The American Baptist Historical Society (ABHS) is the oldest

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christianity, Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe ...

historical society A historical society (sometimes also preservation society) is an organization dedicated to preserving, collecting, researching, and interpreting historical information or items. Originally, these societies were created as a way to help future ge ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

.Official website
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History

The American Baptist Historical Society was created in 1853 at the instigation of

John Mason Peck John Mason Peck (1789–1858) was an American Baptist missionary to the western frontier of the United States, especially in Missouri and Illinois. A prominent anti-slavery advocate of his day, Peck also founded many educational institutio ...

. In 1862, it was chartered under the laws of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

and housed in the offices of the

American Baptist Publication Society The American Baptist Publication Society is a historic building at 1420–1422 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1896 on the site of the former headquarters of the American Baptist Publication Society, which had be ...

, located in Philadelphia . In 1896, a fire destroyed the archives. That same year, the news of the fire (and the subsequent call for replacement materials) caused

Samuel Colgate Samuel Colgate (March 22, 1822 – April 23, 1897), son of William Colgate, was an American manufacturer and philanthropist, born in New York City. When William Colgate died in 1857, Samuel took over the business (he did not want to continue the ...

, a prominent New York businessman and Baptist layman, to give his personal collection of Baptist materials to Colgate University in Hamilton, NY for preservation. After Colgate Theological Seminary merged with Rochester Theological Seminary in 1928,CRCDS History
/ref> creating Colgate Rochester Seminary (now known as

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School is a Baptist seminary in Rochester, New York It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History 1820s-1960: Early history Four Baptist institutions merged over the course of the 19th and 20t ...

RCDS, the Colgate collection moved to Rochester, NY, in 1948. The call for replacement materials (for those items that were replaceable) was successful and the ABHS collection grew larger than ever. In 1955, ABHS moved its offices and collections to CRCDS. Then in 1984, ABHS moved its offices and the official archives of the

American Baptist Churches USA The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered main ...

. and its mission societies to the denomination's headquarters in

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania The Village of Valley Forge is an unincorporated settlement located on the west side of Valley Forge National Historical Park at the confluence of Valley Creek and the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania. The remaining village is in Schuylkill To ...

. To distinguish the two locations and the collections housed in each, the Valley Forge location was known as the American Baptist Archives Center; the collections remaining in Rochester as the American Baptist-Samuel Colgate Historical Library. In 2008, ABHS consolidated its two locations and its collections and offices are now housed on

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,00 ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, GA, campus.

Research

Visitors are welcome. The Society has some exhibits which feature parts of the collection. Researchers come by appointment from all over the world to use the Society's collections. Among its rarest materials: *An original printing of the London Confession of 1644, the first statement of Baptist principles *Manuscript letters written by missionary pioneers

Adoniram Judson Adoniram Judson (August 9, 1788 – April 12, 1850) was an American Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalist and later Particular Baptist missionary, who served in Burma for almost forty years. At the age of 25, Judson was ...

, Ann Judson, Sarah Judson, and Emily Judson as well as their children *African-American Baptist association minutes as early as 1829 *Official denominational minutes and publication for ethnic Baptists, including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, German, Italian, and Slovakian immigrant congregations *Official records of the Baptist World Alliance

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA accoun ...

*The Rauschenbusch Family Collection, including the papers of author and theologian

Walter Rauschenbusch Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918) was an American theologian and Baptist pastor who taught at the Rochester Theological Seminary. Rauschenbusch was a key figure in the Social Gospel and single tax movements that flourished in the United States du ...

*Records of missionary surgeon Marian Boehr, letters of Lott Carey and

Luther Rice Luther Rice (25 March 1783 – 27 September 1836) was an American Baptist minister who, after a thwarted mission to India, returned to America where he spent the remainder of his career raising funds for missions and advocating for the formation of ...

References

{{Southern U.S. historical societies Baptist organizations in the United States American Historical Association Mercer University 1853 establishments in the United States Religious organizations established in 1853