Christian Chronicle archives available online

In 2020 the Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC) awarded funding to Brown Library Special Collections and Archives under its TexTreasures Grant program.  The $25,000 grant facilitated digitization of the full print run of the Christian Chroniclea major, global newspaper serving Churches of Christ since 1943.

This digital repository of The Christian Chronicle is the result of a partnership among Special Collections and Archives, Abilene Christian University (Abilene, TX), The Christian Chronicle, Oklahoma Christian University (Edmond, OK), Oklahoma Historical Society (Oklahoma City, OK), and University of North Texas (Denton, TX), and is available here:

The Chronicle featured this online collection in a story in the current issue:

Catching up on 80 years of Christian news

From the first issue, The Chronicle was globally aware. Each issue since has carried news and information about Churches of Christ from around the world. It is rich in information like no other source.  We will be able to write better history because this material is available.

 

Finding Aid Round Up

We’ve been busy writing finding aids for recent acquisitions and revising finding aids for sets of papers already in our holdings. You can browse all of our collections on DigitalCommons. See something below that piques your interest or could be useful for your research? Get in touch and let us know what you’re thinking about; we’d love to help!


Edwin Harold “Ed” Enzor, Jr. Papers, 1950-2015, MS#443 [Revised Finding Aid]
This collection includes materials created by Edwin Harold “Ed” Enzor, Jr. including documents, tapes, negatives, and binders.

James Orville Wilburn Papers, 1927-1970, MS#451 [Revised Finding Aid] 
James Orville Wilburn was born March 9, 1905 in Grove County, Kansas. He passed away on September 7, 1970 in Lubbock, Texas. He was a preacher in the Church of Christ and participated in multiple debates, including with Russellites and Jehovah’s Witnesses. He married Frances Mae on September 1, 1930. The couple worked in ministry throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, California, and Kansas. These papers include a set of sermon notes, clippings, study notes and ephemera collected by James Orville Wilburn over the course of his ministerial career.

From the James Orville Wilburn Papers, 1927-1970. Center for Restoration Studies MS#451.

Noble Festus Patterson, Jr. Papers, 1938-2013, MS#465 [Revised Finding Aid]
Noble Festus Paterson, Jr. was the editor of the Christian Journal. Terry J. Gardner and Patterson edited Foy E. Wallace, Jr.: Soldier of the Cross. This collection includes Patterson’s correspondence, topical files, church materials (e.g., bulletins, directories, etc.), sermons, photographs, 35mm slides, and cassettes. Notably, the first box includes correspondence about Foy E. Wallace, Jr. following his death, and correspondence and photos concerning Patterson’s edited work on Wallace: Foy E. Wallace, Jr.: Soldier of the Cross.

Ewell Prather Papers, 1767-1978, MS#478 [Revised Finding Aid]
Ewell Prather served as Director of Security at Abilene Christian University. The Ewell Prather Papers includes Prather family genealogical and historical information.

Hermitage Church of Christ (Nashville, TN) Records, 1967-2017, MS#499 [New Finding Aid]
Hermitage Church of Christ (Nashville, TN) was established in 1967 (formerly known as Berryville Church of Christ) and closed in 2018 (renamed New Garden Church). Two cubic foot boxes of directories, ministry information, correspondence, financial statements, audio materials on cassette, and photographs and audio materials on CDs and DVDs.

From the Hermitage Church of Christ (Nashville, TN) Records, 1967-2017. Center for Restoration Studies MS#499.


Stay tuned for more installments of Finding Aid Round Ups!

Be on the lookout: Focus Magazine

Today a researcher inquired about our holdings of Focus Magazine. I was thrilled that he discovered our issues through the library online catalog…(cataloging unbound periodical issues has been a special focus lately). We have just three issues but we need a nice robust collection of this journal. Pictured here are scans of the covers of the issues we hold. Can you please help us build the collection?

Focus Magazine, February 2000, front cover

Focus Magazine, February 2000, front cover

Focus Magazine, April 2000, front cover

Focus Magazine, April 2000, front cover

Focus Magazine, May 2000, front cover