Asia (1990, based on the 1977 Rockwell Lectures), and The Quest for Human Unity (1990, based on the 1985 Hale Lectures), Christian Tradition: Beyond Its European Captivity (1992). He edited or coedited four volumes consisting of articles or conference proceedings. Notable among them is The History of Religions: Retrospect and Prospect (1985), based on the 1983 History of Religions Conference that was organized by Kitagawa and well-documented in this collection. He also contributed to the Conference on Ethical Issues and Moral Principles in United States Refugee Policy in 1983 and edited the conference proceedings as American Refugee Policy: Ethical and Religious Reflections (1984). In 1980, a festschrift honoring Joseph M. Kitagawa was published under the title Transitions and Transformations in the History of Religions.
Kitagawa was one of the founding members of the American Society for the Study of Religion, and served as its President from 1969-1972; he was Vice-President of the International Association for the History of Religions, 1975-1985, and served on other academic councils. He received honorary degrees from Virginia Theological Seminary, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Meadville Theological Seminary, and Rikkyo University.
The collection is organized into five series. Contents of the series and subseries are organized in chronological order.
Series I, Correspondence, consists of Kitagawa’s personal correspondence and signatures.
Series II, Writings, consists of offprint articles, numerous manuscripts, and documents about the publication processes. It thus represents Kitagawa’s scholarly production, mostly in the later stages of his career. Series II is divided into three subseries: the articles, book chapters, and book reviews he authored are in Subseries I. The speeches, conference presentations, and oral versions of some of his writings are located in Subseries II. Subseries III contains the book drafts and manuscripts Kitagawa either authored or edited, as well as documents related to publication processes of the edited books. Most of the folders with his writings contain one typescript draft copy with handwritten corrections and one corrected copy of the relevant piece.
Series III, Professional, contains documents of Kitagawa’s administrative and faculty activities, including material related to the organization of lectures and conferences, book catalogues sent to him by publishers, award and grant documents, and various reports and statements.
Series IV, Photographs, consists of one conference photograph and a personal photograph of Kitagawa.
Series X, Restricted, contains documents about personnel appointments, financial and budgetary matters. Materials are restricted from fifty years from date of record creation.
Series I: Correspondence |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Correspondence, 1984 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Correspondence, 1986 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Signatures, undated |
Series II: Writings |
Subseries I: Articles and Chapters |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Offprint articles, 1957-1971 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Review of “The Book of the Goddess” - Typescript draft, 1983 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | “Paradigm Change in Japanese Buddhism” - Typescript and corrected drafts, circa 1984 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | “Reflections on the Work Ethic in the Religions of East Asia” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1985 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | “Eliade, Mircea” - Typescript draft, 1985 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Review of “The Chinese Rites Controversy” - Typescript draft, 1985 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Foreword to the Encyclopedia of Religion - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1986 |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | “The History of Religions and the Divinity School” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1986 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | “Mircea Eliade” - Typescript and corrected drafts, circa 1986 |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | “Some Remarks on Buddhism” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1987 |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | “Religious Community” - Typescript draft, circa 1987 |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | “Joachim Wach” - Typescript draft, circa 1987 |
| Box 1 Folder 16 | Introduction to “The Shinto World of the 1880s” - Typescript and corrected drafts, circa 1988 |
| Box 1 Folder 17 | “Some Remarks on Shinto” - Typescript and corrected drafts, circa 1988 |
| Box 1 Folder 18 | Review of “The Bible and the University” - Typescript draft, circa 1988 |
| Box 1 Folder 19 | Review of “Young Man Shinran” - Typescript draft, circa 1988 |
| Box 1 Folder 20 | Review of “A Japanese New Religion” - Typescript draft, circa 1988 |
| Box 1 Folder 21 | “Buddhist Medical History” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1989 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | “Buddhism,” “Buddhist Medical History” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1989 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | “Kawaguchi Ekai, a Pious Adventurer, and Tibet” - Typescript, corrected, and computer edited drafts, circa 1990 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | “The History of Religions and Worship” - Typescript and corrected drafts, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | “Archaic and Early Japanese Religion” - Typescript and corrected drafts, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | “Kukai” - Typescript draft, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | “Religion of the Immigrants” - Typescript draft with corrections, undated |
Subseries II: Speeches |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | “On the Relation of Christianity to Other Religions” - Typescript, circa 1972-1980 |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | “The Many Faces of Maitreya” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1983 |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Statement, American Academy or Religion, 1983 |
| Box 2 Folder 10 | “Religious Visions of the End of the World” - Typescript, corrected, and computer edited drafts, 1983 |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | “Religious Visions of the End of the World” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1983 |
| Box 2 Folder 12 | Haskell Lecture - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1983 |
| Box 2 Folder 13 | “Religious Studies and the History of Religions” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1983 |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | “Japan’s Search for Self-Identity” - Typescript, 1983 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | “The Internationalization of Education” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1983 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | “Zelda Hauser,” - Typescript, circa 1983 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Conference discussion - Typescript, circa 1983-1984 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | “Some Remarks on the History of Religions Program” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1984 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | “Buddhist Philosophy in Japan” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1984 |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | “The Japanese Work Ethic Today” - Typescript and corrected drafts, circa 1984 |
| Box 3 Folder 8 | Oral version of “Paradigm Change in Japanese Buddhism” - Typescript and corrected drafts, circa 1984 |
| Box 3 Folder 9 | “Honji Suijaku,” International Association for the History of Religions Congress - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1985 |
| Box 3 Folder 10 | Rikkyo conference proceeding - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1985 |
| Box 3 Folder 11 | “The International History of Post-War Japan” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1985 |
| Box 3 Folder 12 | Introduction to the Hale Lecture - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1985 |
| Box 3 Folder 13 | Lecture I, Hale Lectures - Typescript draft with corrections, 1985 |
| Box 3 Folder 14 | “Some Reflections on Chinese Religion” - Typescript and corrected drafts, 1985 |
| Box 3 Folder 15 | “Buddhism” - Typescript draft, circa 1985 |
| Box 3 Folder 16 | “The University Divinity School” - Typescript and corrected drafts, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 17 | Eliade Piece for DC - Typescript and corrected drafts, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 18 | “Prolegomena to Ethics of World Religions” - Typescript and corrected drafts, undated |
Subseries III: Books |
| Box 3 Folder 19 | The American Refugee Policy - Author and publisher correspondence, 1977-1985 |
| Box 3 Folder 20 | The American Refugee Policy - Extra documents, 1981-1983 |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | The American Refugee Policy - Typewritten chapters, 1982-1984 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | The American Refugee Policy - Conference proceedings, 1983 |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | The American Refugee Policy - Manuscript, 1983-1984 [1/2] |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | The American Refugee Policy - Manuscript, 1983-1984 [2/2] |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | The American Refugee Policy - Manuscript, circa 1984 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | The History of Religions: Retrospect and Prospect - Manuscript 1983 |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Introduction to “The History of Religions” - Typescript, circa 1985 |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | The History of Religions - Manuscript and excerpts, 1986 |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | The Dimensions of Japanese Religion - Manuscript, circa 1987 [1/2] |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | The Dimensions of Japanese Religion - Manuscript, circa 1987 [2/2] |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Revolution and Tradition in Asia - Manuscript, circa 1990 |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Untitled book manuscript, Rockwell Lectures, circa 1990 |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | “Introduction to the Japanese Edition” - Typescript and corrected drafts, undated |
Series III: Professional |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | Offprint articles, 1958 |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Catalogues from “China Books and Periodicals,” 1964 |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Catalogue and letter from Beacon Press, 1965 |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | Shailer Mathews Professorship Inaugural Lecture by Nathan A. Scott, Jr., 1972 |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | Disciples Divinity House, 1972-1982 |
| Box 6 Folder 6 | The Reinhold Niebuhr Award Ceremony program and posters, 1974 |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | The Reinhold Niebuhr Award - Illinois Humanities Council, 1974-1976 |
| Box 6 Folder 8 | Award and grant documents, 1974-1983 |
| Box 6 Folder 9 | Shailer Mathews Professorship Inaugural Lecture by Langdon Gilkey, 1978 |
| Box 6 Folder 10 | Fairfax M. Cone Professorship Inaugural Lecture by Martin E. Marty, 1978 |
| Box 6 Folder 11 | Association of Theological Schools, 1980 |
| Box 6 Folder 12 | Ethical Issues and Moral Principles Conference transcripts, 1983 |
| Box 6 Folder 13 | History of Religions Conference - Documents, 1982-1983 |
| Box 6 Folder 14 | History of Religions Conference - Documents, 1983 |
| Box 6 Folder 15 | History of Religions Conference - General file, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | History of Religions Conference - Proceedings, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | History of Religions Conference - Registered participants correspondence, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | History of Religions Conference - Correspondence regarding publication, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | History of Religions Conference - Presenters correspondence, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | History of Religions Conference - Discussant and presenter correspondence, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | History of Religions Conference - Discussions, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | History of Religions Conference - Charles Long, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 8 | History of Religions Conference - Public lecture announcement, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 9 | History of Religions Conference - Michel Meslin, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 10 | History of Religions Conference - Paul Ricoeur’s lecture, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 11 | History of Religions Conference - Ninian Smart’s proceeding, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 12 | History of Religions Conference - Ugo Bianchi’s proceeding and postscript, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 13 | “Remarks on the Mircea Eliade Chair,” 1985 |
| Box 7 Folder 14 | International Association for the History of Religions Congress report, 1985 |
| Box 7 Folder 15 | Syllabus for “Medieval Colloquium,” by Bernard McGinn, 1986 |
| Box 7 Folder 16 | Numata Visiting Professorship, 1986 |
| Box 7 Folder 17 | Jay Kim Collection, undated |
| Box 7 Folder 18 | Contributor lists, undated |
| Box 7 Folder 19 | List of Chinese religion entries, undated |
Series IV: Photographs |
| Box 7 Folder 20 | Conference photograph, featuring President George H.W. Bush, 1983 |
| Box 7 Folder 21 | Multiple copies of J. Kitagawa’s photographic portrait, undated |
Series V: Restricted |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Shailer Mathews Professorship, 1972 |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | Fairfax M. Cone Professorship, 1976 |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | Shailer Mathews Professorship, 1978 |
| Box 8 Folder 4 | Personnel information, 1978 |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | Committee on Honorary Degrees, 1983 |
| Box 8 Folder 6 | Disciples Divinity House 1/3, 1970-1975 |
| Box 8 Folder 7 | Disciples Divinity House 2/3, 1974-1977 |
| Box 8 Folder 8 | Disciples Divinity House 3/3, 1977-1980 |