Appalachian Studies Commons^™

01. Finding Aid To The Physical Collection, Robert H. Ellison, Elizabeth James

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This document follows the same format as Marshall's other Guides to Manuscript Collections. It includes a biographical note, the "scope and content" of the archive, and other information, along with a complete listing of the contents of each of the 31 boxes on the shelves.

13. Poems Not By Cummings, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes 26 poems that were among the donated materials but turned out to be definitely or probably not by Cummings. They are posted here as a single PDF; information about each poem, including authorship when available, is provided in the User Guide.

08. Correspondence, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes 39 complete or partial letters to or from Cummings; many of his drafts are typed on the back of his sermon manuscripts. All of the letters are posted here as a single PDF; information about each one is provided in the User Guide.

09. Literary And Bible Training School, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes items pertaining to his time at the Literary and Bible Training School (now Trevecca Nazarene University) in Nashville, Tennessee, from which he graduated in 1909. There are examination papers he wrote on homiletics and theology, along with the catalog for the 1909-10 academic year. All items are posted here as a single PDF; additional information is provided in the User Guide.

11. Miscellaneous Items, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes 34 miscellaneous items, ranging from his drivers licenses to a document entitled "End Alien Control of the United States." All items are posted here as a single PDF; additional information is provided in the User Guide.

12. Newspaper Articles By And About Cummings And His Family, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes some 120 newspaper clippings by and about Cummings and his family; many of Cummings' pieces are short poems published as Corner Couplets or maxims from "Josh Hayseed." All of the clippings are posted here as a single PDF; additional information is provided in the User Guide.

06. Poems, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes approximately 45 stand-alone poems, 9 booklets of poems, and An Earth Wayfarer, a 111-page spiral-bound book. Everything is posted here as a single PDF; information about individual poems, including each selection in the booklets and Earth Wayfarer, is provided in the User Guide.

04. Radio Addresses, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes 35 addresses delivered over the radio. Most aired on station WMON in Montgomery, West Virginia; a few were broadcast over WLW in Cincinnati. They are posted here as a single PDF, and combined with the sermons in a single tab in the User Guide.

05. Newspaper Columns, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes 66 columns written for various newspapers. They were published under 4 headlines: "Clergyman Chatter," "Our Weekly Message," "Our Weekly Visit," and "The Parson Writes." In some of the clippings, only the words "Our Weekly" are visible, so we cannot be sure which category they belong to.

All 66 columns are posted here as s single PDF. There are also supplemental files for "Clergyman Chatter," "Our Weekly Message/Visit," and "The Parson Writes."

The columns do not have individual titles, but they often have section headings; for ease of navigation, the first heading in each column is included …

03. Sermons, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes approximately 100 typed and handwritten sermons, sermons printed or summarized in the newspaper, and some "sermons in rhyme." The sermons and radio addresses have been combined in a single tab in the User Guide.

The master PDF of the sermons is nearly 150MB in size; to make things somewhat more manageable, the contents of each folder in the physical collection have been upload as supplemental files.

07. Songs, Melville Homer Cummings, Robert H. Ellison

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The Cummings collection includes his work as a song writer and publisher: 75 stand-alone songs, approximately 40 booklets of his songs, and 18 books he published with his own songs and those of other artists. There are also approximately 420 song books (336 unique titles) from other publishers, 23 of which contain at least one of Cummings' songs. Information about each of these songs--295 in all--is provided in the User Guide.

All of these songs, along with the relevant front- and backmatter in the books, are posted here as a single PDF. It is nearly 140 MB; to make …

Series Iii. Folder 7. Handwritten Notes, N.D, Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The final folder contains a miscellaneous assortment of letters, sermon manuscripts, and sermon notes or outlines. Topics include “Mutual Dependence” (1 Cor. 3), “A Stairway to Heaven” (Gen. 28:12), “The Misunderstood Christ” (Mark 15:36), and “The Looks of Christ” (several verses in Mark and Luke).

Series Iii. Folder 6. Poems, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains approximately 15 poems and 2 letters: a letter to a parishioner praising her singing voice, and one to Cummings thanking him for making regular payments on his account with the Benson Printing Co., located in Nashville, Tennessee.

Series Iii. Folder 5. Poems, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts and manuscripts of approximately 10 poems. Some of them show Cummings’ political side, criticizing what he saw as the shortcomings of the GOP and warning that “If you vote for Ike you’ll cut your throat.”

Series Iii. Folder 4. Poems, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts and manuscripts of approximately 15 poems. Topics include the dangers of cynicism, the fleeting nature of wealth, and Cummings’ reflections on his long pastoral career.

Series Iii. Folder 3. Articles, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains materials ranging from a poem written in honor of retired ministers to several sayings by a character named Josh Hayseed. Most of items are approximately 25 newspaper columns written by Cummings, under the titles “Clergyman Chatter,” “Our Weekly Message,” and “Our Weekly Visit.” The dates and names of the papers do not appear on the clippings; according to the Register, “Our Weekly Visit” appeared in the Grantsville News, with “other featured columns” published in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch.

Series Iii. Folder 2. Articles, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

The majority of the items in this folder are approximately 15 “Our Weekly Message” and roughly the same number of “Our Weekly Visit” columns. The dates and names of the papers do not appear on the clippings; according to the Register, “Our Weekly Visit” appeared in the Grantsville News, with “other featured columns” published in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch.

Some items appear to be duplicates of articles in Series III, Folder 3. Topics range from pastoral visitation to the value of optimism and a clear conscience to an anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Other items in this …

Series Iii. Folder 1. Articles, 1931-1965, Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains approximately 20 columns and other newspaper pieces written by Cummings, most of which are entitled either “Our Weekly Message” or “Our Weekly Visit.” The names of the papers rarely appear on the clippings; according to the Register, “Our Weekly Visit” appeared in the Grantsville News, with “other featured columns” published in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch. Other examples of these recurring columns can be found in folders 2 and 3 of this series as well.

Topics of columns in this folder range from death and eternity to George Washington’s birthday to the various meanings of the word …

Series Ii(B). Radio Sermons. Folder 3. Radio Sermons, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains of approximately 20 sermons delivered on the radio at unspecified times (some bear the month and date, but not the year). Some are typed, others handwritten; some are complete, others unfinished. Topics include “domestic subjects,” church membership, and “turning defeat into victory.”

Series Ii(B). Radio Sermons. Folder 2. Radio Sermons 1948-1960, Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts of approximately 20 sermons Cummings delivered between 1948 and 1960. Most were broadcast on WMON, a radio station in Montgomery, WV; one, a “Pre-Christmas Sermon,” was done for the “chapel” of WSAZ, a TV station with studios in Huntington and Charleston. Other topics include self-examination, “falling and rising,” “trusting in God,” and “the importance of the home and the family.”

Series Ii(B). Radio Sermons. Folder 1. Radio Sermons, 1929-1941, Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts of approximately 10 sermons Cummings delivered on the radio between 1933 and 1941. One indicates that it was given on Cincinnati-based WLW; the station is not identified on the others. Topics come mostly from the New Testament and include the early church, the Apostle Paul, and the second coming of Christ.

Series Ii(A). Sermons. Folder 9. Sermons, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains a song/hymn entitled “A Sacrifice of Praise” and typescripts of approximately 15 sermons, some of which appear to be unfinished and/or have handwritten notes on them. Titles and text include “An All Night Wrestling Match” (Genesis 32:29), “Bartimaeus” (Luke 18:35-38), “The Laziest Man in this Community” (Proverbs 12:27), and “The Living Past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15).

Series Ii(A). Sermons. Folder 8. Sermons, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts of approximately 15 sermons, some of which appear to be unfinished and/or have handwritten notes on them. Titles and texts include “After that the Judgment” (Eccles. 11:9), “Christ Our Example” (1 Peter 2:21), “Self-Examination” (2 Cor. 13:5), and “Ministerial Ethics” (no text specified).

Series Ii(A). Sermons. Folder 7. Sermons, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts of approximately 10 sermons, some of which appear to be unfinished and/or have handwritten notes on them. All are undated, but one—“The Hand of God in History”—is labeled an “Armistice Address.” Titles and texts of the others include “All Things Work Together for Good” (Romans 8:28), “Christ’s Charge to the Women of Jerusalem” (Luke 23:28), “Finding God” (Psalm 42:3), and “A Funeral Discourse for a Child” (Isaiah 49:21).

Series Ii(A). Sermons. Folder 6. Sermons, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts of approximately 10 sermons. Titles and scripture texts include “Backsliding”(Luke 22:31-32), “Building Skyward” (Hebrews 8:5), “The Signs of the Times” (2 Timothy 3:1-6), and “The Span of Life” (Psalm 90:10).

Series Ii(A). Sermons. Folder 5. Sermons, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts of approximately 10 sermons, some of which appear to be unfinished and/or have handwritten notes on them. Some, such as “the father” and “the ideal husband,” appear to be duplicated in other folders; those unique to this folder include sermons on Moses, heaven, and the Christmas season.

Series Ii(A). Sermons. Folder 4. Sermons, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts of 8 sermons. Titles and texts include “The Old-Fashioned Way” (Jeremiah 6:16), “Family Religion” (Mark 5:19), “Reasons for Missions” (Mark 16:15), and “His Riches—Our Riches” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Series Ii(A). Sermons. Folder 3. Sermons, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts and handwritten notes for approximately 10 sermons. Titles and texts include “It is Not Good that Man should be Alone” (Gen. 2:18), “A New Commandment I Give unto You” (John 13:34), and a “Commencement Sermon” and “A New Year’s Message” (no texts specified).

Series Ii(A). Sermons. Folder 2. Sermons, N.D., Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts and handwritten notes for approximately 10 sermons. The texts come from both the Old and New Testaments; titles include “How to Get Saved,” “The Blessing of Suffering,” “The Home,” and “After that the Judgment.”

Series Ii(A). Sermons. Folder 1. Sermons Of M. Homer Cummings, 1937-1960, Melville Homer Cummings

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This folder contains typescripts of approximately 10 sermons, some of which appear to be unfinished. Most of the ones that are dated were preached in 1937, with others delivered in 1940, 1941, and 1952.

The texts for the sermons come from throughout the Old and New Testaments. Two of the sermons are about the new year; the rest are on such domestic topics as “the home,” “the mother,” “the wife,” “the father,” and “the ideal husband.”