Scope and Content Note
Moral Re-armament (MRA) was a global social and spiritual movement organized by Reverend Frank Buchman. The collection documents MRA activities, facilities, and visits with the public, royal dignitaries, celebrities, and political figures for events and productions around the world. The group included members of numerous denominations and races. Supporters of the organization included prominent African American civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune and the group's membership also included celebrities such as tennis star H.W. "Bunny" Austin and various figures of political and international prominence such as Burmese President and Secretary-General of the United Nations U Thant and former first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Konrad Adenauer. MRA was prolific in its production of film, theatrical, radio, and print entertainment thanks to members like Peter Howard and Alan Thornhill who scored, wrote, and directed many of the MRA productions. MRA produced many feature films such as The Crowning Experience, Decision at Midnight, and Freedom that featured actors and singers such as Martin Landau, Muriel Smith and Cecil Broadhurst, as well as many theatrical productions such as Space Is So Startling, The Drugstore Revolution, and The Tiger. MRA's international presence included regional offices, production studios, and headquarters across the country and the world, primarily on Mackinac Island, Michigan where the organization filmed and produced many of their productions. MRA also hosted large events at its estate in Caux, Switzerland.
Within the collection there are 7 LOTs based on themes or media types. LOT 15476: loose photographs and contact sheets about the early Oxford Group and activities, as well as Moral Re-armament (MRA) events, members, facilities, and travels. LOT 15477: biographical file documenting MRA members. LOT 15478: event and geographical file documenting MRA locations, events, and gatherings. LOT 15479: productions and publications file related to MRA plays, films, television, radio, and print publications. LOT 15480: albums documenting MRA members, friends, events, and milestones. LOT 15481: carte de visite album, possibly images of members or relatives of members. LOT 15482: oversize prints, posters, and photographs.
Large format panoramic photographs were processed into the PAN SUBJECT GROUPS, no. 342, no. 354, and no. 355 and PAN SUBJECT - EVENTS no. 169, no. 170, and no. 171. Additional images fall within the negative and transparency series. The supplementary archive portion of the collection contains a card catalog, samples of printing plates, and some miscellaneous textual documents.