Eden Theological Seminary

WEB SITE:

ADDRESS:

475 E. Lockwood Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63119

TELEPHONE:

(314) 252-3140

CONTACT:

Dr. Lowell Zuck, Senior Research Consultant
phone: 314-252-3140
email: lzuck@eden.edu

Scott Holl, Archivist at Eden
phone: 314-252-3141
email: sholl@eden.edu

HOURS:

By appointment only.

SPECIAL SERVICES AVAILABLE:

Photocopying of archival material is permitted if the original is in sound condition. Photocopies are 10 cents per page. A microfilm reader with a coin-operated printer is also available for use.

GENERAL SCOPE AND CONTENTS:

Materials relating to Evangelical Synod of North America churches and ministers, and their successors, Evangelical and Reformed Church; United Church of Christ. German Reformed Church records date from 1740's,Evangelical Synod Church records from 1840's, Evangelical andReformed Church records date from 1934, United Church of Christrecords from 1957. Midwestern American records predominate, but many materials are German, Swiss, and from India. Also diariesof founders and correspondence of such persons as Richard andReinhold Niebuhr, photographs of persons, church gatherings,etc., minutes of general and district conferences, records oflocal Evangelical churches, records of Eden TheologicalSeminary, German-American immigration-mission documents, andmaterials regarding mission activities in India, Honduras, Japanand Iraq.

MAJOR COLLECTIONS:

1. The Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA) Collection
   The Evangelical Synod of North America was founded in 1840 as German Evangelical Church Society of the West in Mehlville, Missouri, which is near St. Louis. It merged with the Reformed Church in the United States in 1934 to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church, which in turn merged with the Association of Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ in 1957. The ESNA Collection is comprised of the records of the Evangelical Synod of North America from 1840 to 1934, and includes records, manuscripts, publications, photographs and artifacts.
2. The Eden Theological Seminary (ETS) Collection
   The ETS Collection is comprised of materials relating to the faculty, students and staff of Eden Theological Seminary during its history in three different locations: Marthasville, Missouri, 1850-1883, Wellston, Missouri, 1883-1924, and Webster Groves, Missouri, 1924-present. The collection includes documents, papers, manuscripts, publications, photographs and artifacts.
3. Deaconess Archives
   The Evangelical Deaconess Society established Deaconess Home and Hospital in St. Louis in 1889 and created a consecrated ministry of women modeled after the Kaiserswerth deaconess motherhouse near Düsseldorf, Germany. Most deaconesses were trained as nurses to serve Deaconess Hospital, although some also served in orphanages, retirement homes, in other hospitals, and as parish workers. Materials in the Deaconess Archives cover the period from the Society’s founding in 1889 to the sale of Deaconess Hospital in 1997. The Archives consists of records, manuscripts, publication, photographs and artifacts.
4. Parish records
   The Archives has the records of many congregations with roots in the Evangelical Synod of North America, with emphasis on those in the St. Louis metropolitan area and other communities in Missouri and southern Illinois. Please contact the Archives for holdings regarding specific congregations.
5. Congregation history files
   The Archives maintains files for most congregations with roots in the Evangelical Synod. Contents of files vary, but typically include written histories, membership directories and other materials of general historical interest.
6. Clergy biography files
   The Archives can provide basic biographical data and service records for most pastors who served in the Evangelical Synod of North America.

GUIDES:

Minutes and Letters of the Coetus of the German Reformed Congregations in Penna., 1747-1792 (Philadelphia, 1908). Includestranslated texts of 27 of the "Harbaugh Manuscripts."

(1/2008)

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