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Davida Foy Crabtree papers, 1952-2016.

 Collection
Identifier: MS5324

Scope and Contents

This collection is comprised of personal writing; professional writing; academic work; sermons; correspondence; calendars; articles and newsletters pertaining to career, related groups, and current events; feminist advocacy, activism, and continuing education; committees within the United Church of Christ; records generated while working for the Prudence Crandall Center for Women, the UCC Connecticut and Southern California Conferences, and Colchester Federated Church in Connecticut.

Dates

  • 1952-2016

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is unrestricted.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is open to the public.

Biographical / Historical

Davida Foy was born in 1944 to Davida and Alfred Foy. She attended Litchfield High School and was active as a teenager with the newly-formed United Church of Christ's statewide youth Pilgrim Fellowship. She served as editor for their publication, Yankee Reporter. After graduating, she attended Marietta College in Ohio from 1963-1967, followed by Andover Newton Theological School from 1968-1972. She married Robert Crabtree in 1968 while still in seminary. Both trained for the Peace Corps in Libya but didn't go before completing their work at Andover Newton. As a student in the late 1960s and early 1970s, she was deeply involved in the social change movements prevalent to this era. Much of the material she retained for this collection includes articles about social and political events and her involvement in them. Crabtree's focus as a young adult centered on spirituality, religion, and feminism. She blended this work as the director of the Prudence Crandall Center for Women (PCCW) in New Britain, Connecticut. While working as campus minister at Central Connecticut State University, Crabtree saw a pressing need for a women's center and so founded PCCW to provide a haven for those living through domestic violence. During this time she also served on the United Church of Christ's Executive Council where she also championed women's issues. In 1980 she was called to serve the Colchester Federated Church in Connecticut, where she served for 11 years. She married David T. Hindinger in 1982, becoming stepmother to his two children, Elizabeth and Todd. While serving Colchester, she attended Hartford Seminary for her Doctor of Ministry degree. Following her tenure at Colchester, she took on the role of conference minister for the UCC's Southern California Conference until she returned to serve as Connecticut's conference minister in 1996. Crabtree retired from the post in 2010. Following that, she has served as senior consultant to the officers of the national UCC (2011-13); interim senior advancement officer for Andover Newton (2011); acting conference minister for Missouri Midsouth Conference (2013); interim conference minister for Florida Conference (2013-2014); and interim vice president for institutional advancement at Andover Newton (2016-2017).

Extent

5 Cubic Feet (4 record cartons, 1 document case, 10 bound volumes)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

The original order of the collection was strictly chronological. During processing, some divisions were made to indicate topic or subject, however the order remains in approximate chronological order. When years were combined from separate folders, the order from each sub-folder was maintained as much as possible.

Other Finding Aids

For an annotated index to the collection written by Davida Foy Crabtree, see box 1 folder 1.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was a gift from Davida Foy Crabtree in 2017.

Accruals

While no accruals are planned, they are expected.

Published work included in this collection

This is material that Davida Foy Crabtree included with this collection. There are two of her books included, but the rest are written by others.

  1. Carroll, Jackson W. As One With Authority, Reflective Leadership in Ministry. Westminster, 1991.
  2. Crabtree, Davida Foy. The Empowering Church. Alban Institute, 1989.
  3. Crabtree, Davida Foy. The Empowering Church, A Guide For Group Exploration. Alban Institute, 1990.
  4. Crabtree, Davida Foy. Empowering the Ministry of the Laity in Workplace, Home and Community: a programmatic and systematic approach in the local church. Hartford Seminary, 1989.
  5. Doely, Sarah Bentley, ed. Women's Liberation and the Church. The New Demand for Freedom in the Life of the Christian Church. Association Press, 1970.
  6. Life Styles Inventory LSI 1. Self Development Guide. Human Synergies, 1989.
  7. Prism a theological forum for the United Church of Christ Volume 12, Number 2, Fall 1997.
  8. Rhodes, Lynn N. Co-Creating a Feminist Vision of Ministry. Westminster Press, 1987.
  9. Rust, Henry, ed. As I See It. Educational Ministries, 1991.
  10. Tirabassi, Maren C. and Maria I. Tirabassi, eds. God In My Life, Faith Stories and How and Why We Share Them. Pilgrim Press, 2008.

Processing Information

Processed by Jessica Steytler, May 2017, using DACS 2nd Edition.

Title
Davida Foy Crabtree papers, 1952-2016.
Status
Completed
Author
Jessica Steytler
Date
May 2017
Description rules
Dacs2 2013
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Congregational Library & Archives Repository

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