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University of Chicago Library

Guide to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Records 2000-2004

© 2021 University of Chicago Library

Descriptive Summary

Title:

Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Records

Dates:

2000-2004

Size:

3.5 linear feet (8 boxes)

Repository:

Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, founded in 2001 and merged into Pew Research Center in 2004, was an initiative seeking to promote a deeper understanding of how religion shapes the ideas and institutions of American society. Although based in Washington, D.C., the forum had a chapter at the University of Chicago Divinity School and was co-chaired by Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago. The records document the administrative processes, events, and publications by the Forum before its merger into Pew Research Center.

Information on Use

Access

The collection is open with the exception of Series IV, Restricted, which contains budgetary, financial, and personnel information. Materials in Box 7 are restricted for thirty years from date of record creation. Materials in Box 8 are restricted for fifty years from date of record creation

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Historical Note

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life was founded in 2001 through a grant from The Pew Charitable Trust to Georgetown University. It was primarily based in Washington, D.C., while also having a chapter at the University of Chicago Divinity School. The Forum was co-chaired by Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago. Alongside her, E.J. Dionne, Jr., Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, served the Forum as co-chair, and Melissa Rogers as the Executive Director.

From 2001 until its merger into Pew Research Center, the Forum organized numerous events - including lectures, conferences, public exchanges, and consultations - conducted surveys, and published discussions, reports, and books. The mission of the Forum was “to promote a deeper understanding of how religion shapes the ideas and institutions of American society” by creating a platform for research and discussion that brings together the worlds of scholarship, public policy and journalism.

Among the nonpublic initiatives and public events that are well-documented in this collection are the Deans’ Consultation on the State of Public Affairs in Religion, the conference on religion and the death penalty, the lecture series on human rights and religion, the public exchange on stem cell and cloning research, and several other smaller scale programs. The conference on religion and the death penalty was a major event that featured, in addition to prominent scholars of religion and law, Justice Antonin Scalia. The book comprised of papers presented at the conference is also represented in this collection.

In 2004, The Pew Charitable Trust established the Pew Research Center as a subsidiary to house the several information initiatives on policy issues including the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Since then, Pew Research Center has had a research team on religion and public life.

Scope Note

The collection is organized into four series.

Series I, Administrative, consists of the forum’s administrative records, internal correspondence and files, and organizational documents, including the narrative report that the Forum submitted to the funding trust. The series is arranged chronologically.

Series II, Events, documents the events that the Forum organized, such as the nonpublic Deans’ consultation and the major conference on religion and the death penalty. The folders are arranged chronologically, except when a certain folder is grouped with others related to the same event.

Series III, Publications, consists of documents about and drafts of the Forum’s publications, especially the book “Religion and the Death Penalty: a Call for Reckoning.” The folders are arranged chronologically.

Series IV, Restricted, contains personnel and budget documents. Materials in Box 7 are restricted for thirty years from date of record creation. Materials in Box 8 are restricted for fifty years from date of record creation.

Related Resources

Browse finding aids by topic.

Elshtain, Jean Bethke. Papers

Divinity School, Records

Subject Headings

INVENTORY

Series I: Administrative

Box 1   Folder 1

The Pew Forum - Proposal to the Pew Charitable Trust, Chicago office project, 2000-2001

Box 1   Folder 2

Letter to Antonin Scalia, photocopy, 2001

Box 1   Folder 3

Notes for Pew Lunch, 2001

Box 1   Folder 4

Pew Christian Scholars Program, 2001

Box 1   Folder 5

Pew Daily Religion Briefings, 2001

Box 1   Folder 6

Various Articles, 2001

Box 1   Folder 7

Jean Bethke Elshtain Project File, 2001-2002

Box 1   Folder 8

Narrative Report Drafts, 2001-2002

Box 1   Folder 9

Polling, 2001-2003

Box 1   Folder 10

Consultation on Scripture and Political Life, 2002

Box 1   Folder 11

Narrative Report for The Pew Forum on Religion and Political Life, 2002 [1/3]

Box 1   Folder 12

Narrative Report for The Pew Forum on Religion and Political Life, 2002 [2/3]

Box 1   Folder 13

Narrative Report for The Pew Forum on Religion and Political Life, 2002 [3/3]

Box 2   Folder 1

The President’s Council on Bioethics - Human Cloning and Human Dignity, 2002 [1/2]

Box 2   Folder 2

The President’s Council on Bioethics - Human Cloning and Human Dignity, 2002 [2/2]

Box 2   Folder 3

The President’s Council on Bioethics - Research materials on cloning, 2002

Box 2   Folder 4

Targeted Mailings for “The Sacred and the Sovereign,” 2003

Series II: Events

Box 2   Folder 5

The Sacred and the Sovereign Conference - 2000

Box 2   Folder 6

The State of Public Affairs in Religion - Invitations, 2001

Box 2   Folder 7

The State of Public Affairs in Religion - Correspondence and logistics, 2001

Box 2   Folder 8

The State of Public Affairs in Religion - Deans’ Consultation transcript, 2001

Box 2   Folder 9

The State of Public Affairs in Religion - Interviews, 2001 [1/2]

Box 2   Folder 10

The State of Public Affairs in Religion - Interviews, 2001 [2/2]

Box 2   Folder 11

The State of Public Affairs in Religion - Reports, 2001

Box 2   Folder 12

The State of Public Affairs in Religion - External reports, 2001

Box 2   Folder 13

The State of Public Affairs in Religion - Plans and report drafts, 2001

Box 3   Folder 1

Religion and the Death Penalty - Reader essays, 2001

Box 3   Folder 2

Religion and the Death Penalty - Reader permissions, 2001-2002

Box 3   Folder 3

Religion and the Death Penalty - Articles on the conference theme, 2001 [1/3]

Box 3   Folder 4

Religion and the Death Penalty - Articles on the conference theme, 2001 [2/3]

Box 3   Folder 5

Religion and the Death Penalty - Articles on the conference theme, 2001-2002 [3/3]

Box 3   Folder 6

Religion and the Death Penalty - Website, 2001-2002

Box 3   Folder 7

Religion and the Death Penalty - Speakers, 2002

Box 3   Folder 8

Religion and the Death Penalty - Conference documents, 2002

Box 4   Folder 1

Religion and the Death Penalty - Transcripts and notes, 2002

Box 4   Folder 2

Religion and the Death Penalty - Speaker and staff packets, 2002

Box 4   Folder 3

Religion and the Death Penalty - Press coverage, 2002

Box 4   Folder 4

Religion and the Death Penalty - Conference photographs, 2002

Box 4   Folder 5

Religion and the Death Penalty - Conference-related articles, 2002-2003

Box 4   Folder 6

Stem Cell and Clones - Articles, 2001-2002

Box 4   Folder 7

Stem Cell and Clones - Public Exchange documents, 2002 [1/2]

Box 4   Folder 8

Stem Cell and Clones - Public Exchange documents, 2002 [2/2]

Box 4   Folder 9

Stem Cell and Clones - Event surveys, 2002

Box 4   Folder 10

The Death Penalty in Illinois - Governor George Ryan, 2002

Box 4   Folder 11

Religion, Self, and the Human Rights - Conference documents, 2002

Box 4   Folder 12

Remembering September 11 - Event documents, 2002

Box 5   Folder 1

Does Human Rights Need God? - Lecture series documents, 2002-2003

Box 5   Folder 2

Theology, Morality, and Public Life Conference, 2003

Series III: Publications

Box 5   Folder 3

The Sacred and the Sovereign - Chapters from authors, original printouts, 2001

Box 5   Folder 4

Religion and the Death Penalty - Publication documents, 2001-2002

Box 5   Folder 5

Religion and the Death Penalty - Review of chapters, 2002 [1/2]

Box 5   Folder 6

Religion and the Death Penalty - Review of chapters, 2002 [2/2]

Box 5   Folder 7

Religion and the Death Penalty - Chapter edits, 2003 [1/2]

Box 5   Folder 8

Religion and the Death Penalty - Chapter edits, 2003 [2/2]

Box 6   Folder 1

Religion and the Death Penalty - Catalogues featuring the book, 2003-2004

Box 6   Folder 2

Religion and the Death Penalty - Draft, Part 1, 2004

Box 6   Folder 3

Religion and the Death Penalty - Draft, Parts 2 and 3, 2004

Box 6   Folder 4

Religion and the Death Penalty - Corrected first proofs, 2004 [1/2]

Box 6   Folder 5

Religion and the Death Penalty - Corrected first proofs, 2004 [2/2]

Box 6   Folder 6

Religion and the Death Penalty - Corrected second proofs, 2004 [1/2]

Box 6   Folder 7

Religion and the Death Penalty - Corrected second proofs, 2004 [2/2]

Series IV: Restricted

This series contains personnel and budget documents. Materials in Box 7 are restricted for thirty years from date of record creation. Materials in Box 8 are restricted for fifty years from date of record creation.

Box 7   Folder 1

Program funds, 2002-2003

Box 8   Folder 1

Deans’ Consultation Budget, 2001

Box 8   Folder 2

Religion and the Death Penalty - Conference budget, 2002

Box 8   Folder 3

Pew Forum Subgrant to the University of Chicago, 2002-2003

Box 8   Folder 4

Personnel hiring documents, 2003

Box 8   Folder 5

Regrant documents, 2003