BY DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN
dvaughan@heraldsun.com; 419-6563
DURHAM -- The Duke Divinity School Library wants your church history. The State Library of North Carolina has awarded a $30,000 planning grant to the libraries of Duke Divinity, UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University for an undertaking that will gather and digitize the publications of religious groups from Murphy to Manteo.
That includes church histories, meetings from denominational conferences and the like, said Andy Keck, associate director of the Duke Divinity library and project manager. The idea to digitize local religious group papers came about after Keck turned in some materials to be digitized at UNC and was asked "Is there anything else you want to send?" Further conversations led to the grant. UNC's North Carolina Collection has almost more than Duke does, Keck said, and the biggest cache is at Wake Forest. He expects there to be more religious group documents in other religious colleges and local libraries.
Digitizing information benefits the congregations themselves, Keck said, as well as "people interested in the history not only of churches and other religious bodies but towns, because they are often intertwined. Churches are often the first to be established in downtowns."
Church histories also tell the stories of time periods like abolition, temperance and segregation, he said.
"Local church histories are often published just for church members and is lucky to make it to a library at all, Keck said.
The planning grant officially began July 1 and lasts through June 30. The next phase would be to apply for another grant to fund the digitization process. Publications must be typed, not handwritten. Keck said they're looking at a process that uses two cameras that take pictures of every page in a book that sits on a cradle. The digitization will probably take about three years, he said.
If you are interested in submitting your congregation's history or other relevant documents to the project, contact Keck at andy.keck@duke.edu or 660-3549.
