Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1931-1971 (Creation)
Extent
2 cu. ft. (7 boxes partial)
Name of creator
Administrative history
Following the Joint Commission on Rural Work report to the 1940 General Convention calling for more rural Church workers, a new staff officer position for “town and country” work in the Division of Domestic Mission was created. In 1949, this position expanded to a stand-alone department under the Home Department as the Division of Town and Country Work. Two years later, the Division appointed a National Advisory Committee for Town and Country Work to perform studies and make recommendations.
The Division of Town and Country Work had a particularly close relationship with the Roanridge Training Center in Missouri. The programs at Roanridge, including the Summer Parish Training Program, were administered by the National Town and Country Institute.
Emphasis on the rural mission waned in the 1960s as the national Church became more focused on urban mission. A 1961 reorganization of the Home Department saw the elimination of the Division of Town and Country, with its responsibilities being returned to the Division of Domestic Mission. The National Advisory Committee for Town and Country Work survived the reorganization and eventually dissolved in 1967.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
From 1945 to 1977 Roanridge Training and Conference Center in Missouri was the primary center of operation for the Division of Town and Country within the Home Department, although the two entities were structurally distinct. The Division’s records contain administrative and program files, conference materials, reports generated by the Division (often in consultation with Roanridge or with persons affiliated with the National Council’s Unit of Research and Field Study), and resource materials formerly housed in the Roanridge Library. Of particular interest in the latter series is a scrapbook collected by Edna Eastwood on the Church’s early ministry to the “isolated,” and a set of surveys generated by the Unit of Research and Field Study. Also present are subject files and correspondence documenting field visits and consultations to rural areas throughout the country.
System of arrangement
This fonds is described as file series 5 in the finding aid for the Records of Roanridge Training and Conference Center.
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
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Allison, W. Francis (Subject)
- Cochel, Wilbur A. (Subject)
- Davidson, William (Subject)
- Page, Herman (Subject)
- Samuelson, Clifford Leroy (Subject)