News

July 27, 1707  The Philadelphia Baptist Association was founded as the first Baptist association in the U.S.  Five churches began the association which has grown to 124 congregations today. ABHS has records and minutes from this association beginning in 1770.  We also have the banner used to celebrate their 300th anniversary.

 

Today is the 100th anniversary of Walter Rauschenbusch’s death.  He was a great theologian and the innovator of the social gospel.   Recently a conference on “The Legacy of Walter Rauschenbusch” featured speakers who celebrated the contributions of this man whose wisdom is relevant in dealing with today’s issues.  Videos of some of those speakers, including Paul Raushenbush (pictured here), Walters’ great grandson, are available on ABHS’s YouTube channel.

July 24 2018   Now available in our on-line catalog, an inventory of the Francis F. Fardig Papers RG 1098.    We cannot find much about Fardig, but he was music director at Bacone College in 1930-1931. He took many photographs of the campus, music groups and people, such as Acee Blue Eagle, also named Alex C. McIntosh, on the Arkansas River.   Materials in the collection are primarily from Fardig’s time at Bacone College, including many of Native American subjects, like A.C. McIntosh and school choral groups and campus buildings, many identified. File list: Bacone materials; baptism photographs, Trail of Tears pageant 1931. To see the inventory, go to: https://libraries.mercer.edu/archivesspace

 

July 21, 2018  Now available in our on-line catalog, an inventory of the Ernest J. Sperring Papers RG 1570.  Sperring was born in Ontario, New York and received a BA from Houghton College in 1949, a Bachelor of Divinity from Eastern Baptist Seminary in 1952, and a Master of Theology from the same institution in 1961. He served in many East Coast churches including St. John’s Italian Baptist Church in Trenton, New Jersey, Mantua Baptist in Upper Darby, Pennsyvania and Highfield Baptist Church in Moncton, Canada. He served in the Navy during World War II in both the European and Pacific theaters, and taught courses at Atlantic Baptist University, where there is a scholarship in his name. This collection includes a large selection of sermons with inventory by date, subject and title. The donor has also graciously digitized a selection of recorded sermons and so we have some of Sperring’s sermons in audio form!   To see the inventory, go to: https://libraries.mercer.edu/archivesspace

 

 

July 19, 1651.  John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes and John Crandall arrived in Lynn, MA, and began preaching illegally. Baptists were considered heretics and were banned from Massachusetts.  Clark spent time in the Boston jail after preaching in Lynn.   He eventually helped found Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.  Holmes was severely whipped for his heretical views. A year later he was named pastor of the Newport, RI, Baptist church where he stayed for 30 years.  Crandall was imprisoned and whipped, and eventually help found the Baptist church at Westerly, Rl.  ABHS has many articles and histories from the Baptist churches in Lynn.

If your church has an significant anniversary coming up soon, and you would like an Anniversary Certificate from ABHS, please go to the “For Churches” page and scroll towards the bottom to download the Certificate request.  Your church will be listed in our Newsletter, Primary Source, on this web site, and on Facebook.

July 16, 1759  Rev. Isaac Backus posted a notice at First Baptist Church of Middleborough, MA, that a list must be made of all who belong to the church.  This was so that they could be excused from the ‘church tax’ that each resident paid to support the Standing Order churches.  Backus spent a lot of time fighting to eradicate state support of churches.  He maintained that it robbed the local Baptist churches from building their own buildings, supporting their pastors, and establishing colleges to train preachers and expand their ministries.  Eventually the Religious Freedom Act was included in the Bill of Rights.  ABHS has a collection of Isaac Backus’s papers including sermons, correspondence, and a journal of family data.

July 13, 1813  Ann and Adoniram Judson arrived in Rangoon, Burma and began their mission work.  Ann died in 1826, but Adoniram worked in Burma for 37 years.  ABHS has several letters from Ann some of which deal with the change of views on baptism.  There are 5 linear feet of correspondence and other memorabilia of Adoniram’s.  The ship pictured here is a model of the ship the Judson’s sailed in from Salem, MA in 1812.  There are other artifacts in the Judson Memorial Room at ABHS including Adoniram’s trunk and desk which he used in Burma.

July 10, 1851  Marcia Dawes Ingalls, with her husband Lowell Ingalls, sailed for the mission station in Burma.  Even though Lowell died in 1856, Marcia continued her work  for 46 years.  She endured two fires that destroyed virtually all her personal property and feared for her life when the chief of a hostile tribe and his warriors approached her home.  She showed courage by confronting them kindly and told them stories about America.  They left without harming anyone.  ABHS has 16 folders of correspondence from the Ingalls.

July 8, 2018   Now available in our on-line catalog, an inventory of the Glen Stassen Papers RG 1558. Glen H. Stassen helped define the social-justice wing of the evangelical movement in the 1980s and played a role in advancing nuclear disarmament talks toward the end of the Cold War.  Dr. Stassen championed a pragmatic approach to social justice and world peace, outlining a program of grass-roots activism to reduce military spending, improve the lives of the disadvantaged and give citizens a voice in international conflict resolution.  His father, Harold E. Stassen, was a former Minnesota governor and champion of the United Nations.  This collection includes  Personal papers,  speeches, notes and preliminary drafts of his published works, correspondence, teaching materials and extensive research materials.  To see the inventory, go to: https://libraries.mercer.edu/archivesspace.

July 6, 1849   The first Baptist Church in California was organized in San Francisco (First Baptist) by Osgood Church Wheeler.  He also started churches in San Jose and Sacramento.  First Baptist has had 22 pastors, and when one of its previous buildings burned down in the 1906 earthquake, the congregation moved their facilities to what has now become the heart of the City, near Market and Van Ness.  ABHS has a large collection of directories, histories and articles about First Baptist, San Francisco.