Got a Methodist question? Go to Archives and History
While holding a 1922 photograph showing a United
Evangelical Church conference, archivist L. Dale Patterson describes the
storage system at the United Methodist Commission on Archives and
History in Madison, N.J.
UMNS photos by John C. Goodwin. |
By Linda Bloom*
Oct. 17, 2008 | MADISON, N.J. (UMNS)
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The Rev. Robert Williams visits with Joanne Utley during her research.
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What is a circuit-rider?
If you don’t know, you can find the answer at www.gcah.org. Just click on the "UMC History" link.
The United Methodist Commission on Archives and History is beefing up
its Web site—not only to help answer random queries, but also to
provide quicker access of the denomination’s historical information to
scholars, church bodies and the person in the pew.
"We claim that it’s probably the richest collection for research on
global Methodism in the world," said the Rev. Robert Williams, who
became the commission’s chief executive in 2006.
Located for 26 years on the bucolic campus of Drew University in New
Jersey, the Commission on Archives and History oversees denominational
treasures in its 16,000-square-foot space.
Upstairs, a reading room with wireless Internet access offers
materials for scholars and other interested readers to peruse.
Downstairs, on two underground stories, are roughly two miles worth of
records, most of which can be accessed within 10 or 15 minutes through
the database.
The collection is not all paper and celluloid. Numerous ceramic busts
of Methodism founder John Wesley—the type of which used to adorn
mantelpieces in British Methodist homes—can be found, along with
Wesley’s death mask and reproductions of a teapot made for him by the
Wedgewoods.
To Williams and the staff at Archives and History, it’s all about
reclaiming the denomination’s past to point it toward the future. "We
just don’t do history for nostalgia’s sake," he said, going on to quote
Albert Outler, the 20th-century United Methodist theologian: "Nostalgia
is mortgaging the future for the sake of the past."
Research requests
During the past year, the commission received more than 1,000
research requests and hosted 64 registered users of the archives,
including 34 "long-term" researchers who stayed for three or more days
or traveled a long distance to be there.
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"We claim that it’s probably the richest collection for research on global Methodism in the world," says Williams.
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Information seekers range from high school students to senior scholars,
according to L. Dale Patterson, the archivist-records administrator.
While the number of e-mail inquiries is increasing rapidly, "we still
get a lot of phone calls," he said.
Want to know how to preserve old photos and documents? Archives has
some tips that Patterson calls "nonprofit affordable." Church members
also can learn how to preserve fragile items, record oral histories and
build a homemade humidifier through the archival leaflet series.
Taking a vacation? Must-see places are listed in "A Traveler’s Guide to the Heritage Landmarks of the United Methodist Church."
Interested in listening to history in the making? Archives now has
digitized versions of 80 one-hour shows from a 1960s radio program
called "Night Call"—one of the first talk radio programs. More than 600
programs can be found in the United Methodist audio archives at http://audio.umc.org.
Looking for a photo? An extensive collection includes a quarter million images of mission work dating from 1890 to 1925.
How to preserve
Queries from local congregations often fall into two broad
categories, according to Patterson. "For the local church, one of our
most frequently asked questions is what type of records does a local
church need to keep," he noted. The other category deals with what
materials are available "to help churches celebrate their history."
The commission does provide a set of guidelines online, in
conjunction with the annual conferences, about keeping church records.
Locating such records must be done elsewhere. "When a church closes,
those church records are sent to the annual conference archives," he
explained.
Congregations planning to mark an anniversary can access a series of
small booklets "that walks them through the planning," Patterson said.
The Web site also has short biographies of famous United Methodists,
bulletin inserts and history notes "which just answer simple, basic
questions."
Minutes and journals of church agencies and commissions, as well as
all the newspapers of annual conferences, are collected at Archives and
History. "Several of our conferences have gone to all digital media," he
said. "We are developing, essentially, an online newspaper depository."
The commission recognizes serious research through a series of grants
and awards. To expand its focus beyond the United States, a new grant
called "The World is My Parish" will provide $1,000 to $3,000 for
researching the history of global Methodism.
International commission
The new commission includes members from the Philippines, Brazil, Zambia, Norway and Mozambique.
Simão Jaime, the returning member from Maputo, Mozambique, is an
assistant archivist in that country’s national archives and stopped by
Madison recently to do research himself. The commission has approved a
$10,000 grant for a training program of archivists in Mozambique.
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Busts of John Wesley that once adorned mantelpieces in British Methodist homes are among safeguarded church treasures.
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The commission relates to the historic black Methodist denominations,
according to Williams, and has a significant partnership with the
African American Methodist Heritage Center.
Archives and History staff members also want to ensure that the
denomination’s Evangelical United Brethren heritage, as well as the
history of other predecessor groups, is not lost. Williams sits on the
advisory council for the Center for EUB Heritage at United Theological
Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where the commission had its organizing
meeting in September.
As The United Methodist Church concentrates on four areas of ministry
focus around leadership, church growth, poverty and global health over
the next four years, Archives and History will look at ways to give
historical perspectives of the denomination’s previous successes in
those areas.
With a healthy financial picture—which Williams attributes to careful
management by former long-time leader Charles Yrigoyen Jr. and a
previous reduction in staff—the commission is well-positioned to provide
such assistance.
"The decision was made that our primary worth had to be in the
archival end," he said. "We believe that our reserves are critical to
being the custodians of the record of the church. We have to care for
what’s been entrusted to us."
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Audio
The Rev. Robert Williams: "to be sure that The United Methodist Church does not lose its memory."
L. Dale Patterson: "If we want our future to have a past"
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Resources
Commission on Archives and History
Online Audio Archives
Archives and History Grants
Center for Evangelical United Brethren Heritage | 
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