Religion in North Carolina

Every once in awhile, you stumble across a collection so rich that it just begs to be shared! Such was the case last weekend when I ran across a collection on Internet Archive called "Religion in North Carolina." Partner institutions for the project are Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest University. The collection's description states "the materials in this collection include local church histories, periodicals, clergy biographies, cookbooks, event programs, directories, and much more."

At the time I'm writing this post (in advance), there are 6,222 items in the collection. That's pretty amazing. The collection has seven collections within it. I will list each and give a few examples of materials included.

Meetings, Proceedings, and Conference Reports (2727 items)

Minutes of the Buncombe Baptist Association of Buncombe County, 1931-1940
Minutes of the United Evangelical Lutheran Synod of North America, 1930
Minutes of the Salem Presbytery

Church and Religious Body Histories (1102 items)

Henry R. Mathis. Along the Border: a History of Virgilina, Virginia and the Surrounding Area in Halifax and Mecklenburg Counties in Virginia and Person and Granville Counties in North Carolina.
Winnie Wills Broglin. Antioch United Methodist Church, Hot Springs, North Carolina: Built on Faith.
Adelaide I. Fries. Records of the Moravians in North Carolina: volume II, 1752-1775.

Newsletters, Newspapers, and Serial Publications (1520 items)

Zion's Landmark (vol.  33, 1899-1900)
American Jewish Times-Outlook (1961-1962)
The Primitive Baptist (vol. 6, 1841)

Ephemerals: Cookbooks, Event Programs, and Directories (368 items)

St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Washington, N.C.) Keys to the Kitchen
O. Norris Smith and Rebecca H. Smith. Family Burying Grounds and Abandoned Church Cemeteries in Guilford County, N.C. and Immediate Environs
Dedication Service of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, Creech Road, Raleigh, North Carolina, Sunday, August 28, 1977

Clergy Autobiographical and Biographical Materials: Journals, Testimonies, Etc. (152 items)

M. W. Williams and George W. Watkins. Who's Who Among North Carolina Negro Baptists with a Brief History of Negro Baptist Organizations
C. T. Thrift. Robert Paine. Methodist Bishop: a Great North Carolinian, Person's Greatest Son
S. C. Ray. I'm Glad I Stayed, 1949-1979

Theosophy, Philosophy, Psychology & Religion (77 items)

Claude E. Spencer. Periodicals of the Disciples of Christ and Related Religious Groups
Alva Washington Plyler. What Western North Carolina Owes
James O. Kelly. Essay on Negro-Slavery

Sermons of North Carolina (111 items)

R. H. Morrison. Funeral Sermon of the Rev. John Robinson, D.D., Late Pastor of Poplar Tent Church, Preached at Poplar Tent, February 22d, 1844
C. Daniel Crews. What It Was, Was Jesus: for the 250th Anniversary Service of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church, Wait Chapel, Wake Forest University, Sunday, November 16, 2003
W. A. Harper. The Spirit of Elon College: An Excellent Spirit

The list above is a mere drop in the bucket of what is available via this resource. I've tried to include materials from many denominations and even from Judaism.

The UPS Man Arriveth

I just love it when the UPS man comes to my house. He brings packages with such interesting things. Today's delivery was a book I'd ordered from Amazon.

Rohrer, S. Scott. Wandering Souls: Protestant Migrations in America, 1630-1865. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.

The book addresses migrations of several religious groups over the period of time mentioned in the title. The first chapter deals with the Puritans. The second with the Anglicans of Virginia. The third with the Scots-Irish Presbyterians. [The author of the book called them Scotch-Irish. I remember being told that Scotch is something you drink or a brand of tape. People from Scotland are Scots. However, most of us realize that we have to live with both spellings for this ethnic group.] The fourth chapter deals with Pietists (such as the Moravians). The fifth chapter deals with Methodists, specifically in the area that became Ohio. The sixth chapter deals with Baptists and Congregationalists. The sixth chapter deals with the Amana Colony in Iowa. The seventh chapter deals with the Mormons. I'm really looking forward to using this volume as I research my ancestors and the ancestors of others. I'm really glad that I stumbled across a reference to it the other day in a book review that crossed my desk at work.