Beacon Street Diary

Congregational history seminar

What is Congregationalism and why is it important?

Experience our popular Growing Deeper Roots seminar series in condensed form. Dr. Peggy Bendroth will cover more than three centuries of Congregational history in a one-day workshop. From the early Protestants of western Europe to the formation of the current American denominations, there is plenty to discuss.

All are welcome, from scholars to the simply curious.

July 28th
10:00 am – 3:00 pm

$15. Advance registration is required.

The Commission of Nineteen

The following is a portrait taken at a Commission of Nineteen dinner. The commission was convened to analyze and report on the Constitution and By-Laws of the National Council, on the Relations of the Missionary Societies, and on the Secretaryship of the National Council.

The Commission was organized in 1910 and published the Report of the Commission of Nineteen on Polity in 1911. The report was also to be delivered at the 1913 meeting of the National Council in Kansas City.

For more information on the Commission of Nineteen, search the online catalog for "National Council, Commission of Nineteen."

--Abraham

News from Synod

The United Church of Christ just had their annual meeting (Synod) over the weekend, and of course our own Peggy Bendroth was there to represent. One of the amusing diversions crafted for the event included some historical reenactment. Read more about this from the UCC News. Hat tip to BBZ, Peggy and her husband Norman who participated in the festivities.

-Jessica

Cornell University’s Making of America Collection

Cornell University's Making of America Collection, a digital library of primary sources related to American social history, is a great resource for researchers. The collection consists of monographs and journal articles from the antebellum period through Reconstruction, and includes high-quality copies of The American Missionary and New Englander and Yale Review among others.

Once on their website, simply click "Browse" to see a full list of journal titles available online! This has been a great resource for me as I work on researching more about the collections I'm processing here.

-Katherine Williamson

Holiday reminder

Just a brief reminder that the library will be closed in observance of Independence Day this coming Monday (July 4th, of course).

We hope that everyone has a safe and happy weekend.

 

 

[image courtesy of PBS.org]

A word from one of our summer interns

As the summer progresses and the weather heats up, I'm sure there will be a little more foot-traffic in the Library. If you happen to stop by, you might see me, Katherine, working away at a table in the Reading Room. I am the newest Simmons student to intern at the Library and am working on a very exciting project. This project, alluded to by Jessica in a previous post, involves the archives' Small Collections.

The "Small Collections" is a series of collections that are, as the title suggests, quite small; more often than not, the collections consist of a single folder. I've been working on identifying potential candidates to be digitized for an online exhibition. The work has been quite exciting, as the collections run the gamut in terms of their geographic location, time period, creator, medium, format, and function.

As this is my third week working on the project, there are still many details to work out; however, I will keep you all up to date on the latest happenings. I don't want to spoil the surprise of the exhibit by revealing what collections will ultimately be included, but, perhaps, in the coming days I'll give you some hints!

-Katherine