Donald (1919-1994) and Vera (1922-2014) Ward Papers

The Donald and Vera Ward Collection fills 62 boxes and spans the years 1919-2014. The collection is divided into separate portions for Donald and Vera.

Donald Ward’s personal materials section, dating from 1919 to 1994, includes baby books, including a lock of hair; childhood scrapbooks; materials from Ward’s travels as a young man through Europe with his grandmother, Emma Ward; Lake View High School Yearbooks; diaries, documents, report cards, and a diploma documenting his education at Northwestern University; personal correspondence with family, friends, and Vera Ward; his memoir "7-M Man" and other writings done while in hospice care; and records, condolence letters, and wake programs from his death.

Donald Ward’s professional materials (radio/television/academia) span the 1930s-1990s, and consist of scripts, correspondence, promotional materials, photographs, materials pertaining to specific shows, music, writings, and freelance documents related to Ward’s time as a radio announcer, television personality, magician, and freelancer, as well as correspondence and other papers documenting his time at Yankton College and Alaska Pacific University as President and Vice President, respectively.

Donald Ward’s religious materials span the period 1944-1994, and include correspondence, certificates, writings, assignments and papers from the Chicago Theological Seminary, notes, dissertations, photographs, sermon pamphlets, clippings, and bound Meetinghouse column writings from Ward’s career as a congregational minister.

Donald Ward’s sermons span the 1950s-1990s, and consist of both paper and bound collections of sermons from throughout Ward’s religious life, including general sermons written by Ward, bound sermons from the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and the published book Great Preaching, which includes an article written by Ward.

Vera Ward’s personal materials span the years 1919-2014. This section includes papers, correspondence, and photographs from Ward’s early life, her time at Northwestern, and her retirement and later life.

The Vera Ward professional materials section contains materials from Ward’s acting career, including programs, photographs, news clippings, and correspondence.

The Donald and Vera Ward personal and professional materials section includes papers related to both Don and Vera’s life, including significant correspondence between the two, papers related to their wedding, and other assorted family materials. It also includes papers from the time that Don and Vera worked together onscreen in Comic Capers and Breezy, Don, and Vera.

The Donald and Vera Ward oversized artifacts and media section includes multimedia artifacts as well as artifacts too large to fit into the boxes containing professional or personal materials. The oversized artifacts include large photographs, puppets from two of the Wards’ television programs, and scrapbooks. The multimedia artifacts include slides mainly featuring family photographs, LPs, DVDs, VHS tapes, tape reels, and an extensive collection of cassette tapes containing Donald Ward’s numerous sermons.