Accession Number: 44
Red Bird Mission Records
Selected Records 1921-1981
Selected Photographs 1920-1985
Online Catalog Record (BANC)

Overview
History
Series Description
Part A: Selected Records
   Series I
   Series II
   Series III
      Subseries IIIa
      Subseries IIIb
      Subseries IIIc
   Series IV
   Series V
Part B: Selected Photographs

Access and Use:

Provenance: Red Bird Mission records were collected and organized in 1982. Those having administrative, legal or historical value were microfilmed at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives and all then returned to the Mission. The resultant microfilm master negative is owned by Berea College. A user copy is available for researchers. Selected photographs were also organized and copied. The copy negatives and a set of copy prints are owned by Berea College. A second set of copy prints and all originals were returned to Red Bird Mission.

Copyright: Berea College does not own the copyright for the manuscripts or printed documents included in this microfilm edition. Therefore, it is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish from the Red Bird Mission or its successors and assigns. Permission has been granted by Red Bird Mission for Berea College to reproduce all or part of the school's photographs and to use them in slide or film presentations, display them or loan them for displays, and to allow their use by researchers for reproduction and publication.

Preferred Citation: The proper credit line for all of the above uses shall be, "Red Bird Mission Records, Berea College Special Collections & Archives, Berea, Ky."

Related Berea College Archives

Henderson Settlement School Records, 1925-1984, SAA 49

Series Description
14 Manuscript Boxes

This series consists of materials, mostly published, detailing Mission people and programs. It includes: 1) The material written and gathered by A.H. Lehman (c.1946); 2) various histories and personal reminiscences of Red Bird written by staff members and local residents (1925-76); and 3) copies of the Mission newsletters, the Red Bird Notes (1968-76) and The Cardinal (1976-77). (For early editions of the Red Bird Notes, 1933-52, see Series IV, reel 21; the Notes were not published between 1952-68.)

This series also includes publications issued by the Evangelical Church, reporting Red Bird Mission news on a regular basis(1926-46). While the newsletters and publications have a clear promotional and fund-raising purpose, they are nonetheless useful sources that are especially important since there are few administrative and vital records documenting the Mission for the years 1921-46. The publications generated by Mission staff or local residents appear first in the series; those published by other institutions and organizations follow.

Reel 1

1. Lehman's History of Red Bird Mission, c. 1946
2. Lehman's History: resource Material, 1919-46
3. "What of the Cumberlands Agriculturally?" (author unknown), 1940s
4. "Time Marches On in Our Valley" (pageant), Red Bird Sophomore Class, 1943
5. Schaeffer, Roberta: The Story of Red Bird Mission: A History of Missions in Appalachia (copy of typed manuscript), c. 1976.
6. Scott, Donna Vee: Letters from Back Home: Fifty Years at Red Bird Mission (copy of typed manuscript), c. 1971
7. Singer, Florence Elton: "The Red Bird Doctor of the Cumberlands" (Dr. Harlan Heim), c. 1927
8. Singer, Florence Eltom: Stories by, n.d.
9. Stull, Vera G: "Notes from My Diary: Experience at Red Bird Mission," 1925-37
10. Red Bird Notes, 1968-76
11. The Cardinal, 1977-81
12. Stull, Vera G: Red Bird Called, 1977
13. Pamphlets and Flyers, 1920s-1930s

Reel 2

1. Pamphlets and Flyers, 1940s-70s
2. Commencement Programs, 1936-81
3. Slide Lecture Scripts, 1932, 1971
4. Newspaper Clippings, 1929-31, 1940s, 1970-81
5. Evangelical Crusader, 1935-46
6. Evangelical Missionary World, 1927-46
7. Missionary Society, 1926-45
8. Sunday School Messenger, September 5, 1936

The annual Mission Workers Council meetings are documented in minutes and reports of the superintendent, Mission department heads, standing committees, and out-station staff. Mission staff members can be traced through meeting roll calls and in directories listing their names, position, and committee memberships. Documentation of quarterly and special meetings is also included, but such records are sparse and scattered. The annual Council meeting minutes and reports vary in quantity and detail. Nevertheless, it is the most comprehensive file in the collection because it is a yearly chronicle of the Mission's philosophy, purpose, program and staff, and provides a useful framework from which to understand the rest of the documentation in the collection. The series is arranged chronologically.

Reel 2

9. Annual Report and Organizational Plan, 1921
10. Pledge Supporting Prohibition, 1921
11. Annual Reports, 1922-24
12. Annual and Quarterly Council Meetings, 1924-28

Reel 3

1. Special Council Session, Death of J.J.
2. DeWall. September, 1928
3. Annual and Quarterly Council Meetings, 1929
4. Annual Council Meetings, 1930-66

Reel 4

1. Annual Council Meetings, 1967-7

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