Moberg Family papers, 1917-1994
Scope and Contents
The Moberg Family papers date from 1917 to 1994, with the bulk dating to the 1950s and 1960s. The collection spans two boxes of two cubic feet.
There are two folders of photographs of Fred Moberg and his son, David. Anna Sundberg's Bethel Academy photograph is in her husband's folder.
The Biographical folder contains biographical information on Fred Moberg, David Moberg, and Helen Moberg. These include articles, faculty information, and obituaries.
The David Moberg series contains documents from David Oscar Moberg. The Correspondence folder contains letters and memos dating from 1964 to 2004. Three Bethel folders contain memos, faculty meeting minutes, library information, documents from the Bethel Varsity Democrat, newspaper articles, and brochures. The Bethel Research Center Committee folder dates to the 1960s, containing meeting minutes, recommendations, and a paper titled "An Experiment in Interdisciplinary Social Science Education." The Discipline folder holds a sociological study on college dismissal, a Bethel dismissal policy, and a paper from 1968 on drinking alcohol at Bethel. The Faculty Publications folder contains the Faculty Bulletin from 1965, information for the Faculty Journal, and two papers on Long Range Planning at Bethel. The pamphlet "Your Will for Tomorrow" dates to the 1960s and is a preparation packet to present to an attorney to include Bethel in a will. Another pamphlet "Christian Stewardship and Estate Planning" similarily encourages giving to Bethel. The Seminary Study folder dates to the 1960s, and studies the motivational factors of students entering the Seminary. The Student Exchange Programs folder proposes student exchange with Tougaloo, Mississippi, encouraging racial integration in the 1960s. The Workshop on General Education folder contains programs and notes from a workshop held at Hamline University in 1956. The Long Range Planning folder focuses on curriculum and instruction dating to the 1950s and 1960s. The Improvement of Instruction folder holds a faculty questionnaire, some faculty meeting minutes, some handwritten notes, and a base study guide from 1955 titled "Effective College Teaching." There is a booklet of class exercises for creative writing filled with stories from 1952 by Marilyn Bohne, Roy Lundquist, Ruth Martinson, Gaylie Palmer, Helen Peterson, Ann Radunz, and Donald Richardson. There are three selected bibliographies, two of which are from Founders Week in 1956 and 1957. Two folders on Founders Week date to 1963 and 1966, focusing on the church and social needs in the local community. Open Occupancy was a TV program from 1963 on Christian values and racial integration in Minneapolis, presented by Bethel professors Robert Mounce and Ivan Fahs.
The Resolutions Committee Notes folder dates to 1960 at the Baptist General Conference annual meeting in California, holding proposed resolutions. The God's Kingdom folder contains curriculum guides for Helen Moberg's Christian Education class at Lake Park Baptist Church. The Religious Research Center folder contains documents detailing Moberg's attempt to put together a research center at Bethel during the 1960s. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory folder contains a study by Shirly Olson from a class on the Churh as a Social Institution, and preparation to conduct this study at Bethel. The Social Sciences folder contains several papers by Moberg and others on social issues, such as conference growth, religious research, aging, and race; it also holds some department information from the Department of Social Sciences. The Social Worker Conference Notes folder dates to 1953. The Christian Living folder contains curriculum materials for school children, possibly used by Helen Moberg. The Baptist General Conference folder contains newspaper articles, correspondence, information from the annual meetings, a Trustee's Bulletin, and a financial report. The Pastors Survey folder holds survey planning documents from the early 1960s. The Child Adoption folder holds information on a conference on adoption and unmarried mother services from the early 1960s. The folder Suburban Captivity of the Churches holds comments on Gibson Winter's book and his presentation at Bethel. The Church Facilities folder holds correspondence regarding stewardship of Christian Education resources, dating to 1967.
The 1999 Acquisition series contains documents donated by David Moberg in 1999. The Bibliographies folder holds reading lists for pastors, urban literature, current literature, and education of the clergy. Included is the booklet "Historik: Svenska Baptisternas i North Dakota Konferens fran dess borjan till ar 1912", dating to 1913 on Swedish Baptist history in North Dakota. The following folder contains an English translation of the booklet, as well as a separate historical writing on the history, still in Swedish. The Churches folder holds documents mostly from Calvary Baptist Church in Roseville, with some other Twin Cities churches. The News Articles folder holds clippings on Bethel and the Baptist General Conference. The Baptist General Conference folder contains a letter from Vancouver Bible Institute, information on chaplains, men's ministry, and Christian Education for youth. The Bethel folder holds publications, correspondence, brochures and marketing materials, and a summary of findings from a birth control questionnaire. The Courses folder dates from the 1950s and 1960s, containing some syllabi and tests. The Bethel Programs and Lectures folder contains mostly handwritten notes. The Papers and Reports by Bethel Faculty folder includes "What are the Liberal Arts Today?", "A humanistic Sociologist", "The Ecumenical Movement and Baptist General Conference Objectives", "Old Drums to March by and New Lines to Follow", "The Theological Reactions to the Theory of Evolution", "The Historical Development of Fundamentalism", and others. The Convocation and Commencement folder contains handwritten notes on programs, as well as a copy of Virgil Olson's convocation address. There are several programs, lectures, and suggested readings in the Founders Week folder, dating primarily to the 1960s. Two Stewardship folders provide charitable giving information from the Baptist General Conference. The Christian Education Course folder was prepared by the Board of Bible School and Young People's Work.
The Helen Moberg series contains several folders of class notes from courses Helen took at Bethel Junior College during the 1940s. The Bethel Junior College binder contains class notes from courses taken from 1940 to 1941. It also holds a paper titled "What Happened to Stoicism?", as well as some report cards.
Dates
- 1917 - 1994
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for researcher use.
Biographical Note
Fred Ludwig Moberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1889. He moved to Kingsburg, California in 1907. He attended Bethel Academy from 1914 to 1918, then graduated from Bethel Seminary in 1921. In 1921, he married Anna Sundberg.
Anna Sundberg was born in Uppsala, Sweden in 1895. She moved to New York at age 17, and later attended Bethel Academy in Minnesota. She then attended nurses training at Mounds Park Nurses Training School.
They served in churches in Michigan and Minnesota. In 1945, Fred and Anna worked at Fridhem Home for the elderly in Chicago, then Verdugo Home in Los Angeles. Fred died in 1983 in California, and Anna in 1991.
David O. Moberg was born to Fred and Anna in 1922. He graduated from Bethel Junior College in 1942, then Seattle Pacific College in 1947. He received an M.A. from the University of Washington in 1949, and a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Minnesota in 1952. Between 1942 to 1946, David served in the army. In 1949, he joined the faculty at Bethel College, serving as chairman of the Department of Social Sciences starting in 1952. David was appointed chairman of Marquette University's Department of Sociology and Anthropology in 1968. He authored many publications. In 1992, the Moberg Lectureship on Christianity and Sociology at Bethel was established. After his wife's death, he married Marlys Schmidt Jaege in 1994. He died in 2023.
David married Helen Heitzman in 1946. Helen was born in 1922 in South Dakota. She attended Bethel Junior College and Bethel Theological Seminary. David and Helen had five children. She was involved in leadership at many churches. Helen died in 1992. The Heitzman-Moberg Memorial Scholarship at Bethel Theological Seminary was set up in the family's honor.
Extent
2 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection was arranged by the archivist during processing.
Custodial History
It is unclear when most of this collection was donated to the archives.
The 1999 series was donated in 1999 by David Moberg, along with several books now in the Special Collections.
The Helen Heitzman Moberg series was donated to the archives in 1994 by her husband, David.
- Title
- Moberg Family papers, 1917-1994
- Author
- Rebekah Lopez, archivist
- Date
- December 2025
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the The History Center: Archives of Bethel University and Converge Repository
