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Collection Number: 04184

Collection Title: George Reid Andrews Papers, 1922-1941.

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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Size 2.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1800 items)
Abstract George Reid Andrews (1886-1941) of Montgomery County, N.C., was a Methodist and Congregational minister and member of the Committee on Education and Religious Drama of the Federal Council of Churches, the Church and Drama Association, and the Church and Drama League of America. The collection contains correspondence, business papers, essays, addresses, clippings, printed materials, photographs, and other materials of Andrews, executive director of the Church and Drama Association (later Church and Drama League of America), a Protestant organization addressing moral and ethical standards in film and stage productions. The bulk of the letters, 1922-1930, are between Andrews and individuals associated with the film industry or theater world, and largely deal with the moral qualities of American motion pictures, including the methods of influence used by the film industry's self-appointed moral watchdog, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, also referred to as the "Hays Office." Other material relates to Andrews's attempts to have his manuscript "Jesus of Nazareth" adapted for film; his role as the production consultant to Cecil B. DeMille in the production of the film "King of Kings," 1926-1927; and church attempts to influence the New York stage in the 1920s. Correspondents include Will H. Hayes, the office of Cecil B. DeMille, S. Parkes Cadman, and Harry Emerson Fosdick.
Creator Andrews, George Reid, 1886-1941.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Restrictions to Use
No usage restrictions.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the George Reid Andrews Papers, #4184, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Gift and purchase from James Whitmore Andrews of Mt. Gilead, N.C., 1979.
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton, and Jodi Berkowitz, February 2011; Dawne Howard Lucas, May 2021

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

George Reid Andrews (1886-1941) of Montgomery County, N.C., was a Methodist and Congregational minister; chairman of the Committee on Education and Religious Drama of the Federal Council of Churches, 1925-1930; executive director of the Church and Drama Association, 1926-1929; executive director of the Church and Drama League of America, 1929-1930; and a consultant in the production of Cecil B. DeMille's film King of Kings, 1926-1927. In 1930-1931 Andrews was a principal figure in the controversy over public relations methods used by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (known as the "Hays Office").

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection contains correspondence, business papers, essays, addresses, clippings, printed materials, photographs, and other materials of George Reid Andrews, executive director of the Church and Drama Association (later Church and Drama League of America), a Protestant organization addressing moral and ethical standards in film and stage productions. The bulk of the letters, 1922-1930, are between Andrews and church representatives and individuals in the film industry and the theater world, and largely deal with the moral qualities of American motion pictures, including the methods of influence used by the film industry's self-appointed moral watchdog, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, also referred to as the "Hays Office." Other material relates to Andrews's attempts to have his manuscript "Jesus of Nazareth" adapted for film; his role as the production of consultant to Cecil B. DeMille in the production of the film "King of Kings," 1926-1927; and church attempts to influence the New York stage in the 1920s. Correspondents include Will H. Hayes, the office of Cecil B. DeMille, S. Parkes Cadman, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Carl E. Milliken, Charles S. Macfarland, and Otto H. Kahn.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1922-1938 and undated.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence in this series was primarily carried on by Andrews in his capacity as executive director of the Church and Drama Association (later Church and Drama League of America) and chairman of the Committee on Educational and Religious Drama of the Federal Council of Churches. In these positions Andrews was at the forefront of early Protestant efforts to come to terms with the film as an instrument for good and ill, and of church attempts in the 1920s to have an impact on the theater in New York. Topics include his attempts to have his manuscript "Jesus of Nazareth" adapted for film; Andrews's involvement with Cecil B. DeMille's film King of Kings; his involvement with the Church and Drama Association, the Federal Council of Churches, and the Church and Drama League of America; Andrews's relationship with Will H. Hays and the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, referred to as the "Hays Office;" and other topics related to religion and the motion picture industry. Correspondents include Will H. Hayes, the office of Cecil B. DeMille, S. Parkes Cadman, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Carl E. Milliken, Charles S. Macfarland, and Otto H. Kahn.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

1922-1923

Letters chiefly concern Andrews's attempts to have his manuscript "Jesus of Nazareth" made into a film. D. W. Griffith and Adolph Zukor are among the producers with whom the project is discussed. There is frequent correspondence with Will H. Hays.

Folder 2-3

Folder 2

Folder 3

1924

Letters chiefly concern Andrews's attempts to have his manuscript "Jesus of Nazareth" made into a film. D. W. Griffith and Adolph Zukor are among the producers with whom the project is discussed. There is frequent correspondence with Will H. Hays.

Folder 4-5

Folder 4

Folder 5

1925

Letters concern Andrews's continued attempts to gain support for production of his manuscript "Jesus of Nazareth"; also present are discusssions of morality in the theater and motion picture industry. Correspondents include Will H. Hays, the office of Julius Rosenwald, Felix M. Warburg, and William B. Millar.

Folder 6-9

Folder 6

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

1926

The bulk of the correspondence relates to Andrews's involvement in Cecil B. DeMille's film King of Kings; the Federal Council of Churches, and the Church and Drama Association. Correspondents include Cecil B. DeMille, Will H. Hays, Carl E. Milliken, Charles S. Macfarland, Charles P. Fagnani, Harry M. Warner, and Samuel McCrea Cavert.

Folder 10-14

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

1927

Topics chiefly concern Cecil B. DeMille's film King of Kings; the Church and Drama Association; the "Hays Office;" and Andrews's interest in involvement in future DeMille films.

Folder 15-21

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

Folder 18

Folder 19

Folder 20

Folder 21

1928

Topics include reactions to Cecil B. DeMille's film King of Kings; the relationship between the Church and Drama Association and the "Hays Office;" and the Church and Drama Association's decision not to endorse the play Mr. Moneypenny. Correspondents include Carl E. Milliken, Harry Emerson Fosdick, S. Parkes Cadman, Charles S. Macfarland, Otto H. Kahn, and Beatrice Mansfield.

Folder 22-42

Folder 22

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

Folder 37

Folder 38

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

1929

Correspondence concerns the Church and Drama League of America; the Commission on Motion Pictures of the Federal Council of Churches; the "Hays Office;" endorsements of New York plays by the Church and Drama Association and Church and Drama League of America; the National Committee for the Study of Social Values in Motion Pictures; and the Little Theater movement. Correspondents include S. Parkes Cadman, William C. Redfield, Charles S. Macfarland, Otto H. Kahn, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Carl E. Milliken, Charles K. Gilbert, Guy E. Shipler, Howard M. LeSourd, Eddie Dowling, Maud and Otis Skinner, Grant Mitchell, Charles Stelzle, and Thomas P. Appleget and Arthur W. Packard of the office of John D. Rockefeller Junior.

Folder 43-48

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

Folder 48

1930

Correspondence concerns financial difficulties and other problems of the Church and Drama League of America. Correspondents include Otto H. Kahn, S. Parkes Cadman, Sue Ann Wilson, Charles S. Macfarland, Guy E. Shipler, Samuel McCrea Cavert, Arthur W. Packard, and Harry Emerson Fosdick.

Folder 49

1931

Correspondence concerns the report of the Federal Council of Churches, The Public Relations of the Motion Picture Industry. Correspondents include E. R. Burton, F. Ernest Johnson, Samuel McCrea Cavert, and Henry Smith Leiper.

Folder 50

1933, 1938-1938

Topics include Andrews and the "Hays Office" regarding funding of summer camping facilities. Correspondents include Arthur E. Morgan.

Folder 51

Undated

Letters include statements of support for the Church and Drama League of America and business notes. Correspondents include Grant Mitchell and Minnie Maddern Fiske.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Writings, 1931 and undated.

Writings include "Jesus of Nazareth," which Andrews intended to have adapted to film; a manuscript by Andrews regarding his experiences with the film industry and the Motion Picture Producers and Distributers of America, also referred to as the "Hays Office;" essays and addresses by Andrews, chiefly regarding the film King of Kings, the church, the motion picture industry, and eugenics; and essays and addresses by others, including Will H. Hays, Harry Emerson Fosdick, and Frank Gillmore, with topics covering King of Kings, morality and motion pictures, and George Reid Andrews.

Folder 52

Manuscript: "Jesus of Nazareth" by George Reid Andrews, undated

Folder 53-56

Folder 53

Folder 54

Folder 55

Folder 56

Manuscript: 1931

Manuscript by George Reid Andrews regarding his experiences with the film industry and the Motion Picture Producers and Distributers of America, also referred to as the "Hays Office."

Folder 57-58

Folder 57

Folder 58

Essays and addresses by George Reid Andrews, undated

Folder 59

Essays and addresses by others

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Business Papers, circa 1923-1930 and undated.

Business papers includes the Certificate of Incorporation of the Motion Picture Foundation, 22 March 1923; memoranda and reports of the Church and Drama Association; report, memoranda, and minutes of meetings relating to the establishment of the Commission on Motion Pictures of the Federal Council of Churches; and reports and minutes of meetings of the Church and Drama League.

Folder 60

The Motion Picture Foundation

Folder 61

The Church and Drama Association

Folder 62

Federal Council of Churches

Folder 63

Church and Drama League

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Clippings, Printed Material, and Separated Items, 1925-1941 and undated.

Arrangement: chronological.

Clippings chiefly regard meetings, speeches, and articles relating to the Church and Drama Association and the Church and Drama League of America. Printed material includes programs of dinner meetings, notices of addresses by Andrews and others, and other material related to the Church and Drama Association and the Church and Drama League of America. Separated items include photographs from the film King of Kings along with advertising copy, and an audiocassette of Andrews interviewing his brother Frank L. Anderws about farm life circa 1900 and Lilly and Andrews family histories.

Folder 64

Clippings: 1925

Folder 65

Clippings: 1926

Folder 66-67

Folder 66

Folder 67

Clippings: 1927

Folder 68

Clippings: 1928

Folder 69

Clippings: 1929

Folder 70-71

Folder 70

Folder 71

Clippings: 1930

Folder 72

Clippings: 1931-1934; 1941

Folder 73

Clippings: Undated

Folder 74

Printed material

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-4184/1b

Photographs from the film King of Kings

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-4184/1a

Advertising copy for the film King of Kings

Image Folder PF-4184/1-14

PF-4184/1

PF-4184/2

PF-4184/3

PF-4184/4

PF-4184/5

PF-4184/6

PF-4184/7

PF-4184/8

PF-4184/9

PF-4184/10

PF-4184/11

PF-4184/12

PF-4184/13

PF-4184/14

Photographs

Approximately 205 8 X 10 black-and-white photographs from the film King of Kings, along with photographs of Andrews with director Cecil B. DeMille.

Audiocassette C-4184/1

Audiocassette: Interview with Frank L. Andrews, undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

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