George Thomas Preer Papers

The bulk of the George Thomas Preer Papers consists of diaries in which Preer recorded minute details from his daily life, his occupational activities, and his avocational pastimes of gardening, carpentry, and writing. Many friends and associates are mentioned, as are current events of 1948, and 1955 - 1979.

The first diary covers events of 1948 when Preer held a pastorate in Lafayette , Louisiana. The remaining annual diaries, from 1955 - 1979, chronicle events and daily life at Mississippi Southern College, at Belhaven College, and in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Mentioned with less frequency, are various other towns and citizens of south Mississippi. Sermons, essays, letters, and other memorabilia complete the collection.

Journal entries from 1955 - 1960 document activities at Mississippi Southern College, especially those associated with religious groups on campus. Emphasis is on the activities of the campus branch of Westminster Fellowship, the Presbyterian youth organization. During this five-year period, significant events were Religious Emphasis Week, homecomings, retreats, and incidents indicating growing pressure from the administration to relocate religious organizations to offices off campus. Included in the diaries, which document the mores and concerns of students of the 1950's and 1960's, are Preer's records of formal and informal counseling sessions with students, and of social interaction with townspeople and students. Referred to frequently, but missing from the collection, are student publications, "Mouse" and "Spirit."

The collection contains references to Dr. and Mrs. Preer's involvement in civic, church, and social activities. Mrs. Preer held membership in garden and home demonstration clubs, as well as church circle societies. Dr. Preer was active in the Civitan Club and in the Boy Scout troop they sponsored. He attended meetings of the Central and South Mississippi Presbyteries and recorded his observations in his diary, including some heated confrontations over the growing conflict between liberals and conservatives in the Presbyterian Church, as well as attempts to deal with problems of integration.

Preer's hobbies of gardening (which he saw as "God's Divine Purpose" expressed in nature) and amateur meteorology are recorded in great detail. Some sections of the diaries are labeled, "Yard and Garden," though other information is recorded. Interspersed with the mundane events of daily life, including meals served, furniture arrangement, and money management, are comments on news events - local, national and international. Throughout the writings are expressions of Preer's religious philosophy and his attempts to reconcile Christian ideals with daily life both for himself and for his flock. After Preer's retirement in 1972, there are fewer entries, perhaps because there was less activity.

The correspondence in the collection includes a series of letters written in 1973 to Dr. Charles E.S. Kraemer, Moderator, General Assembly, Presbyterian Church, U.S., in Richmond, Virginia. Preer summarizes his opinions, previously expressed in his diaries, about conflict in the Presbyterian church between liberals and conservatives over such issues as social activism and ordination of women. In May 1973, in Atlanta, the conservatives withdrew from the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. and formed the Presbyterian Church of America. Expressing concern about the number of local churches withdrawing from the Synod, Preer includes a list of dissenters in the Hattiesburg area.