About the Collection
Herbert G. May
Brief Bio
Herbert Gordon May (1904-1977) was an internationally recognized linguist, cartographer, Biblical translator, and theologian.
A graduate of Wesleyan University (1927), he received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1934), B.D. from Chicago Theological Seminary (1930), and D.D. from Wesleyan (1952). Between 1934 and 1966, he was a professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology.
After the School of Theology moved to Vanderbilt University, he held a joint professorship at both Vanderbilt and Oberlin from 1966 until his retirement in 1970. Following his retirement, he taught at Yale Divinity School and Oberlin College.
Dr. May is probably best known today for having been a member of the Revised Standard Version Bible Committee (originally the Standard Bible Committee), Division of Education and Ministry of the National Council of Churches of Christ of the U.S.A. He was chairman of the Committee from 1966-1974, and head of its Old Testament Section from 1960 until his death. He was also co-editor of the Oxford Bible Atlas and the Oxford Annotated Bible and Apocrypha, as well as one of four associate editors of the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. A prolific writer, he was author of Our English Bible in the Making, Ezekiel: Introduction and Exegesis, and Material Remains of the Megiddo Cult. Following his death in 1977, a number of books were released in his honor, including Translating and Understanding the Old Testament: Essays in Honor of Herbert G May.
Scope and Content
Dr. May had a profound interest in the use of visual aids in teaching. His contributions to the School of Divinity's lantern slide collection include images from companies, books, and his own private images taken during his work on archaeological sites and personal trips to Palestine and the Middle East during the 1930s-1960s. Also included are photographs taken by Mrs. Helen May, Olaf Lind (an employee of American Colony Photographers), other Oberlin College professors (most notably Kemper Fullerton), and Mrs. Lydia Einsler of Jerusalem (friend of Herbert May). May also acquired artifacts such as clay tablets and pot sherds that are kept by the Religion Dept. of Oberlin College.
The slides, now located in Oberlin College Special Collections, number nearly 3,000, and most have been digitized. Slides that have not been digitized include previously published images and halftone prints of maps, artworks, inscriptions, images relating to Khorsobad, Hittites, and Persia, and other images unrelated to the subject of the archaeology of Palestine. Additional film slides that were compiled by Herb May and Tom Frank when glass slides were no longer used, but these have not been digitized.
Also added was a selection of images reproduced from negatives taken by Mrs. Helen May during their trips to Palestine in the 1930s. These images are now part of the Herbert G. May Papers RG 30/46 in the Oberlin College Archives.
Written by Kate Lansky, August 2005. Last Updated August 2026