Special Collections and Archives receives Texas State Library and Archives Commission grant

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Mac Ice

The Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC) recently awarded funding to Brown Library Special Collections and Archives under its TexTreasures Grant program. The $25,000 grant will facilitate digitization of the full print run of the Christian Chronicle, a major, global newspaper serving Churches of Christ since 1943. This project will ensure back issues of Chronicle will be available digitally by the end of summer 2021.

This project is just one of 44 made possible this year by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act. “Communities in every corner of Texas will benefit from the resources that have been made available through this list of forward-thinking grant proposals,” said TSLAC Director and Librarian Mark Smith.

TSLAC awards competitive grants annually, as funding allows. For the 2020 fiscal year, which runs from September 1, 2019, to August 31, 2020, TSLAC has awarded approximately $1.23 million in competitive grants. The TexTreasures Grant will provide assistance and encouragement to 12 libraries to provide access to their special or unique collections and to make information about those collections available to library users across the state, including ACU Library’s project to digitize Christian Chronicle.

“We are grateful to the Texas State Library & Archives Commission for their generous support of this digitization project,” said James Wiser, ACU Dean of Library Services & Educational Technology. “The Brown Library houses one of the preeminent archives of the Stone-Campbell Movement, a faith heritage that has contributed much to the religious tapestry of Texas history. Digitizing our tradition’s most influential newspaper allows us to preserve and disseminate this history for generations to come.”

“From the first issue, The Chronicle was globally aware,” said Mac Ice, ACU Director of Special Collections and Archives. “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.”

Front page, Christian Chronicle, October 14, 1960.

Back page, Christian Chronicle, October 14, 1960.

The Christian Chronicle digital archive will be available on the Portal to Texas History (www.texashistory.unt.edu) and the ACU online repository (www.digitalcommons.acu.edu).

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).

Two new scholarly journals launching soon

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Mac Ice

Students of Restoration Movement thought and history will want to be aware of two new academic journals.

Teleios is a join-venture by scholars from the International Churches of Christ (ICOC), the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, and Churches of Christ. Teleios is multi-disciplinary and multi-media, accepting articles, fiction, poems, and photographs.

Journal of Discipliana revives Discipliana and will be published by Disciples of Christ Historical Society. It will “explore issues relevant to all aspects of thought and religious life and practice within the historical or contemporary Stone-Campbell Movement.” Image may contain: 6 people

On the Shelf: New items added to Center for Restoration Studies collections, November 2020

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Mac Ice

In November our colleagues in Technical Services and Cataloging added 135 items to the Center for Restoration Studies, University Archives, and Rare Books collections. Among them are many books and periodical issues (both bound volumes and several more boxes of unbound issues), and a few university publications, and several hymnals. The unbound, single issue periodicals continue to be a special focus of cooperation between Special Collections and Technical Services.

A significant addition to the collection last month was a fine group of yearbooks from Abilene Christian Schools (formerly known as the Campus School or Demonstration School). These yearbooks spanned from the middle 1940s to the early 1970s and with one or two exceptions were all new-to-us. This group comes on the heels of similar acquisitions from Oklahoma Christian University and Rochester University. They are a welcome addition to our collection and we are always looking for other catalogs and yearbooks from sister schools across the Restoration Movement. If you can help us build out this set of materials, contact Mac Ice at mac.ice@acu.edu.

Many items added in November are not only new to us, the work performed on them reflects original cataloging, which is a tremendous contribution to knowledge about information resources from and about the Stone-Campbell Movement.

Abilene Christian College. Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian College, 1952, yearbook, 1952; Abilene, Texas. University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.

Our goal is to build a comprehensive research-level collection of print materials by, for, and about the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. But beyond assembly and preservation, a collection should be discoverable by those who need the information. Collecting and preserving is only part of our task; those objects must be described and made available. Thanks to the close and careful work of our colleagues upstairs, who describe our holdings, these materials are now discoverable. By discoverable I mean a patron can utilize our online catalog (such as by searching by author, or title, or subject) to find these materials.

135 new items…cataloged, shelved, and ready for research: Continue reading →