The Eugene Ransom and Eleanor Jeanne Bailey Ransom papers have been carefully arranged and maintained probably by Jeanne Ransom who had an interest in genealogy and family history. The collection consists largely of binders of materials (photographs, clippings, and other memorabilia) arranged chronologically. The binders either relate to Eugene or Jeanne alone or to their activities together. Of interest are those materials relating to Eugene's service with the Civilian Public Service during World War II, to his work with the Wesley Foundation, and to the couples' involvement in issues of peace and justice. The collection also includes autobiographical material, sermons, writings, scattered correspondence, and subject files. In addition, the collection documents the Bailey family with genealogical information and family documents. One of the letters in the collection is from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declining a speaking invitation.
Born May 5, 1914 in Milwaukee, Wis., Eugene Ransom received his Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1941).
Following his graduation and with the outbreak of war, Ransom as a conscientious objector served in the Civilian Public Service first at Camp Stronach in the Manistee National Forest and then as a medical technician at the Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. In July 1943, he married Jeanne Bailey who had received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1942. She taught science for one year in Clintonville, Wisconsin before her marriage.
With the end of the war and his release from the CPS, Ransom went back to school to receive his bachelor of divinity degree in theology from Garrett Theological Seminary, Evanston, Ill. (1949). During this time he also served as pastor of the Wesley Chapel Methodist Church in Kenosha County, Wis. In 1949, he was appointed associate pastor of the First Methodist Church in Milwaukee, also serving as director of the local Wesley Foundation. In 1951, he came to Ann Arbor as director of the Wesley Foundation at the University of Michigan serving for seventeen years until 1968. While in Ann Arbor, Ransom received his Master of Arts degree in speech (1957). He received his Ph.D. degree in education, counseling and guidance from the University of Michigan in 1964. His doctor's dissertation dealt with the role of the campus minister in a selected group of American colleges and universities.
Ransom had other responsibilities during his years at the University of Michigan, as director of the Methodist Student Movement for the state of Michigan (1956-1960) and as president of the Association of College and University Ministers of The Methodist Church and president of the Association of Religious Counselors at the University of Michigan. In 1968, he and his wife Jeanne Bailey Ransom left Ann Arbor for Nashville, Tennessee with his appointment as director of the Department of Campus Ministry of the United Methodist Church. He retired in 1979. The couple moved to Adrian, Michigan where he served as chaplain and instructor of social ethics at Adrian College. In 1985, the couple returned to Ann Arbor. Eugene Ransom died December 27, 2001. Jeanne Bailey Ransom died June 27, 2011.
As a pastor, Eugene and Jeanne were both concerned with social issues, especially peace and justice, racial equality, women's and gay rights.
