Research Resources

The Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan holds the papers of George W. Baber (b. 1898-d. 1970), named a Bishop of the AME Church in 1944. The collection contains materials from 1942-1970, including correspondence, prayers and speeches, press clippings, and photographs. The library also holds the papers of Hubert N. Robinson (b. 1909), who was named a Bishop of the AME Church in 1964.

The John Hope Franklin Collection in the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University houses a number of manuscript collections containing resources for the study of African American religious history:

1. The library holds the papers of Andrew Arthur (1904-1951), an Alabama farmer. Most of the materials relate to Arthur's work in the AME Church and with a number of benevolent societies and lodges.
2. The library also houses the papers of Gordon Blaine Hancock (b. 1884 - d. 1970), Professor of economics and sociology Virginia Union University and pastor of Moore Street Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
3. The memoir of Elizabeth Johnson Harris (1867-1923) is available online and in the archive.
4. The Winfield Henry Mixon Papers (ca. 1895-1932) document Mixon's involvement in the AME Church in Alabama.
5. The papers of Baptist minister Alexander Proctor (1837-1895) are also part of the Franklin collection.
6. The Record Book of St. Paul's Methodist Church in Rockingham County North Carolina contains "lists of members and their financial contributions, and memoranda about church and Sunday school services" from 1910-1959 (with some years missing).

Pace University holds the Harriet Jacobs Papers and Prof. Jean Fagin Yellin and her staff are in the process of producing a two-volume edition of her materials by and about Jacobs.

The Divinity Library at Vanderbilt University houses the Kelly Miller Smith Collection. In addition to materials by and about Smith, who was educated at Morehouse College and Howard University and served as pastor of First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill in Nashville, the collection includes other resources on black church history and the Civil Rights Movement.

World Wide Web Resources

Online Documents, Projects, and Exhibits

The American Religion Image Library, developed by the Vanderbilt Divinity School Library, contains a number of images relevant to African American religious history, including a photograph of the Azusa Street Mission and of early members of the Church of God in Christ. At present, the collection represents a small pilot project.

Deaconess Manual of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (1902), by Abraham Grant. The archives at Wilberforce University presents this electronic version of the manual.

The Old Newark project contains a database of houses of worship in Newark, NJ through 1913. Individual congregation data includes a list of ministers and building locations, as well as information on archival materials, if available.

Wednesdays in Mississippi: Civil Rights as Women's Work
Wednesdays in Mississippi (WIMS) was created by the National Council of Negro Women to foster interracial and interfaith dialogue between northern and southern women. This web site, developed by the University of Virginia' Library, provides information on the project's background, personnel, and documents from an August 1964 trip.

Web Sites of Religious Groups and Organizations

The African American Wiccan Society
Website of an organization devoted to providing information on Wicca and support to African Americans who participate in Wicca and other Pagan traditions.

The Genesis Group
The offical website of a group founded to meet the needs of black members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Kingdom of Ojotunji African Village
The web site of the African Village located in Sheldon, South Carolina contains information on the history of the village, annual religious festivals, and the work of the African Theological Archministry, which disseminates information about Yoruba religion and traditions.

 

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