Baptist Archives Celebrate 25th Anniversary

The archives at Carson-Newman started almost forty-years ago, with a librarian interested in history and preserving named Mildred Lucille Iddins. With the help of fellow librarian Imogene Brewer this interest built the foundations of the three current collections in the archives: the Appalachian & Rare Book Collection, the College Archives, and the Baptist Archive, which are celebrating their 25th anniversary.

Twenty-five years ago, the Tennessee Baptist Convention made the decision that Baptist materials needed to be collected, and so three colleges – Union University, Belmont University, and Carson-Newman – were chosen as the repositories for the materials in their region.

Since then, Carson-Newman has been collecting records and materials relating to the Baptist faith and East Tennessee. This consists of church minutes and histories, as well as letters, diaries, papers, etc., from missionaries, laypeople, and pastors. This collection also consists of books pertaining to Baptist history and doctrine, as well as records and publications of the Tennessee and Southern Baptist Conventions.

In the past year, however, Carson-Newman has become the repository for the Middle Tennessee Baptist records as well. In 2007, Belmont decided to pull out of the Tennessee Baptist Convention and so their records were sent back to Nashville and remained in storage for a few years before Al Lang, Special Collections Librarian and Archivist at Carson-Newman, and Linda Gass, the archives assistant, went through the process to request that all of the Middle Tennessee Baptist archives be processed and held at Carson-Newman. The Tennessee Baptist Convention and Union University agreed, and so now Carson-Newman is responsible for archives for two-thirds of the state. "It's a nice way to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary," said Lang.

"What we would aspire to be would be one of the go-to places when people are doing Baptist research," said Lang. "Not only our students, but outside researchers as well.

The material from Belmont consisted of associational minutes, books, microfilms, and scrapbooks, among other things. Over the summer, two maintenance workers picked up the material. Since then, almost all of it has been processed and assimilated into the current material.

"It's impressive, for a school our size, that they do what they do to preserve," said Lang. "It's a school that values its history, not only its past but how you can learn for the future. That's one of the things that makes Carson-Newman special, is its emphasis on history."

This is also important for Baptist heritage, not only for Carson-Newman but for the region as well. "To have it is really a positive thing for the college," said Lang.

The archives have done work with local churches by photocopying their minutes. This helps both the churches and the archives. The archives have increased their records by 75 volumes by collecting photocopies of the church's minutes, and the churches get a copy as well. This is beneficial if the minutes are old and the church wants a copy to display but does not want to risk damage to the originals. All the churches are charged is the cost for printing.

Each of the three collections ties into the identity of the college, says Lang. "Our goal is to preserve the historical material that relates to that identity," he said.

"As a ‘faith based' archives, we believe that in preserving materials documenting the history of Carson-Newman and Baptists, we are keeping a record of God's work in the lives of His people," said Lang. This belief stems from Psalm 22:30: "Posterity will serve Him; future generations will be told about the Lord."

The College archives and the Appalachian and Rare Book Collection contain mostly books, but also items that have been given to Carson-Newman by alumni or family of alumni. Some of the books in the archives date back to the 1700s; there is a book about Britain from 1509, something given to the College.

Some of the items include a lamp owned by Carson-Newman's President Gentry, of 1917-1919, donated by his family. While there are not as many items that have to do with Carson-Newman's history as there are books, there are some items of great interest and significance to Carson-Newman's history. A trunk was given that used to belong to William Rogers, the first president of Carson-Newman (which at the time was Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary). There is little known about Rogers, but he was the first president and served for only three months before dying of typhoid fever.

Another item of interest belonged to the second president of the College, R. R. Bryan. Bryan was also a member of the legendary "Oak Tree Five." He served as president for two years. The item in the archives is a hand bell that he would ring to signal class change. It is unknown how the College came to have this bell, and it can no longer be rung due to a crack running around the side.

Finally, another item that may have played a large part in Carson-Newman's history is the saddlebag belonging to Jesse Baker, a past president of Carson-Newman and hero of the school. Baker is famous for riding on horseback to collect money to keep the school going. A few years ago a descendent of Baker's attended Carson-Newman, and her family donated his saddle bags to the archives.

During a normal day at the archives, research questions are answered not only from students but people all across the country, asking for information from the variety of local genealogies, church histories and records, and general historical records from the area.