S. Ralph Harlow (20 July 1885 – 21 August 1972) was an American clergyman and Christian missionary to the Middle East.
S. Ralph Harlow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Samuel Ralph Harlow 20 July 1885 |
| Died | 21 August 1972 (aged 87) |
| Occupation | Clergyman |
| Spouses | Marion Stafford (m. 1912)Elizabeth Grigorakis
(m. 1964) |
Career
editHarlow was born in Boston.[1] He graduated from Harvard University in 1908 and from Union Theological Seminary in 1912.[1] He obtained an M.A. from Columbia University and a PhD from Hartford Theological Seminary.[2] He was ordained Congregational minister in 1912 and worked for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Smyrna and Turkey.[1][3] Harlow was Chaplain and Sociology teacher at the International College in Smyrna from 1912-1922.[3] He worked for the Young Men's Christian Association with the American Expeditionary Force in France until 1922.[1] He was a lecturer for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.[4]
He joined the faculty of Smith College faculty in 1923 where he was professor of religion for over thirty years.[3][4] He was a Socialist candidate for the House of Representatives from Northampton, Massachusetts in 1932. Harlow was a friend of Norman Thomas and advocated for a pacifist philosophy.[1] He was a director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a member of the American Christian Palestine Committee.[1] He held interest in the paranormal and once claimed to have observed floating angels with his wife.[3][5] He wrote about psychical phenomena from a Christian perspective and was convinced that there was life after death.[6]
In 1953, the Marion and S. Ralph Harlow Scholarship Fund was established for students.[7] Harlow received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the Hebrew Union College in New York.[7] He was one of the few Christians to be honoured by a Jewish institution. Nelson Glueck commented that Harlow "has actively associated himself with Jewish causes, with Israel and its Hebrew University, and without respect to race and creed, has expended in a humble and perceptive way, a warmth of human sympathy".[7]
Harlow died in Northampton, Massachusetts on 21 August 1972, aged 87.[1] He is buried at Abels Hill Cemetery in Massachusetts.[4]
Personal life
editSelected publications
edit- The Church on a War Basis. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 1917.
- Honest Answers to Honest Questions. Abingdon Cokesbury New Press. 1940.
- Thoughts for Times Like These. Philosophical Library. 1957.
- A Life After Death. Doubleday. 1961.
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Dr. S. Ralph Harlow Dies at 87; Missionary and College Teacher". The New York Times. 1972. Archived from the original on August 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Samuel Ralph Harlow". The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. 2025. Archived from the original on September 13, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 "Harlow, S. Ralph (Samuel Alpha), 1885-1972". ArchivesSpace Public Interface. 2025. Archived from the original on September 13, 2025.
- 1 2 3 "Samuel Ralph Harlow 1885–1972". HymnTime. 2025. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025.
- ↑ "The Day We Saw The Angels". Guideposts. 2025. Archived from the original on September 13, 2025.
- ↑ "A Life After Death". The Houston Post. May 14, 1961. p. 115.
- 1 2 3 "S. Ralph Harlow Fund Presented at Smith College". The Morning Union. June 7, 1953. p. 20.
- 1 2 "S. Ralph Harlow, 1885 - 1972" (PDF). S. Ralph Harlow. 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 19, 2024.