The Ralph Henry Gabriel Papers consist of correspondence, writings, and lecture notes, which document Ralph Henry Gabriel's scholarly research and writing, teaching responsibilities, administrative duties, and other professional activities during his tenure as a member of the Yale University Department of History (1915-1958). Gabriel's work as editor of the Pageant of America series and the Library of Congress series in American Civilization and as chairman of the 1930 program committee of the American Historical Association is also recorded in the papers. Correspondents include Yale faculty and administration, history professors at Yale and elsewhere, students and former students, publishers, and editors.

The papers, a gift from Ralph Gabriel in 1958 and 1962*, are arranged in four series: I. CORRESPONDENCE, 1928-1957; II. AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION FILES, 1927-1930; III. SCHOOL OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT AND YALE UNIVERSITY TEACHING FILES, 1942-1958; IV. TOPICAL FILES, 1917-1954.

*An album of Yale photographs taken during Gabriel's undergraduate years (1909-1913) has been transferred to YRG 48-A-52.

SERIES I. CORRESPONDENCE, contains general correspondence files and also includes reports, manuscripts, minutes, and other materials. Yale faculty correspondents include: John M.S. Allison, Charles M. Andrews, Edward Wight Bakke, Samuel Flagg Bemis, Arthur Darling, William C. Devane, Erwin R. Goodenough, Albert Galloway Keller, Leonard W. Labaree, Frank Monaghan, Ulrich B. Phillips, Elliot Dunlap Smith, and Arnold Whitridge. Gabriel's university committee work for the Course of Study Committee of Yale College, the Committee to Study the Problem of the Master's Degree, the Committee on Universities, Yale Studies for Returning Servicemen, and other committees is also arranged in this series. University administrators who corresponded with Gabriel include: James R. Angell, Albert Beecher Crawford, George Parmly Day, Edgar S. Furniss, Carl Lohmann, and Charles Seymour.

Involvement with Yale students is reflected through reader's reports for Ph.D. candidates and correspondence with students concerning examinations, recommendations, and job referrals. Among the former students who correspond with Gabriel concerning their research and employment are Charles Keller, Thomas LeDuc, Ralph G. Lounsbury, and James Stone. In addition to summer teaching positions and sabbaticals, especially those at the University of Sydney and Cambridge University, Gabriel's service as a faculty member at the School of Military Government in Charlottesville, Virginia during World War II is also documented.

Writing and editorial work, a substantive part of Gabriel's career, is documented through correspondence with such publishers and editors as: Arthur H. Brook, Norman Donaldson, and Malcom Davis of the Yale University Press; Emerson Brown, James M. Reid, Don Stewart, and S. Spencer Scott of Harcourt, Brace and Co., Charles P. Calhoun of the Ronald Press Co., Savoie Lottinville of the University of Oklahoma Press; and Thomas Wilson of the Harvard University Press. Files from 1928-1932 focus on the publication of the series Pageant of America, while files from 1943-1957, especially correspondence with Merle Curti and authors in the series, document Gabriel's activities and interest in the Library of Congress series in American Civilization.

Correspondence with fellow historians relating to professional concerns, such as the American Historical Association, include exchanges with: Dexter Perkins, John A. Krout, Perry Miller, Guy Stanton Ford, Dumas Malone, Edgar E. Robinson, David Potter, Henry Steele Commager, Chester Destler, and Allan Nevins.

Gabriel's civic and religious concerns, and his interest in the role of religion in higher education, are reflected in files relating to Yale in-China (see also: E. Fay Campbell, Francis H. Hutchins. Oliver S. Lyford, Robert A. Smith, Richard A. Weigle, and Rachel Dowd). Gabriel's participation in the Buck Falls Conference on religion and ethics and the Laymen's Movement for a Christian World are detailed through correspondence with Weyman C. Huckabee and Thomas Steele, and minutes of the latter organization. The files for 1944-1947 include correspondence with Louis Finkelstein and Jessica Feingold on the Conference on Science, Philosophy, and Religion and on the Institute for Religious and Social Study. These same files include correspondence with Charles A. Russell of the Hazen Foundation and Paul D. Shafer concerning Gabriel's address "Education and the Faith of America". The 1955-1957 files document Gabriel's interest in a committee of inquiry of the National Council of Churches of Christ on the church in civic and political life.

SERIES II. AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION FILES, 1927-1930, consists of files relating to the program committee of that organization. The files of program committee chairmen Samuel Flagg Bemis, Christopher B. Coleman, William. K. Boyd, and Ralph Gabriel are arranged in this series.

SERIES III. SCHOOL OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT AND YALE TEACHING FILES, 1942-1958, includes background material on the history of military government as well as source outlines, syllabi, and class rosters. Yale materials include notes, papers, and bibliographies.

SERIES IV. TOPICAL FILES, 1917-1954 consists of correspondence relating to the Library of Congress Series in American Civilization and the Pageant of America series, and files of Paul D. Evans, a Yale faculty member. Materials relating to Yale University include files of Sydney K. Mitchell, as chairman of the Yale History Department, and gradebooks for students, 1927-1947. These gradebooks are restricted until 75 years from the date of graduation. SERIES IV also includes two manuscripts on the history of religion and ideas. "Religion and Learning" (folders 389-390) is a history of the Church of Christ at Yale. These manuscripts are the only examples of Gabriel's books in the papers.