Synopses & Reviews
This guide serves as a valuable introduction to the documentary heritage and tradition of the third largest group of protestants in the southern United States. A companion to Harold Prince's
A Presbyterian Bibliography (1983), it locates and describes the unpublished papers of PCUS ministers. It also documents the larger southern tradition by including selected materials from the antebellum period and from other Presbyterian denominations. The result is a listing of resources for the study of the PCUS as well as southern Presbyterianism. It aims to promote and encourage research in Presbyterian history; to make files, diaries, sermons, minutes, letters more intelligible; and finally, to emphasize the continuing relevance of these materials in contemporary church life.
Robert Benedetto's forty-eight-page introduction includes a survey of nine subject areas: theology, education, church and society, international missions, national missions, women, racial ethnic ministries, ecumenical relations, and worship and music. Each area highlights major research and provides a concise orientation to the life and mission of the denomination. Each survey is followed by a brief listing of manuscript materials. The Guide itself includes manuscript collections from the Department of History (Montreat) and other repositories. This thorough volume concludes with a bibliography of PCUS reference works and a complete name and subject index.
Review
. . . . This reference work is invaluable, and because of the Presbyterian merger in 1983, it is unlikely that such a volume will ever need to be redone.The Journal of American History
Synopsis
This guide introduces the documentary heritage of the Presbyterian Church, U.S. A companion to Prince's A Presbyterian Bibliography, it locates and describes the unpublished papers of PCUS ministers. It also documents the larger southern tradition by including selected materials from the antebellum period and from other Presbyterian denominations. The result: a listing of resources for the study of the PCUS and Presbyterianism. The purpose: to promote and encourage research, and to emphasize this materials' continuing relevance in contemporary church life.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [469]-483) and index.
About the Author
ROBERT BENEDETTO is Deputy Director/Archivist at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Department of History in Montreat, North Carolina.BETTY K. WALKER is Archives Assistant at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Department of History in Montreat, North Carolina.