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Northeast Baptist Conference collection, 1884-1987

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-4

Scope and Contents

This collection dates between 1884 and 1987 and spans five boxes.

The Scrapbook that begins this collection holds newspaper clippings, programs, photographs, which are pasted onto service order invoices in their original binder. Much of the material dates to the late 1930s and early 1940s.

The Protokoll fört vid förvaltningskommittee is held in its original black binder. It is made up of handwritten meeting minutes between 1930 to 1939.

The Minutes Ledgers date between 1884 and 1941 and are in Swedish. Some Annuals are pasted into the ledgers. One folder contains minutes translated into English from the dates 1883 to 1892.

The Annuals series holds loose annuals from the Annual Meetings of the New England, later Northeast, Conference. These date between 1902 to 1987, with 1936, 1937, 1939, 1942, 1944-1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1959-1962, 1965-1969, and 1974-1976 missing.

The Ministers Association series is made up of five ledgers of meeting minutes dating between 1905 and 1940.

The folder entitled History of the New England Swedish Baptists holds undated handwritten documents about the history in Swedish.

A.P. Ekman published an article in Nya Wecko-Posten in 1901 titled "Svenska Baptisternas inom Östra Staterna uppkomst och utveckling." The folder holds the article and its English translation.

The Fredrick Palmborg address dates between 1893 and 1895, and was given while he was missionary in Boston. The address was in Engish.

The Pastors and Personnel folder holds minister profiles, some for the Standard.

The Reports by Olof Lindh folder are in Swedish and date between 1883 and 1890.

The Correspondence folder dates between 1968 to 1983.

Several folders of publications include The Banner dating between 1949 and 1974, with the bulk in later years, and the Courier dating between 1975 to 1982.

The General folder holds a variety of documents, which include some photographs, Bethel Beach Program from 1937, programs for the Baptist Young People's Union from 1930s, "Stadgar for Svenska Baptisternas i Östra Staterna Konferens", programs from the annual meeting in 1937, programs for the Golden Jubilee of 1949, directories, and reports from the 1970s.

The G.W. Lindstrom folio series are materials that came out of a folio folder contained in the collection. The contents are made up of newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and booklets.

Nels N. Morten wrote a history of the New England Conference held in a corresponding folder, which is in Swedish and dates to 1902.

The History of the Swedish Baptist Conference of New England was written for its Golden Anniversary in 1949. The celebration was held in Brockton, Massachussetts. The information was compiled by the Historical Committee of the Conference.

There are two folders of Newspaper Clippings, some of which are oversized. Many of the articles come from Missions-Posten from Brockton, Massachusetts.

The Executive Committee Minutes ledger dates between 1918 and 1934 and is in Swedish.

Several ledgers from individual churches are included in this collection. One ledger is from First Finnish Baptist Church in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, which contains constitutional information and meeting minutes dating to 1907. Three ledgers are from the Swedish Finnish Baptist Church of Gardner, Massachusetts, later called Calvary Baptist Church and hold meeting minutes. All the ledgers are in Swedish.

The Bethel Beach Summer Assembly series contains three scrapbooks dating from 1907 to 1940, and hold programs for events, newsletters, financial information, photographs, newspaper clippings, and correspondence. A black binder holds records from the assemblies and camps between the years of 1928 to 1939, such as financial information, schedules, correspondence, and registration cards.

The New York Conference series holds the annuals from the annual meetings dating between 1905 and 1945, switching from Swedish to English in 1936. The first ledger is from the Ministerial Association, dating from 1905 to 1928 and is in Swedish. The second ledger dates between 1923 to 1946 and contains financial information from the conference. Two folders of photocopies of meeting minutes date between 1943 to 1948, but the collection does not hold the original ledgers.

The Mid-Atlantic Baptist Conference folder contains documents regarding the merger of the conference with the New England Conference dating to 1973, one issue of The Messenger newsletter from 1973, the Annal Directory from 1973-1974, and the Treasurer's Report from 1960.

Dates

  • 1884 - 1987

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to researcher use.

Biographical / Historical

The Swedish Baptist Conference of the Eastern States was formed in 1883 at New Haven, Connecticut. In 1899, it was split into the conferences of New England and New York. From 1946 and 1947, the New York conference became the Eastern conference, then by 1950 it merged into the Mid-Atlantic conference. The Mid-Atlantic Baptist Conference encompassing Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York was merged with the New England Baptist Conference in 1973 and 1974 to become the Northeast Conference.

Bethel Beach Summer Assembly was part of the New England Swedish Baptist Sunday School Union, which was organized in 1907. It was located in Quincy, Massachusetts, and provided camp and retreat opportunities for conference Sunday school students. In 1919, a welcome service was held here to celebrate the return of soldiers from World War I. When Bethel Beach fell out of use in the 1920s, the conference purchased a camp at Lake Tispaquin in Middleboro, Massachusetts in 1942.

Extent

7.5 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Swedish

Arrangement

This collection was arranged by the archivist during processing in 2024. Any original order is unclear.

Custodial History

It is unclear when this collection was donated to the History Center, likely by the Northeast Baptist Conference.

The G.W. Lindstrom folio was likely owned by Lindstrom at some point because many of the booklets are labeled with his name.

Title
Northeast Baptist Conference collection, 1884-1987
Author
Rebekah Bain
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the The History Center: Archives of Bethel University and Converge Repository

Contact:
3900 Bethel Drive
Arden Hills MINNESOTA 55112 United States