Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Per deed of gift, rights are retained by the donor until her death, at which time they will transfer to WVU Libraries.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Bonnie Thurston Papers, A&M 4528, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of the Rev. Bonnie Bowman Thurston, Ph.D., 2019 and 2021.

Biographical / Historical

Bonnie Bowman Thurston was born in 1952 in southern West Virginia. She attended Bethany College and earned a B.A. in English. Thurston then went on to graduate work at the University of Virginia, earning M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English and Religious Studies. In addition, she has done post-doctoral work in the New Testament at Harvard Divinity School, Eberhard Karls University in Tuebingen, Germany, and the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem.

Thurston went on to teach at a number of institutions; the majority of her teaching career was spent as Associate Professor of Theology at Wheeling Jesuit University (1985-1995) and as Professor of New Testament at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (1995-2002). She has also been a lecturer at various summer programs, retreats, and other events.

Thurston retired from teaching in 2002 to focus on writing. She has published extensively on theological subjects and also writes poetry. Thurston currently lives outside of Wheeling, West Virginia and has maintained a strong connection to her native state throughout her life.

Scope and Contents

Papers of the Rev. Bonnie Bowman Thurston, religious scholar and author of Wheeling, West Virginia, including drafts of her books; six books of her poetry; working notebooks; personal correspondence; planners and calendars; newspaper clippings; and other material.

Series include:

Series 1. Writings; 1964-2021; box 1 - box 2, folder 24 and box 3, folders 1-8

Series 2. Printed Materials; 1981-2019; box 3, folders 9-16

Series 3. Correspondence; 1970-1997; boxes 4-5

Series 4. Calendars, Datebooks, and Planners; 1969-2019; box 2, folders 25-29; box 3, folders 17-22; box 6

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Bethany College (Bethany, W. Va.)
• Bible, Theology.
• Bible. New Testament Commentaries.
• Poets, American -- West Virginia
• Theologians.
• Theology and religious studies.
• Thurston, Bonnie (Bonnie Bowman)
• Women in Christianity.