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Every late spring I submit an annual report for our North Carolina Baptist Historical Collection to the Association of Librarians and Archivists at Baptist Institutions (ALABI) in preparation for the annual meeting.  The reports for 2017 and 2018 follow and a special thanks to Rebecca, Beth, Kevin, Mel, and Stephanie, who all contributed to this work. Please do not hesitate to let SCA know if you have any questions!

2018:
The North Carolina Baptist Historical Collection had another productive year for 2018. Among its activities were the following:

Grants:

Throughout 2018, SCA focused on the digitizing of open-reel and cassette audiotapes for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. The grant, received in November 2017, was from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Recordings at Risk Grant. CLIR provided $50,000 for “Documenting the Evangelical Movement in the United States: Digitizing Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Open-Reel Audiotapes, 1957-1980.” A total of 1,339 items have been digitized by George Blood LP (Philadelphia) and SCA will now focus its efforts on making these materials available online by the end of 2019. These materials document the American evangelical movement and contain presentations by prominent Southern Baptist pastors and church representatives at a number of evangelical conferences and annual meetings of the Convention.

Baptist Portal:

SCA finalized the creation of its Baptist Portal, providing intuitive access for our many users. The categories include links to the CLIR Recordings at Risk materials, the Biblical Recorder, searching our digitized collections, and FAQs, among others:

We have also included links to other U.S. Baptist repositories.

Digitizing Baptist files:

The Baptist Church and Association files continue to be digitized and currently number 11,235 pages. 47 boxes have been completed thus far, with 136 still to go.

We also received donor funding for the digitizing of WF History Professor David Smiley’s papers, which includes audio recordings of his teaching the Reid Staton Bible Class at the Wake Forest Baptist Church.

Processing, Reference, and Outreach:

During 2018, we accessioned 15 accretions (nearly 32 linear ft.) for Baptist collections and received numerous publications for addition to our collection of monographs and serials.

We responded to 93 requests and visitors for our Baptist collections.

2017:
The North Carolina Baptist Historical Collection had another productive year for 2017. Among its activities were the following:

Awards:

The North Carolina Baptist State Convention presented SCA with a resolution of appreciation at a 2017 ceremony including Wake Forest President Nathan Hatch, Provost Rogan Kersh, Z. Smith Reynolds Library Dean Tim Pyatt, and SCA Director Tanya Zanish-Belcher. SCA was honored for its efforts in digitizing collections which are part of the North Carolina Historical Baptist Collection.

In November 2017, SCA was notified it was one of 16 recipients of a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Recordings at Risk Grant. CLIR will provide $50,000 for “Documenting the Evangelical Movement in the United States: Digitizing Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Open-Reel Audiotapes, 1957-1980.” George Blood LP (Philadelphia) will reformat and digitize approximately 1,500 at-risk and rare open-reel audio recordings for SCA. The open-reel tapes document the American evangelical movement and contain presentations by prominent Southern Baptist pastors and church representatives at a number of evangelical conferences and annual meetings of the Convention. The speakers and programs on the tapes document the denomination’s activities and subjects of discussion, 1957-1980, ranging from Baptist theology to broad cultural and societal issues. This project will result in the long-term preservation digital storage for these tapes, and broad access through the Wake Forest University North Carolina Baptist History Portal currently being developed. Once completed, there will be an active outreach program, focused on demonstrating how historians, researchers, and religious scholars can use these records in their research and teaching.

As primary source material, the insight this material provides for the American evangelical movement through four decades is invaluable on many levels. The speakers include prominent Southern Baptist leaders, including such notables as Kenneth Chafin, Billy Graham, Dale Moody, Wayne Oates, and Stephen Olford. The subjects range widely, from internal Baptist concerns relating to baptism and dancing at Baptist colleges, the role of the church in an increasingly liberal society, missionaries working abroad, political involvement, and the role of women. Historians, researchers, scholars, and students, whether focusing on culture, the evangelical movement, gender, or religion, will gain new perspectives and understanding by having access to these previously unavailable materials.

Digitizing Baptist files:

Digitizing of our Baptist Biographical Files was completed and 38,800 pages are now available online. The Baptist Church and Association files are being digitized and currently number 11,944 pages. 18 boxes have been completed thus far, with 63 still to go.

Processing, Reference, and Outreach:

During 2017, we accessioned 23 accretions (nearly 200 linear ft.) for Baptist collections and received numerous publications for addition to our collection of monographs and serials.

We responded to 80 requests and visitors for our Baptist collections.

The online Biblical Recorder software was updated.

DigitalNC added 19 new Baptist newspapers from our collections. Dating from 1857 to 1925, these newspapers were written for Christian communities from the mountains to the Piedmont to the coast of North Carolina. Most of the newspapers are affiliated with the Baptist denomination, and their audiences vary in size and geography. Some were published for specific churches and others were published for a wider audience by regional, state, or national organizations, like the North Carolina Baptist Missionary Worker and The Gospel Herald published by the Boards of the Baptist State Convention, and the Conflict published by the Anti-Evolution League of America.

• The Atlantic Messenger (New Bern, N.C.)
• The Baptist Messenger (Newton, N.C.)
• The Baptist Messenger (Wingate, N.C.)
• The Baptist Sunday School Monthly (Henderson, N.C.)
• The Baptist Worker (Gastonia, N.C.)
• The Blue Ridge Baptist (North Wilkesboro, N.C.)
• The Broad Street Worker (Winston, N.C.)
• Carolina Baptist (Hendersonville, N.C.)
• The Central Messenger (Wake Forest, N.C.)
• The Conflict (Memphis, Tenn.)
• Gaston County Baptist Messenger (Gastonia, N.C.)
• The Gospel Herald (Raleigh, N.C.)
• The Helper (Wilmington, N.C.)
• North Carolina Baptist Missionary Worker (Raleigh, N.C.)
• North Carolina Baptist Sunday School Chautauquan (Raleigh, N.C.)
• Southwide Baptist News and Ridgecrest Reporter (Marshall, N.C.)
• The Stanly Baptist (Big Lick, N.C.)
• The Vance County Union (Henderson, N.C.)
• West Chowan Baptist Messenger (Winton, N.C.)