American Church Institute. Administrative Records

Identity elements

Reference code

AO-00-R0061-01

Name and location of repository

The Archives of the Episcopal Church

Level of description

Fonds

Title

American Church Institute. Administrative Records

Date(s)

  • 1906-1968 (Creation)

Extent

5.75 cu.ft. (17 boxes)

Name of creator

American Church Institute
(1906-1967)

Administrative history

The American Church Institute for Negroes, begun in 1906 and renamed as the American Church Institute in 1961, was the institutional Church’s response to the alarming disparity between educational opportunities for African Americans and privileged whites within the church. The organization’s strategy was to train African Americans to be successful tradesmen, businessmen, teachers, and clergy who would return to their communities and spread the benefits of their education to others.

The ACI made it a practice to give support to only one school in any state, although exceptions were made for Virginia and North Carolina. Six other southern states were homes to the ACI schools (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and South Carolina), and one school in Texas received funds from ACI but was never officially brought under its oversight. The eligibility criteria for a school to qualify for ACI support included that the school be located in the area of greatest concentration of African Americans in its state and that it receive financial support from all of the dioceses in its state.

The ACI was formally dissolved in 1967 after a reevaluation of the usefulness of its mission in light of integration.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The DFMS archive on the American Church Institute (ACI) is largely focused on the years 1906 through 1967, although documentation on individual schools dates from 1867 (see AO-00-R0061-02-12). The collection represents a reasonably comprehensive record of ACI during its lifetime and, in most cases, a much briefer synopsis of the life of each of the individual schools, although student rosters and academic records are not present. The overall ACI administrative records consist of minutes, reports, legal and financial documents, correspondence, historical summaries, building plans, studies, surveys, publications, photographs, and ACIN's corporate seal. Records of the individual schools include copies of minutes of the boards of trustees, reports, correspondence, financial documents, institutional histories, personnel records, and publicity materials.

System of arrangement

Board of Trustees, 1906-1968
Director's office, c.1907-1910, 1917-1953, 1966-1967
General Agent's office, 1905-1913
Secretary's office, 1950-1952, 1963
Treasurer's office, 1905-1913
General Conventions, 1937-1952, 1961
American Church Institute Study Committee, 1963-1968
Reports and Articles, 1929-1966
American Church Institute College Collective Records, 1930-1934, 1945, 1950, 1963-1964

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.

Languages of the material

  • English

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