This collection went from Richard L. York to Harlan Stelmach for Stelmach to research for his GTU dissertation,The Cult of Liberation. Stelmach writes in his Preface: "I realized the Free Church story needed to be told as one example of how religion and politics had been combined. I proposed this to York and he agreed to give me access to his personal archives. After six months spent in organizing the archives, my research began in earnest." (pg. vi.) The order of the collection comes, therefore, from Stelmach's organization of the files for his research. He also did many of the file folder headings. Throughout the files, there are red pencil underlinings and circles made by Stelmach in the course of his research. After completion of the dissertation, the collection then went to the Community for Religious Research and Education, Berkeley, California, a GTU student related group of which Stelmach was a part. This was the organization which published Radical Religion, a journal that "grew out of the ashes of the Berkeley Free Church." In the end notes for the dissertation, Stelmach sites all material from this collection as "CRRE Historical Archives" indicating that the depository of the material in the Community for Religious Research and Education. When the CRRE ceased to function, c. 1977, the collection was transferred to the DataCenter, a non-profit interest research library and information center, in Oakland, California. The DataCenter held the collection as received in its original containers until deeded to the GTU Archives in 1989. There is a great deal of duplication in this collection, the same material being found under more than one files series. Much duplicated material can be found under the Richard L. York Files and the Berkeley Free Church Files.

31 boxes; 24 Linear Feet 199 online items

Publication Rights Copyright has not been assigned to The Graduate Theological Union. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Graduate Theological Union as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Access Collection is open for research, except for 3 items and interviews captured on audio tapes by Harlan Stelmach for his dissertation. Access restricted until 2025.