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We Are What We Do Where We Do It.
I find myself in occasional discussion with a colleague in our field when the observation arises that what we do as archivists of religious collections is no different from the work of other archivists and has no special significance beyond what it means to the particular institution. That seems so obvious that it begs the question: why does this rise anew like some hardy but unwanted conversational weed? Not once in my ten years in public archives and university archives do I recall my colleagues feeling the need to inject this caveat into conversation. We worked within our domains understanding that problems are situational and that some situations are more similar than others.
The defensive posture-that archivists of religion perform no special or different professional task-belies the fact that as the largest component of the voluntary non-profit sector, religious organizations constitute a complex milieu where the rational and the symbolic achieve a sometimes obtuse, sometimes blindingly simple, but almost always obscure blend of meaning. One would expect to find at least some of that meaning expressed in the documentation that these bodies and individuals produce, or fail to produce.
Faith-based communities function with a vocabulary, an ethic, and a polity that defies easy appraisal and even those who serve as curators of permanent collections are challenged to deliver an interpretive rendition of the fit between the spiritual community and a highly secular society.
What does this mean for archivists of religious collections in our Section? We need as a group to exploit channels for collaboration as fruitfully as other Section's have done if we want to advance a cultural understanding of documentation on religious life and faith communities. Specifically, I refer to an understanding that exceeds the expectations of our sponsoring institutions-where presumably we are already having some impact. How better can we manage documentation given the resources and priorities of groups that find legitimacy in an historical message but whose programmatic activities seem to undermine, dismiss, or even contradict much of the history that the professional archivist attempts to document? Something is decidedly different about what we do. The difference lies in the contextual, where elements of documentary evidence can be special and exciting if we continue to refine our ability to capture it in new ways.
The seeds for cooperative ventures lie in our own Section. The Section has launched some collaborative discussions that could lead to identifying common concerns as archivists of religious collections. Our Models and Standards Committee will begin looking at how we can develop a shared vocabulary for purposes of indexing in full and free text environments. The Executive Committee used its time together to discuss the need for a shared cultural approach to the preservation of electronic records. The Committee is also looking for common approaches to the training of para-professionals who uniquely populate our terrain. The Communications Committee recognizes the need to work on vehicles for resource and information sharing of an ecumenical/inter-faith nature. The Section's work relies largely on those who have been called into leadership positions. I look forward to working with them to plant a few of the many ideas that make the Section an important resource for archivists of religion.
Evangelism on Television: How it All Began
The last half century has wrought mind-bending changes in everything from medicine to basketball. The same can be said for the so called "electronic church," with all its flaws and accomplishments. Today, Christian television programming is ubiquitous, with several religious networks broadcasting news, features, and evangelistic sermons. But until 50 years ago, there had never been a coast-to-coast television broadcast of a Christian evangelistic program in the United States.
The first such broadcast was of Percy and Ruth Crawford's Youth on the March program on October 9, 1949, from the Philadelphia area. Fifty years later on the World Wide Web, people can view this pioneering program again.
On October 9, 1999, the Archives of the Billy Graham Center (BGC) at Wheaton College opened on its website a new virtual exhibit about this first broadcast, thanks to the kind assistance of the Crawford family. The exhibit is called "As This is Our First Broadcast:" Percy and Ruth Crawford and the Birth of Televangelism. It can be found online at www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/crawford.htm.
With a popular ministry focused on young people, the Crawfords were no media neophytes. Based in the Philadelphia area, they had hosted an evangelistic radio broadcast for 18 years. The television program followed a format similar to that of the radio show.
Approximately two dozen stations from the ABC network carried the first Youth on the March program. Besides a testimony from a local weight lifter, the inaugural program, like those that followed, included several instrumental and vocal music selections led by Ruth Crawford. She was a talented composer and arranger who directed all the musical aspects of their work. The show concluded with a simple, direct sermon by Percy Crawford, followed by an invitation to the viewers to commit their lives to Christ. A contemporary newspaper reviewer remarked, "The 'Youth on the March' program is the best thing that could have happened to TV."
The Billy Graham Center is located on the Wheaton College campus at 500 College Avenue in Wheaton, Illinois. For further information, call the reference archivist of the BGC Archives at (630) 752 5910 or use thefollowing e-mail address: bgcarc@wheaton.edu.
CHI Director Emeritus and Section Founder August R. Suelflow Dies
The Rev. Dr. August R. Suelflow, director emeritus of Concordia Historical Institute which serves as the Department of Archives and History of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, died, August 28, 1999, at his home in University City, MO. He was 76. Dr. Suelflow served as director of Concordia Historical Institute from 1948 until his retirement in 1995, when he was named director emeritus. He also served as an adjunct professor at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, from 1975 until his death.
Dr. Suelflow played a role in the pioneer period of the development of religious archives in America, serving as chairman of the Society of American Archivists Committee on Religious Archives when it was established in 1953. He was honored as a Fellow of the SAA in 1964 and in 1976 he received the Sister M. Claude Lane Award for significant contributions in church archives. In 1990 he became a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists. Suelflow was also the author in 1980 of Religious Archives: An Introduction which was part of the SAA's Basic Manual Series, as well as several articles on standards for archives of religion.
"For many, many years he was the guiding force at Concordia Historical Institute and the one who more than any other arranged for the preservation of our precious history," stated the Rev. Daniel Preus, Director of CHI. Under Dr. Suelflow's leadership, the Lutheran historical collections grew to include an historical library of an estimated 58,000 items; an archives and manuscript department of more than 2.6 million items; and a museum collection of approximately 7,500 artifacts. The first separate building for the Institute's collection was dedicated during Dr. Suelflow's tenure in November of 1952, with major additions in 1979 and 1989.
Dr. Suelflow was born in Rockfield, Wisconsin. He was graduated from Concordia College in Milwaukee in 1942 and from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 1946. In 1947 he earned the master of sacred theology degree from the St. Louis seminary and was ordained in 1948 at Luther Memorial Church, Richmond Heights, MO. He was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, IL, in 1967. He is survived by his wife, Gladys; two children and five grandchildren.
Mark J. Duffy
ICA/Section on Archives of Churches and Religious Denominations Meeting and Conference
The Steering Committee for the International Council on Archives/Section on Archives of Churches and Religious Denominations [ICA/SKR] met in Nurnberg Germany, June 8, 1999. The meeting was held at the invitation of Dr. Helmut Baier, President of ICA/SKR and Director of Landeskirchliches Archiv (Lutheran Archives of Bavaria) in Nurnberg. Held at the Evangelical Lutheran Pedigerseminar, the meeting was well organized by colleagues from the Lutheran Archives in Nurnberg and attended by 11 members. There were six members of the ARCS from the United States present at the meeting as well as Archbishop Francisco Marchisano, President of the Pontifical Commission for Preservation of Cultural Heritage of the Church.
Since the Section was first established in 1996, much of the Steering Committee's work relates to expanding and diversifying the Committee and Section membership among religious bodies and institutions worldwide. New developments include a Spanish language brochure on the Section's goals and programs and the first Section's conference to be held in conjunction with an ICA meeting. The conference, Challenges in the Professional Management of Church Archives, will be held just prior to the XIV International Congress on Archives in Seville, Spain in September 2000. Mark J. Duffy, Kinga Perzynska and Christine Taylor are members of the Program Committee for the conference, and they have already secured a keynote speaker, the archivist from the Archdiocese and Cathedral in Seville, and four speakers from Spain for one session of the conference. In 1998, the Section included 71 members from 15 countries with a Steering Committee of 11 members from Canada, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, and the U.S.A.
For more information, e-mail Dr. Helmut Baier, Chair of the ICA/SKR, at LKANuernberg@t-online.de. Kinga Perzynska may also be contacted at cat@onr.com. or by calling (512) 476-6296. The ICA website is located at www.archives.ca/ica/.
Minutes of the Annual Business Meeting
Officers Present: Kinga Perzynska, Chair; Mark Duffy, Interim Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect; Sr. Blaithin Sullivan, CSJ, Past Chair/Nominating Committee Chair; Robert Johnson-Lally, Steering Committee At-Large; Diane Wells, Secretary. Members Present: 65
The Archivists of Religious Collections Section of the Society of American Archivists met Thursday, August 26, 1999, at the Hilton Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA. The general meeting was opened at 8:05 AM by the Chair with a request for a moment of silent reflection.
The Chair introduced Dr. Dennis Harrison, the new liaison from the SAA Council who updated the Section on the re-organization of liaison functions. He indicated that each liaison will work with five Sections and that he will be the liaison for ARCS.
The business meeting was called to order at 8:15 AM.
Minutes: The Chair called on Diane Wells, Secretary, who passed out copies of the minutes of the previous meeting, published in the November 1998 issue of The Archival Spirit. ACTION: It was moved and seconded that the Minutes of the September 4, 1998, meeting of the Archivists of Religious Collections Section be approved as published. Carried.
Nominating Committee Report: The Chair called on Sr. Blaithin Sullivan, Nominating Committee Chair, who expressed her appreciation to Nominating Committee members Nora Murphy and Loretta Greene who were not present at the meeting. She then passed out ballots for the election of Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and one Steering Committee At-Large position. The candidates for Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect were Kate McGinn and L. Dale Patterson. The candidates for Steering Committee At-Large were Sr. Mary Serbacki, OSF and Wesley W. Wilson. Members voted and the ballots were collected.
The Chair welcomed Mark Duffy, Vice-Chair/Chair Elect, whose term as Chair will begin at the end of the meeting.
By-Law Committee Report: The Chair called on Robert Johnson-Lally, Chair of the By-Law Committee, to report on the proposed by-law revision. This revision, published in the July 1999 issue of The Archival Spirit, reads as follows: Section VI.A: There shall be a Nomination and Elections Committee comprised of the Immediate Past Chair or his or her appointee and two members appointed by the Chair of the Committee at the close of the annual meeting. The Committee shall propose a nominee for each position to be filled. Additional candidates may be nominated from the floor at the annual meeting prior to the balloting; their names may be written in at the time of the election. ACTION: It was moved and seconded that the proposed revision be approved. Carried.
Communications Committee Report: The Chair called on Robert Johnson-Lally, Chair of the Communications Committee, who informed members that the ARCS Directory needs to be updated. He reviewed the steps taken recently to obtain current information but indicated that the response had not been good. Every member will receive a form requesting information for the directory over the next year and everyone was encouraged to respond. He also reported on the newsletter, The Archival Spirit, indicating that though the format is limited by SAA regulations, the committee is continually working to improve it. Johnson-Lally then turned the platform over to Web Coordinator, Tim Driscoll who announced that the ARCS website is now accessible and contains basic information about the Section, by-laws, committee membership, and the newsletter. It can also be used as a tool to communicate internally as well as to pass on information for the Section. The website is presently being hosted by the Archives of the Episcopal Church but will eventually be linked with the SAA website. The address is www.episcopalarchives.org/ARCS/homepage.html.
The Chair thanked Tim Driscoll and also Mark Duffy for their work on the website and also mentioned the possibility of a listserv for the Section which would further facilitate communication and the dissemination of information among members.
Models and Resources Committee Report: The Chair called on L. Dale Patterson, Chairman of the Models and Resources Committee, who reported on the resources survey. The purpose of the survey was to discover the types of resources member archives provide-such as brochures, guides, workshops, etc.-and then to make that information available to all members through a resource directory or other medium. Unfortunately, the response to the survey was small. However, Patterson indicated that the committee will continue to work on this project. The Chair asked that members approach the committee if they are interested in getting involved and survey forms were distributed for members to complete at the meeting.
Sr. M. Claude Lane Award Committee: The Chair called on Mark Duffy, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect to report on the Sr. M. Claude Lane Award. Before making his report, Duffy appealed to the members for their participation in the work of the Section. He asked members for just one hour of sharing. He distributed a form asking members to indicate what they would be willing to help with depending on their areas of interest and expertise. Choices included the newsletter, the directory, the various committees, etc. He urged members to get involved in the work of their section. He then explained that the Sr. M. Claude Lane Award, co-sponsored by SAA and the Society of Southwest Archivists, is given to a person in the field of religious archives who has been shown to exercise leadership in advancing the profession. He then reported that no one had been nominated this year.
Report on Elections: Sr. Blaithin Sullivan, CSJ indicated that the ballots for the election of Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Steering Committee At-Large had been tallied and announced the results: L. Dale Patterson, Archivist/Records Administrator, United Methodist Church Archives, elected Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Sr. Mary Serbacki, OSF, Province Archivist, Sisters of St. Francis, Holy Name Province, elected Steering Committee At-Large Member.
Sr. Blaithin then thanked all the nominees for their participation. She then announced that the members of the new Nominating/Election Committee will be: Kinga Perzynska, Catholic Archives of Texas and Lucinda Glenn Rand, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA with a third member to be announced.
Other Business: The Chair introduced Lisa Gibbon, 2000 Program Committee member, who discussed the criteria for session proposals for the SAA annual meeting in Denver, Colorado, August 28-September 3, 2000. Program proposals are due by October 8, 1999. Sessions are to be 90 minutes in length and limited to no more than three speakers and a chair or commentator. Proposal forms should be filled out completely and state the program proposal(s) in a clear and concise manner. Members questioned Gibbon about past SAA Program Committee response to ARCS session proposals and the difficulties the Section has encountered in having sessions accepted. Various means for improving this situation were discussed and the Chair encouraged members to submit proposals. Two archivists of religious collections, Lisa Gibbon and Margery Sly, are on the 2000 Program Committee.
The Chair introduced Kathleen Roe, member of the Council of State Historical Records Coordinators (COSHRC) who spoke about the National Forum on Archival Continuing Education (NFACE) project which is seeking funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The purpose of the project is to develop a forum for improving continuing education for archivists and others who care for historical records. As part of the information gathering phase of the project, she made available a Survey of Individual Continuing Education & Information Needs for distribution. Vicki Walch, who is coordinating the project, would like to have ARCS represented in the survey.
The Forum will be held in Decatur, GA, in April 2000. In response to a question from the Chair about SAA involvement in the project, Roe indicated that data gathered for the project will be given to SAA's Committee on Continuing Education and that five representatives from SAA will be invited to attend the Forum. The Chair encouraged ARCS members to participate.
The Chair introduced Joe Cohen, Diocese of Brooklyn, who gave an update on the U.S. Catholic Documentary Heritage Project. The Project provides basic information on Catholic archival repositories and collections via the Internet. The project is funded by the U.S. Catholic Historical Society and works with the Association of Catholic Diocesan Archivists (ACDA) and Women Religious institutions. Their website address is www.uschs.com .
The Chair reported on the ICA/Section of Archives of Churches and Religious Denominations meeting hosted by the Lutheran Archives of Bavaria in Nuremberg, Germany on June 7, 1999. Six members of ARCS were present at the meeting. The section wants to recruit more members from around the world. It is currently preparing a brochure in Spanish and planning a pre-conference meeting for the September 2000 International Congress on Archives meeting in Seville, Spain. The title of the pre-conference will be, Challenges in the Professional Management of Church Archives.
In conclusion, the Chair thanked all those who had contributed to the on-going work of the Section and encouraged members to volunteer for the committee(s) of their choice.
The business meeting was adjourned at 9:15 AM.
The business meeting was followed by a program featuring three simultaneous group discussions on the topics of: Access, led by Christine Taylor, Archdiocese of Seattle; Research, led by Kinga Perzynska, Catholic Archives of Texas; and Training, led by L. Dale Patterson, United Methodist Church Archives.
The results of the discussion groups were briefly summarized. Mark Duffy, who assumed his position as Chair, thanked Kinga for her tireless energy and efforts to improve the program of the Section and he reflected on the new directions that have developed under her leadership. He reminded members that the Steering Committee meeting would take place later in the day from 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM and that all members were welcome to attend.
The meeting closed at 10:05 AM.
Respectfully submitted by Diane Wells, Secretary
Nominations for the Steering Committee Sought
The Nominating Committee for the Archivists of Religious Collections Section (ARCS) is seeking nominees for the position of At-Large Member of the Steering Committee. As a member of the Steering Committee, at-large members serve in an advisory capacity to the Chair, assist with the planning of the Annual Meeting, and may be assigned specific responsibilities by the Chair. The two-year term for this position begins at the end of the Business Meeting in 2000. Please send a nomination form, postmarked by April 1, 2000, to Kinga Perzynska, Catholic Archives of Texas, P.O. Box 13124, Austin, TX 78711; by Fax: 512-476-3715; or by E-mail: cat@onr.com. All persons nominated will be contacted prior to being placed on the ballot. Nominees will need to submit biographical information and answer a question developed by the Nominating Committee by April 15, 2000. In addition to Kinga Perzynska, Chair, the 1999/2000 Nominating Committee includes Lucinda Glenn Rand, Graduate Theological Union Archives, Berkeley, CA; and Sr. Mary Serbacki, OSF, Sisters of St. Francis of Holy Name Province Archives.
Please provide the following information:
1) Name of nominee:
2) Address and institutional affiliation of nominee:
3) Daytime telephone number and e-mail address of nominee:
4) Is the individual aware of the nomination? Yes
5) Name of person making nomination:
6) Daytime telephone number of person making nomination:
Seeds of Hope, the history of the Sisters of Providence of Holyoke, MA, edited by Sister Dolores Liptak, RSM, and Grace Bennett, was published earlier this fall. The book covers the history of this religious congregation from 1873 through 1999. The mission of the congregation has always been, and continues to be, the care of sick and elderly people and orphaned children. To order this book, send the order form below to Grace Bennett, Archivist, c/o Sisters of Providence, 5 Gamelin Street, Holyoke, MA 01040-4080; or call (413) 536-7511, ext. 507.
Ship to:
Telephone:
Number of books:
For each book ordered, include $12.00, plus $3.00 for shipping and handling.
The Archival Spirit is published three times a year by the Archivists of Religious Collections Section of the Society of American Archivists. For membership information, contact SAA at: 527 South Wells, 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60607; (312) 922-0140; FAX: (312) 347-1452; e-mail: info@archivists.org.
The Editor would like to include in future issues your local news or newsletter information, items of interest in your area, and comments on current or recent projects. Send this information to: Daniel A. Stokes, Program Officer, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 111, Washington, DC 20408-0001; (202) 501-5610; FAX: (202) 501-5601; e-mail: daniel.stokes@arch1.nara.gov.