A Historical Footprint: Reflections on a Life in the Archives

A HISTORICAL FOOTPRINT

©2021 Russell Louis Gasero

ISBN: 978-1-7360489-3-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2021945493

Wit & Intellect Publishing East Brunswick, New Jersey www.witandintellect.com

A Historical Footprint

Reflections on a Life in the Archives

Russell L. Gasero

My dear wife, Maria, My friend, my supporter, my soulmate

without whom I would not have been able to accomplish anything in life.

You have always been there alongside me,

holding me up when I was ready to fall,

and laughing with me when it was time to celebrate.

If anything is of value in these pages, it is because you supported me and helped me think

through issues and learn how to say the right thing!

I will always love you!

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Contents

Preface xv 1.

2.

The Historical Footprint: Three Meditations

1

RCA Footprints Selections

19

No. 6: A Note on Records and Archives

20

No. 18: Evangelism from the Past 2: Using History in Service to the Church

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No. 17: Evangelism from the Past # 1

No. 19: Historical Footprints and The Three R’s of Christian Heritage

21

24

No. 38: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story? 26 No. 44: Computerwocky

No. 46: Where does History Come From?

27 28

No. 50: Interlude—An Autobiographical Reflection 30 No. 57: What I Have Been Called

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No. 98: My Personal Journey and God’s Guidance, part 1

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No. 64: What is the Historical Footprint All About? 35

No. 99: My Personal Journey and God’s Guidance, part 2

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No. 100: My Personal Journey and God’s Guidance: Acknowledgements, part 3 42

3.

4.

5.

Archival Aphorisms: Starting and Managing an Archival Program

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Reference and Research in the Archives

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The Story of the RCA Archives

6. A Look Back at Twenty-Five Years of Religious Archives (1978–2003) 7.

“The Archives Man”

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103 111

Preface

This is a book by and about me. It is an illustration of a good part of my life as it was spent working in the archives. I have made it personal and in the first person on purpose. This is how I write—a stream of consciousness style. Often the first draft is the final draft since I had little time to review and modify much with a heavy workload. I kept it that way since that is who I am, and I do want this to reflect that. These writings represent various chapters of my life as I grew and understood what I was doing more fully.

I never set out to be an archivist. My earliest inclination was to be a chemist and that is where I began in college. The Mole Concept ended that. For whatever reason, I had the hardest time understanding it and wound-up majoring in philosophy. My start in archives came when I served as the Keeper of the Archives for a semester in my fraternity—you can read some about that in the Footprints section. After college, I ended up working in the Archives of the United Nations for five years and then going to start the Archives of the Reformed Church in America. I served there for forty-two years and two months and then retired. ix

Probably my reaction of great joy when, in 1952, I learned I would grow up to be an archivist

Myself ca. 1979

Myself quite a few years later and hawking books from the Historical Series

The chapters in this book reflect on various aspects of archival and historical work. I called this A Historical Footprint because that is where I ended up my career. I talked with churches and other groups

about their historical footprints, and you can see that reflected in the three meditations recorded here. These were presented at a weekend retreat held at the Warwick Conference Center in Warwick, New York. I had the privilege and joy of engaging with a group of pastors and their spouses to reflect on the idea of a historical footprint and to engage in some group think about our own individual, personal histories.

The section titled “RCA Footprints Selections” represents a selection of writings about my own journey and history. I wrote a bimonthly tidbit for staff in the Reformed church relating to aspects of the denomination’s history. It was simple and lighthearted with the intention of helping others understand a little bit more about how we came to be where we are and, maybe, why. The ones included here were personal and include the last three (98–100) which were my farewell upon my retirement.

“The Archival Aphorisms” are a collection of just that and were taken from several presentations made at the Society of American Archivists and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. I have combined them all together and hope that they will offer some advice to new archivists—not technical aspects about how to do archives, rather practical advice about how to survive as an archivist in a larger organization.

“The Story of the RCA Archives” is how the Archives of the Reformed Church in America came to be. It was written to help others understand what the work is all about, why it is important, and how it grew. A good part of it was published in Tools for Understanding, a festschrift for Donald J. Bruggink, professor emeritus at Western Theological Seminary.

The chapter on reference was a paper I presented at a Society of American Archivists (SAA) session at a time when many in the religious archives community were struggling with how we best should handle reference requests. Many confused reference with research and struggled as lone arrangers to meet the demands on their time made by administrators and researchers. I presented this hoping it would stimulate some discussion and thinking about that issue.

The “Look Back” chapter, similarly, was a conference presentation in which I reflected upon the recent history (in 2003) of religious archives and my role in them. In my career, I have served as a

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founding member of the Archivists of Religious Institutions in the New York City area, the co-founder of the Lone Arrangers Roundtable in the SAA, the moderator of the Archivists of Religious Collections Section in the SAA, and some other groups in both archival and historical circles. This is not to brag, but, rather, to lead into some brief acknowledgements about how I cam to be where I am and who I am.

The book is dedicated to my loving wife, and as stated, I would not have accomplished anything without her support and love. Certainly, my parents formed me and pushed me along. They gave freely and with great love, sacrificing all along the way. But there are many others—teachers throughout my life, fellow staff, colleagues, and friends. The list is so long, but there are some that I want to call out especially when it comes to my life as the Archivist for the Reformed Church in America (RCA).

Norman Kansfield first informed me about the position they were creating in the RCA. He was the person most responsible for me obtaining the position and leaving the United Nations Archives.

Norm has been a pastor, a colleague, and a friend. He has known me since he was a pastor in Astoria, Queens, New York, and I was in high school. He has seen me at my worst and at my best—fortunately, he believed in my best and pushed me forward. You can see how Norm fits into these events by looking at how he is mentioned in so many parts on pages 31, 38, 41–42, 45–46, and 80.

John Coakley has also been a colleague and is a friend. I remember him introducing himself as the RCA held its General Synod in New Brunswick in 1984. He came to the meeting place and introduced himself to me as the new professor of church history at New Brunswick Theological Seminary (NBTS). That alone impressed me—that he thought I was important enough for him to introduce himself. John’s humility and passion for research were always inspiring to me. Over the years, his friendship has meant so much. When I encountered problems in the continuity of the RCA Archives, John was always there lending a generous ear and offering valuable advice. I could bring ideas to him and discuss issues. Working alone in my office and the only RCA staff person at NBTS, he helped to keep me sane in trying times.

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Donald Bruggink greeted me at my first commission on history meeting after the RCA approved the archivist position and appointed me with the statement, “We only get one chance at this and you’re it. It’s on your shoulders now.” That really scared me! Don remained a good friend and supporter all these years. He accepted my offer of assistance to design and typeset the volumes of the Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America in 1984. He was the general editor and began the series for the RCA in 1968. That enabled me to use the newly released Apple MacIntosh and LaserWriter to prepare camera ready pages for the printer. That task continues to the present—and book making became a labor of love for me.

And that story brings me around to high school. New York City has a system of specialized high schools, and I did not want to go to my local school. Instead, I was accepted into the academic program at the New York School of Printing (NYSP). I had fallen in love with printing in Junior High School shop in the 7th grade and spent as much time after school as I could working in shop— hand typesetting, running C & P letter presses and becoming good enough to run the electric Heidelberg. That love led me to NYSP where I spent a year doing hand typesetting from a California Job Case and studying offset presswork and offset platemaking, layout, and design, and working in a print shop, Denlo Business Services, in my senior year for twenty hours a week. When desktop publishing was birthed, it was a natural fit for me and my role in the Historical Series took shape.

There are so many more—teachers, bosses, friends, relatives— that I cannot begin to list them and not turn this into a 100-page preface. I hope to do another book that is more reflective and autobiographical to name and to thank those others who helped shape my historical footprint.

Russell L. Gasero August 2021

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CHAPTER 1

Historical Footprints: Three Meditations

Introduction The meditations that follow were presented at the Freedom in Ministry retreat held at the Warwick Conference Center, Warwick, New York, January 7–9, 2011. The retreat provided for moments of serious self-reflection, sharing together on common themes and journeys, and times to enjoy old friends and gather new ones.

The idea of a historical footprint developed there. As a group, there was an opportunity to discuss common journeys and explore individual footprints that have been made in the lives of the attendees. It was a very interesting experience and a type of group historythink. I continued to use and develop the historical footprint idea through sermons, presentations, and other writings. You will see that reflected in the writings collected here.

I hope it may be meaningful to you as well.

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Meditation 1 In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?”

21 tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the LORD sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”

Deut. 6:20-25 20

Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.

12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.

II Timothy 4:9-13 9

Our Scripture passages for this weekend will cover the entire span of biblical history—from the earliest to the latest writings. We begin with a positive message found in Deuteronomy that assures us that God is concerned about us as he was concerned about the children of Israel. This we believe—God is concerned about us enough to deliver us from our troubles. We begin with the message of deliverance—being delivered from something to something wonderful.

As we know the message of that deliverance encompasses Biblical history. The process of OUR deliverance encompasses our historical footprint. It is the notion of a historical footprint—our own individual historical footprint—that I will be focusing on during our time together.

A historical footprint begins with remembrance. We remember our past; we remember the past that provides the context in which

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we live; we remember the past that goes before our lives and brings us to where we begin to make our own footprint.

A historical footprint takes shape with reflection. We reflect on all those pasts together with a particular focus on our own past to determine what does it mean for who we are.

Finally, a historical footprint is seen clearly through recommitment. Remembering the past with appropriate reflection brings us to a point of recommitment for the future. So, in popular slogan style it might be said that we look back to see ahead.

As I reflected on what a historical footprint might be—how it might be shaped—how one might begin to think about it, the letters to Timothy seemed to provide the proper backdrop for this time together as we reflect on a historical footprint. I think the nature of the church as it is seen in Paul’s advice to Timothy fits into this idea of a historical footprint.

This is especially significant for us since we have lived our lives in the context of the institutional church—either as members or as leaders—we have been involved in its growth, its life, and its development. Like Paul in First Timothy 3:15, we see the church as the assembly of the living God, the pillar, and the firm foundation of the truth. And we are all part of that pillar—holding up the truth.

For me, this idea of a historical footprint is an experiment in process—without government funding. This weekend we will explore how that might work out and I will learn if it is a useful concept for further development.

This experiment is not just an opportunity for me to present an idea, but an opportunity for us to engage in some groupthink. Our footsteps when made in faithfulness and when analyzed and examined together help us to see a God who is not manageable and not predictable by our standards; we see the sovereign God who is not controlled by us. The puzzle pieces of our footprints fit together and show us the bigger picture of our interaction and profile with God. And what we know is that God reveals his power not THROUGH human efforts but in the response of faith—and faith alone in the ultimate revelation of God in Jesus Christ.

We begin tonight with memories because memories are immensely powerful. Sometimes something happens that transforms memories and gives them more significance than you ever knew they

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had. In the remembrance of our lives some of us may remember when we first realized we were in love, and we remember that the conversations we had on long walks were something more than just ordinary talks between friends. They were conversations in which we revealed ourselves one to another—at the greatest most intimate depth possible between two people. We may remember the birth of a child where our life becomes focused on a new person who was not even in our thoughts a year ago.

That is one of my memories of the birth of my first child. They were the normal ones of the excitement and the fears of being a parent for the first time, but also, strangely, there was a sudden realization that my life would have an endpoint. It was a strange, but not fearful or negative thought, just the realization that as I would watch this newborn baby grow into adulthood, I would be getting older— and hopefully growing into seniorhood. Something I can honestly say in which I am beginning to demonstrate some success.

It is at that point we find Paul in the passage I just read. Paul knows that he is near his end. He is old but he is comforted by what he has done in his life—“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.” Paul is very much aware, at this point, of his historical footprint. He is looking to Timothy as the next in line in the succession of the saints and he is leaving behind what he has received, and Timothy will take that and move forward into the future.

Paul is urging Timothy to come with haste—he desires to see his friend once again before he dies. And as he reflects on where he is at this point in the end of his life, we see several conflicting items in his writing: is it lonesomeness? Is it complaining? Is it sorrow? I do not think it is any of those.

If one reads this quickly one could have the idea that Paul is at the end of his rope. Demos has left him, perhaps that was a misplaced trust or a bond that had been broken somehow in misjudging someone now that he is at the end of his life. There are others who cannot be trusted, and he warns Timothy to watch out for them.

And he is alone—only Luke is with him. He is old and he knows he will be cold in the winter and so he urges Timothy to pick up a cloak that he left behind. He needs his heavy winter overcoat—we age we need to keep warm, I know that well.

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A quick reading might make this seem like an incredibly sad passage, but it is not. Even though Paul stood alone in court and felt abandoned by those who are around him, he knew the Lord stood there alongside him and gave him the strength he required to complete his work. He is confident that he will be protected from all these evil deeds and will be saved and in God’s kingdom.

Paul is writing this with the confidence of knowing just who his savior is and knowing that there are still those around him upon whom he can count—Luke, Timothy, and Mark will be of great use to have around.

And so, in this brief passage, Paul, at the end of his life, is remembering everything in which he has been engaged throughout his ministry. His life and his ministry were given in faithful service to the Lord, and he still has friends around him, and he is in contact with them. Despite the circumstances, he is still serving, and he is still keeping busy in that ministry.

And that remembrance comes out most clearly in his desire to have his books and his parchments. Now for me, as an archivist, this passage has such a positive and comfortable feel to it. The old man, at the end of his life, reflecting on a faithful race run well, wants his archives.

For librarians as well, this must be an important passage because in addition to his archives he wants his library. Many of us spend a substantial portion of our lifetime with books—studying, interpreting, and applying what we read and learn—to increase our understanding of the word of God. We have something to learn from yesterday that we can process and pass on to tomorrow.

Paul was aware of that—and I am sure as he wrote this, he was thinking of how he could pass that on to Timothy. He was aware now of his historical footprint.

I want to share a little story from one of my experiences in the Archives that will be a theme through these meditations. I had a retired couple visit me some years ago who were interested in the mission in Amoy. They had not been members of the RCA—nor were they now. They had an ancestor who had been a missionary in China and were interested in his life and mission work there. So,

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they visited to read some of the mission papers to get some understanding of his life beyond that found in a brief biographical sketch.

Their lives had begun to be influenced by this ancestor’s ministry and it was having an impact on who they were now and how they were living out the last years of their lives.

Paul’s brief final comments to Timothy in this letter offers a summation of the advice offered to someone else at the end of one’s life: a time of both remembrance and reflection and learning for those who will take one’s place and continue the ministry that had been started. As Paul faces the end of his life his race had been run and his comfort is found in his books and his parchments—his library and his archives. That provides the contours of his historical footprint and Paul is content with it.

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Meditation 2 “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.

Nehemiah 9:32-35 32

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

I Timothy 6:11-16 11

We are rational creatures with a craving to make sense of our life. We desire meaning. We seek understanding. We long for comprehension. We do not function very well when things around us are unclear or when events lack meaning. We look at our lives and we seek to understand the context that provides some meaning—we need to understand our purpose.

That is the moment that we move from mere remembrance and begin to engage in reflection. This exactly is how a Christian com-

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prehends history. This is the biblical understanding of the meaning and the usefulness of the past. In our lesson in Nehemiah the Jews are celebrating by remembering their sinfulness and then looking to God for purpose and meaning in their lives. Their recognition of their sinfulness—of their failure to turn away from their ways—was the critical reflective remembrance of their interaction with God. As Paul wrote at the end of his first letter to Timothy—again we remember this is a letter from someone who is now at the end of his life—we find his final instructions, words of encouragement, the result of reflection upon a time of remembering.

On three occasions in this letter, he will criticize those who are in opposition to him. And after each one of those occasions, he provides words of encouragement to Timothy—learnings from the past to guide Timothy as he grows into the future. Again, Paul is using the imperative—in our first meditation, he was telling Timothy to hasten to come to him—here he is telling Timothy to flee. Flee evil; pursue good.

And he uses the same basic outline that he did in the passage that we read last night: 1. Fight the good fight.

2. Keep the commandments pure.

3. Follow the example of Jesus.

4. The reward is eternal life in God’s kingdom.

5. Persevere until Jesus returns.

In a quick outline, this is the memory of how Paul lived his life and proclaimed the Gospel. This is the memory of how Paul engaged in ministry wherever he went. But memories demand careful reflection. We need to engage in research, in careful thinking, in critical analysis to be assured that our memories are accurate.

When we engage in remembrance it brings about a knowledge of the world. It helps us create an understanding of who and what we are—the context in which we live. For Paul, that remembrance and engagement in reflection provides the imperative that he makes to Timothy—Flee! But it is not a simple Flee—run to the hills—hide in the mountains—find a safe place to live. Rather, he is calling for a fleeing from the things of this world to the qualities of life in Christ.

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And Paul identifies three groups of qualities: the right conduct in life—righteousness and godliness; the basic virtues of being a Christian—faith and love; and the lifestyle one should adopt—endurance and gentleness.

These are the qualities to which he is telling Timothy to flee toward—to adopt. We see these qualities over and over as church provides these in memories from our past—these are the stories that we know from the mission field that we all grew up with. These are the memories that encourage and inspire us. I have offered a gift of two volumes from the historical series: Letters to Hazel and Travels of an American Girl. This is not a shameful promotion of the historical series—although you know I can do that as well. These are two books that illustrate the historical footprint that I am talking about.

Letters to Hazel provides a wonderful glimpse of a woman who engaged in the ministry of hospitality. The efforts she made as missionaries departed and returned to this country were so helpful to so many. Her life is inspiring not because of the good things she did to help people leave and return, but because of the incredible joy she found in doing this. Her life exhibited that third group that Paul talks about in the lifestyle of endurance and gentleness. The letters from her friends and colleagues in the back of the book indicate the extent to which her historical footprint impacted so many others— and where they walked side-by-side.

Similarly, Travels of an American Girl offers the same glimpse.

This is a diary kept by a ten-year-old and then rewritten into a narrative form when she was twelve. June had accompanied her father, Duke Potter, on a foreign mission deputation tour. In her telling of this story, we see again the exhibition of that third group of the lifestyle of endurance and gentleness. There is a story of Dr. Ida in India sitting down on the ground with June to play a game of jacks.

Here was his world-renowned doctor. This was a person who someone could simply address a letter “Dr. Ida, India” and it would reach her. This was a person who at her death had a funeral processional that was nearly a mile long—and she is sitting on the ground to play a game of jacks with a young child and enjoying it. Gentleness and meekness in a strong, competent, woman of medicine.

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The stories move from being mere memories to illustrations that inspire and encourage us as we live out our lives in the present. Perseverance in ministry needs reflection. We can well remember doctrine, people, events, and context—but we need reflection to understand how they fit together and interact, shape, and provide meaning for our life and ministry.

And this is how we use history in the church. We live in the present, informed by the past, but always looking to the future and the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom.

A remembrance with reflection is what makes our spiritual heritage. And the role of our spiritual heritage is essential in the day-to-day labors of ministry. This is a reminder not only of one’s prior commitments but of the God who witnesses one’s actions and will prove victorious over all our opponents. This is what enables us to live in the here and now with the conviction that evil will be vanquished, and we will receive our reward—that is what Paul was telling Timothy.

And so, this remembrance and reflection that creates our spiritual heritage is an especially important part of our life. It is our heritage that provides an explanation of how we have reached where we are in our life, and it is heritage which helps to shape us and form a part of our sense of identity. It is heritage that challenges us and stimulates us to move forward into the future.

Two kinds of heritage come together in us as individuals. The first is a personal heritage—those things which help to shape us to determine who we are, commonly thought of as our ancestry, the environment in which we live, the foundation which our parents prepared for us as we grew and developed over the years.

There are genetic links we have with our parents and our parents’ parents. These links provided some physical characteristics and some mental attributes. And they are part of our heritage and help to define who we are as individuals.

The second kind of heritage is our corporate heritage. This is the society, the culture, and the country in which we live and work.

There are common values that are shared by many people, common ways of behaving and acting in society. And in the church, we are fortunate because we live in a community that can nurture and sup-

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port us. That nurturance and that support is a part of our corporate heritage. This too helps to define us as individuals.

And with all of that in mind we live out our lives in ministry and service to our Lord and we create our historical footprint. We know that God is in control, and he leads his people in grace to peace. The reflection on an accurately remembered past urges us to move forward to a wonderful and glorious future.

Allow me to continue that story I started about those two retired researchers. I visited them in their home near Philadelphia a while after they completed their research in the Archives. They had taken a trip to China—to Amoy—to see where their ancestor had lived and worked. They even found where he had lived and visited the church in Amoy. They had prepared a slide program of his life and work for presentations in gatherings of other senior citizens.

They had preserved many of his artifacts and a diary and some letters. When I visited, they presented the slide program—it was a good overview of his life and a good description of what the Reformed Church started and accomplished in Amoy. This was now a part of their heritage and affecting their historical footprint—and even that of their ancestor.

Our heritage has shaped us and brought us to where we are today—a church facing the future boldly and with confidence that God is leading his people. The late John Beardslee,III, summarized his ministry and the heritage of the Reformed church when he said at the end of a standing seminar at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, “The church that really takes advantage of what it has lived through and accomplished in a past generation is a church that has a great future!”

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Meditation 3 Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job 42:1-6 1 2

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

I Timothy 1:12-17 12

Our lessons for this morning show most clearly the idea of transformation. Job now understands clearly all that God has been talking about throughout the book bearing his name. The ignorance that obscured his understanding is gone, and Job rejects all that he had said earlier as he complained and confronted God. He now understands who God is and what God’s will is.

Throughout this book, Job had been led back through the past— back to the very beginnings—and he saw a rehearsal of the history of all of God’s activity. And through this process Job will come to understand for himself just what he is—an ignorant creature whose

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end is dust and ashes. He comes to see God properly; God is the God of all beginnings. And Job comes to see that with God, a new birth and a new creation from the dust is a real possibility. And so, as Job affirms that he is nothing, he can be re-created.

Job has experienced God. He comes to understand the grandeur and the mystery of all of God’s activities and sees him as the architect of the universe and the King over all that exists.

Paul also talks about the transformation that occurred in his life and that his life is an example for others. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul urges his readers to be imitators of him as he imitates Christ—his historical footprint can be seen, and it can be followed. His story—his footprint—was useful to others. Paul was made new. He went from being a blasphemer, through grace, to being a new servant. What I have been emphasizing as our historical footprint, and the notion of the “3 R’s” of Christian history can be seen very clearly in this brief passage: The “R” of remembrance is recognized as Paul talks about his past as a blasphemer, as a persecutor, as a violent man, and he remembers well his former life and he remembers the change that came about because of the grace of Jesus Christ.

The “R” of reflection is recognized as Paul offers a trustworthy saying that “Christ came into the world to save sinners” coupled with the remembrance that he, Paul, was the worst. It was reflection that enabled Paul to understand just what the work of God in Christ was all about, and Paul was re-created as a worthy servant.

The “R” of recommitment is recognized in the doxology that closes out that brief passage, “Now to the King eternal, immortal invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Paul moves forward into his new life.

Those “3 R’s” come together so clearly in this brief passage. Paul points to himself as one who certainly could be seen as beyond the scope of God’s mercy. He thought he was right. He thought he was leading a proper life. But he was so very wrong—reflection on this remembrance in the light of the cross shows otherwise.

And verse 14 shows just how the “3 R’s” are Christian: “the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

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I think that verse points to the church. The faith and the love that are in Christ Jesus represents the faith and the love that is found in the church—found in the members of his church. These are the characteristics of the church that are demonstrated in such a way that when we are truly the church the world takes notice. Within the walls of the church one finds sympathy and kindness and understanding. Here is where there is nurturing and development—and the list goes on. Paul experienced this clearly in his life as he went through his transformation following his Damascus Road incident.

After he was blinded, it was Ananias, in the church, who opened his eyes and called him brother. He found friendship with Barnabas who stood with him as others mistrusted him and were fearful of who he was.

And so, Paul, with this remembrance and this reflection, recommits himself to serving the risen Lord and for the rest of his life he remains a faithful ambassador of the Gospel. And now, in the letters to Timothy, at the end of his life, his work can be an example for others. And in 2,000 years of Christian history, we have looked at examples of others for inspiration, for affirmation, for encouragement.

We remember the past not because it is fun to do history, but because the historical footprint of all of those who have gone before us can help shape and direct our lives as we create our own historical footprints.

There are three aspects of these historical footprints I want to look at now. They flow out of the passages from Timothy which we have read and upon which we have reflected.

The first is boldness. Paul certainly talks about this in his letters and in Timothy. To proclaim the Gospel of Christ, to go into all the world and to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit requires boldness.

To approach someone and tell them that you have the truth, and you want to share with them the plan of God’s salvation for his creation is a bold act.

Paul certainly knew this as he proclaimed the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. He was telling the Jews that their Messiah had come. He was telling the pagans that their gods did not exist.

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He was upsetting the social and the cultural traditions of his day as he proclaimed the one God and how he has forgiven sins through the death and the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

Now, that is bold—to approach someone and tell them as they sit satisfied and happy, that they have lived a sinful life—that the days they spent in the temple offering sacrifices to one God or another were wasted and without meaning. That all that was not necessary. That is bold.

For more than 380 years the RCA has boldly engaged in mission sending out pastors and missionaries to unknown regions to proclaim God’s love. For me, my favorite example is exhibited in Elihu Doty who left as a missionary, in 1836, to travel to Borneo.

He looked back on the shores of the country he was leaving with the expectation that he would never see this land again. He had no idea of what Borneo would be like, not the foggiest. But he felt God’s call on his life and left on a missionary endeavor. He worked for several years in Batavia and Borneo and wound up helping to establish the mission in Amoy, China.

Very closely related to boldness is the second aspect—courage.

To proclaim God’s love in a society in which you have no idea how they will react—or, you do have an idea, and that reaction is going to be negative, requires courage.

Guido Verbeck, our missionary to Japan in 1859, was just such a courageous individual. He entered Japan with two other RCA missionaries only two days after the Port of Yokohama was forced open to the Western world. They entered a strange land not for conquest, not to subjugate the people, but to free them—to free them to life everlasting in the risen Lord.

Because of the bad experiences with Portuguese Jesuit missionaries Christianity was prohibited in Japan and it had been that way for several years. It was prohibited not just to proclaim the message, but to become a Christian.

Verbeck performed the first Protestant baptism in Japan in his house—behind closed windows with the shades pulled down. A Japanese samurai had found a copy of the New Testament floating in the water. He read it and sought out Verbeck to tell him what this book was all about. With that encounter and the meetings that fol-

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lowed, this samurai decided he wanted to follow Christ—to become a Christian—to be baptized.

He made this commitment and Verbeck complied even though it could mean the death penalty for both. That is courage. Verbeck had the courage to remain in Japan and to work to proclaim the Gospel in that nation. He was certain that eventually Christianity would be allowed, and the death penalty would be repealed. He waited and he worked with courage—and he became one of the most significant individuals in modern Japanese history—the architect of the modern Japanese educational system. He waited and he worked with courage.

And that takes us to the third aspect—perseverance.

Living as followers of Christ can be a difficult, lonely, and arduous task. New Brunswick seminary has held several Underwood conferences on Christianity and Korea and has developed strong relationships with the church in that country.

Horace Underwood graduated in 1884 from New Brunswick and he desired to become a missionary to Korea. He first approached the RCA’s board of foreign missions and tried to convince them to start a mission in Korea. They were already working in China and in Japan and he tried to convince them to move on to Korea. He was convinced that was where God was calling him to go. The RCA had no funds available to begin this mission work and suggested Underwood think of some other area.

Undaunted, he approached the Presbyterians; they were interested, but also had no money to start an effort there. Perhaps he would be interested in an existing mission where there was a shortage of missionaries.

No, Underwood was convinced that God was calling him to Korea. That perseverance led to the start of the Presbyterian Church in Korea and everything that followed as Christianity became known in that part of the world. That is perseverance. He could have been a missionary somewhere else, but he was following God’s call—just as Paul followed God’s call.

These aspects are why we pass on these stories, the learnings, the heritage that we have received to those who follow us, so that they can continue along the right path. That is why Paul could find

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comfort in his books and in his parchments—the writings that were the remembrance of his mission work—a life following Christ’s call.

Let me finish by returning to that example of the family who came to research their ancestor in the archives. For a couple of years, they had been giving a few presentations in elder hostels, senior citizen centers, and some churches. Their lives had been changed. I asked them if they had seen any changes in the people who listened to their story, but, they had not really paid attention to that. I wondered how many people might be feeling the call of God in their life as they hear the story of this missionary ancestor from more than 100 years ago. He still may be witnessing in the present.

I thought such a witness from the past was fascinating. His witness continues as his descendents rediscovered who he was and what his life was about. One hundred years later, he may still be changing lives.

One of the joys in the archives that I experience is watching people do research and seeing how they become affected by the past through that research. I have discussed with some what that remembrance and the resulting reflection means within their life. This can happen with a quite simple remembrance of a family history—it starts as an opportunity to gain membership in the DAR, and it ends with a recognition of how rich their heritage is and how they need to strive into the future to honor that heritage and to follow the call made upon them.

The degree of this effect varies tremendously. Some feel it, some just catalogue the names of ancestors and move on. For those who do feel a stirring, it is interesting to discuss what that might mean.

As we remember our own stories and listen to the stories of others, we reflect on how God has worked in our lives. We see the footsteps and the progress. We experience the challenges, the frustrations, and the joys of life.

Our heritage—the historical footprints of others as well as our own—has brought us to where we are today, a church facing the future bold and with confidence that God is leading his people. Throughout the worldwide church this call is followed. We are called to grow; we are called to go! To learn and to do in the name of our risen Lord. Strengthened with the power of God, courageous

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in the face of those who would stand against us, we can soar as if we had the wings of Eagles and go forward in the name of our Lord.

That is our rootedness in the past! That is how we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Their faith continues through us as we continue in ministry into tomorrow. That is the flow of Christian history—remembrance, reflection, recommitment. Once again, the words of John Beardslee as he summarized his ministry and the heritage of the Reformed church when he said, “The church that really takes advantage of what it has lived through and accomplished in a past generation, is a church that has a great future!”

CHAPTER 2

RCA Footprints Selections

RCA Footprint #6: A Note on Records and Archives (6/15/2016) RCA Footprint #17: Evangelism from the Past # 1 (11/30/2016) RCA Footprint #18: Evangelism from the Past 2:

Using History in Service to the Church (12/15/2016)

RCA Footprint #19: Historical Footprints and The Three R’s of Christian Heritage (1/17/2017)

RCA Footprint #38: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?

RCA Footprint #44: Computerwocky (1/31/2018)

RCA Footprint #46: Where Does History Come From? (2/28/2018) RCA Footprint #50: Interlude—An Autobiographical Reflection (5/1/2018) RCA Footprint # 57: What I Have Been Called (8/15/2018)

RCA Footprint # 64: What is the Historical Footprint All About?

(12/15/2018) 19

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RCA Footprint # 98: My Personal Journey and God’s Guidance, part 1 (5/30/2020) RCA Footprint # 99: My Personal Journey and God’s Guidance, part 2 (6/15/2020) RCA Footprint # 100: My Personal Journey and God’s Guidance: Acknowledgements, part 3 (6/30/2020) RCA Footprint #6: A Note on Records and Archives With synod just completed it seems a good time to talk about records and archives—and a commercial for the RCA Archives.

With the close of synod another record has been created as the Acts and Proceedings.

Every staff person creates and uses records. Some are permanent and some are not. So, what is a record?

A record is an official document in any media (written, electronic, audio, video, etc.) that can be used as evidence of a transaction or activity. That information is in a fixed form and may be something that you created or something that you received. Usually, it serves as proof of something or it is set aside as an extension of your memory or to demonstrate accountability. So, minutes are a record and help us remember what we decided to do in a previous time and to show that we acted decently and in order. A record also has a lifespan—a retention period—and can be disposed in the future or kept permanently and sent to the Archives.

A record is not dependent upon the medium in which it exists, for example, e-mail can be records. Lunch arrangements or routing slips are not permanent records, but minutes, agenda documents, e-mails with substantive content are all records.

So, what is an archive?

Those records created doing the business of the GSC, and no longer current, that are preserved because they have enduring value either in the information they contain or as evidence of the functions and responsibilities of the staff person creating or receiving them. Archives include documents, electronic records (pdfs, images, videos), photographs, films, vinyl recordings, microfilm and more.

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All of this provides the basic information for historians, theologians, sociologists, anthropologists, epidemiologists (we have had them use the RCA Archives as well), family historians, and more who seek to understand the life and ministry of the RCA in the context of their respective lives. There is over a half-mile of material stored in New Brunswick, in Canada, and underground in Grand Rapids as well as more than 50,000 images.

All of that is our continuing memory as a corporate entity within the larger Church of Christ. We look back and preserve the record so that we can look ahead with confidence. These records are our profile of our faithfulness to God’s calling and they provide the basis for ‘doing’ history in what I term the ‘Three R’s of Church History’—Remembrance, Reflection, Recommitment, but that’s another story.

RCA Footprint #17: Evangelism from the Past # 1 In this and the next Footprint, I want to share how the past (particularly the Archives) reaches out to people today—and not just in terms of historical research. You might think of this in terms of what Wilbur Washington called “Sermons in Shoes” in the last Footprint.

A retired couple visited me some years ago who were interested in the RCA mission in Amoy, China (see Footprints 4 and 14). They were not members of the RCA, but had an ancestor who had served as an RCA missionary in China and they were interested in his life and his mission work there. They visited to read through some of the mission papers to get some understanding of what that was all about and the bigger issues involved.

Their lives began to be influenced by this ancestor’s ministry and it was having a current impact on who they were and how they were living out the last years of their lives.

I visited them at their home near Philadelphia a while after they completed their research in the Archives. They had taken a trip to Amoy to see where their ancestor had lived and worked. They found his house and visited the church in Amoy. As a result, they prepared a slide program of his life and work to use as a presentation in gatherings of senior citizens in elder hostels, senior centers, and

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some churches. Many of his artifacts had been carefully preserved by them along with a diary and some letters. On my visit, they ran through the slide program—it was a good overview of his life and a good description of what the Reformed Church started and accomplished in Amoy. This had become a part of their heritage and it was affecting their historical footprint—and even that of their ancestor.

Their lives had been changed. I asked them if they had seen any changes in the people who listened to their story, but they hadn’t really paid attention to that. I wondered how many people might be feeling the call of God in their life as they hear the story of this missionary ancestor from more than 100 years ago—he may still be witnessing in the present.

I thought such a witness from the past was fascinating. His witness continues as his descendants rediscover who he was and what his life meant. Now, 100 years later, he may still be changing lives.

One of the joys that I experience in the archives is watching people do research and seeing how they become affected by the past through that research. I have discussed with some just what that remembrance and the resulting reflection means within their life. This can happen with a very simple remembrance of a family history—it starts as an opportunity to gain membership in the DAR and it ends with a recognition of how rich their heritage is and how they need to strive into the future to honor that heritage and to follow the call made upon them.

The degree of this effect varies tremendously. Some feel it; some just catalogue the names of ancestors and move on. For those who do feel a stirring, it is interesting to discuss what that might mean.

As we remember our own stories and listen to the stories of others, we reflect on how God has worked in our lives. We see the footprints and the progress. We experience the challenges, the frustrations, and the joys of life. How fascinating it is to think about—and to experience—evangelism from the past. The footprints of those now gone still echo in outreach and teaching in the spirit of Hebrews 11 and 12:1-3.

I hope that helps some understand one role of the Archives in the RCA.

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RCA Footprint #18: Evangelism from the Past 2: Using History in Service to the Church Mary Kansfield received a book of letters written on the retirement of Hazel Gnade that commended and thanked her for a life ministry of hospitality and support to missionaries embarking from and returning to the United States. Those letters prompted Mary to research Hazel’s life further, and work and to explore the role of women more fully in the RCA. Several years ago, Mary wrote a book in the Historical Series, Letters to Hazel.

Letters to Hazel provides a wonderful glimpse of a woman who engaged in the ministry of hospitality. The efforts she made while missionaries departed and returned to this country were so helpful to so many. Her life is inspiring not because of the good things she did to help people leave and return, but because of the incredible joy she found in doing this. Her life exhibited what Paul talks about in 1 Timothy 6:11, the lifestyle of endurance and gentleness. The letters from her friends and colleagues in the back of the book indicate the extent to which her historical footprint impacted so many others— and where they walked side-by-side.

Hazel made their lives easier as they departed and returned—a welcoming face on the dock, a warm, comfortable home in which to stay after lengthy travel, and a willingness to do what was needed to be done to ease their travel cares.

Similarly, we have another witness from the past in a volume

by June Potter Durkee, Travels of an American Girl, which offers a similar glimpse of endurance and gentleness. This book is a diary kept by a 10-year-old and then was rewritten into narrative form at age 12. June had accompanied her father, Duke Potter (Francis Marmaduke Potter, executive secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions), on a foreign mission deputation tour. In relating this story to her readers, we see again the exhibition of the lifestyle of endurance and gentleness. June tells a story of Dr. Ida Scudder in India sitting down on the ground with her to play a game of jacks.

Here was this world renowned doctor—a person to whom someone could simply address a letter “Dr. Ida, India”, and it would reach her. At Dr. Ida’s funeral it was said that the funeral processional

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was nearly a mile long. Gentleness and meekness in a strong, competent, woman of medicine.

These stories move from being mere memories to illustrations that should inspire and encourage us as we live out our lives in the present. Perseverance in ministry needs reflection. We can well remember doctrine, people, events, and context—but we need reflection to understand how they fit together and interact and shape and provide meaning for our life and ministry.

And this is how we use history in the church. We live in the present, informed by the past, but always looking to the future and the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom.

RCA Footprint #19: Historical Footprints and The Three R’s of Christian Heritage I hope it is clear what these Footprints are really all about. They apply both to our corporate footprint as the Reformed Church in America and to our individual footprint as servants in ministry. I hope this explanation of the footprint might be useful particularly today.

A historical footprint fits in well with our spiritual development as individuals and our faithfulness in ministry as a corporate body.

The focus in these Footprints has been on individuals within a very particular corporate setting—the Reformed Church in America.

These Footprints recognize a specific way of thinking about history—and are a part of a Christian theology of history.

A historical footprint begins with remembrance. We remember our past; we remember the past that provides the context in which we live; we remember the past that goes before our lives and brings us to where we begin to make our own footprint.

A historical footprint takes shape with reflection. We reflect on all those pasts taken together. We add a particular focus on our own past to determine what it means for who we are.

Finally, a historical footprint is lived and made through recommitment. Remembering the past with appropriate reflection brings us to a point of recommitment for the future. So if we want to create a popular slogan it might be said that we look back to see ahead.

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When we engage in remembrance we achieve a knowledge of the world. This helps us create an understanding of who and what we are—the context in which we live. But memories, if they are to be serious memories, demand careful reflection. We need to engage in research, in careful thinking, in critical analysis to be assured that our memories are accurate.

We are rational creatures with a craving to make sense of our life. We desire meaning. We seek understanding. We long for comprehension. We don’t function very well when things around us are unclear or when events lack meaning. We look at our lives and we seek to understand the context that provides some meaning—we need to understand our purpose.

That is the moment that we move from mere remembrance and begin to engage in reflection. This exactly is how a Christian comprehends history. This is the biblical understanding of the meaning and the usefulness of the past.

An accurate remembrance with purposeful reflection is what shapes our spiritual heritage. And the role of our spiritual heritage is essential in the day to day labors of ministry. This is a reminder not only of one’s prior commitments but of the God who witnesses one’s actions and will prove victorious over all our opponents. This is what enables us to live in the here and now with the conviction that evil will be vanquished and we will receive our reward.

And so this remembrance and reflection that creates our spiritual heritage is a very important part of our life. It is our heritage that provides an explanation of how we have reached where we are in our life and it is heritage which helps to shape us and form a part of our sense of identity. It is heritage that challenges us and stimulates us to move forward into the future.

And with all of that in mind we live out our lives in ministry and service to our Lord and we create our historical footprint. We know that God is in control and he leads his people in grace to peace. The purposeful reflection on an accurately remembered past urges us to move forward to a wonderful and glorious future.

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RCA Footprint #38: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?

The title of this Footprint was the title of a session that I just chaired in Buffalo, New York, at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. It was a session about immigration records in archives and included two participants from Cornell University, one from Chautauqua Institution, one from the Jewish Buffalo Archives Project, and myself. The purpose was to begin to discuss the rich collections that document immigration and population movements in the United States. This session provided an opportunity to look at a few collections, explain their current usages and their potential for future research.

In the RCA Archives we document three waves of immigration from the Netherlands: the first Dutch in New York and New Jersey, the second mid-nineteenth century wave to western New York, Michigan, and Iowa, and the third post-World War II wave to Canada. While the RCA Archives is a ‘corporate’ archives documenting the life and ministry of the denomination, many congregational records document the lives and activities, specifically religious and spiritual, of those immigrants. Our records also shed life on the needs, desires, goals, concerns, and other life issues of the immigrants involved in our daily life as the RCA. In the more recent past, records from the Hispanic Council and the Council for Pacific and Asian American Ministries also document the lives and ministries of immigrants to the United States. Fascinating stories are found in all these records; stimulating, unsettling, encouraging, enriching, disturbing, and/or inspiring are all words that can describe the stories revealed there.

The operative word in all of this, and in this session itself, is “story.” The Archives has the raw material—data—to compile stories of our life and ministry. I’ve related just a few of the stories in the Archives through these Footprints. The Archives are the data that are combined by a researcher—in most cases a historian—who can bring that data to life and tell the story that is contained in a group of records. You are all participants as you create and then retain the records of the activities in which we all engage. Those records docu-

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ment everything from the initial conception through the working out and engagement to the conclusion.

You can read many of the stories in the more than 90 volumes of the Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America. Many more volumes need to be written: stories about the work of chaplains in the wider world, stories about the struggles of modern missionaries in an increasingly diverse world, stories about how we organize to go about our ministry, stories about the work of women in ministry, and the list can go on. That’s why the Archives collects, retains, and makes these records available. The Archives provides the memory to answer diverse questions such as “Who was our first general secretary?” or “Why has the Native American Council had periods of strength and decline?”

Put all together, these records create a profile of how we all have lived as the people of God in this particular gathering known as the Reformed Church in America. That’s what makes the Archives so important and so much fun.

RCA Footprint #44: Computerwocky COMPUTERWOCKY with apologies to Lewis Carroll (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872) ‘Twas evening, and the slippery drives did groan and grumble in the cage: All floppsy were the little disks And the screen did rage.

“Beware the Gates monster, my son!

The fist that grabs, the screen of blue!

Beware the tablet screen, and run Whenever it stares at you!

Take your vorpal program in hand: Don’t erase the hard drive too—

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Wait for Macs to save the land And ease the burden on you.

Now, in anticipation alone you wait The Gates monster, with a version anew, Arises snuffling out the program’s fate And presents a new screen of blue!

Screech, scratch! One, two! Groan and screech The anti-virus goes snicker-snack!

The drive is DEAD and with a moan Best Buy knows he’ll be back!

“And has thou conquered the Microsoft?

Have you overcome the Dell?

O frabjous day!

And now you sniff the smell.

‘Twas evening, and the slippery drives did groan and grumble in the cage: All floppsy were the little disks And the screen did rage.

RCA Footprint #46: Where Does History Come From?

I want to take this Footprint to think about history as a concept. There is a deep, ulterior motive at play here—I will be contacting many of you about what we are doing to preserve the memory of your life and ministry on the RCA staff. Between now and the fall, I want to make sure we are documenting your work. I invite you to dialogue with me about the meaning of heritage and history.

When we read history, we are reading the interpretation of past events reconstructed through recollections and documents. For recent history, we use our memories as the primary means of recreating a past event. For more distant history we rely upon memory “joggers” such as documents, videos, newspaper clippings, and other items we have saved to preserve and reconstruct our memory.

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Archives serve as the means of preserving the memory of society. In the Reformed Church in America, the Archives serve as the corporate memory of our denomination. The Archives includes correspondence, minute books, videos, photographs, tape recordings, publications, computer disks and other media that have been used as records. These records provide evidence of our ministry—created at the time of the event, they can often be unbiased witnesses to that event. Minutes serve to provide a formal corporate memory of an organization, correspondence provides reports and accounts of events as well as memories of events that have already transpired. Photographs, tape recordings, and videos provide a record of the actual event, publications can provide focused, intentional recollections as in books and articles, and oral histories provide reminiscences of prior events that add flesh to the skeleton of the past. Together these records are used to write history.

The documents and records are not specifically our history.

Rather, taken together with adequate reflection and interpretation, they create a version of our history. Our history is important for our self-understanding as a people of God—it is a profile of our faithfulness to God’s call and it is the context in which our current life and mission grows.

We are a people of remembrance. From the earliest oral traditions that preserved God’s call to Abraham to leave Haran, to the written story of Job, through the preservation of the gospels as witnesses to the life and ministry of Jesus, and the collection of early church letters from Paul, Peter, and John, we have preserved memory. We have preserved it neither to glorify the past nor to pat ourselves on the back for grand accomplishments but to provide a profile of God’s interaction with His People. Our past provides a means to understand God’s grace and work over time and provides the foundation upon which to build as we grow into the future. We are a people of remembrance because that is how we most effectively learn who we are and what we have been called to do so that we can go into the future boldly following our God. Remembrance is a learning device for moving forward. The Archives roll in all of this is to provide for the stewardship of the memory.

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Let’s take one example of historical understanding that can inform our current situation. Church growth became an incredibly significant, focused movement in the later 20th century. The RCA challenged itself to begin approximately 100 congregations in 10 years in the late 80s. There was quite a bit of discussion about whether this was possible. A look at the past indicated that about 30% of the current churches in the RCA at that time had their origin since 1950. About one-third of the denomination, about 300 to 350 congregations were new in a thirty-five-year period.

A quick conclusion would indicate that the RCA had been beginning new congregations at a rate consistent with that being proposed. So, something that was perceived to be new and difficult was already being accomplished. It is possible to wonder if a better understanding of our history might have changed the goal, the program, or the self-understanding.

Cheers!

RCA Footprint #50: Interlude—An Autobiographical Reflection Made it! Please allow me a bit of a self-centered indulgence for this Footprint as I reach my own significant footprint.

On May 1, 1978, I began my career as the archivist for the RCA on a three-year, part-time, trial basis. Today marks the completion of forty years and the start of the forty-first. That trial was successful and it sure has been exciting. I may not be the longest serving staff person ever (although I’ve never checked it out), but I do think my record of forty straight General Synods (soon to be forty-one) will stand for a while.

As I reflect on my career and the early preparation I had, I have seen God at work in so many ways. I went to a specialized high school in New York City—the New York School of Printing.

There I spent a year hand typesetting from a California Job Case and a year doing offset presswork (working on small 15” ATF Chief presses and large Harris 28” offset presses), making plates, production camera darkroom work, cold type composition, and stripping up negatives to make plates. My senior year was spent working 20

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hours a week in an offset shop doing all that same type of work—for a salary!

In addition, I spent three years in the journalism class and preprofessional journalism workshop working for our student newspaper which consistently won its category at the Columbia University Scholastic Press Association. My senior year was spent as Feature Editor and I wrote a regular column, “The Hell Box” (a typesetting term).

Then five years at Hope College with part-time senior years and membership in the Emersonian Fraternity (frat brothers with Ken Bradsell, Ken Erics, and Glen Lowe, who also wound up on RCA staff). I was the keeper of the Archives for one semester with the frat and majored in Philosophy.

Following graduation, I worked at the United Nations and was there for five years in the UN Archives. I discussed the development of the RCA archival program with Norm Kansfield when the commission on history was submitting its proposal. With a strong sense of call to this as my ministry, I left the UN, and on May 1 started this part-time, trial position to create a permanent denominational archive from what had been put into the seminary library over the years. John Beardslee, Elsie Stryker, and Emma Roberts had worked as volunteers and part-time staff to try to get the archives organized.

I had intended to attend New Brunswick Theological Seminary, but never had the time for that as the work took full time.

So, with a strong sense of call, I started my first year in a ministry of remembrance. It took quite a while to achieve any recognition of what the program was all about (some thought I just collected bulletin covers from churches) and how it could contribute to the RCA. Now, all that I have described so far had prepared me for the work I did when I started the Archives and worked with the Commission on History. The printing background prepared me very well to assist with the production of the Historical Series, the journalism background helped me develop writing skills and a sense of what is news and understanding the 5 W’s. The frat experience, at least, familiarized me with the term “archives.”

After I started the RCA Archives, I earned my Master’s degree and did further graduate work at Rutgers in the history and phi-

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losophy of education. At one time, I had an idea for a dissertation: The Pedagogical Value for Moral Education of Contemporary Soap Operas (I’ll be glad to share that with you some time). My more practical and immediate focus was on education in American society and education in our mission field—where I really enjoyed learning about how the RCA helped shape Japanese education (see the earlier Footprint about Verbeck).

That background helped me with research skills, as it provided a broad background to assist with research in a variety of social science fields as researchers used the archives. These researchers visited here to do history, anthropology, sociology, and even epidemiology.

Our records provide a vast resource for so many specialized fields.

The liberal arts education that Hope and the international experience at the UN provided me a strong background on which to build and grow as I have assisted researchers from all around the world in their various research quests.

I started the Archives with paper-based finding aids and lists and developed more digital documents that I can count. I’ve grown from the old Commodore Vic-20 through Kaypros with CP/M, Apples, Macs, and PCs with DOS and Windows. From those paper-based finding aids we have progressed to databases using Perfect Software, Dbase II through IV, Paradox, FoxPro, and FileMaker Pro. All that time, data has had to be migrated to new operating systems and file formats.

One of the great joys has been watching so many different staff people come and go (the coming has always been more enjoyable than the going) who have left major marks on our life and mission. I have known all our general secretaries and worked for five of them (soon six, including our interim). They have each had their own unique style and set of gifts. I have watched us live through many major programs and initiatives—PPIM, 98 x 98, Reaching and Receiving in Christ, and so on.

And through all these years, the RCA has moved forward despite differences and divisions. We have grown, we have declined.

We have made some major mistakes, we have been wise beyond our size. We have ignored our past, we have learned from our past. We have fought, we have embraced each other in love. The RCA has remained steadfast in its commitment to mission, to education, and to

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discipleship. It has weathered many storms and remained steadfast in its commitment to being a People of God. So, this has been my brief indulgence—to tell you a little about myself and how I fit into this role that I still relish filling after forty years. It may make you a little bit more interested in talking further, or to make you want to sidestep me and avoid having too much information. It remains a calling and a ministry for me and I am joyful of having this opportunity to serve with you all. God willing, I will be here a while longer.

Cheers!

RCA Footprint # 57: What I Have Been Called This Footprint seems like an exposé of some scandalous twitter war and my report of some offensive name-calling of the archivist.

Not like that at all.

Archives in general, and the RCA Archives in particular, has always had an identity problem in our society. While the use of archives is more common today, thirty-plus years ago that was not the case. In relation to the RCA, I often had to spell ‘archivist’ if giving information for an application or other form. A quizzical look would often follow and then the inevitable, “What’s that?” would follow.

Explaining that I took care of historical records was always fun, especially when I could follow up with “…for the RCA.” In those years, people’s minds would immediately go to me taking care of unsold LPs for the record company and I would respond, “No, the original RCA. I hear a different master’s voice than you are thinking about.”

Unlike a lot of other professions, archivists have never had a high visibility. Most frequently, we are confused with historians. We are not historians. Archivists provide the materials that historians use to make history happen—but that’s another whole discussion.

Another confusion, and it has happened more than once, is to be mis-identified as an “activist.” Never sure what an “activist’ might do, but the spelling and sound is close, so why not.

When I started and was at a seminary function, I met a woman who was fascinated by my job. She kept introducing me as an “arche-

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ologist” to everyone. Even though I explained what I did and what the job was, it just couldn’t come across in her mind as anything but an archeologist. There are times when this job has been as dirty as an archeologist’s might be. Rather than crawling around in old tombs, I have crawled around in bell towers littered with mouse droppings to pull out old records. Rather than digging deep for buried artifacts, I’ve had to dig through mold encrusted boxes to see if anything was salvageable. In the early 80s, we archivists even produced a parody called “Raiders of the Lost Archives.”

The most fascinating name I’ve been called, though, occurred at the General Synod in Kalamazoo. I was at one of the synod’s receptions and a delegate kept staring at me across the room. Naturally, I quickly looked down to see what I had spilled on myself this time to call such attention to myself. She walked over and looked carefully at my name tag then started to laugh. She explained her confusion to me, “Oh, it’s ‘archivist’. I thought it said ‘anti-Christ’ and I couldn’t imagine why the ‘anti-Christ’ would be invited to synod.”

In all the professional gatherings I’ve attended where we have discussed confusions about our professional name, no one has ever beat that one.

What archivists do is not always understood, but the result of our work is always valued and experienced. If someone didn’t take the time to preserve our documentary heritage, society would have no memory. That is what the archivist’s role is for the RCA, this is how we preserve the ongoing memory of the RCA’s life and mission—good and bad. Not everything is saved, only that which provides evidence of what we have been about in a most useful and meaningful manner—technically this is called appraisal. Archivists dispose of most of the records that have no enduring value and once they are gone, so is the memory. Hopefully, we have saved the right records and a solid memory is available.

So, in church terms, this is a sacred trust to preserve accurately that which best profiles our faithfulness—and, at times, unfaithfulness—as witnesses to the work of God in our lives.

If you are familiar with A Knight’s Tale and Chaucer’s comment to the two men who beat on him because he owed them money, archivists can go a step further. Remember, be nice to archivists—they can erase you from history!

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RCA Footprint # 64: What is the Historical Footprint All About?

This is not really a self-promoting Footprint, although it seems to be as I reflect on it.

The Reformed Church Center (RCC) had a wonderful program on December 6: Remembering Who We Are: How Congregations Commemorate and Celebrate Their Heritages. The keynote speaker was Dr. David Zwart of Grand Valley State University. He was this years Smith Fellow for the RCC. Other speakers included Regina Robles Brannock (elder, Apache Reformed Church), Patricia Singletary (pastor, Elmendorf Reformed Church), Gerri Igayoshi Yoshida (RCA Council for Pacific and Asian American Ministries), and myself.

My presentation on the “Three ‘R’s of Church History” focused on the why of doing this and what the historical footprint is all about. That is now on the Archives YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr2TRdVH6h8& With the introduction and question at the end it is just over 28 minutes. If you want a succinct (I hope) explanation of the idea of a historical footprint, this would be it.

Now, it’s not really self-promotion since it explains why I do the Footprints. Since I always take my vacation at the end of the year, I am now on vacation and looking for something short to write—but longer for you to listen to. It can play in the background since there are no images—other than my happy face.

I hope you enjoy this and find it useful.

Do give a listen to the whole day of presentations available below. There is a lot of substance and many interesting and diverse stories can be heard there. I think this is a great resource for congregations—and not just for writing a history or celebrating an anniversary. The whole story of the African burial grounds and Elmendorf church in Harlem, New York, is a fascinating story with significant impact for today.

You can find all the presentations on the Facebook page for New Brunswick Theological Seminary or else on Vimeo.com here:

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https://vimeo.com/305091880 Next week, we will have a special Christmas Footprint from Matthew on the YouTube page and linked to a special person. I hope you will enjoy that as well.

We will return to our regularly scheduled Footprints on January 15, 2019.

Cheers, Russ RCA Footprint # 98: My Personal Journey and God’s Guidance, part 1 As I conclude 42 years as Archivist, please allow me a few Footprints of introspection and reflection as I round out this series to an even 100 to coincide with my retirement. I want to share with you some preparation work that stretches back as far as junior high school and illustrates God’s leadership and guidance unbeknownst to me. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time reflecting on my life and these earlier years lately, so I beg your indulgence. I began high school 52 years ago and it just seems so long ago as I learn that most of those teachers who were so formative are no longer here with us.

It began in the seventh grade when I took printing shop and fell in love with the smell of ink, the clanking sound of a printing press, and the fascination of lead type. (An aside: when I was several years younger, we were visiting my aunt and uncle in Islip, Long Island.

Their nephew was living there and he was running a multilith press in the basement printing handbills. I stood with fascination watching him work the press). I learned the California Job Case in junior high school, set type, ran the C & P hand letterpresses and by 9th grade (I took printing shop every year in after-school shop center) I was trusted to run the hand-fed, electric Heidelberg press (check out YouTube videos of C & P presses and you will see what I am discussing here).

My interests were divided between science and printing. I decided not to go to my local high school and applied to the New

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York School of Printing (NYSP—one of NYC’s specialized high schools). I was accepted in the college prep program and my education in the printing industry and journalism was underway (if you want to see my high school, in later years, which no longer exists, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjsEsdHqAUM). I had no goal in mind, just a love for the craft of printing, and all I knew at that time was letter press. My sophomore year (10th grade) provided 20 hours/week of hand typesetting. I could set type from the California Job Case quite fast and learned about typography and design. That same year, I tested to enter the journalism class and made it and then in my junior and senior year I participated in the journalism workshop (the best from the class each year).

The workshop was a pre-professional level experience in which we worked on the student newspaper (The Student Printer), the literary magazine (Shrdlu – bonus points if you know where that name comes from), and the daily radio station WNYSP. I was on the newspaper staff and became the feature editor in my senior year. The newspaper regularly won its category in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association awards and we were expected to work hard—at the start we had regular “beats” assigned to us as well as assignments from the various senior editors. I learned the discipline of writing for assignment, the seriousness of journalism, the desire to pursue the truth, and how to publish a paper. At NYSP everything was done in-house from writing the stories, printing the newspaper, and distributing it. (I should mention that David Horowitz, the consumer advocate who died recently was an NYSP graduate).

My printing education continued. As a college prep student, my orientation was to offset printing and a had a semester of platemaking. In that class, we mixed the chemicals directly to create developer and fixer for the plates and film in the darkroom camera. It wasn’t just open a package of Dektol developer and mix it with water. We also mixed the chemicals to sensitize the plates for the image for use in the offset printing process. Second semester brought me to the offset press class (You can see an example of one of the Harris presses I trained on here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=2eBfeqUXYT8). In my senior year, I was allowed to take a job instead of shop and worked for 20 hours/week at Denlo Busi-

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ness Service in Long Island City. That provided a real world job in a printing shop. I made plates, ran the press, cut paper, ran the binding machine, stripped up negatives for platemaking, and met customers, and the pay was good. My mom was a bank teller and she felt a little bad that her high school son was actually making a little bit more than her.

If you’d like to read an enjoyable account of typography during this period, see The Interrobang in Sh@dy Charac†ers, by Keith Houston (W.W. Norton & Co. 2013) At the same time I kept up the academic classes, the journalism workshop, and was a boy scout trying to become an Eagle scout.

That never happened because I just can’t swim. I might have fudged my way through the swimming merit badge, but Lifesaving was impossible for a non-swimmer. I had everything else and then some and was a member of the Order of the Arrow.

NYSP also had a fantastic music teacher, Philip Ames-Fein.

He was a pianist who had a TV show in the early 50s airing against Liberace. He didn’t succeed in the TV world, but he was a fantastic musician who taught voice to professionals only and to high school students who had no interest in music. He did stimulate me to want to learn piano which I did, although the part of practicing was never popular. I did learn what appropriate discipline required and how nice if would be if I could only apply that discipline.

Now, I tell you this because this all happened without any planning on my part. I had no goal in mind when I did any of this other than it was fun. It was later that I could see God’s leading and preparing me for the call to work in the Archives.

Another significant episode was during my high school years when four churches in the Astoria-Long Island City area banded together to form a joint youth group. That was where I met Norm Kansfield in his first pastorate at Second Reformed Church in Astoria. When the group started, I was elected secretary-treasurer. Too many had turned down the nomination and I was last so I wasn’t allowed to refuse. That wasn’t my plan, so I stopped going to the youth group. After a while, Norm called and said, “If you’re not going to come back, could you at least return the box of membership cards?”

A rather poor start to a long term friendship and the one person who

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was instrumental in developing a full-time, formal RCA Archives and my obtaining the position as archivist.

The printing background equipped me marvelously to be of use to the commission as it published the volumes in the Historical Series. I knew the printing industry and printing processes and I loved them. I was one of the earliest purchasers of the Mac and the LaserWritter and was able to prepare camera ready pages for the printer for the Eerdmans printing facility in 1985. The beauty of desktop publishing is how easy it is to set type from a keyboard rather than a typecase. In hand typesetting, each case of type was one font, one size. Times Roman, regular, bold, italic, 10, 12, and 14 point would be nine separate cases—that’s a lot of lead. Add in the other standard fonts and display type and you need a room just for that small supply of type. On the computer, several megabytes provides about a hundred fonts. What an incredible world for printing (I did have a class in cold type composition in my junior year—that’s what nonlead typesetting was called at the time).

The journalism component taught me research skills coupled with a quest for truth. Those are valuable skills for an archivist who needs to understand a broad range of research to facilitate the needs of those who come to use the archives. In boy scouts, I also earned the journalism merit badge and the Gold Quill Award. You can see a theme here that points to the publishing world Formative years that I never suspected would serve me well later. I now realize that God was quietly and effectively leading me. So, following NYSP, I was off to college as a chemistry major. More about that in the next Footprint.

RCA Footprint # 99: My Personal Journey and God’s Guidance, part 2 I mentioned in my last Footprint the importance of printing and journalism for me in junior high school and high school. I also indicated I went off to college and began as a chemistry major. That was at Hope College. I did not realize then, either, that God was leading me to my choice of school. I could have attended the State University of New York (SUNY) with all-expenses-paid, or New

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York University or Long Island University with most expenses paid.

I chose Hope College which offered no financial aid at all.

My first choice for schools was the City University of New York (CUNY). That became impossible. It happened that my high school wisely saved applications until all the ones that they handed out had been submitted. That meant they were submitted to CUNY three days after the due date. It also meant I did not get accepted into CUNY and ended up on the waiting list for the Staten Island Community College evening session. So, CUNY was a no go. While searching, I happened to see in a brochure some students with funny beanies that they were wearing at SUNY — pomposity on my part said, “I’m not going to do THAT!” So, Hope College it was, not by any choice of my own. Now one of those quirks that I have seen in my life. I had a meeting with an admissions counselor at ‘475’ in the general secretary’s office (he was gone at the time). As the counselor reviewed my record, he could not understand why I had not been admitted yet. He checked the list and I left ‘475’ happy to hear that Hope accepted me. (I never imagined that I would be there 10 years later to meet Arie Brouwer as I interviewed for the job as archivist— the office had changed little.)

I went to Hope as a chemistry major. In my first year, Hope College had radically revised its chemistry curriculum. The program now started with physical chemistry for one semester and then moved on to organic chemistry in the second. I did not have a problem with the physical chemistry, but when I got to the Mole concept I was completely flummoxed. Since I did not reach out for help, that ended my chemistry career.

What I did find fascinating and had no problem with was philosophy and it was the course, Introduction to Liberal Studies, taught

by D. Ivan Dykstra, which got me hooked. Well, that, and there was no mention of the Mole concept. The breadth of learning covered in that course and the inclusion of about anything that one’s mind could begin to consider grabbed me. I wanted to major in everything, and philosophy was a way to get toward that goal. Philosophy at Hope taught me not about philosophy, rather, it was how to philosophize. I appreciated this later when I was doing graduate work in the philosophy of education and the goal as stated by the professor was not to teach us about philosophy but how to philosophize. Inter-

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estingly, both had done their PhD’s at Yale at about the same time.

My favorite areas in philosophy were ethics and logic — especially logic. In one sense, the beauty of logic was that it was not about truth, but about consistency and the rules of right thinking. I think that has dominated my life ever since—although I hope a pursuit of the truth is a part of that as well.

Curiously, my exposure to archives came when I was elected Keeper of the Archives in my fraternity, Emersonian. I had no idea what archives were and all the job meant was that I take the minutes of the meeting and put them in the filing cabinet, put the podium out for the president at the start of the meeting, and most importantly, keep the soda machine stocked, soda ordered, and everything always available. That was the real nature of the job. I have not ordered any soda in my time as archivist of the RCA. When I reflect on this, I recognize that God was leading me even here, although I had no idea of that at the time.

Hope, for me, was uneventful even during the Vietnam War era.

After graduation, I abruptly left the apartment I had with my friend and headed back to New York to take the summer course in New Testament Greek at Princeton Theological Seminary. At that time, I thought I was being led into ministry. A different path emerged.

In November, 1973, I took a job in the United Nations working in the archives. The archivist of the United Nations was a Swedish national and there were staff members from India, Cuba, Indonesia, the Philippines, Lebanon, and the United States. I decided that I really enjoyed archival work and I appreciated, very much, the work of the United Nations up to that point. I was able to work on the records of United Nations Operations in the Congo, the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon, the United Nations Emergency Force, the United Nations Commission for Palestine and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, among others. In my five years there I never had a permanent contract. It was always a shortterm temporary appointment between 3 and 6 months. The permanent contract came just prior to my leaving in May 1978. I wound up giving up stability for 42 years of instability.

Here, Norman Kansfield entered the picture again (we had had contact at Hope and after my graduation). Norm was preaching at Steinway Reformed Church in Astoria where I grew up and had

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my membership. Maria and I (we were married in 1976 and God leading me to such a wonderful wife is still another Footprint for my memoirs) walked him back to the subway and stopped in a diner along the way. He had prepared a proposal for the commission on history to establish an archival program for the RCA and asked me if I would look at it. I did and said I would be interested very much in that job. I always felt the call to ministry, after Hope, but it was not pastoral ministry. I just was not sure what it really was. This was it. The initial plan was for a three-year trial program beginning in 1978. I applied, along with several others, was offered the job, promised Maria that we would be back to New York after three years, and we moved to New Jersey.

The original plan was drafted by Norm. I began and fully embraced the theological background that he had developed. I used it, expanded on some of it, and it provided the foundation for everything we have today. I can look back at over 42 years as the threeyear trial program ends for me and sadly tell Maria that we are not moving back to New York but remain stuck in Jersey. From junior high school through today I see God guiding me—pushing me along the path — at every point.

The archives did not function without conflict, controversy, and confusion. That is the topic for the final Footprint next time.

RCA Footprint # 100: My Personal Journey and God’s Guidance: Acknowledgements, part 3 “We asked for a youth minister and you gave us an archivist!”

Six general secretaries, ten supervisors.

“I don’t know why you are here, but we’ll see.”

Two overtures at synod to eliminate the Archives and the archivist in the budget.

“You wanted an Archives, we’re bending over backwards to satisfy you (to the commission).”

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From the floor as new business, eliminate the Archives and the archivist in the budget.

“Stop meeting with them, that’s above your pay grade!”

A hostile takeover attempt presented to GSC to outsource the work of the Archives.

“The Kingdom of God doesn’t exist for you!”

A performance review by supervisor, one other staff member, and three selected from outside the staff familiar with the Archives.

One commented, “I trust Russ more than anyone else and would trust him with anything.”

Supervisor response, “That’s an amazing statement for this organization!” Shocked look on face in response to that.

From supervisor upon starting a performance review on a couple of occasions, “I wish I had your job!”

“It’s better if you fly under the radar and no one knows what you do.”

Nearly one-third of the Archives were stored in a couple of rooms in my house for 18 months while Sage was undergoing renovated in 1984-85.

As the first person on staff to buy a computer to use, “You’re not going to get any brownie points for that!”

Moving all the Archives, shelving, and furniture out and back in again prior to and after the renovation because there was no funding to hire any help.

“Do you REALLY work full time in the Archives?”

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Planning to transfer 400 boxes from ‘475’ prior to renovation.

“We need to hire movers for that.” “Some would say that moving those is the archivist’s job.”

Those comments and actions are all real and but a few of the conflicts and obstacles I have faced as I worked to make the Archives a viable operation and valuable to the RCA over the years— and there are many more. You get the idea.

Acknowledgements usually appear at the start of a volume, although it is the last part to written. One cannot acknowledge all the help received until the task is completed and the work ended. So, this last Footprint becomes an acknowledgements page to my life on the staff in the RCA. Certainly, the first and foremost acknowledgement is to God who led me here and sustained me all these years.

The comments above are true quotes from supervisors and staff with whom I have worked over the years. The activities indicated are real parts of my career—and this is but a brief list and I would not want to bore you with more.

There were times when life in the Archives faced some very dark times—headaches, troubles, obstacles, threats of defunding a program—and those were dark times for me as well. I never lost my sense of call nor my feeling that this was a legitimate ministry of remembrance to be pursued. In those times, I turned to God in prayer, and I am here retiring. God was always in control and my life is proof that God gets you where you should be despite oneself.

Of course, my wife, Maria, has stood by me through all of this.

She strengthened me when I needed it, calmed me when I became too excited or agitated over events, and heard all my complaints, ideas, and musings without complaint and always with a careful ear and constructive guidance. Matthew and Sara were there as well.

They came into the Archives to do some work from a young age— stuffing and stamping envelopes for big mailings, sorting papers, and other tasks within their abilities as children. As you read above, both grew up “in” in the Archives for 18 months. Matthew continues to grow into this work and came more fully into it as he transitioned from emergency management to Archives, initially to help

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with some very heavy lifting and moving, and then to creative and active archival work and development.

Arie Brouwer grabbed the vision of the commission’s proposal to start a full-time archival program that Norm Kansfield developed and gave the RCA an archivist when staff had wanted a youth minister. He did take heat for that but never indicated that he regretted the decision. The commission was always supportive. I remember well, the comment made to me by Don Bruggink at my first meeting, “We finally have an archivist. It’s all on you now, if you don’t succeed, we will not get another chance!” That was humbling and frightening at the same time. The commission moderator’s instruction to me was, “Take the ball and run!”

Don became a wonderful colleague as we worked together on the Historical Series. We would have our moments of disagreement, but we always remained friends. Don was supportive of the Archives and of me personally. His presence on the commission and with the series ran from before I began through his retirement from the series after fifty years.

Three individuals, in particular, have been supporters, friends, and colleagues over these 42 years and two months.

John Beardslee volunteered as the first archivist for several years while the NBTS Professor of Church History. John was a brilliant, sensitive, and gentle man. I always thought that I could remember just what he had forgotten, I would know a lot. John had an encyclopedic mind and knew so much of RCA history. He was always ready to help and helped me learn more intimate RCA history through so many conversations. Ironically, I had met John at an event featuring Julian Bond in Queens about ten years earlier. We talked about a few things as I walked him to the train station on Ditmars Boule­ vard in Astoria. The most amazing aspect to me at that time was how patiently he listened to this silly college kid who thought he knew something, and he even made me feel like I did know something. I learned a lot about humility from John and the ability to remain quiet and listen.

Norm Kansfield, who developed the original proposal for the commission, did more than that. He supported me in the interview process, helped with the design of the Historical Society of the Re-

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formed Church in America, and in promoting the Reformed Church Heritage Fund (ca. 1980). You have never heard of that because we could not get it launched well. GSEC approved it with the stipulation that we do not raise any money for that $750,000 endowment in RCA congregations. Norm and I both left that meeting wondering what we could do now since we couldn’t solicit in the RCA (the real intent of the statement since we did not do individual solicitation to any great extent at that time). I did manage to raise about $11,000 and that was used later to offset the budget during a financial exigency. Norm also gave great support as president of NBTS. It was during his tenure that we expanded into the basement and reached a good lease arrangement with the seminary for the additional space and procured the moveable shelving in the basement. To the present, Norm (and his wife, Mary, should be included as well) has been supportive and a good friend.

John Coakley, who served as the professor of church history following John Beardslee, remains a tremendous colleague and friend.

I met John when he introduced himself to me in the gymnasium at Rutgers during General Synod as he indicated he was the new faculty member and wanted to meet me. The fact that he sought me out to meet me really impressed me—I did not think I was that important. That was the first indication of the great humility that John always displays. He has an incredible passion for scholarship, a wide-ranging knowledge of church history (especially the RCA), and a love for teaching that is seen only among the greatest teachers.

Like John Beardslee, John Coakley is humble and does his best to encourage and enrich those with whom he comes in contact. He has served as a moderator for the commission on history and as a friend and colleague, he has always been there with a kind ear and strong support for my work and for the Archives. There have been many storms that came across the Archives and I surely unloaded more that I should have on John, but he always listened to my ideas and plans and offered sound advice and constructive criticism.

There have been so many others on the commission, on the staff, among professional archival colleagues who have helped me grow, supported me professionally, and are wonderful friends. While I can

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name them all, I will not here since this is the longest Footprint of the 100.

Thank you all for reading these, commenting on them, and engaging me in conversations, with questions, and encouragement for more than four decades. I will always appreciate our time together and wish you God’s blessing as you continue in your ministries.

Russ

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CHAPTER 3

Archival Aphorisms: Starting and Managing an Archival Program

Archival Aphorisms grew out of several presentations I have made at Society of American Archivist (SAA) and Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference meetings over several years. An interesting sidenote to this that my wife pointed out to me is that each time I did this presentation, a storm quickly followed. The first time was at an SAA meeting in New Orleans just a couple of days before Katrina hit, the second was at a MARAC meeting in Cape May just before Sandy hit. The final one was at a MARAC meeting in Rochester that was followed by an unusual, late snowstorm. Despite the tragic storms that followed, I do hope that these aphorisms helped new archivists—that was the purpose.

These aphorisms came from my reflections upon more than four decades of working in archives. For forty-two years and two months, I served as the archivist for the Reformed Church in America (RCA—the original RCA). I had the wonderful opportunity to start that program and develop it as a corporate archive for the denomination. From the outset, let me be clear, the RCA Archives is a 49

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corporate archive—we exist for the sole purpose of the RCA. Historians and other researchers make the most use of what we have, but that is not the reason that the program was established.

I hope that I can impart some useful suggestions about how to successfully begin and manage the archives and yourself that will result in an effective, sustainable program. My intent is to present a series of aphorisms that undergird what I think are the important lessons learned in starting an archival program.

It may be an illusion on my part, that, as I age, I may have some wisdom to impart and choose to use the aphorism style to sound witty and informed. It seems nice to use aphorisms to appear wise— and, hopefully, that works. Please indulge me and be entertained at the least—enter my mind and see what I believe to be important.

May these aphorisms provide mnemonic reminders both on how to get started and how to manage. They are about basic orientation and not about archival technique.

1. Be kind to those who went before.

Corollary: Respect your elders—you stand on the shoulders of giants.

Unless you are walking into an empty room in an organization in which nothing at all has been collected, you have started a program in which someone else has made either a failed attempt to start or has gathered some materials together. In the case of the RCA, there were committees and volunteers who came forward from time to time over centuries to collect and attempt to arrange and organize records. At times these were very selective attempts—just gathering published congregational histories or just collecting missionary correspondence or suggesting that various boards of mission, education, etc. give their office records to an attempt at creating an Archives.

In the case of the RCA, the volunteer prior to my being hired was the church history professor at New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Very fortunate to us—and for me, especially—he was a brilliant man. I always thought that if I could remember just what he forgot, I would be very smart indeed. He had no training in library work or in archives, and he never pretended that he had. He just set out to bring papers together and provide some level of organization.

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He was one of the strongest supporters to get a full-time, permanent program established that led to my being hired.

So, you all have a predecessor of some sort. Be careful what you say or how you criticize because it may come back to haunt you someday. If you are successful in your archival career, it means you will have a successor and you will have been their predecessor. Predecessors did the best that they could under the conditions in which they worked. The Archives of the Reformed Church in America existed in attics, in storerooms, in makeshift facilities, and they were handled by volunteers and committees. What makes a professional a professional is a willingness to commit oneself to a body of knowledge and to work for pay. An amateur does not necessarily make poor decisions or lack knowledge they simply do it for the love of it—and without pay.

We still have volunteers helping in every congregation that realizes it should do something with its records. They can and have been the strongest supporters. They can be a tremendous help in outreach efforts and can form a solid nucleus for any fundraising efforts. Over the course of three and a half centuries, it was volunteers taking time to gather records, in some fashion, so that today we have records dating back to the 1630s.

2. Know who signs your check and the institutional mission.

Corollary: Be an asset.

One of the first tasks I undertook when I began the RCA’s program in 1978 was to develop a combined statement of policy and purpose (what we now call, in short form, a mission statement) that could serve as the starting point for a denominational records management program as well. There were no rules or guidelines about the purpose or the function of the archives when I stepped into that office. Initially, I faced some internal staff hostility, because many were hoping the denomination would hire someone to help congregations with youth ministry so that churches could grow rather than an archivist who would just gaze at the past.

I attended my first staff gathering and heard the statement made to the general secretary, “We wanted a youth minister and you got us an archivist? What’s with that?” The program becomes

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a hard sell at that point. Inreach becomes more essential than outreach since these were the staff to whom I had to relate to begin collecting records.

With the first mission and collection policy statements, I also needed to develop a theological rationale for how the nature and function of archives fits in the whole working and thinking of the church. The benefit in that effort was that I was able to demonstrate the continuity of this program with the whole of the mission and program efforts of the denomination. The archives became an aspect of what you need to do business. If you work counter to the institutional mission—no matter how brilliant an archivist you may be—you will not last.

I already stated that this is a corporate archive. That was a conscious decision. If I emphasized outside scholarship and scholarly visitors being the purpose of establishing the archives, it would have ended there. And it still could. That does not mean that there was no interest in research within the staff and the church, it just was a question of how much are we willing to pay for others to enjoy that.

It is essential to understand the corporate culture and how to interpret what you do in terms that are acceptable and meaningful to those who sign the checks—the resource allocators. Continuity between the work of the organization and what the archives seeks to do is essential and will build the best relationships.

A program that supports the core essentials of the institution and integrates well into the existing corporate culture will be seen as an asset and will last—not to mention that it will be consulted. With a lengthy tenure, the archivist becomes a treasure—and let us hope there is not a rush to bury it.

3. Start slow and grow.

Corollary —Developing the archives is a journey, not a race.

After developing the policy and purpose statement, there was a need to win over staff and become a well-known name in the larger church. I received early words of wisdom from an elderly staff member. It was said of him, jokingly, that he baptized, married, or buried someone from every family in the denomination. He had been around

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many years, served many different congregations in geographically diverse areas, and held staff positions that made him well known.

He told me to make sure I did not promote the Archives—no one will support or give money for that. Rather, he urged me to become known myself and, in doing that, to demonstrate a high level of integrity. The self-centered focus was not for fame or glamour. He indicated that when there was a need for support or funding, people will not provide it to an abstract concept such as the Archives, but they will provide it if they know that Russ Gasero asked for it and says he needs it. It was not an ego trip he was sending me on, it was to develop slowly and gain visibility as I created the program.

Start slow and grow the program. From the beginning, I reached out and related to individual congregations. The members of congregations provide the assessments that fund the Archives. Outreach to them meant there was a need to educate about the Archives and our mission. It provided an opportunity to let members see one of the examples of what their assessment dollars were funding. So many thought we were spending thousands of dollars to collect Sunday worship bulletins—they had no idea what kinds of materials are in an archival collection. Show and tell sessions with some of the significant holdings of the RCA Archives was quite popular with many. It was gratifying to witness individuals have an “Aha!” moment about what archives really were all about.

Create a firm foundation upon which you can build a strong, solid structure for the future. Start to integrate education about your function as you go along and inform others about your role, purpose, and the nature of archives. That is really what this staff member’s advice was about when I started—and I am glad I took it—I lasted forty-two years and two months and through several serious financial crises. Engage in inreach so that your institution understands your purpose.

4. Become the memory.

Corollary: All my friends died before I was born.

Promote yourself as well as your program by relating to others throughout your institution and encouraging them to look to you for answers. Do not ever ridicule a question or suggest that someone

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find the answer themselves. If they can find the answer themselves without you, then they do not need you. Become a resource that can provide the needed historical context and background for program development.

When I began, I reached out to communication people and the world mission staff so that the archives would be seen as an asset in the solution of their problems. In relation to communication, I was able to provide photographs and historical background for larger promotional pieces. For mission people, I could assist with records management and the growing mix of travel, personnel issues, routine correspondence, periodic reports, and such that were overflowing their file cabinets in offices that were understaffed.

At the same time as you become a valued colleague, you also need to develop that level of integrity I mentioned before—trust is essential in developing a solid program within the context of any institution. I recognized that I needed to demonstrate that confidentiality always would be respected by the archivist. The archive stacks were not open for browsing by curious seekers of information and scandal. When I began, I insisted, kindly and gently, of course, that the archives relate to the highest office of the denomination. It is essential to have access to records across the denomination and its staff and I did not want to have to go up and down various levels of hierarchy to reach staff offices. Since I started, the church has restructured several times and my office has moved around, but the access to the top has remained and I am able and welcome to talk directly to all staff about their records.

5. Recognize that the future rests on your shoulders.

Corollary – Failure is not fatal—take responsibility for what you do.

One of the earliest memories in my career with the RCA was a comment from a member of our commission on history at the first meeting I attended. That commission sought and secured approval and funding for the program. The member looked at me and said, “You are our last chance, if you are not successful, we won’t have an archives.” That demonstrated just how much was riding on my success in this position. You come into a new position which is a new

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start and its direction, and the success, are up to you. That is an awesome responsibility. If that does not make you humble, nothing will.

As a result, my goal became that of demonstrating how the archives supports the work of the current and future program. This was not to be an office that looks backward—a bad attitude in church political circles—but an office that provides a support for the future.

The first slogans I created when I began was “Growing into the future,” and “Looking back to see ahead.” I wanted the archives to be a bridge from yesterday to tomorrow—in essence, so that tomorrow will have a yesterday.

It also made it imperative that I deliver a program that could live within the budget constraints that were established. You have heard of ‘shoestring’ budgets—I wish mine was so generous. Within a couple of years, I was able to develop a reasonable budget that provided enough for salary, travel, office basics, and a modest supply and equipment line. The reality is that there is never enough, but if you practice responsible budget management, it becomes easier to increase it as your requests are taken seriously and you are recognized as a responsible member of the staff who knows how to live within the established financial realities.

The program that you build today should serve well to grow into the future. There was a need to create a sustainable program that could stand on its own and could be taken and moved forward by someone else taking over the position. That means having a positive outlook and assuming that the program is now essential.

6. The buck stops here.

Corollary: Exude confidence—you must believe it.

I think this one is essential for a successful operation and establishment within an organization. You are the professional — act like it! Knowledge is not always having the answer on the tip of your tongue but knowing where to look and how to formulate an effective answer. Encourage others to look to you for guidance and leadership and then take that role and move forward with it.

I was asked questions that ranged from ‘when we established a particular endowment’ to ‘why were my ancestors Dutch and why did they live?’ The correct answer is NEVER, “I don’t know!” When

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you do not know, you say that you will have to investigate it—there are several possibilities. Then you find the best answer available.

You must move throughout all levels of the organization and believe what you have said and stated about the program. Have confidence in your ability and be an effective problem-solver. Problemsolvers move forward and are in demand. It is about attitude and performance more than theory and collections.

7. Build continuing education in at the start.

Corollary: Make “archives” a common, household word.

Lawyers and doctors need to maintain certification, so do archivists. From the beginning put yourself in that group. When starting an archives program make sure you have input into where it fits in the administrative structure and how you will relate to all levels of staff. The records in your collection will relate to all levels of administration and individuals and will require the highest level of confidentiality and integrity. To access those records, transfer them into the archives, process them, and provide reference service with them. I cannot stress enough that you must have access to the highest levels of the organization.

Make sure that is clear in your job description and your accountability structure. If you are certified, there needs to be a process of continuing education so that you can maintain that certification.

Other professionals have access to such funds and opportunities. It is important that you insist on that once you fill the position and begin your work. At a minimum it means covering time and expenses for regional archival associations. The best case is to include national level memberships and attendance. The more you know, the better you will perform.

If you do not build this in at the start, it will be tough to add it in later. I have had the good fortune of having attendance at professional meetings covered in my travel budget and with professional development funds. I saw that as essential from the start—even though it was some time before the certification process was started.

As budget crises came and went, that changed over the years, but those situations affected everyone and there was the recognition that this was an essential cost to cover. It does not mean you go to

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every meeting of SAA, regionals, and local groups across a variety of professional association, but there should be sufficient funding to maintain your certification and memberships.

Emphasize how you become the professional face of the organization in those associations.

8. Make friends through performance, not just a nice smile.

Corollary: A show horse isn’t bad, but you really want to be a plow horse.

Pay attention to what is happening in house and help from your perspective. You should have the best knowledge of the life and mission—over time—of your institution. Remember the adage from VHS tape days: “Be kind. Rewind.”

In my time I have been ready to assist in a variety of ways as current programs and problems develop. The two offices that use my services the most now are our legal counsel and our communications staff. Whether it is providing information needed for legal issues or several month’s supply of images for use on Throwback Thursday, I have been ready to help. Some of these tasks are quite easy and take a minimal amount of time, but they generate maximum amounts of good will.

Help kindly with record transfers. Do not scold, encourage! It is amazing how many people have no organization skills whatsoever.

As archivists, we should shine in that area. I tend to box records for transfer myself, if possible. I also provide very specific guidelines—which, as you all know, are ignored completely. I have always accepted that as part of the territory rather than complain—gently re-educate and everyone is happy.

Remember to entertain and to educate regarding institutional history and mem­ory. Not everyone who needs access to information from the archives is a scholar. Whether it is a genealogical query asking, “Why were my ancestors born Dutch?” or a search for information for a program in the 1980s that was really in the 1960s, take the time to educate and inform. I have made a lot of friends that way and people seem to think I know so much more than I do—not a bad thing at all.

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This should be a corollary as well—NEVER say something is easy. What you think is easy, often will be perceived as very difficult by others, and what is difficult, time-consuming, and tedious, often will be seen as easy by others. That is a law that should rank up there with Murphy’s law.

9. Hit the ground running.

Corollary: Having something for ‘show and tell’ eliminates the question, “What do you do?”

Find something that will demonstrate forward progress quickly. Then keep it rolling, but do not get overwhelmed. Little things can often do a lot. Find needs and meet them.

When I first began, I undertook a survey of the records throughout the denomination in all our congregations. That meant a mass mailing of about 1,000 pieces—a lot of envelope stuffing— but it introduced me to every congregation that opens and glances at mail. Many now knew that we had a full-time denominational program and what it was about—more than just saving Sunday worship bulletins.

At the same time, I also traveled to our national offices to introduce myself to all staff members and explain what the Archives was all about, how I fit into the picture, and what I could do to help them in their office—records management, information, historical tidbits, a nice, but short, list that related to their actual workload.

In addition, it was an opportunity to let staff know about the confidentiality aspects of the archives—they are not on open shelf, free for anyone to browse through. That soothed a lot of nervous people and generated a lot of questions—especially to relieving the press of overloaded file cabinets and what to do with all their old “stuff.”

10. Promote with a vigorous inreach.

Corollary: Your best friends are the people with whom you work— again, remember who signs your check.

Most of what I have emphasized so far indicates a strong foundation of inreach and acquainting your colleagues with what the Archives is all about. That is essential if you hope to last the long term. But also be alert to what is coming down the road.

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Anniversaries are key times to remember into the future. You look back to see ahead, so clearly create a positive spin. Everyone loves to celebrate an anniversary and they offer great opportunities for promotion and outreach by different units. The Archives are essential at such times so that the future programs are built on the solid foundation of what has gone before.

When you know the organization’s story so that you can share it with humor and insight, you can be invited to speak or, at least, be present at those occasions. That provides a great opportunity for outreach. An intimate familiarity with the past while providing archival services to the present so that we can have a strong future enables others to understand what it means when you say, “All my friends died before I was born!”

11. Plan the work, work the plan Corollary: Be patient. It takes time.

This is the part where you put everything together and craft a fully functioning program. Careful, consistent, caring planning is essential to success. There were so many times in my career when I began a day with a plan of work, only to find that by 9:05 am that plan was out the window for the day. One never knows who might show up at the door or what request you might receive from your “boss” that is urgent.

That does not change the long-term situation, however. Strategy is important. You need long term goals for the program. Some of those are spelled out in your policy and purpose statement. Strategy will help you prioritize what you do, when you do it, and how you do it. I always thought of my work life as a Lazy Susan and from day to day I would be spinning it around to a different part. Everything fits on the Lazy Susan, but it does not mean you take from it systematically. The whole concept is to be able to spin it around.

With that strategy, consistency is vital. There will be some types of reference and research that you prioritize over others. There will be individuals or units within your organization that will have higher priorities than others. You have recognized that theme running throughout these aphorisms.

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Some might disagree with this view and take a “first come, first served” approach. It might seem fair, but it is not practical. In my years in the field, I know of several who thought they existed to serve others rather than those in the organization in need of their assistance and stated that. You can guess that they did not last long.

Each year set goals and objectives. Make sure the objectives are measurable, quantifiable, and realistic. They should be statements that are very specific, and you know that you will be able to accomplish them. Do not set yourself up for failure—enough others may be trying to do that already.

12. Know–show–grow thyself.

Corollary: Understand your limitations and abilities. Turn weaknesses into strengths.

Start out in your career by knowing yourself. That is not just a “Who am I?” existential question. Know your passions. You will do the best work when you can organize it around those tasks for which you feel a particular passion. Archival work, in general, requires a special passion to sustain the task and do it well. You have learned this already. If you do not have a passion for doing it, you will have a hard time motivating yourself to get up each morning and go to work.

It is also important to know yourself and your role in the organization. Where do you fit? What is its mission and how does it align with your own thoughts, hopes, and desires? If those do not align with the organization, it will be difficult to work from day to day. It is time to be realistic rather than idealistic. If both sets of values are not consistent with one another, you will find it very unpleasant in a short amount of time.

Showing yourself relates to visibility within the organization.

That has been discussed in an earlier aphorism. Here is where you keep a careful balance between humility and bravado. Sometimes it is good to fly below the radar, yet you also need those times when others can cheer for your success. Knowing which time is right is an important talent and can take you far.

Growing yourself relates to an earlier statement about continuing education. There is so much to learn, and life is a continuous

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learning event. Take the time to indulge your interest in new areas and fields of knowledge. Learn not just about the increasing realm of archival work, but also your organization and related topics. Take time to excel in a few of them.

Most important for your work success is to attend meetings and events—participate and contribute. When you know your organization and you comprehend your talents, you will be a strong team member that others turn to for leadership and expertise.

13. Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Corollary: Make sure you are in conformity with your organization’s purpose.

This is simply a variation of what has already been stated in several of the aphorisms. I always like the sound of it, so I kept it in the list. It is clearly related to your mission statement or policy and purposes statement. It is very much related to the goals and objectives that you set.

You will have authority in certain functional areas. Respect the boundaries, exercise the authority, and be a strong team member.

14. Preserving the past, providing for the future.

Corollary: Tomorrow is in danger because yesterday has been forgotten.

This was the first slogan I adopted when I began the Reformed Church Archives in 1978. Throughout my career, I always emphasized that the Archives was forward reaching, not backward looking.

So many equated the Archives with antiquarianism. They thought the money was spent because some staff members had a fascination with “old paper.”

I always emphasized the four reasons for the archives: 1. Legal 2. Administrative 3. Financial 4. Historical

The order is important. Historians may make the greatest use of the resources in the Archives, but that is not the sole reason we preserve the records. There have been numerous times when the fact

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that we had an archive and were carefully preserving important records we were able to provide substantial support in litigation.

Serving the needs of finance, administration, and legal will go a long way to provide a context for the importance of an adequately funded and staffed archives in the organization. Amnesia is not fatal, but no one willingly chooses to not have a memory—unless they have something in life that needs to be forgotten. There are very interesting implications in that statement. Think about it.

15. Recipe for success—conform, perform, inform, reform.

Corollary: Be an activist archivist.

The conform aspect relates to a lot of what has already been said about knowing your organization—understand its culture, be aware of management styles and staff members. In a healthy organization, you are a member of a team. The unfortunate aspect is that not all organizations are healthy.

Perform means you know your job, where you fit, and you do it well. Striving for excellence is a good thing. You need to demonstrate that so that others respect and trust you. For an archivist, trust is the number one attribute that you want to develop. When you are in public making a presentation, remember that you represent the organization. The face you show will be the face that that public sees and thinks about regarding the organization. When you look good, it looks good. That is a win-win situation.

Inform means you let wide audiences know not just about your holdings, but about how you can assist and serve them. It is so important to remember that archivists are facilitators When that is done well, it means others look good. I have written some, but I have facilitated a lot more. I am most excited to read my name in a book’s acknowledgement section—especially with a kind and generous statement about my help. That means I did my job well.

Do not hide your light under a bushel. Be visible and publish the good job you are doing and the value of the archives in the organization. A newsletter, website, or social media are excellent for this. Again, remember that you are putting on the public face of the organization so, be careful what and how you say something. Make good friendships with your public relations and development staff

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colleagues. There are many ways in which you might assist them and strengthen your support base beyond the legal, administrative, and financial aspects.

Reform relates in many ways to records management. An essential skill for archivists is that they be well organized. That is not an essential skill for everyone. Rather than get frustrated by the complete lack of organizational ability when it comes to record keeping, provide opportunities to reform practices with careful explanations and helps in setting up filing systems.

Allow your professional knowledge to be of assistance to other offices. That will generate a large degree of support and outright cheering. No one likes to be mocked or denigrated about their lack of organizational skill. That is your strength. Use it.

16. Never do yourself what you can get someone else to do.

Corollary: You can catch more flies with honey than with flypaper.

Seek out volunteers. When you find volunteers give them tasks that relate to their strengths and interests. Do not use volunteers for the dull, monotonous tasks that you do not want to do. Some will be glad to do that for you, but not for very long. Let them be challenged, take the time to teach them, and then commend them for what they have accomplished. Provide information about how their work was useful and you will use it in the future as your operation grows. If they leave with a sense of accomplishment, they will come back again.

Let other offices and individuals assist you with transferring records. Try to have other staff prepare file lists prior to transfer or have them write more detailed notes about the scope and content of what they are transferring and how it was used in their work.

This will save you time and energy as you prepare your finding aids and make the records more immediately accessible within the organization.

17. It is ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Corollary: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

You do not need to spend time on tasks that do not need to be done or have a low value for the overall work of the Archives. I know

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so many people who seem to operate on the principle, “If it ain’t broke, take it apart and find out why?”

There are some tasks that just do not need to be done with any high level of urgency. Work smart, not hard. I just could not resist this one. You will learn what this means as you move forward in your career and meet others who seem to support the “take it apart” attitude.

18. Most of all—have fun!

Corollary: Life should be enjoyed, not endured.

I had to add this one because I am fonder of even-numbered lists than odd-numbered ones. However, I have enjoyed nearly fifty years working in the archival field. There have been ups and downs, times of intense frustration, and times of satisfaction and enjoyment.

I remained for two reasons: 1. I was probably too lazy to move on and learn a new corporate culture and where all the pitfalls are.

2. Most significantly, I enjoyed the work I did, the people with whom I worked—especially those who expressed gratitude—and the larger church context in which I served.

I never felt a reason not to get up in the morning and go to work.

I lived for the opportunities of outreach and speaking about both the Archives and the history of the Reformed Church in America. I was always glad for opportunities to assist individual congregations with both their historical and records needs and to take the opportunity to train others.

I did have fun!

CHAPTER 4

The Story of the Archives of the Reformed Church in America

Introduction “Ziggy” has been a popular cartoon strip which often provides needed insights into contemporary issues. In one strip from the 1970s, Ziggy stands on a hilltop while watching a beautiful sunset. Suddenly, across the sky there flashes a message, “Due to lack of interest, tomorrow has been canceled.” The Reformed Church in America can be compared to that fellow standing on a hilltop because there is often a danger that the message may flash across, “Due to lack of interest, yesterday has been forgotten.”

We have focused much energy and talent on the examination of our identity, the understanding of our structures, and the refinement of our processes for staffing the church, starting new congregations, and revitalizing old congregations. Often lost in all those efforts are the labors of those who preceded us and brought us to this point.

We must be sure that we neither forget nor ignore our heritage. The documentary resources that serve as our institutional memory have 65

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Part of the stacks of the RCA Archives

had a very precarious life over the last three and three-quarter centuries, and the last few decades have witnessed years of growth and continued progress toward making the archives1 a valuable resource for the Reformed Church in America.

Our heritage defines us as a people of God, provides guidance for growth into the future, and serves as our common memory along the course of our corporate journey. Our documentary heritage is the physical record of that journey.

Many have dedicated their lives and ministries to helping the Reformed Church understand itself and its growth over time. They have brought that historical perspective into active work on contemporary problems facing the church in theology, liturgy, polity, and a variety of social issues. My hope is that this brief offering helps honor that service by offering some sense of what archives are, how they can be used, where they are stored, and how the denominational archives came to be gathered in one location.

1

A note on capitalization: the lower-cased “archives” is used to distinguish the collection of materials from the “Archives,” which is the formal office responsible for managing the Reformed Church in America’s archival collection.

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Archives—What Are They?

Everyone is familiar with saving the records that are considered vitally important for our well-being and our well-functioning.

Hospital records, financial records, canceled checks, tax returns and receipts, savings account books, letters from relatives and friends all come to mind when we think about important records that have meaning for our lives. Where would we be if we did not keep a record of checks written? How would our health be jeopardized if we did not keep immunization records and other medical records?

What would the Internal Revenue Service say if we could not produce a record that substantiates our deduction?

Such records comprise our personal and family archives and are vital for avoiding financial, legal, and personal difficulties. In addition, we all have collections of letters and papers that we rarely read, yet we hold onto them in fond remembrance of our past. Letters from parents, children, and friends all make up our documentary memory about earlier years in our lives and the written memories of loved ones. These are our archives.

The Church’s Memory The church also has a need to preserve a documentary memory.

The life of the church is far more complex than the life and memory of a single individual. Financial dealings, legal considerations, and friendly correspondence all take place on a far grander scale than our daily, personal doings. Financial memory loss and legal errors can cost huge sums of money and will affect far more than one individual. The mass of information created daily by a denomination of 931 congregations and over 270,000 total members,2 with missionaries serving on nearly every continent and with three colleges and two seminaries, must be managed very carefully. Paper and electronic records are generated on a large scale every day and most of it is useful only for a short time and may then be discarded. Records are created to help us keep track of our financial obligations and commitments.

In a rapidly changing financial scene these records are short lived.

Other records provide evidence of the church’s decision-making and 2 Acts and Proceedings of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, 2008, 417.

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If placed in a single pile, the RCA Archives would be taller than the Burj in Dubai (the world’s tallest building)

theological positions. Records such as the minutes of the General Synod help define us as part of the people of God. The Archives of the Reformed Church in America is the “storehouse” for this information. Its job is to determine which records are valuable for the future and which records can be disposed of in the present. The Archives also provides a vast informational database, which serves to define our identity over time as a people working for the kingdom.

This “storehouse” also includes records that have administrative, legal, financial, and historical value for the future. They are not simple housekeeping records, which indicate how many pencils the Finance Office ordered in 1978, for example, nor are they collections of old bulletin covers from an assortment of congregations which no longer want to store such paper in their own building. These records provide our denominational memory, which stretches back far beyond the lives of the present membership. As documentary evidence, they provide a profile of the faithfulness of the Reformed Church in America as God’s people. As memory, they challenge us to grow into the future based on our foundation established in the past. As

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unbiased witnesses, they indicate the bad times as well as the good times, periods of faithfulness as well as times of trouble and dissent.

The Office of Historical Services The Office of Historical Services is responsible for the collection, care, and use of the Archives of the Reformed Church in America. This responsibility involves determining which records are of permanent value and which have no long-term usefulness; placing these records in appropriate relationship to each other so that retrieval can be quick and efficient; and helping researchers, scholars, students, and other users find and use the materials of which they have need.3 In addition to its archival tasks, the office also managed the Historical Society of the Reformed Church in America and its publication programs active in the 1980s and 1990s, which included Historical Highlights, the Dutch American Genealogist, and Historical Society Occasional Papers. The Archives’ budget is supported by the General Synod Council. The storage facilities and office space are leased from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, with other storage areas located offsite for less utilized records. In a sense, a better name for the Office of Historical Services would be the “Office of Chronicle Collection, Tradition Maintenance, and the Preservation of the Acts of the Disciples (OCCTMPAD).” It is so much more than just a mountain of paper.

What is in the Archives?

The Archives of the Reformed Church in America is the main repository for all denominational records from the level of the congregation through the General Synod. The current holdings include records from more than three hundred active and disbanded congregations, forty-five classes, all the regional synods, and the General Synod and its agencies such as the Board of Publication, the General Program Council, the Board of Domestic Missions, and other agencies and boards established during the last three and three-quar3

Technically, these functions are known as appraisal, arrangement, description, and reference. For an introduction to archival theory and methods consult Greg Hunter, Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives: A How-To-Do-It Manual, 2nd ed.

(New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2003).

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ter centuries.4 Mission records include documentation relating to China, Borneo, Japan, Mexico, the Middle East, India, and North America. Scholars from around the world use these records regularly for their research. Yet, it is important to realize that the Archives exists primarily to serve the needs of the denomination.

Neither the operation nor the collection came into existence rapidly. The basis for the establishment of the Archives is built upon two factors: the Reformed Church has a long tradition of concern for keeping adequate and informative records, and the major emphasis of historical efforts in the Reformed Church has always centered upon the use of history for the future well-functioning and growth of the life and mission of the church.

However, it can be questioned whether the concern for history and the use of history ever went beyond slogan-quoting and backpatting in an antiquarian manner. From time to time, individuals with a keen historical sense and an interest in the preservation of important documentation have come to the forefront. Fortunately, they were able to accomplish great works with little assistance and even less financial support.

History of the Archival Effort A concern for the preservation of the important documents in the Reformed Church was clearly indicated in the earliest formation of a church organization in America. The rules of order for the coetus provided for the maintenance and preservation of a record book. The early church was under the supervision of the Classis of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. When American independence was achieved, the church also became independent from the Classis of Amsterdam and established its own synod and local classes.5 4

5

For an introductory understanding of the RCA’s structure and mission efforts, see Marvin Hoff, Structures for Mission, Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America, no. 9 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985); to explore the entire history of the Reformed Church in one volume see Donald J. Bruggink and Kim N. Baker,

By Grace Alone: Stories of the Reformed Church in America, Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America, no. 44 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004).

This history is well told by Gerald De Jong, The Dutch Reformed Church in the American Colonies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968). While De Jong and others use the term, “General Synod,” Edward Tanjore Corwin, in A Manual of the Reformed Church in America (New York: Board of Publication of the Reformed Church in America, 1902), 134, points out that there was no General Synod until the first particular

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Document representing the Coetus position in the Amsterdam Correspondence collection

From the start, a concern for record keeping and orderly processes was evident. In 1785, the “General Synod decreed that a book be purchased to record letters addressed to and sent from the body. synods were formed in 1800. Prior to that, the synod that was convened annually was known as the “Provisional Synod,” although the term, “General Synod,” was also used as early as 1794.

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Rev. Thomas De Witt (1791–1874)

The book was to be in the care of ” the treasurer.6 A few years later, in 1792, the synod desired to collect the records of its predecessor bodies, the coetus and the conferentie, and requested all classes to search out and gather the old records and also to present an “accurate and definite account of the time of the formation of the congregations, and of the persons by whom it was effected, with an accompanying historical narrative of the most noteworthy events which have occurred from time to time.”7 This could well be marked as the start of the denominational archives—if indeed records had been gathered and deposited. Instead, nothing happened. During the years which followed, inquiry was made from time to time concerning the location of the General Synod records and the means of their preservation and protection.

While the importance of preserving adequate documentation about the church’s programs and activity was never questioned, no extensive effort was made to insure the archives’ proper housing and collection. The synod’s notion of record keeping was focused primarily on current records. In 1800, the synod established a rule relating to the safekeeping of valuable and historical records. The minister of 6 7

Acts and Proceedings, 1785, 135.

Acts and Proceedings, 1792, 241.

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the congregation where the next annual meeting was to be held was responsible for preparing a copy of the minutes for the presidents of the individual classes. The stated clerk of the synod was responsible for storing and providing these records to the synod from year to year.8 Writing the Denomination’s History

A new interest in the history of the church was sparked in the mid-nineteenth century. The General Synod of 1841 asked the Reverend Thomas De Witt to prepare a history of the Reformed Dutch church, which would include an account of its roots in the Netherlands. After some preliminary research and an inquiry as to the location of its earliest records, De Witt sadly reminded the synod of its action of 1792 and indicated that many records had already been lost. Despite this resolution, nothing seemed to have been brought into the archives. The only items that had been gathered were a succession of General Synod minutes.

De Witt chastised the synod by noting that it “is deeply to be regretted that it was not at the time diligently and faithfully attended to, as then many documents would have been recovered and preserved, and much traditionary information, well authenticated, might have been gathered which are now lost.”9 His warning apparently came too late, because many valuable and irreplaceable documents had been given into the hands of individual ministers and subsequently were either lost or destroyed. With the hope of receiving the material he needed to write the history of the church, he wrote to many ministers and lay people, asking them to examine whatever consistory minutes or other church records they might have in their possession. He hoped that such a survey would help gather the needed records together and ease his task in preparing a comprehensive history. His goal was to gather the records and incorporate them into the denomination’s archives.

De Witt lamented that the survey was unsuccessful and reported that “in order to procure the materials which may yet by diligent investigation be obtained, it is necessary for the individual engaged 8 9

Acts and Proceedings, 1800, 311-12.

Acts and Proceedings, 1843, 272.

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Fulton Street church, New York City

in preparing this historical work to possess leisure and means to visit personally different parts of the church, and personally to make thorough research.”10 This failure to gather the records of the previous century sparked a new interest in historical matters in the denomination, which paralleled other interests in historical matters of the time. The records, housed previously in a large trunk, were transferred to a bookcase, funds for which were appropriated by the 1841 General Synod.11 These records were then stored in the new consistory building of the church on Fulton Street (later the home of the Fulton Street Prayer Meeting). The building was fireproof, and several documents, manuscripts, minutes, and synod papers were stored here.12 The storage area was adequate, because the synod congratulated Thomas Strong, the stated clerk, on his “well-known taste and love of order, in the erection of fixtures which do credit to the Synod, and 10 Ibid.

11 Acts and Proceedings, 1841, 535.

12 Acts and Proceedings, 1845, 518.

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deserve their thanks.”13 That was in 1845, four years after the funds had been approved to buy a storage case.

This situation seems to have been adequate because there is no mention of the archives for the next fifteen years. In 1860, the storeroom of John I. Brower, the treasurer of the Board of Direction of the corporate church, caught fire and burned, resulting in the loss of important papers. It was supposed that “no inconvenience will arise therefrom, as most of them were very old, and possess no pecuniary value.”14 Business books and receipts seem to have been lost. Most of the information had already been published in the annual minutes of the General Synod. However, once again, interest was aroused in archival preservation, and this resulted in the appointment of a committee to investigate the situation. Its charge was to “suggest a plan for the collection and preservation of documents relating to the past history of the church.”15 Permanent Archival Storage Area

The committee’s work resulted in a new, permanent home for the denomination’s archives. The records were transferred to the Gardner A Sage Library on the campus of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1876. Gardner A Sage16, “with wise and generous forethought, provided in the plan of the Hall that bears his name, a room perfectly secure, and ample for all the Synod’s wants, which he has fitted up with shelves and other appurtenances, for the proper arrangement and deposit of the Synod’s archives.”17 As the records were being transferred to the library, their earlier lack of care and damage from so much transferring from place to place became apparent. The stated clerk reported that some volumes of the minutes were missing, many old papers had no dates, and many seemed to be missing. He reported to the synod that 13 Ibid., 487.

14 Acts and Proceedings, 1860, 486.

15 Acts and Proceedings, 1866, 112.

16 Sage’s middle name is “A” with no period, much like Harry S Truman.

17 Acts and Proceedings, 1876, 568-69. For those visiting the Sage Library, this “double fireproof ” storage room is now the handicapped access bathroom on the first floor— perhaps the safest bathroom in the region.

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The original building of Sage. The Archives storage area was behind the right shoulder of the photographer.

the archives were in a deplorable condition, perfectly confused, permeated with the dust of years and only partially preserved.

This is not owing to the carelessness of former Stated Clerks, evidences of whose system and care in arranging papers are manifest, but to the fact that the Archives have never been deposited in a safe place, and that they have been mixed up with other less valuable papers whose fate they have shared.18 The committee responsible for the records’ care made an effort to arrange them and then extended an offer to other church assemblies and congregations to deposit their records in this vault for safekeeping. This offer was regularly repeated at the synod meetings, and slowly records began to be deposited in the new storage room.

Gathering the Colonial Correspondence

During this period of the development of a suitable storage facility, a similar effort was underway regarding the collection of 18 Acts and Proceedings, 1876, 568-69.

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colonial documents relating to the church. The 1840s, which saw the initial interest in a denominational history, also generated interest in the collection of historical manuscripts. De Witt had notified the synod of the research of J. Romeyn Brodhead, which uncovered many valuable documents relating to the church in the Archives of the Netherlands. De Witt was given permission to have translations made for these at the expense of the synod.19 This was not done, but Brodhead did secure transcripts and a loan of the original American letters for four years.20 These documents remained with Brodhead and De Witt for nearly thirty years. In 1871, they were turned over to the stated clerk and then deposited in the Archives four years later. De Witt translated letters from time to time and published them in the denominational newspaper, The Christian Intelligencer. These were documents that Brodhead used in the production of his historical works on New York State.

After the move to New Brunswick, attention was focused on the research in the Netherlands. De Witt passed from the scene, and his role was taken over by the Reverend Edward Tanjore Corwin, who became known as the historiographer of the Reformed Church in America. It was reported that there was still a considerable number of documents in the Netherlands that related to the colonial Reformed church. Corwin began the negotiations for this material in 1887. He had previously prepared a calendar of the documents in the denomination’s archives and was quite familiar with the full scope of the holdings.

Through the end of the nineteenth century, Corwin continued gathering records in the Netherlands, arranging for the translation of those records, and gathering the records of the congregations and other church judicatories. Finally, the denomination had a history written, a complete list of its ministers and the churches they served, all established congregations and the ministers who served them, and a series of historical essays relating to missions, education, the colonial church, and other topics specific to the Reformed Church in America.21 19 Acts and Proceedings, 1841, 42.

20 Acts and Proceedings, 1842, 42.

21 Corwin’s work was significant as evidenced by his compilation of synodical material

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Edward Tanjore Corwin (1834–1914)

As Corwin gathered the records and donated published volumes, they were piled in the storage room in Sage Library. Again, there was no individual available to see to the arrangement and preservation of this material. From time to time the stated clerk attempted to organize it according to the assembly or agency which created it.

Committee on History and Research

Time again passed and little mention was made of the denominational archives. A Committee on History and Research was appointed by the Synod in 1928 to serve as the custodian of the accumulated materials. Once again, a group saw to the proper arrangement and description of the archives and provided files and shelves for their general storage and maintenance. This committee used volunteers to perform the work and obtained assistance from the seminary library staff as their time permitted. Finally, John Walter Beardslee, III, professor of church history at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, was appointed to the position of archivist for the denomination (on a volunteer basis) and two part-time, retired indiin the Digest and Index of Synodical Legislation, and his Manual of the Reformed Church in America, which continues today as the Historical Directory of the Reformed Church in America.

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Russell L. Gasero addressed the General Synod of 1978 upon his appointment as RCA Archivist

viduals were employed to answer genealogical inquiries and undertake some routine archival work. The part-time workers were unable to meet the needs of an expanding collection and a church that was becoming increasingly aware of its heritage.

In 1978, the Commission on History, the successor to the Committee on Research and History, recommended the establishment of a full-time archival program with the appointment of a professional archivist. General Synod approved that recommendation, and Russell L. Gasero was appointed as the first full-time archivist for the denomination during its 350th anniversary year.22 The commission developed the theological and operational rationale for the denomination’s archival work, which has served as a firm foundation upon which to build.

The Sacred Trust of Remembering Careful record keeping is one of the most important aspects of a successful ministry; church records are remembering instruments.

Record keeping and record preservation fit naturally in the historical context of the Old Testament and God’s command to Moses to preserve God’s words for God’s people. In fact, records management in the congregation is a ministry and a sacred trust that is essential for its well-functioning and continued growth. When the Commis22 Acts and Proceedings, 1978, 201.

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sion on History prepared a proposal to establish the Archives of the Reformed Church in America, it presented several theological assumptions for archival preservation.

The proposal for the Archives was prepared for the commission by the Rev. Dr. Norman J. Kansfield, at the time librarian at Western Theological Seminary. It acknowledged that God controls history and by grace is directing the experiences of God’s people through that control. There is a movement toward an end. That end is the full establishment of God’s kingdom. The records which were to be preserved in the Archives document the unfolding of God’s plan for God’s creation as witnessed by our respective traditions. These primary documents of our individual heritages were to be preserved because they witnessed to God’s revelation to God’s people. The collection in the Archives should, the proposal insisted, document the faithfulness of a particular people’s response to that revelation. The careful preservation of those records witnesses to and allows us to understand that faithfulness.

According to the commission’s proposal, the essential purpose of the Archives is based on the understanding that God’s self-revelation occurs within the history of God’s people, and, by that presence, God has ordered and sanctified that history. History has a purpose, and we recognize God’s salvation history. How, the commission asked, can the presence of God be recognized in history unless we carefully preserve those records which document the course of our journey as a called people? 23 With this focus, archives continue to serve a prophetic function. They are the records of a journey that offer a “road map” of our spiritual course. Careful selection of documents requires the archivist to be ever mindful that we are documenting the true path, and those times when we have strayed from what we perceived to be the true path.

Recognizing that God reveals God’s self within history and controls and orders history and the experiences of God’s people, it follows that God interacts with God’s people within the events of human experience. For example, when we examine the personal records of a significant religious leader, we can discern the growth 23 RCA Archives, Commission on History papers, Spring 1977.

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and development of a distinct religious personality. Archives aid in understanding the way in which a person came to know God and how the religious tradition formed the world and life view of the individual.

Those records we collect also serve to demonstrate the faith development of a religious institution. Appraisal standards for religious archives must consider the evidential value created records offer for this aspect of institutional faithfulness. Within the JudeoChristian tradition, leaders certainly saw the necessity of preserving certain records, which later became a sacred canon. This is true of all religious movements. But, as we move closer to the present, we find that often the need to preserve records is expressed less and less.

Archives stand in the line of men and women who first saw the need to preserve the traditions of the faith.

Within the Reformed Church, it is acknowledged that the life of our denomination is the profile of God’s interaction with a specific people within a specific temporal context. The common tradition of the Reformed Church is one of the most significant factors providing us with a sense of cohesiveness as a distinct body within the larger church. The preserved record reflects our distinct witness and reaction to the revelation and leading of God. And the past is used in a very real manner. Today’s programs are built upon the foundations of our common past; new programs must demonstrate continuity with old ones. The past is held up as a challenge to the present for greater effort in the future.

The work of the Archives truly is stewardship. Stewardship relates to the management of affairs, of property or money, for the best interest of the work of the group. Most individuals have the notion that stewardship relates to how much money an individual donates to a given charity or worthwhile benevolent operation. But it does go beyond that. Stewardship relates to the management of one’s own being in terms of time, talent, and lifestyle. The Archives is the steward of the Reformed Church’s heritage.

So, What Is in the Archives?

The quick answer is, “Lots of stuff!” That is not very satisfying, so allow me an opportunity to describe a few of the more significant

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In the photograph collection are many images of current and early congregations, such as this one of the Sod Church in Thule, South Dakota

collections and items that are included. This is a very brief and superficial description, but it will indicate the importance of what is included.

Congregational and Early Records

The Amsterdam Correspondence includes some of the earliest correspondence between the Dutch domines and the home ecclesiastical authority in Amsterdam. The correspondence includes more than 700 pages of letters written by domines in New Amsterdam from the period about 1650 to 1789 to the classis of Amsterdam.

Much of that correspondence was translated or summarized by Edward T. Corwin in the multi-volume collection of the Ecclesiastical Records of New York.

In addition to these records are the records of about 400 congregations from that early period to the present. Congregations are allowed to keep their records—transfer to the Archives is not mandatory until the congregation disbands. However, that rule is recent, so many records of early congregations have been lost or deposited in other repositories. The Archives seeks to gather as many as possible and to learn the location of congregational materials that might

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A page from Selyn’s Protochol

be deposited elsewhere. Selyn’s Protochol is one example. This is his record book from 1660 and, possibly, the oldest record book of any church in New York City.

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First page of the Brief Sketch, prepared by Guido Verbeck for the Iwakura Embassy

Of great benefit to those pursuing genealogical and family history is the project undertaken by Ancestry.com to digitize and make available online most of the congregational records in the custody of the Archives. Over the last few years, they have digitized and transcribed over 100 reels of microfilm records and more than fifteen cubic feet of congregational baptism, membership, and marraige volumes. Most of what has been in the Archives is now on Ancestry. com.

The most significant materials for research over the last few deacdes have been mission records. These records have been used by

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Members of the Iwakura Embassy to introduce Japan to the West

historians, political scientists, anthropologists, epidemiologists, and so many more.

Japan

The Reformed church entered Japan just a couple of days after the Port of Yokohama was opened to the West. One of the first missionaries was Guido Verbeck, who became a significant advisor to the Japanese government and one of the foremost architects of modern Japan and its educational system. Verbeck wrote a plan for introducing Japan to the western nations that became known as the Iwakura Embassy. His plan outlines their travels in Europe and America and how they should best present themselves to the nations. A copy of that original plan is part of the records of the Japan Mission of the Board of Foreign Missions.

Borneo

Elihu Doty sailed with a small group of missionaries to establish a mission on Batavia and Borneo in 1836. It was believed that since this was a Dutch colony, it would be an easy task—that was not quite the case. The Archives has the journal that Doty kept detailing his trip from New York to Batavia and the early period of his work there. It is a fascinating glimpse into the mind of an early 19th century missionary as well as an opportunity to understand the hazards of ocean travel and settlement in a foreign land. Doty went on to help establish the mission in Amoy, China, in 1842.

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Home on Borneo of Frederick Bordine Thomson (1809–1848).

He entered the interior and ministered to the Dyak people from 1842 to 1846.

China The Reformed Church in America established its work in and around Amoy. David Abeel established the effort there and was soon joined by missionaries who began thier work in Borneo. In Amoy, the first Protestant church was built and remains in existence and use to this day.

India

John Scudder and his wife left to start a mission in Ceylon in 1819, and then moved to India. The records of that mission provide insights into 19th century Indian society and culture. An interesting group of about 400 letters from William Chamberlain to his wife, Charlotte, during the 1850s and 1860s represent both an illustration of postal history through the covers that were kept with the letters as well as insights into the life of a traveling missionary engaged in preaching and medical assistance.

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Elihu Doty (1810–1864) led the mission to Borneo and went on to serve in Amoy, China.

Pictured here with is wife, Eleanor Augusta SmithDoty.

(1823–1858) They died in China and never returned to the United States.

Arabian Gulf Samuel Zwemer and James Cantine set out to explore the Arabian Gulf and set up a mission in the Gulf countries of what are now Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, and Bahrain in 1889. In Oman, in the midtwentieth century, Dr. Donald Bosch was responsible for organizing and developing the modern Omani medical system. In both Kuwait Persian patients in the mission hosptial. One of them had his eye burned out by an official. Stories and images document early twentieth century Gulf life in the pages of Neglected Arabia/Arabia Calling.

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Sarah Doremus (1802–1877)

and Bahrain, from the time of Zwemer, medical work was paramount and often the only medical assistance available. One of the medical missionaries was Dr. Paul Harrison, who was a prominent surgeon and the first American to enter the interior of Saudi Arabia to render medical assistance to the sheik.

Women in Mission and Ministry

The Archives also collects records that document the work of women in the Reformed church. Photographs, correscpondence, minutes and more provide insight into the role of women in church work. This is an area in which documentation and collections are still sought to provide a better profile of this work. Women went out as helpmates for their husbands who were appointed missionaries, but they worked as partners and near-equals at a time in American history that women had little status. Ida Scudder went to medical school in American and returned to be one of the most famous physicians in India, Sarah Doremus was an early ecumenical and mission leader. Many members of the Scudder and Zwemer families served both in the United States and internationally.

The records of women’s mission organizations indicate the important role of women in both domestic and foreign mission work.

They also illusstrate the changing role of women and their increasing inolvement in all areas of mission and ministry. For a solid his-

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Jennie Kuyper served in Japan and died in the Yokohama earthquake in 1923

Beth Marcus (1920–2006) served in a variety of staff positions, most notably as the executive director of Reformed Church Women

tory of women’s work in the RCA consult Mary Kansfields, Letters to Hazel.24 I could go on and on and you might be fascinated to hear the stories of both domestic work and foreign work that are found in more than 10 tons of paper, over 50,000 photographs, and 2,000 video tapes. I will leave those for another book.

24 Kansfield, Mary. Letters to Hazel: Ministry Within the Woman’s Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America. Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America. 2005

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Dorothy Dickens Meyerink at an autograph party upon the publication of Ministry Among the Maya

The Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America Many of the more than 100 volumes in this series rely on the records kept in the RCA Archives. There are volumes that will expand on the brief mention of these missions here as well as the larger role of the Reformed Church in America in the world.

Conclusion Over the course of three and three-quarter centuries, many oppor­tunities were presented to the church to develop an adequate program for the preservation of its historical documentation. Time and again, individuals came to the fore prepared to grapple with the needs of the denomination concerning its history. Without those individuals, many essential materials would have been lost. Yet, with just a moderate amount of willingness on the part of the entire church, so much more could have been saved.

With the events leading up to the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the Reformed Church in America in 1978, the Commission on History recognized its opportunity to present a finan-

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A recent publication that explores the history of the RCA at the end of the twentieth century

cially balanced, theologically sound, and administratively necessary archival and records management program.

Today, the Archives is recognized as the essential memory of the church, and it provides a firm foundation in the past for developing future programs. Hence, the outlook of the denomination’s historical work is always future oriented, with a popular slogan of “looking back to see ahead.”

It has been indicated that the record-preserving practices of the denomination have always had periods of quiet and periods of intense interest and activity. The RCA Archives have always been in a period of activity. In 1980, the Commission on History established the Reformed Church Historical Society and began pursuing an active publication schedule with the Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America, which was initiated in 1968. The Archives has established an initial records management consciousness among denominational staff and church leadership and records are accessioned with increasing consistency.

The records in the custody of the Archives date from the beginning of the seventeenth century to the present. These documents represent a fine research collection that regularly attracts scholars and genealogists. De Witt, Corwin, Brodhead, and others who saw

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the needs of a historically literate church would be pleased that the documentary heritage is now well cared for in safe, secure facilities. That documentary heritage lives so that the past can inform the present as it moves into the future.

CHAPTER 5

Reference and Research in the Archives

Martha Cooley, in her novel, The Archivist, has the main character liken the archivist and the reference process to a testing process. The archivist enjoys testing the researcher to see if he or she is “worthy” of entering the “holy of holies” of the archives and gaining access to the original materials stored therein. Here is a manuscript repository in which the records take on an erotic dimension in the course of the novel—in a nineteenth century manner. In the context of that give and take the character is quite content to live in a nineteenth century world and not become involved in the technological innovations and computer uses of a modern archives or library—email inquiries and computer access are abhorred. That, of course, is a quick assessment of a more complex novel in which the reference process and access to archives acquire an erotic dimension.

In some ways, archivists today are caught in the fine-line boundary of existing between two territories. On the one hand is Presented at the Society of American Archivists meeting in Birm­ingham, Alabama, Auigust, 2002.

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the archivist’s commitment to protect: here lies the desire to preserve the original documents and the concern to provide access to those deemed worthy of using these unique, precious, fragile items.

On the other hand, is the archivist’s commitment to service and to promote research: here lies the desire to heighten awareness of and to increase access to those very holdings through a multiplicity of finding aids designed to ease access to the many.

Rising in the context of these two commitments is the erotic1 dimension—at times archivists and researchers have an almost fetishistic2 interest in the record and a love affair with the record as it is tenderly used to bring forth new historical and other knowledge.

We are in a transition period when we must expand our understanding of the work of archives in an increasingly electronic world and engage in the process of reference as we enter a period that will mean increased usage of the materials and greater demands on the reference staff. Despite this transition mode, there are still some fundamental aspects of archival reference work that continue to exist as we crossover into a post-modern archival era.

Aware of the erotic and fetishistic nature of records, the archivist must avoid working as a gatekeeper—making judgments and decisions to protect the archives from improper research users. This is the style used in the novel, The Archivist, and one that researchers complain about the most. In the most extreme case, they cannot gain access to the collection because it is guarded by a suspicious archivist who only allows access to the worthy. The archivist must also realize that he or she is one who points the way and is not a servant. It is essential not to confuse reference and research and, in that confusion, to do the work of the researcher. The model I propose and seek to follow in my own work is that of the partner. That is the one who serves as a facilitator and guides the researcher to the appropriate materials, enabling them to function efficiently with the material available in the repository and pointing to other repositories that might be appropriate. This is the archivist that is acknowledged 1 2

Erotic: of or pertaining to sexual love, amatory; erotikos – pertaining to love.

Fetish: a material, commonly an inanimate object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit, or as having magical potency because of the materials and method used in compounding it; any object of blind reverence.

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in the prefaces and acknowledgements of books—and that is a kick for those who are truly facilitators.

I am presenting eight assumptions or guidelines that affect the work and training of the reference archivist and I have a special focus and concern for the archivist who works as a lone arranger or with very limited additional staff.

1. There is a difference between reference and research.

It almost seems silly to indicate this first point. Freshmen quickly learn this distinction from the library staff. Reference points the way; research uncovers the answers through diligent seeking, sifting, sorting, and uncovering facts and information. Reference shows you where to dig the hole; research takes the shovel in hand and begins moving the dirt.

While this point is known and understood, it is often difficult to put into practice for the archivist, especially the lone arranger or small shop. Many will make inquiries of the archives and then offer the lament of distance, work obligations, expense, and so on with what seems a simple enough request, “Could you please copy, read, fax, explain…that?” This becomes even more difficult with people familiar with library services, especially those that pride themselves on being able to find answers.

It is essential that the reference archivist be clear about the line that marks the boundary between reference and research. Various institutions may draw that line in different places. Some archives do not charge a copy fee for only a few pages; others will charge a basic fee and a page fee in addition to handling and postage—even if the information is faxed, and others will seek full cost-recovery of the expenses involved.

“Yes, I know you have the letter in the collection, but what does it say?”

It is very easy to slip into a habit of going the extra mile to assist the user. The line between reference and research becomes blurred.

The archives can provide copies of the requested materials. Is this reference in the sense of access at a distance, or is it research? Should

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the archivist save a researcher the cost of airfare and hotel expenses out of a sense of kindness? If so, how much should the charge be?

These are issues that a new reference archivist in a small archive deals with on a regular basis. Many researchers engage in bartering for their research needs. The difficult aspect is to determine a consistent policy and stick to it. One should charge a fee for the efforts that follow the basic reference question, in fact, the basic reference question may indeed require a fee for private institutions.

The bottom line is that it is essential that the researcher understand that the archivist is not their personal researcher. In the small archives, there are many other hats to wear and reference work can often make the work load an incredible burden.

There is one exception to this rule and that is research in the case of institutional needs. Responding to requests for information from superiors and the administration should always receive priority—you do need to recognize who signs the checks. It provides an opportunity to solve problems for the institution and put the archives on a firm foundation as a valuable asset.

2. There is no substitute for knowing the holdings and understanding the organization. This requires a broad experience with the collection.

The second point indicates the reality that the reference archivist is not a starting, entry-level position, but rather one that requires a high degree of experience to perform the tasks efficiently and effectively. Certainly, understanding the finding aids of an institution is essential, but one also should have a more intimate acquaintance with the holdings.

Such knowledge can often save a poorly informed user a great amount of time—and save the reference archivist from additional stress and frustration. The basic reference interview provides an opportunity to understand just what the researcher is seeking. By understanding the topic, the sources already consulted, and the thesis that the researcher is framing provides clues to appropriate collections within the archives as well as possibilities for records that may exist elsewhere and with which the reference archivist has some familiarity from experience.

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Every reference request becomes a building block in the experiential life of the reference archivist for the next one. Having that experience helps make the reference interview easier and increases the breadth of knowledge in the collection that makes the process more efficient and refined.

The reference archivist must review any handouts provided to researchers and make sure the rules and procedures for using the collection are prepared in clear and concise fashion. Do our aids for the researcher work?

3. Understanding diverse methodologies of researchers enables the reference archivist to be conversant across disciplines and provide the highest level of assistance and access.

This is especially important for research in an institution that keeps diverse records, as do almost all archives in the modern world.

The archives can handle requests from historians, sociologists, anthropologists, physical scientists, medical professionals, and the list goes on. Not everyone is familiar with the diverse methodologies and type of data these researchers are seeking. This becomes a very important point in the training of the reference archivist.

Here is where broad liberal arts and inter-disciplinary studies provide a firm foundation for the reference archivist. It is also the place where the reference interview is so very important. There are wide variations in the abilities of people to express themselves and indicate what they are actually seeking. The interview provides an opportunity to probe the researcher to be certain what materials might be appropriate to answer the questions the researchers will be asking. Experience in reference work enables one to determine quickly and efficiently what is actually being asked and how to narrow and tighten the needs of the researcher.

In my office, I will receive genealogical requests along the lines of “My great-great-great-great-grandfather was born in New York or New Jersey and was probably Dutch. Can you send me a copy of his baptism?”

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4. Archival reference service is an area in which years of experience yields benefits in direct proportion to that experience.

Experience is undervalued terribly today. Experience costs more and increases the budget. Knowledge management techniques seek to capitalize on access to experiential information when the experienced individual is no longer with the institution. In archival work, especially reference service, experience is king.

The first, and most obvious aspect is knowledge of the collection, as I have already stated, and in knowing how to react to and deal with patrons—especially difficult patrons. Tact is developed through experience. How do you deal with those researchers who simply will not believe that the records are not in your repository?

I have had that experience many times, sometimes it is as simple as explaining that Methodist records are not stored in the Reformed church archives. At other times, it means rehearsing the history of the American Revolution and how the British dealt with Dutch patriot churches to indicate that the story is most likely true that the records were destroyed when the church burned down.

The second aspect is how the reference archivist can assist the processing staff. The reference archivist is in the best position to see how the finding aids work and how understandable they are to researchers. How much time is spent explaining how to use these tools? Do the researchers bother to take the time to read them? If not, why? Are they able to indicate which records they need? Do they often ask for records only to discover that they really wanted something else?

This feedback should be very valuable to the processing staff.

For the lone arranger or small staff repository, there is direct feedback for your efforts as you processed collections and prepared finding aids. If our emphasis is upon use and easy access, it is in the reference and research uses where this feedback is obtained.

It also follows from this perspective that the reference archivist in an institutional archive can serve as a public relations specialist.

Often the reference archivist may answer questions for news reporters as well as fielding general questions from the public about the role and work of the institution. If the reference archivist possesses

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a broad understanding, not only of the holdings, but also of the institution itself, he or she is much better able to provide information and show the institution in the best possible light.

5. Reference service involves a human touch and is a selfless act.

This is the partnership mentality that I indicated at the start underlies my philosophy of reference service. I am not in competition with the researcher, nor am I a gatekeeper seeking to test, and hinder, their access to the records. I am a helper—a facilitator. I see the job of reference archivist as being a partner in the process of research.

The researcher knows the scope of his or her research, but not necessarily all the materials that are available to complete that research. The reference archivist can make materials available or can cause omissions to occur in the research by their care and understanding of the researcher.

This is what makes it a selfless act and why the archivist is not a researcher him or herself. There cannot be competition in providing access and the needed resources. This is an essential aspect of the code of ethics for archivists.

It also means that we treat researchers well—even the problem ones. Ninety percent of the users are enjoyable and fun to work with. There is that small group that are problematic. They do not believe we do not have the records—perhaps they have met more than enough gatekeepers. They refuse to handle the records carefully. Some are unable to articulate what they are really looking for.

All together we could compile a lengthy and fascinating list of our “horror” stories.

Once more, experience is the most valuable asset here. With experience we know how to deal with problem researchers—how to limit access tactfully, how to instruct as to the proper care and handling of records, and so on.

6. Turn the researcher into a friend. Answer e-mail with a basic response promptly.

This is a two-pronged point, and we bring in a bit of the contemporary world of e-mail and instant gratification. The fundamen-

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tal fact of research use of the archives is that researchers are consumers, not donors. The connection between the researcher and the reference archivist is short term and can be quite fickle. They are not there to help support your operation, nor are they particularly interested in the demands of your job and the needs of the institution.

But it does not have to remain that way—especially with those researchers who are engaged in long-term research and make significant and regular use of your holdings. They can, and should, become friends. On many occasions, I have discovered the location of records that supplement the Reformed church’s holdings or should be added to the collection. I have also received contributions that exceed what I would have considered charging for a specific task.

It is so very important throughout the whole of the reference process to respect the researcher. There are many humorous reference stories that show up on the archives listserv as Friday Funnies.

However, underlying all of them is a sense of respect for the researcher. There is no question too foolish, and the researcher should always be shown a high level of respect and concern. Often the reference process is an education process—not just teaching a researcher how to properly handle materials, but also offer assistance in research methods, process, and techniques.

One of the major problems that arises in our current situation is the use of e-mail for reference queries. I rarely use snail mail anymore and infrequently must lick stamps and envelopes. I swim in cyberspace struggling to stay afloat in an ever-growing swarm of e-mails—from boiler plated general inquiries that are little different than spam to specific, targeted requests.

The greatest need in e-mail is to respond quickly with some response—you are in line, we do not have staff available to do that, we do have these records, and so on. Note well that this is a point in which you should listen to what I preach and not always what I practice. That does not mean you offer a full response immediately, just acknowledge receipt and indicate that it is in the pile. Most email researchers are impatient and expect an immediate response— after all it only took them a few minutes to broadcast their request to fifteen repositories, what is taking you so long to send back ONE response.

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The single most important thing you can do in this regard is to respond so that they know the request was received and will be worked on.

Reference work is a high calling and a rewarding one. It is a joyous experience to see someone leave the archives satisfied at having found answers to some questions and feeling that they had a very positive experience.

7. Reference is not the purpose of keeping records.

I want to explore a continuing question that reappears on a regular basis in archival discussions: How high are reference services placed in the priority of your institution and why?

Some place reference as a high priority because the value of the records is in their use. The question is often raised, “Why acquire and keep records unless they are to be used.” Others would indicate that reference service provides proof of the value of the archives to the institution. My sense is that answers to this question will vary depending upon the nature of the archival institution—certainly college and university archives and historical society archives are kept to serve researchers. However, on the other hand, private institutions will indicate that the records are preserved for their own use and reference service will have a lower level of importance for outside users than it will for in-house users.

I do not think there is any reason to provide less than top quality reference service. Whether the researcher is an outside user or an in-house user, the job is the same. A word of warning: I do not think the value of the records resides in their use! Using reference service to generate support for archival operations can lead to a precarious position. This is especially important in lone arranger type institutional settings.

Administration is not always familiar with the use of the materials in the archives and is not always favorably disposed to research use. The reference archivist needs to be aware of the institutional culture along these lines as well as remain aware of how improper use might embarrass an institution. Once again, this underscores the need for a thorough reference interview as well as an understanding of the holdings and the life and mission of the institution.

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8. Keep samples and publicize the use of the records.

Finally, include the use of the archives in your periodic and annual reports. Statistics indicate how many individuals are served in the reference room, how many inquiries are received, how hard the reference staff works, and so on. But there is a need for more than raw numbers. When materials are used for some substantial research projects, request a copy of the report, article, or book. Publicize it in your newsletter and mention it in your report.

When there are researchers who are visiting for extended periods or who return on a regular basis, get to know them—turn them into friends and supporters. A good testimonial letter about the superior service provided to them never hurts anyone. But also feature them in an interview or article which focuses on the use they are making of the archives. This can provide fascinating reading for others, clue some administrators into the value of the collection, and strengthen the friendship that has developed.

CHAPTER 6

A Look Back at Twenty-five Years of Religious Archives (1978–2003)

I hope in this time that I can walk you through the trends and traditions of religious archives, particularly as they have taken shape during the last 25 years. For me, it is a chance to reflect on what I have been about as I celebrate 25 years as a religious archivist. For you, I hope it will provide a perspective as you continue the task and move into the future. The nature of this endeavor is quite different from what it was three decades ago—and different in an incredibly positive sense.

I begin with an interesting story from a recent meeting I attended that I hope will help to illustrate what I mean.

Our entire denominational staff meets annually in a time of retreat and planning. We met in Illinois at the end of March as we planned to embark on a new ten-year goal. As the meeting began, we were led through a group historical reconstruction of the recent past.

Presented at the Society of American Archivists in Boston, Mas­sa­chusetts, August, 2004.

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Now this was a fascinating experience in group history-think or writing history by committee from memory rather than individually from research in documents. It was a large-scale oral history experience. The leader began by asking the whole group to outline how we got to where we were at that time. Initial comments reflected on the process of the past year as the denominational assemblies wrestled with the task of coming up with a ten-year goal for the whole church.

Then, memories began to go back a little further to several planning documents and meetings that began to approach this subject. As the process continued for about an hour, memories stretched back five years.

Now, I did not fit into this. My mind was back in the 1630s when the Dutch church began to struggle with the nature of ecclesiastical structure and began the process that led to it defining its mission and ministry in a new country as an independent ecclesiastical entity. My mind was thinking of the documents in the archives that I have collected, read, and worked with during the last 25 years. I was tracing the broad strokes that I believed led us to where we were at the time of this meeting. No one else’s memory stretched back further than five years.

It was a fascinating experience in group historical thinking. I had never been a part of an experience quite like that before. The experience was enlightening for our purposes today. It relates to several points that I want to make this morning.

The first, relates to a paper I initially presented in 1979 for the second meeting of the Archivists of Religious Institutions (ARI). At that time, I had just moved into the area of religious archives, having been trained in archival theory in the European tradition after five years at the United Nations Archives. That was a sobering experience as I moved from a well-staffed, large collection, with its origins within the living memory of many of the people working there to starting a formal denominational program that was a lone arranger situation in an institution then 350 years old.

I began to think about the theological assumptions for archives in religious institutions because of the need to justify this program theologically as well as administratively. In that paper, I reflected on

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the Judeo-Christian notion of history and God as it relates to what archivists of religious institutions are tasked with doing.

I built further on that concept in the early 1980s as I added the notion of stewardship as an archival function. This resonated well with the leadership and members of the church and other religious archivists; however, it did raise some disagreement among—for ease of distinction—secular archivists. The disagreement could be summed up in the statement “Archives are archives.”

Now, some more historical background. The group of archivists who have responsibility for records of a religious nature have had a special history for the last 25 to 35 years. Originally, the area within the archival profession was known as “church archives.” That name limited the group and defined the collections within a specific religious tradition and institution.

In 1978, a group of us, brought a new organization to birth under the leadership of Bro. Denis Sennett of the Archives of the Franciscan Friars that became Archivists of Religious Institutions—ARI. That organization began to change the focus of what was this group of archivists and sought to raise their professional status in the larger archival world. Brother Denis’ vision included a broad ecumenical and interfaith community of archivists who served religious institutions—congregations, religious orders, denominations, all faiths. The focus was on the archivist who worked within a setting that was religious and collected records that were created by religious institutions. Usually this person was a ‘lone arranger’ and in need of support and training.

At that time, religious archivists were not held in extremely high regard in professional circles and as a group they suffered from a severe lack of self-esteem. ARI’s goal was to provide training to archivists in those contexts. Bro. Denis also began a series of workshops that lasted three to four days on an annual basis to provide a basic level of training for archivists. I was privileged to work on these with him and annually a group of thirty to forty archivists would live at Graymoor for a week and engage in training under a variety of archivists who lectured and demonstrated within their area of expertise.

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In the early 1990s, the Society of American Archivists (SAA) similarly changed the focus and nature of religious archival work.

The section within SAA was originally ‘church archives’ and then ‘religious archives.’ In the 1990s it was made clear that archives may be religious while archivists are not necessarily so, and, after some debate, the section name was changed to Archivists of Religious Collections.

Several things were happening here. One was the separation of the archivist and the area in which he or she works. A government archivist may be an anarchist and still work in a government institution. In other areas of archival work, the nature of the collection says nothing about the individual working as the archivist. However, in the religious sphere this was not the case, hence the change in names over time.

At the same time, there was a growing awareness of archivists in religious collections as professional archivists. Prior to this, these individuals were often on a lower tier professionally—more like the second-string archivist. This began to change in the 1970s. Workshops like the ‘basics’ at Graymoor and groups like ARI began to provide significant opportunities for continuing education at a very modest price as well as opportunities for leadership within the religious archive community. This resulted in an increasing sense of self-esteem for those archivists.

Religious archives, or, more properly, archives of religious institutions, have a special place in the institutions that created them.

Special because of the nature of religious institutions against other institutions—government, corporate, educational, and so on. More than other institutions, religious institutions are grounded—anchored—in the past while maintaining a line into the future. They are institutions in which memory plays a central role. That is what my story about “group” history demonstrated.

This exercise was not a group process exercise, but a real attempt to ground our present program and future plans in a historical context. When that happens, archives become central because they preserve the long-term memory of an institution.

Those records which we collect also serve to demonstrate the faith development of a religious institution. Appraisal standards for religious archives must consider the evidential value created records

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offer for this aspect of institutional faithfulness. Within the JudeoChristian tradition, leaders certainly saw the necessity of preserving certain records that later became a sacred canon. This is true of all religious movements. But, as we move closer to the present, we find that oftentimes the need is less and less expressed to preserve these records. Yet as religious archivists we stand in the line of men and women who first saw the need to preserve the traditions of the faith.

In jest, I have often referred to my office as the Office of Tradition Maintenance, Chronicle Collection, and Preservation of the Acts of the Disciples. While this mouthful seems humorous, it is an attempt to place my role as archivist for a denomination in a historical context which is intelligible to the person in the pew and that rests squarely in the biblical tradition with which they are familiar.

Within the Reformed Church, it is acknowledged that the life of our denomination is the profile of God’s interaction with a specific people within a specific temporal context. The common tradition of the Reformed Church is one of the most significant factors that provides us with a sense of cohesiveness as a distinct body within the larger Church. The preserved record reflects our distinct witness and reaction to the revelation and leading of God. And the past becomes utilized in a very real manner. Today’s programs are built upon the foundations of our common past; new programs must demonstrate continuity with old ones. The past is held up as a challenge to the present for ever greater effort in the future.

Let me be very honest or, rather, let me make a confession. My experience with and knowledge of archives is mostly with Protestant, Catholic, and a few Jewish repositories. However, I do believe that my understandings and perceptions cross the lines of all faiths.

Religious institutions have their feet in two places—one in the past with the possession of knowledge and the other in the future with anticipation in hope. Commercial organizations, governments, and other institutions do not have this orientation in as strong a manner as religious ones.

Twenty-five years ago, that was the position I maintained when I presented the papers on the theology of archives and archives as stewardship. My thought along those lines has not changed substantially. However, the archival world in religious institutions has

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changed. The archival profession then suffered a lack of self-esteem, and this was most prominent among those working in religious institutions. I am not sure the self-esteem has been raised all that much for non-religious institutions, but for religious ones, it has changed dramatically.

In the secular society, the archivist is seen as a technician. Here is someone who takes care of “old” papers—the “stuff” we need to keep, and they care for it. Often, the term “archivist” meets blank stares and needs some words of explanation. Part of that problem is the fault of the archivists themselves, who are often unable to articulate what they do succinctly and in an interesting fashion.

Now, I would like to say that the archivist in religious traditions has been seen in a much better context. Generally, this is the case.

Another short story—and I am becoming convinced that my telling stories is now a function of my age—something I am getting better at as every year passes.

I was at our annual denominational meeting—wearing my regulation name tag with the word “archivist” printed underneath it.

Remember, Reformed church people are Calvinists, and we obsess with doing things decently and in order. Well, a woman was staring at me. After I checked to be sure I still had my pants on and had not yell spilled food on myself, I could not figure out why she was staring and squinting at me. Finally, she walked over, looked at my name tag, and laughed.

She then said, “Oh, I thought your tag said “anti-Christ” and I couldn’t figure out why anyone would say that on their name tag and be here.”

Well, that was a relief. She understood exactly what archivist was and we then chatted about the nature of the work and its importance. My experience in the church has been that the collection and preservation of our documentary heritage is always recognized as important and, indeed, a vital aspect of our ministry.

At the same time, archivists in religious institutions are seen as the guardians of tradition, the stewards of the heritage, the preservers of wisdom. Within the institution they are seen as the individuals who have the answers to the historical questions that make up the tradition. They are the ones who can set the record straight.

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That is a trend that has become stronger and more visible—a trend in religious archives. History is taken seriously in the religious tradition. All faiths are grounded in history—from the preservation of the primary documents giving expression to their beliefs to their latest decisions, declarations, and pronouncements. The historical foundation is taken for granted.

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CHAPTER 7

“The Archives Man”

On many occasions, I would open a conference session by walking from the back of the room, shouting out the first lines of “The Archives Man.” This was especially effective when the session was at 8:00 am on a Saturday! I would take my place at the podium and announce the session number and the title and we would begin. My quirk was that I was a stickler for beginning on time—no waiting for stragglers who might be delayed. Co-presenters always seemed to appreciate that and so that was my style. “The Archives Man” always got us beginning with a laugh, after the initial bewilderment over who this wild man was walking in and shouting at everyone.

At one session, I began with my variation on Jabberwocky which you can find in the selected footprints chapter as Computerwocky. It was a session on computers in the archives in the early years, during the mid-1980s. I thought it would be an enjoyable way to begin with some wacky nonsense. After the session, one attendee spoke to me and told me he was lost in this new world of computers and the person who began with that jargon about computers left him confused.

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That he didn’t realize I was the one who recited it should have clued me in. My intent was to lighten and start us off in a fun way, not to confuse and further obfuscate an already difficult area for many.

I should add that I offered one of the first workshops on computers in archives at a local archival meeting in New York City at the Lincoln Center in the mid-1980s. I set up a program for people to sign in on my KayPro transportable. Many attendees were reluctant to sign in and were afraid they would break something. Most of the attendees could not imagine why we would need a computer in the archives. They were so expensive—a new DOS system could set you back a few thousand dollars. In a few years, many of those attendees couldn’t imagine living without one. That’s how quickly technology can change the whole landscape.

For those who always enjoyed “The Archives Man” here it is.

Well, either you’re closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or, you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the absence of an archives in your organization!

Well, you’ve got trouble my friend, right here, in this organization.

Why sure I’m an archivist, certainly mighty proud to say I’m always mighty proud to say it.

I consider the hours I spend with a document in my hand are precious, help me cultivate sound judgment and solid understanding.

Did you ever go and try to understand the past without access to archives?

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Well, I should say that any fool can take piles of paper and shove them into a box and I call that lazy The first big step on the road To the depths of con-fu-sion Now, folks let me tell you what I mean You’ve got 1…2…3…4…5…6… boxes on a shelf.

Boxes that mark the difference between a scholar and a knave, with a capital K and that rhymes with A, and that stands for Archives.

But just as I say, it takes appraisal, accessioning, and arrangement to make access to the past possible in an archives and I call that sound, the first the big step on the road to the state of order.

Well, if you don’t do this, the next thing you know, you’ll be looking for answers in the paper dumpster, and wishing you that letter from the chief.

Now, I know all you folks are the right kind of people, so I’m gonna be perfectly frank with you.

Would you like to know what kinds of activities go on without archives?

Bills piling up in boxes, throwing away deeds, hopelessly searching for the document the lawyer needs, and complaining about how no one can find anything in this mess!

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Heed the warning before it’s too late, my friends watch for the telltale signs of disorganization, The moment the document leaves a printer, does it get filed in the filing cabinet?

Are there papers kept in acid-free folders?

Is there a retention schedule in the office?

Does Finance know where last week’s reports are?

Are certain words creeping into your colleagues vocabulary...

Words like “Toss-it”, Aha and, “I haven’t a clue where it is?”

Well if so my friends, you got trouble, right here in this office, Trouble with a captial T, and that rhymes with D and that stands for dumb.

You surely got trouble, right here!

Remember information governance and the golden rule, the office with the disorganized paper is the devils tool.

Oh yes, you’ve got trouble, with the T, gotta rhyme it with D, and that stands for disorganization!

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Well, folks never fear, for your heroic archivist is here.

I can deal with this trouble with a wave of my hand, this very hand.

I’m your well-trained, neighborhood archivist, and I’m here to help you catch a vision: a perfect land, where records are preserved. documents found, useless paper destroyed.

That’s your powerful, friendly archivist who’s easily able to step over the tallest shelving unit, faster than the quickest shredder, and he eats powerful Lignin-e-oos1 for breakfast.

Cool yeah...that’s the archives!

Where all the paper is acid free, all the shelves are steel, and the archivist is a super hero!

1 The finest breakfast food that archivists can eat—“Lignin-e-oos.” This is the lignin and acid free, knock-off brand.

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