Ten years ago 18 tractor trailers loaded with historical documents and artifacts headed south for their new home in Atlanta. For several years ABHS had been looking for a location where the Samuel Colgate Historical Library, then housed in Rochester, NY, and the denominational archives of American Baptist Churches, USA, in Valley Forge, PA, could be consolidated into the single largest collection of Baptist-related materials worldwide, and housed with room for growth.
Meanwhile, at the Mercer Atlanta campus, president Bill Underwood and vice-president Richard Swindle were looking to strengthen institutional ties with Baptists so invited ABHS to come to Mercer. Dr. Swindle was especially instrumental in this effort, and in seeing that the space was configured for the Society’s needs.
Dr. Deborah Van Broekhoven, Executive Director at the time of the move, and other ABHS staff and volunteers packed thousands of books and archival boxes, planned the layout of 12,000 square feet of climate-controlled space, unpacked archives and library, and shelved them in the new location.
Today the resources of the Historical Society are used by people from all over the world. Scholars come from many countries, and Research-by-Mail requests from many more. Researchers consult missionary papers, pastors’ sermons, property records, collections of hymnals, documentation of foreign and home missions, and much more.
