Here are just a few of our recent additions. Thank you–a BIG thank you!–to our generous friends and donors who build this permanent collection. This post describes our collecting philosophy for print and archival collections and this post has some additional information along with a link to our full collection development policy. We welcome your partnership to locate and preserve these valuable materials.
A donor sent us a box of directories from the Elm & Hudson and the Thomas Street Churches of Christ, both in Altus, Oklahoma. A few are pictured here. Congregational directories are valuable resources for genealogists and local historians and can serve much larger research projects. Often they include historical information and sometimes information about the ministries of the congregation. Usually the information they contain is unavailable elsewhere. We are always glad to see new directories come into the collection.
I have an old directory. How can I know if you need it? Great question. Chances are good we do not already have it. But we’ll be glad to check. The first thing you can do is look up your congregation in this finding aid to determine if we have an existing file. Our vertical files could contain a wide array of paper items. There might be a few bulletins, or a historical sketch, or a photograph or flyer or other kind of ephemera in the file. If your congregation is not listed in that finding aid, we do not have a file for it and therefore anything we receive will be a great new addition! We are always getting new items in, like these directories from Altus, and would be delighted to hear from you about similar items. Contact me at mac.ice@acu.edu or 325-2144 if I can assist further.
This week while processing a newly-acquired collection I found this issue of Arkansas Christian Herald. It is the final issue, volume 30 number 5, from May 2010. After checking our catalog, I realized we have very few issues of this paper. It is tabloid size, on newsprint, and is well-executed. Regional newspapers such as these provide a wealth of information that is not available in detail elsewhere. We need a complete run.
Will you please help us assemble a robust set of Arkansas Christian Herald for the benefit of students and researchers? Let’s partner together to build a comprehensive research-level collection. Contact me at mac.ice@acu.edu or 325-674-2144.
Arkansas Christian Herald, front page, May 2010