Henry Avery Atkinson

Background

Henry Atkinson was born on August 26, 1877 in Merced, California, United States to Thomas Albion Atkinson, a Methodist minister, and Sarah Jane Yeargin.

Education

Atkinson received an A. B. from Pacific Methodist College in 1897 and attended Garrett Bible Institute. He became a theology doctor in 1913.

Career

Atkinson held pastorates in Albion, Illinois, United States (1902-1904), Springfield, Ohio, United States (1904-1908), and Atlanta, Georgia, United States (1908-1911).

This post brought him into contact with Hamilton Holt and Frederick Lynch, who had helped establish the Church Peace Union in 1914 with a gift of $2 million from Andrew Carnegie.

In 1918 Atkinson directed the work of one of its affiliates, the National Commission on the Churches and the Moral Aims of the War.

In December 1918 he became general secretary of the Church Peace Union and of its affiliate, the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship Through the Churches.

He endorsed United States participation in World Wars I and II and campaigned for an abandonment of neutrality between 1939 and 1941.

He campaigned for United States membership in the League of Nations and the World Court and served as unofficial consultant to the State Department at the United Nations conference in San Francisco in 1945.

He traveled abroad nearly every year, meeting leaders in Europe, India, and the Far East. By 1945 he had organized branches of the World Alliance in thirty-nine countries.

In 1955 he retired as general secretary of the Church Peace Union.

At a conference at The Hague in 1919, Atkinson began an effort that led to meetings at Stockholm in 1925, at Lausanne in 1927, and at Oxford and Edinburgh in 1937. These conferences led to the establishment of the World Council of Churches in 1948. Although receiving credit as the organizer of that movement, Atkinson failed to achieve a congress of world religions in the 1930's despite a decade of detailed planning.

He served as co-chairman (1940-1956) of the Council Against Intolerance in America, and as chairman of the advisory board (1944-1956) of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League; and he supported the Zionist movement.

Achievements

• He participated in preparation of conferences and establishing of special institutions to promote peace internationally during war time.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Men and things

    (This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)

  • The Church and the People's Play: -1915

    (Originally published in 1915. This volume from the Cornel...)

  • Prelude to Peace: A Realistic View of International Relations

Views

Atkinson stood in the vanguard of the social gospel tradition, encouraging acceptance of collective bargaining and strikes and educating churchgoers to workers' aspirations for a living wage and improved safety standards.

He believed that religious institutions cannot be divorced from the community, and that they can be positive forces to resolve problems and to set an example of how people can unite in a common cause.

He also believed in a politically organized world, even one that could impose sanctions upon wrongdoers.

Personality

Atkinson was a pragmatist who appraised world condition realistically, and possessed remarkable administrative and organizational ability.

He made friends easily, holding their respect because of his dedication to causes, his belief in brotherhood and justice, and the integrity of his convictions.

Connections

Atkinson was married twice, he never had children.

Father:

Thomas Albion Atkinson

He was a Methodist minister.

Mother:

Sarah Jane Yeargin

Spouse:

Grace Olin

Spouse:

Marjorie Jefferson Weber