Abilene Christian University Library joins mourners around the globe who lament the death of Thomas H. Olbricht. Dr. Olbricht came to Abilene in 1967 to teach theology and Biblical studies and concluded his tenure here as the founding Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.  All the while he was a steadfast friend and advocate for the library, and in the years since he remained an encourager, supporter, and user of the resources stewarded by Brown Library.

When Christian librarians mourn we do so with one eye on the great hope of God’s action in Jesus Christ, and with the other we look at the card catalog, or the finding aids, or the databases. We take comfort in the great hope to which Tom called us through his preaching and teaching.  And we also take comfort from the task entrusted to us, the task of stewarding the great tradition into which Tom initiated so many students and to which he contributed a vast amount of superb articles, essays, lectures, and monographs.   Dr. Olbricht’s legacy is certainly embedded within the churches he served and the students he taught.  It is also shelved in our stacks, filed in our archives, and hosted in databases and our online repository.

We know that many, many people grieve his death because they remember the profound ways in which his work shaped their thinking.  It is therefore a great privilege, along with many other libraries, to collect and steward Tom’s scholarship, and to facilitate access to it.  To discover the print materials in our collection, search the catalog here [https://ablc.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/acu/search/results?qu=thomas+h.+olbricht+&rt= ]

Tom and Dorothy were involved in significant ways in editing, publishing and supporting two major periodicals to which we can readily point readers. Mission [https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/missionjournal/] is available in full-text, and selected articles from Restoration Quarterly [https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/restorationquarterly/] are available for available for full-text download.

In 2001 he joined Drs. Doug Foster, David Edwin Harrell, Jr. and Richard Hughes to co-teach a week-long intensive course in Advanced Restoration History for the ACU Graduate School of Theology.  That course was filmed and is available here: https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_audio_video/19/ .

Over the years he spoke often at Lectureship and Summit on topics ranging from Biblical studies, exegesis of specific texts, to various aspects of Stone-Campbell history and thought.

In 2003 at a mini-conference adjunct to the Society of Biblical Literature meeting in Atlanta, Dr. Hans Rollmann honored Tom’s scholarly contributions.  That, too, was filmed and can be viewed here [https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_audio_video/11/] along with similar presentations about the work of Drs. J. J. M. Roberts, Everett Ferguson, Abraham Malherbe, and David Edwin Harrell, Jr.

To view memories of Tom as a teacher and professor, visit the Special Collections blog.

Authored by Mac Ice
Director of Archives and Special Collections