1. Goebel, Louis W., “Tributes to Dr. Press…,” Events 6 (Fall 1967), p. 9.Google Scholar

2. Niebuhr referred to Press as his “Mark Hopkins” in his “Intellectual Autobiography,” in Reinhold Niebuhr: His Religious, Social, and Political Thought, eds. Charles W. Kegley and Robert W. Bretall (New York, 1956), p. 4,Google Scholar while noting the extent of Press's influence in a letter to Robert T. Fauth, 21 August 1967, found in the Eden Seminary presidential files.

3. Niebuhr, Reinhold, “A Landmark in American Religious History,” Messenger, 18 06 1957, p. 12.Google Scholar

4. Inscription in Press's copy of Niebuhr, Helmut Richard, The Social Sources of Denominationalism (New York, 1929),Google Scholar in the possession of Walter Press of San Rafael, California. The author expresses his gratitude to Mr. Press for making those of Samuel Press's papers in his possession available.

5. Niebuhr, R., “Landmark,” pp. 12–13.Google Scholar

6. Samuel Press, “Prof. E. Otto,” Keryx, October 1916, p. 27. Press's tribute was reprinted three years later in the Belleville, Illinois Gemeindebote für Deutsche-Evangelischen Gemeinden in St. Clair County und Umgegend, August 1919.

7. Reinhold Niebuhr to Robert T. Fauth, 21 August 1967.

8. This is a favorite caricature by Eden Professor Emeritus Allen O. Miller, who frequently visited Press during his retirement.

9. Irion, Jakob, “Pastor Gottlob Press,” Der Friedensbote, 18 02 1923, p. 103,Google Scholar and “Rev. Gottlob Press,” Evangelical Herald, 8 03 1923, p. 158.Google Scholar

10. Samuel Press, Typewritten autobiographical reflections, located at the Eden Archives of the United Church of Christ, Webster Groves, Missouri; hereafter cited as “Reflections.”

11. Schneider, Carl E., The Place of the Evangelical Synod in American Protestantism (Saint Louis, 1933), pp. 25–26.Google Scholar

12. See Stanger, Robert C., “The First One Hundred Years,” Elmhurst College Magazine, vol.4, no. 3 (1971),Google Scholar for a careful summary of the college's history, as well as the older parallel, English-German, Souvenir of the Golden Jubilee, Elmhurst Academy and Junior College (Elmhurst, III., 1921);Google ScholarOtto, Emil, Bibelstudien für die gebildete Gemeinde: Erklärung des Briefes Pauli an die Römer (Saint Louis, 1883).Google Scholar

13. “Reflections.”

14. Otto, Emil, Das Leben George Washington (Saint Louis, 1897).Google ScholarOtto, also wrote a fictional “history from ancient times,” Die Braut von Damaskus (Saint Louis, 1895).Google Scholar

15. Press, “Prof. E. Otto,” p. 26.

16. For a history of Eden Seminary, see Schneider, Carl E., History of the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Church (Saint Louis, 1925).Google Scholar

17. Mayer, F., Denkschrift zur Fünfundsiebzigjährigen Jubelfeier des Evangelischen Prediger-Seminars zu Webster Groves, Mo. (Saint Louis, 1925), p. 26.Google Scholar

18. “Reflections.”

19. Becker, William, Leitfaden für den Unterricht in der evangelischen Glaubenslehre (Saint Louis, 1903),Google Scholar in author's possession.

20. “Reflections.” The origin of the “Domstift scholarship” is charted in Carl E. Schneider, The German Church on the American Frontier (Saint Louis, 1939), pp. 367–368.Google Scholar Ironically, it was established with money supplied by “Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg,” whose kin in Texas Press served in his first church.

21. “Reflections.”

22. Samuel Press to the Reverend G. E. Fuchs, 13 April 1954. Portions of this letter, a handwritten copy of which is in the possession of Walter Press, were quoted in Dwayne Dollgener, “75 Years of Service: St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Rt. 1, Marlin, Texas,” 5 October 1969.

23. “Reflections.”

24. See, for example, Samuel Press, “But Who Say Ye That I Am?” Evangelical Herald, 11 October 1928, pp. 808–809.

25. Tape-recorded reminiscences of Samuel Press, recorded by Richard L. Scheef, hereafter “Reminiscences.” Professor Scheef, Dr. Press's nephew, made this recording in order to prepare, with Carl E. Schneider, “The Church Union Memoirs of Samuel D. Press,” United Church Herald, 1 July, 1965 pp. 20–22.

26. “Reflections.”

27. Samuel D. Press, “Book Review of The Nature of Religion by George Wobbermin,” Keryx, December 1933, p. 8.

28. “Reflections”; “Reminiscences.”

29. Harnack, Adolf, Thoughts on the Present Position of Protestantism (London, 1899), pp. 54–55.Google Scholar

30. Niebuhr, R., “Intellectual Autobiography,” p. 3.Google Scholar

31. Reinhold Niebuhr, “Dr. Press and Evangelical Theology,” p. 1, typescript of an address delivered by Niebuhr at the time of Press's retirement from the Eden presidency. Copy in the Eden Archives.

32. “Reminiscences.”

33. “Reflections.”

34. Julius H. Horstmann, “The Rise of the Social View-Point in the Evangelical Synod of North America,” Theological Magazine of the Evangelical Synod of North America 62 (September 1934): 323–324, noted that the statement of objectives drawn up at the Caroline Mission's founding was “patterned closely after those of Stoecker's city mission work in Berlin.” For the history of the mission in Saint Louis, see Horstmann, Julius H., The First Twenty-Five Years (Saint Louis, 1938),Google Scholar and Davidson, Clarissa Start, Caroline Mission, 1913/1963: A Proud Past—A Hopeful Future (Saint Louis, 1963).Google Scholar

35. The list of students who pursued graduate degrees at Press's urging is quite long. Practically the entire Eden faculty at the time of his retirement had been his students.

36. “Reflections.”

37. “Sunbeams,” Keryx, December 1912.

38. Significantly, Becker's Leitfaden does not make a single reference to the work of an American theologian.

39. Baur, Wilhelm L., The Wanderer (Elmhurst, III., 1951), p. 84.Google Scholar

40. In tape-recorded reminiscences of classmate Reinhold Neibuhr, in the author's possession, Theophil Twente spoke for many of his peers when he said, “Dr. Press was a special friend to me.”

41. Niebuhr, R., “Dr. Press and Evangelical Theology,” p. 1.Google Scholar

42. Related to the author by Richard L. Scheef.

43. SeeProgramm des Prediger-Seminars, Studienjahr 1912–1913, p. 11.

44. Samuel D. Press, “History of American Theology,” undated and incomplete typescript in the Eden Archives, pp. 5–6.

45. Related to the author by Professor Eugene W. Wehrli of Eden Theological Seminary, whose father, Allen G. Wehrli, studied with Press, undertook graduate work in Germany at his urging, and returned to Eden, where he taught Old Testament.

46. Programm des Prediger-Seminars, Studienjahr 1912–1913, p. 10. Niebuhr, Reinhold, An Interpretation of Christian Ethics (New York, 1935), p. 31,Google Scholar and Niebuhr, H. Richard, “Introduction to Biblical Ethics,” in Christian Ethics, eds. Waldo, Beach and Niebuhr, H. Richard (New York, 1955), p.23.Google Scholar

47. “Criticism on ‘Paper on Shelley’ by MrNiebuhr, H.,” in Papers of Lincoln Lyceum: Criticism of papers read before the Lincoln Lyceum, Eden Seminary, 1909–1918, p. 36,Google Scholar in the Eden Archives.

48. This theme was underscored boldly during its early years, sometimes by the Niebuhrs. In 1917, in an article written for the Keryx nearly four years after his graduation, Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, “the work of our schools does not conform to the standards set all about us. It is a well-known fact that a minister in this country is expected to have an eleven-year education. He ought to be a graduate of high school, college, and theological seminary. He ought to have the degrees of A.B. and B.D., not for the sake of the degrees themselves, but for the sake of the academical achievement which they indicate.” See “The Future of Our Seminaries,” in Young Reinhold Niebuhr: His Early Writings, 1911–1931, ed. Chrystal, William G. (Saint Louis, 1977), p. 80.Google Scholar

49. Press put this thought in a variety of ways, once positing, “If you stand, others will be enabled to stand. If you fail, many others will fall.”

50. Samuel Press, ” Proceedings and Addresses, Second National Convention of the Evangelical Brotherhood, Saint Louis, 10, 11, 12 October 1916 (Saint Louis, 1916), pp. 59–60.Google Scholar

51. As a member of the commission, Press authored a flyer, “The Evangelical Church,” which stressed the indigenous origin of the synod.

52. Reinhold Niebuhr, “Prof. S.D. Press, Camp Pastor at Camp Grant,” Evangelical Tidings, 29 September 1918, pp. 10–11. For background on the difficulties encountered by synod pastors in camps, see Chrystal, William G., “Reinhold Niebuhr and the First World War,” Journal of Presbyterian History 55 (1977): 285–298.Google Scholar

53. Schneider, , Theological Seminary, pp. 47–48.Google Scholar

54. Ibid., p. 57.

55. Samuel Press, “Zum alten Ziel auf neuen Wegen,” Keryx, October 1922, pp. 2–4.

56. Esther Seybold, “Symbols of the Campus (An Interview with Dr. Press),” Voice of Eden, January 1948, p. 3.

57. Related to the author by Mrs. Doris Krueger, daughter of Dr. Press.

58. Niebuhr, R., “Dr. Press and Evangelical Theology,” p. 2.Google Scholar

59. Wentzel, Fred D., ed., Day is Dawning: The Story of Bishop Otto Dibelius Based on His Proclamations and Authentic Documents (Philadelphia, 1956), p. 63.Google Scholar An honorary degree was also awarded to Martin Niemoeller.

60. Niebuhr, R., “Dr. Press and Evangelical Theology,” pp. 3–4.Google Scholar

61. This handwritten remark was found in one of Dr. Press's commonplace books in Walter Press's possession.

62. Samuel Press, “God Give Us Men!”, Evangelical Herald, 13 January 1921, p. 5.

63. Press, “Zum alten Ziel auf neuen Wegen,” p. 4.

64. Samuel, Press, “Report of Eden Theological Seminary,” Annual Reports: Synodical Officers and Boards (1932), p.43.Google Scholar

65. Samuel Press to the Alumni of Eden, 1908–1941 (n.d.) in the Eden Archives.

66. D, Samuel. Press, “Jesus The Christ, Our Lord,” in The Heritage of the Reformation, ed. Arndt, Elmer J.F. (New York, 1950), pp. 81–100.Google Scholar

67. Samuel Press, Centennial Daily Devotions, 29 09-28 10 1957 (Friedens Church and Chapel, Saint Louis, 1957).Google Scholar

68. This prayer is among the materials in the possession of Walter Press.

69. “Church Union Memoirs of Samuel D. Press,” pp. 21–22.

70. “Reminiscences.” Press incorrectly refers to “Wallace” instead of Walker, but there can be no mistaking that he is recalling the latter's work.

71. Truman Douglass to Charles C. Merrill, 20 October 1955, quoting a 1947 letter from Douglas to Merrill. Copy in the Eden Archives.

72. Samuel Press, “Toward a United Church of Christ.” Reprinted from the 29 November 1955 issue of Messenger, p. 7.

73. For a close-up look at Press's role in the merger of the Evangelical Synod and the Reformed Church, see Louis W. Goebel, “The Merger of the Evangelical Synod of North America and the Reformed Church in the United States,” a typescript of twelve pages in the Eden Archives, dated 30 July 1935. In addition, Goebel's Recollections, privately printed (n.d.), mentions Press's role in the merger, as well as offering several warm anecdotes about him.

74. Samuel, Press, “A Milestone in Christian Cooperation,” Youth, 8 05 1938, p. 10.Google Scholar

75. “Reflections.”

76. Inscription in Press's copy of Niebuhr, Helmut Richard, The Social Sources of Denominationalism (New York, 1929), in the possession of Walter Press.Google Scholar