A Fine Witness: Montreat Collections Coming to Columbia
by Richard Blake, Nick Blake, and Linda Davis
Responding to a request from the church, Columbia’s John Bulow Campbell Library is busily preparing to receive a significant portion of the collections currently housed in the Presbyterian Historical Society’s office at Montreat, North Carolina. The items are being relocated following the General Assembly’s decision in June to close the facility.
At Montreat, the sorting process is well underway to determine which materials will go to the Historical Society in Philadelphia and which will come to Columbia. Along with the archival records of churches, Columbia expects to receive some 13,000-18,000 books and periodicals. The Montreat Collections include books, bound periodicals, church records, personal papers and museum artifacts, all of which provide a fine witness to the Presbyterian and Reformed traditions in the South. These materials will be a rich supplement to the library’s holdings in the area of Reformed theology and Presbyterian history and missions.
Congregations with records on deposit at Montreat have several options regarding their materials. They may decide to transfer holdings to Columbia or another PC(USA) seminary with archival facilities. They may also retain them locally or have them moved to the Historial Society’s Philadelphia office.
With encouragement from presbyteries, many churches are choosing to house their records at Columbia because of the seminary’s commitment to manage the materials with professional staffing and the seminary’s easily accessible regional location. In entrusting their congregational records to Columbia, these churches are ensuring that a large portion of the Montreat collections remain intact for research, programmatic use, and preservation.
To prepare space for these items, compact shelving is being installed in several areas of the library. Rare books and other special items from Montreat will be protected in areas with temperature and humidity controls. Making the materials available for the church is the top priority of Columbia’s faculty and library staff. The records will be available to church members and scholars, and staff will be available to provide the necessary services needed for such availability.
Plans are also underway to establish a special Presbyterian History Reference Area adjacent to the C. Benton Kline, Jr., Special Collections and Archives. Meanwhile, the faculty and administration are discussing the development of study programs, lectures, and exhibits that will make use of the rich and diverse Montreat materials.
For information about the Montreat Collections, contact Richard DuBose, 404-687-4568, or duboser@ctsnet.edu.
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