| Abstract |
Correspondence concerns Bethea's trip to Palestine; an effort to rebuild the Shakespeare Memorial Theater; Bethea's pension fund; his son's work with the Inter-American Geodetic Survey in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and historical research concerning Harmony United Methodist Church and Bethea's ministry there. Also contains letters from church members serving in World War II thanking Bethea for boosting morale. A scrapbook contains Bethea's articles for the "Methodist Protestant Herald." Financial records include bonds, mortgages, deeds, stock certificates, insurance policies, and receipts. Other materials include a quarterly report for the Fletcher Charge, booklets and bulletins concerning the Western North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church and its affiliates, sermons, histories for churches with which Bethea was associated, a history of Yadkin College, photographs of Bethea's trip to Palestine, and journals. |
| Access restriction | Joyner- No access restrictions. |
| Cite as |
Neil Graham Bethea Papers (#221), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. |
| Terms of use | Joyner- Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Vance J. Bethea. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of Mrs. Pauline Bethea Willcox. |
| Biographical note | Dr. Neil Graham Bethea (1872-1957) was a Methodist Protestant evangelist and minister. A native of Little River, N.C., Bethea joined the North Carolina Annual Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church in 1897 and served as Conference Evangelist for a number of years. Dr. Bethea's first pastorate was in Ellenboro, after which he went to Bessemer City, where "Bethea's Chapel" was later built and named in his honor. He also served in pastorates at Gibsonville, Yarborough, Granville Circuit, Halifax Circuit, Lexington, Asheville, Fletcher, Tryon, and Swannanoa, N.C. He helped to found High Point College and subsequently received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from that institution. |
