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Re: Advice needed on setting up a church archives



Paul:
        I too often help church archives and archivists in my "spare time".
I highly recommend the following publication by the Society of American
Archivists, Religious Archives: An Introduction by August R. Suelflow. My
copy was published in 1980. If it is currently  our of print, perhaps one of
our colleagues in the area will share a copy with you. You can try the SAA
website.
         My advice about the records themselves is that you organize the
records in such a manner that someone needing them, including your self,
will be able to locate the item or items that you list on your "inventory"
or summery of the records. I usually advice "keep it simple". You might also
look into the possibility of having these records microfilmed. This can
often be done by denominational archives or local historical societies, at
little or no cost to the church. Here in Arkansas the state archives has
been microfilming church and other religious records since the 1950s.
        Good luck with your project.
Russell P. Baker, CA
Arkansas History Commission and State Archives
One Capitol Mall
Little Rock, AR 72201
501-682-6900
russell.baker@mail.state.ar.us <mailto:russell.baker@mail.state.ar.us>


-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Schlotthauer [mailto:PSCHLOTTHAUER@CS.COM]
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 6:24 PM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Advice needed on setting up a church archives


I have been asked by my church, because of my archival training, to oversee
the organization of the parish's archives.  The church was founded in New
York City in the early 1860s and its records have never been organized
properly, so there are large numbers of documents scattered  throughout
several rooms of the building.  Ideally, of course, a project archivist
should be hired to tackle this, but I know that isn't going to happen, and
since I have a full-time job it would take me years to do this alone based
on
whatever free time I could volunteer.  So several well-educated but
archivally inexperienced members of the congregation have offered to assist.
And here's where I need some advice: how does one maintain control over a
collection processed by a group (or can this even be done)?

The first stage--the preliminary survey--will be fairly easy.  I'll assign
boxes or areas to individuals and give some instructions on how to survey,
including the concept of original order, warnings about dealing with brittle
paper, stuck-together photos, etc.  Based on the resulting inventories and
in
conformity with the archival mandates for congregations of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, I will then devise an arrangement scheme.

But it's the subsequent arrangement stage that I foresee as problematic.
For
instance, it's likely that records belonging in the same series or subseries
will be dispersed among several locations; how will I be able to manage and
coordinate the processing efforts of several people?  The more I think about
it, the more impossible it seems, yet at this point I am loath to tell the
pastors that it can't be done, especially since they were hoping I could set
up some kind of exhibit in 2002 to mark the 25th anniversary of the
consecration of the present building.

Have any of you ever managed or been involved in a similar processing
situation, whether for a church or another organization?  If so, I would
greatly appreciate any advice you might be able to offer on logistics.
Although processing by more than one person will be inefficient, I am hoping
there is a way that it can be done with reasonable effectiveness, and any
tips or suggestions you might have will be greatly appreciated.  Please feel
free to reply off-list if you wish, and thanks in advance.

Paul Schlotthauer

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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>