American Congregational Association Records, 1853-

Records, 1853 -

RG 4360

22 linear feet

Gifts and transfers from various sources.

Processed September 1982 by Jessica Goldzweig.
Reprocessed (again) November 2004 by J. Steytler.

Material added on a yearly basis.

Copyright: requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the archivist or librarian.
Some restrictions may apply.

• Historical Note
• Association Governance
• Scope and Content
• Description
• Folder List
• Appendix A

Top of page

Historical Note

The Congregational Library was formed in 1851. Two years later, reorganized and expanded, it rented rooms at the Tremont Street Temple in Boston, with a library of 56 books and pamphlets. The Association was formally incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1854 "for the purpose of establishing and perpetuating a library of the religious history and literature of New England, and for the erection of a suitable building for the accommodation of the same, and for the use of charitable societies." In 1864, the organization changed its name to the American Congregational Association in recognition of its broader scope.

The Association lived in peripatetic existence until 1898. In 1857 the Association moved from its rented rooms at the Tremont Temple to its own building -- a house -- where it remained for ten years. Between 1867 and 1872, the Association again rented space before purchasing two buildings at the corner of Beacon and Somerset Streets. The building was renovated for library space and rental offices. This new headquarters was dedicated in 1874. The Association moved once more, in 1898, to its present site at 14 Beacon Street, a building constructed specifically for the library and for rental office space. The Association receives the bulk of its funding from rental income.

Top of page

Association Governance

The Association, which refers to itself as a corporation, is governed by a Board of Directors which consists of 21 - 27 members, divided into three classes of seven to nine each, one class being elected each year for a three - year term. They meet quarterly. Officers of the Association include a chairperson, vice - president, secretary, librarian, treasurer, and assistant treasurer. The librarian is also the Executive Director of the ACA. In the mid to late 19th century, the librarian also served as the secretary and/or assistant treasurer.

In September 1999, there was a massive re - structuring of the Association's governmental body. Of the two original committees, the Executive Committee was disbanded, while the Library Committee remained. The new system has eight working committees: Board Development and Nominating, Building, Finance and Budget, Financial Development, Library, Personnel, Investment, and Program Committees. One of the stipulations of being a board member in the new administration was that everyone had to be a member of at least one working committee.

In its restructuring, the Board also created a new position, that of Librarian/Executive Director. The existing librarian, Dr. Harold Field Worthley, filled both positions until his retirement in 2004. At that time, the Board hired an Associate Librarian, to be responsible for the library on a day - to - day basis, while the Librarian/Executive Director (L/ED) would be accountable for the Library's long - term vision and the overall direction of the ACA. The Associate Librarian reports to the L/ED, who in turn is answerable to the Library Committee and the greater ACA board.

The Board of Development and Nominating Committee evaluates the Board of Directors and the Board's responsibilities. It nominates members to the board and makes sure that the Board keeps up to its full potential.

The Building Committee oversees the Congregational House operations and the tenant rentals. It is responsible for all real estate agreements, along with the Librarian and Treasurer and Chairperson. The committee and Librarian are responsible for hiring building employees and they make the appropriate recommendations to the Personnel Committee for those employees.

The Finance and Budget Committee is responsible for submitting annual budgets to the corporation after consulting with the other committees, the Librarian and the Treasurer. It also oversees the Treasurer's work, organizes for the annual audit, and assists staff in audit preparation.

The Financial Development Committee is responsible for fund raising, grants, and special capital development.

The Investment Committee oversees the corporation's investment portfolios.

The Library Committee has general supervision over the library. Members of the committee make recommendations to the Personnel committee regarding library staff (Associate Librarian, Archivist, and Library Assistants) salaries and benefits. The committee also nominates both the Librarian/Executive Director and the Associate Librarian to the Board of Directors.

The Personnel Committee ensures that employees get regular evaluations. It also advises the Board of Directors on salaries and the policies that govern salaries, benefits, and grievance procedures.

The Program Committee is the link to other organizations with which the ACA interacts. Also, it suggests activities that promote the organization.

A list of ACA offices, office holders, and dates of tenure is appended to this finding aid.

Top of page

Scope and Content

The archives of the American Congregational Association accumulated over the years, gathered from officers as they cleaned their files or left their positions. In addition, several donors gave individual items that related to the Association's history. In 1982, the collection was processed, with materials organized ostensibly by creating office. Later additions were not clearly integrated into the collection, and some materials were never incorporated at all. The decision to reprocess the collection came after a records management inventory revealed the disorder of the records and the need to integrate records stored in other offices and in the stacks. Unfortunately, the attempt at reorganization in 1993 was not enough. With the arrival of new staff in 2004, the archivist reorganized again more dramatically.

Originally, records were arranged following the principle of provenance, the records were more strictly arranged according to creating office, where possible. However, for retrieval and continuity's sake, this practice was abandoned. In some instances, such as librarian and corresponding secretary, or Board and Executive Committee and recording secretary, the records do overlap, since one person served in two capacities. In those instances, please check between series for different types of records. Original order was maintained as often as possible within folders.

Top of page

Description

The most recent reorganization consolidated all records of a series together with its own, independent box numbering system. This allows for there to be continuity from the earliest to contemporary files

The largest 3 sections are: Board of Directors, Treasurer, and Librarian. Extinct series: D, Executive Committee and F, Assistant Treasurer. Series that do not gather new material often: Articles of Incorporation, Building Superintendent, Publications, and Corresponding Secretary. However when the series is one of an individual rather than an object or group of people, this inactivity varies with that individual.

Series A, Articles of Incorporation, 1854 - 1864, 1969 consists of copies of the original articles kept at the Secretary of State's office, as well as copies of acts of the legislature enabling the Association to hold more property. The 1969 record is a copy of the act of incorporation as amended in that year, with citations and notes by the secretary. An additional copy of incorporation documentation is found in Series G, corresponding Secretary's Records, Box G2 folder 14.

Series B, Board of Directors' Records, 1851 - present, with gaps, are arranged chronologically. The record encompass copies of the constitution and by - laws, minutes, correspondence, finance committee reports and fund - raising letters, annual meeting notices, agendas and reports, and annual audits. Wherever possible, the Executive and Library Committees were included in this series. The committees formed after 1999 are also listed alphabetically. Pre - 1999 Library Committee records are frequently incomplete as a separate entity, although there are often reports from that committee in the quarterly board meetings.

Series C, Building and House Committee Records, 1849 - present with gaps, include records on the building itself that were generated or collected by other officers, staff, or committees in the Association. Included in this series are deeds for the various properties owned by the Association, agreements with architects and contractors, correspondence concerning construction and maintenance of the Somerset and Beacon Street buildings, minutes of committee meetings, mortgage papers, building plans from the 1969 renovation of the building, records of the 1969 renovation which created the Rare Book Room and the study area. The records of the Library's HVAC unit are included here as well. There are also copies of the agreements made with the Athenaeum for the condominimization of the basement for their use, 1993.

Series D, Executive Committee, 1924 - 1977. The first portion of the collection reflects the work of Sargent Wellman, and of the Board of Directors. Included in these records are correspondence, legal papers and reports exchanged between Wellman and the Executive Committee, as well as records from Wellman's legal practice. The bulk of this series consists of minutes of and reports to the Executive Committee, either kept by the Chairman or the Secretary. In addition, there are reports from the Building Superintendent, 1970 - 1972, and correspondence, 1974 - 1977. For the remainder of this Committee's records, refer to Series B: Board.

Series E, Treasurers' Records, 1856 - 1976, 1995 - present. A large portion of these records concern subscriptions to finance the purchase of the Somerset Street building in 1872 - 1874. Correspondence with members and service providers also constitute a large proportion of the records. In addition, there are records and memoranda on rents, treasurers' accounts and reports, and a "diary" of the treasurer, written to help the person holding the office next.

Series F, Assistant Treasurer, 1871 - 1918. These records are supplemental to series E. The records of the treasurer are supplemented by the records of the Assistant Treasurer in Series F and consist of day books and correspondence. Some of the records (1872 - 1887) were kept by Corresponding Secretary Isaac Langworthy, and some by Librarian William H. Cobb (1893 - 1918), both of whom served in dual capacities. Another volume of records can be found in volume 1 of the Corresponding Secretary's records in Series G. The archivist does not see this

Series G, Corresponding Secretary, 1951 - 1977. The bulk of the material is correspondence, arranged chronologically and then alphabetically. The grouping of years is the result of the previous processing and many in fact reflect the secretary's original organization.

Series H, Building Superintendent, 1920 - 1975. This includes an account book, employee work records, correspondence, and reports. Additional reports from the Superintendent can be found in the Executive Committee records. The archivist does not see this series becoming active again in the near future.

Series I, Publications, with the exception of the Bulletin, are arranged chronologically. The publications include informational brochures, invitations and programs, and articles featuring the library. They range in date from 1855 - 1989. 35 mm. microfilm of the Bulletin of the Congregational Library is provided by UMI and is stored in the microfilm cabinet, although there is not a complete run.

Series J, Librarian's Records, 1854 - present with gaps. The bulk of the material is correspondence concerning research, membership, and collections. It should be noted that the reference correspondence by Harold Worthley from the late 1990s until his retirement in 2004 were pulled for in - house use.

Series J also contains correspondence and lists documenting the purchase of Bishop William Stubbs' library in 1901; Bishop of Oxford and constitutional historian. The correspondence is between librarian, William H. Cobbs, and Bernard Quaritch, London, a rare book dealer. One of the most interesting documents is a "catalog" of books dated July 10, 1853. Also of interest if the librarian's "record book," 1854 - 1880, which lists supply preachers, a service once offered by the library, and a copy of the S. Brainerd Pratt deed to his Bible collection.

John Harrer's correspondence ca. 1959 - 1961 documents information gathered from the American Antiquarian Society; John Carter Brown, Brown University; Cambridge Historical Society; William Clements Library, University of Michigan; Houghton Library, Harvard University; Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.; New York Public Library; Scheide Library, Princeton University; University of Virginia; and Thomas W. Streeter about their copies of the Cambridge Platform, as well as review of Harrer's manuscript of the Cambridge Platform, Cambridge Press and Rev. Jose Glover.

Series K, Photographs. This series visually documents the Association's buildings, both interior and exterior, tenants, staff and officers, and special events such as the 100th anniversary and the construction of the Rare Book Room. Also included in this series are photographs and engravings of ministers, arranged alphabetically. It is possible that the ca. 1900 sub - series may have come from the Congregationalist and were absorbed into the ACA's records, following the dissolution of the Congregationalist. The ca. 1900 sub - series shows the building and offices during this period, including the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Congregational Education Society and Congregational Publishing and Sunday School Society. Copy negatives of this sub - series were made at Northeast Document Conservation Center March 1997; the originals are mounted on acidic cardboard and many are fading. It was also anticipated that this series will be heavily used in the upcoming centennial celebration.

Series L, Architectural Drawings contain diazo or black line copies of the ca. 1898 architectural drawings for Congregational House, as well as the ca. 1964 renovation of the Rare Book Room. The copies were made January, 1997 from the originals in the archives of Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott.

Top of page

Folder List

See attached Word document for folder/box list.

Top of page

Appendix A

Officers of the American Congregational Association

Top of page