Sparks Family Association correspondence and newsletters
Scope and Contents
This collection includes correspondence and newsletters from the Sparks Family Association ranging from 1953 to 2008 regarding family history and genealogy.
The collection consists of two series. The first series is correspondence between Jack Carmichael and a number of other members of the SFA, primarily Russell Bidlock. The second series consists of publications series includes volumes I through XVIII of The Sparks Quarterly, spanning from March 1953 to December 1970.
Dates
- Creation: 1953-2008
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
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.
Biographical Note / Historical Note / Administrative History
The Sparks Family Association (SFA) declared itself a nonprofit organization in March of 1953. The founders were Paul E. Sparks (President), Russell E. Bidlack (Secretary/ Treasurer) and William Perry Johnson (Historian/Genealogist). With the foundation of the SFA the founders released The Sparks Quarterly, which was a periodical that contained research on the Sparks lineage.
Beginnings of the SFA started with the research of William Perry Johnson in 1934. Johnson discovered that his heritage went back to the marriage of his great-great-great-great grandparents, Susannah Sparks and Charles Johnson. Through his research, W.P. Johnson came to find Paul Sparks and Russell Bidlack. In 1966, John K. (Jack) Carmichael of Muncie, Indiana joined the SFA and eventually became President of the organization.
Extent
1.6 Cubic Feet (6 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into the following series:
Series 1: Correspondence, 1966-2008
Series 2: Publications, 1953-2002
Custodial History
This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a donation from John K. Carmichael on 2008/08/25. Additions were received by John K. Carmichael on 2008/09/02 and 2008/09/05.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed August 2008 by J. Brugos. EAD finding aid created 2009/06/30 by Maren Read. EAD finding aid revised 2013/09/26 by Leslie Nellis.
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Sparks Family Association correspondence and newsletters
- 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
