Charles MacIvor Collection

Content Description

According to a letter written by Charles R. MacIvor, he was first associated with John Harvey Kellogg in the sales department of Worthington Foods, Worthington, Ohio, merchandising Kellogg’s foods. Later, he was the Vice-president of the same food company in charge of sales. It was during this time he worked in the Home Office of John H. Kellogg, and had the opportunity of many personal contacts with the doctor. Kellogg “took a liking” to him and “poured out a wealth of information covering his long career, including his personal life.” Kellogg told him “things he had never before told to anyone” (Charles R. MacIvor Letter, Mar 4, 1981, MacIvor’s Letter Collection). After Kellogg’s death, Charles MacIvor “inherited” materials from Kellogg “ (Harry J. Weber to MacIvor, Feb 9, 1968, MacIvor’s Letter Collection). This collection mainly contains Charles R. MacIov’s personal collections of materials relating to John H. Kellogg and the Battle Creek Sanitarium. It includes numerous correspondence, articles, manuscripts, and a large amount of photographs of Kellogg and the Battle Creek Sanitarium. One main feature of this collection is MacIvor’s unfinished book manuscript, The Lord’s Physician, a biography of John H. Kellogg from the author’s perspective as a personal friend of the doctor. The sources from which MacIvor gathered materials are mainly the following five locations: 1. Michigan State University Archives, East Lansing, Michigan. 2. Ellen G. White Estate, Washington D. C. 3. Center for Adventist Research, Andrews University, Berrien Spring, Michigan. 4. Materials “inherited” from John H. Kellogg after his death. 5. Charles R. MacIvor’s personal collections. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the collection, it is not possible to identify the provenance of each item listed in the collection except a few items noted by MacIvor himself. Except two original letters written and signed by John H. Kellogg, almost all of the Kellogg letters are type-written copies of the originals, many of which are correspondence between Kellogg and Seventh-Day Adventist leaders such as George I Butler, Steven N. Haskell and D. H. Kress. Great cautions should be given to the proper use of the John H. Kellogg letter collection due to its secondary nature, namely, type-written copies of the original. Any serious researchers should seek to verify the accuracy of the type-written copies before using them for any scholarly research.

Provenance

Charles R. MacIvor’s wife donated this collection to the Andrews University Center for Adventist Research in 2006, apparently not long after Charles’ death.

Restrictions Apply

Yes

Use Restrictions

All users of this collection will be required to complete the “Application to Use Unpublished Records,” and to observe the regulations specified in the "Patron Agreement" and "Researcher’s Code of Conduct." All records in this collection are open and available for research. Citation for this collection: Box ___, Fld ___, [Charles MacIvor] (Collection 251), Center for Adventist Research, James White Library, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI.