Unitarian Universalist Church records
Scope and Contents
This collection includes annual reports, construction records, financial records, historical papers, minutes, membership records, scrapbooks, Sunday School records, photographs, digital photographs of the stained glass panels, oral history recordings and other material from the Unitarian Universalist Church in Muncie, Indiana ranging from 1855 to 2014 regarding the administration, finances, history, membership, ministries, property and services of the church.
Dates
- Creation: 1855-2014
Conditions Governing Access
The majority of this collection is open for research. Records in Subseries 3.2 are restricted. Contact the repository for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Archives and Special Collections.
Historical Note
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Muncie was organized as the First Universalist Church of Muncie in 1859. The congregation originally met in a building at the corner of Madison and Jackson streets. Many influential Muncie residents were associated with the the church in its formative years including Adam Wolf, Thomas Kirby, Alfred Kilgore, and the majority of the Ball family. The early Twentieth Century marked a period of change for the church including an elaborate remodeling of the church building in 1899 and a name change to St. John's Universalist Church in 1913. In 1962, the national Unitarian and Universalist societies merged leading the Muncie congregation to eventually change its name to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Muncie in the early 1970s. The congregation moved to a new building on West Bradford Drive in 1967. Throughout its history, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Muncie has been known for a message of universal salvation and an emphasis on reason, tolerance, and individualism as the grounds for religious understanding.
Extent
11 Cubic Feet (30 boxes; digital files (10.7 GB))
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Arranged in the following series and subseries:
Series 1: Unitarian Universalist Church administrative records, 1859-1993
Subseries 1.1: Articles of Incorporation, Constitution and Bylaws, 1956-1972
Subseries 1.2: Annual reports, 1956-1984, 1992-1993
Subseries 1.3: Board of Directors and parish meeting minutes, 1859-1902, 1954-1980
Subseries 1.4: Construction and Property records, 1964-1976
Subseries 1.5: Personnel records, 1957, 1973-1980
Subseries 1.6: Reports and studies, 1960-1962, 1973-1978
Series 2: Unitarian Universalist Church education and ministry records, 1875-1990
Subseries 2.1: Circles, Leagues, and Guilds records, 1889-1976
Subseries 2.2: Religious Education Committee records, 1989-1990
Subseries 2.3: Sunday School records, 1875-1960
Series 3: Unitarian Universalist Church financial records, 1870-1984
Subseries 3.1: Financial records, 1870-1970
Subseries 3.2: Restricted financial records, 1919-1984
Series 4: Unitarian Universalist Church membership records, 1859-1911, 1957-1988
Subseries 4.1: Directories, 1957-1980, 1988
Subseries 4.2: Membership records, 1859-1911, 1961-1987
Series 5: Unitarian Universalist Church service records, 1953-1984
Subseries 5.1: Order of Service and event programs, 1953-1983
Subseries 5.2: Sermons and addresses, 1959-1984
Subseries 5.3: Unigram newsletters, 1956-1980
Series 6: Unitarian Universalist Church historical papers, 1855-2001
Series 7: Unitarian Universalist Church scrapbooks, 1855-1984
Series 8: Unitarian Universalist Church oversize records, 1903-1954
Series 9: Unitarian Universalist Church photographs, 1859-1993
Subseries 9.1: Unitarian Universalist Church photographs, 1966-1991
Subseries 9.2: Unitarian Universalist Church oversized photographs, 1859-1993
Subseries 9.3: Unitarian Universalist Church negatives, undated
Series 10: Unitarian Universalist Church audio recordings, 1981-1984
Series 11: Unitarian Universalist Church digital records, 1966-2014
Series 12: Unitarian Universalist Church website archive, 2019-
Custodial History
This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as donations or gifts from Nona Nunnelly on 1987/10/29; a representative of the Unitarian Universalist Church on 1988/05/31; Dr. Raymond White on 1988/10/17, 1990/03/26, 1990/12/27, and 1991 Sept.; Pam Mills on 1994/01/31; and Nona Nunnelly on 1998/04/20. Digital materials were donated on 2014/03/12.
Accruals
Further additions are expected.
Existence and Location of Copies
Select materials from this collection have been digitized and are available online in the Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository:
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 1991/02/06 by N. Eichman. Finding aid revised 1994/02/18 by M. Sears; 2003/11 by A. Childers; and 2006/07/10 by J.E. Gastineau. EAD finding aid created 2012/06/11 by Lisa Barney. EAD finding aid modified 2013/10/28 by Rebecca Marangelli. Arrangment and EAD finding aid revised 2013/12/02 by Stephen Jones. EAD finding aid revised 2014/06/06 by Rebecca Marangelli, and 2014/06/09 and 2015/03/03 by Brandon Pieczko
- Title
- Unitarian Universalist Church records
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Stoeckel Archives of Local History Repository
Alexander M. Bracken Library
2000 W. University Avenue
Muncie Indiana 47306 USA
libarchives@bsu.edu
