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Trinity Baptist Church Records

 Collection
Identifier: MS-449

Scope and Content

The Trinity Baptist Church Records document the history of the church from 1916 to 2011. These records provide information on the church's correspondence, annual reports, minutes, membership files, and financial/treasurer information. The collection is arranged in four series and three subseries.

Series I, History, consists of information on the planning and commencement of the centennial celebration in 1986 as well as souvenir trivets from this event, the ideas for the outside sign of the church, deeds, new building planning materials, a small group of photographs including three aerial views of the church and one featuring the outside sign, new building dedications, and property information for the church's various locations over time.

Series II, Administration, features two large sections: Board of Trustee and Regular Business Meeting materials and minutes, annual reports, and correspondence. This series also contains a bound volume of Board of Deacons minutes from 1999 to 2002.

Series III, Financial, consists mainly of reports from the financial secretary and the treasurer, offerings, monthly statements, annual financial reports, and check receipts. The 2005-2006 financial reports are contained on three 3.5 inch floppy disks.

Series IV, Members, has the most variety of information and is arranged in three subseries. Subseries IVA, General, consists of baptismal records from 1969 to 1976, correspondence, and membership application cards which contain a wealth of personal information on the members such as date of birth and birth place, marriage date and spouse information. This subseries also contains the church directories listing all members with addresses, the earliest being from 1924-1934, then ranging from the 1960s to the 1990s. in addition, this subseries contains various pamphlets, news clippings, a small batch of photographs featuring pictures from picnics and the MS walk in 2005, yearbooks from 1962-1967, vacation bible school materials, Sunday school enrollment lists, and youth fellowship materials. Subseries IVB, Publications, consists of the weekly Sunday bulletins from 1933 to 2004 without many gaps of missing years. Also in this subseries are newsletters called Trinitarians that span from 1954 to 2005. Subseries IVC, Women's Societies, is divided into two separate societies, American Baptist Women and Women's Baptist Missionary, with the bulk of the information found in the latter. These Women's societies feature annual and treasure reports, meeting minutes for the various Women's Circle groups, including a bound ledger with the "Stitch & Chatter" club's minutes from 1952-1955, correspondence, handbooks, information for each location the Missionary Society visited including some souvenirs, handmade invitations for various celebrations held at the church, and officer's information.

Dates

  • Creation: 1916-2011

Creator

Restrictions on Access

There are no restrictions on accessing materials in this collection.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

History of Trinity Baptist Church (Dayton, Ohio)

Trinity Baptist Church was founded in 1886, when a group of fifteen people held services in the Murray home on West Third Street. The church began as a mission of First Church. On June 30, 1918, the church became an independent church. A committee selected a new name and Trinity Baptist Church was chosen.

On December 3, 1978, ground was broken on a new church building on Shiloh Springs Road, which was completed in 1979. Over the years the church has met in at least twelve different places of worship, under the leadership of numerous pastors, including Rev. O.E. Hall and Dr. Luman F. Marsh. Both of these pastors served twenty years with the church. In 2011, Trinity Baptist Church closed its doors because of dwindling financial and congregational support. The church was in session for a total of 125 years.

Extent

11 linear feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

This collection contains the papers of Trinity Baptist Church, located on Shiloh Springs Road in Dayton, Ohio. The church opened in 1886 and closed in 2011. The records include pamphlets, bulletins, financial records, member files, Women's Baptist Missionary Society materials, correspondence, and programs.

Statement of Arrangement

The Trinity Baptist Church records are arranged into four series and three subseries.

  1. Series I: History
  2. Series II: Administration
  3. Series III: Financial
  4. Series IV: Membership
  5. Subseries IVA: General
  6. Subseries IVB: Publications
  7. Subseries IVC: Women's Societies

Technical Requirements

Researcher will need a computer with disk access to read 3.5 inch floppy disks.

Acquisition Information

The Trinity Baptist Church Records were donated to Wright State University Special Collections and Archives by Robert L. Kerr in October 2011.

Related Material

MS-81, First Baptist Church Records; MS-257, Central Baptist Church Records, Oregon District; MS-309, Dayton area Baptist Association Records; MFM-112, First Baptist Church of Centerville Records

Processing Information

Material was removed from three ring binders that contained treasurer reports and placed in folders.

Title
Guide to the Trinity Baptist Church Records (MS-449)
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Jeri Kniess and Misti Spillman, March 2012
Date
2015
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Wright State University Libraries
Special Collections and Archives
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton OH 45435-0001 USA
937-775-2092