Baker, Joseph Ellis, 1905-1985

Professor of English at the University of Iowa.

From the description of Oral history interview with Joseph Baker, 1976 June 25. (University of Iowa Libraries). WorldCat record id: 233107241

Joseph E. Baker was a professor of Victorian literature in the English Department at the University of Iowa, 1935-1973. Baker, his wife Mary, and his family were members of the First Presbyterian Church, 26 East Market Street, in Iowa City. In 1966 a plan to demolish the church, built in 1880, and build a new building created a controversy within the congregation. The Bakers, along with other members, published "An Open Letter to the People of Johnson County" and circulated petitions in an effort to save the church. In October 1967 the Bakers were told that they were charged with disrupting the peace and unity of the church by Reverend Jack L. Zerwas and that they would be tried by their local church Session. Found guilty, the Bakers appealed their case to the Presbytery and the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly. After several years of wrangling in church bodies and a civil suit, the Bakers won the right to rejoin their church. They also helped form the Friends of Old Brick Association to buy and restore the 1880 church.

From the description of Baker, Joseph Ellis. Papers, 1945-1983. (Iowa Sate Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 50158925