International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention: Archives External

Address: 2109 Loumour Avenue, Richmond, VA

Telephone number: (804) 353 - 0151

Contact information:
Archives
IMB Libraries

Online catalog:
Archives: See main Archives page.External Some collections are searchable
IMB Libraries: online catalog not available to general public

Digital Collections link External

Hours of service:
Archives: Monday--Friday; 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. by appointment
IMB Libraries: Monday--Friday; 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. by appointment

Open to the public: By appointment.

Interlibrary loan:
Archives: No
IMB Libraries: Yes

Reference policy:
Archives: Reference requests are accepted by: telephone, email.
IMB Libraries: Reference requests are accepted by: telephone, email.

Background note:
The Archives was founded in May 1845. Records go back to this date.
The Jenkins Research Library (of the IMB Libraries) was founded in 1960.

Books and monographs
About half of the IMB Libraries’ 24,000 monograph titles deal exclusively with religious topics; the rest provides technical support for the International Mission Board's current range of activities. The collection, dating from the mid-1800s to the present, is rich in material about and for the support of international missions, including ethnolinguistic and anthropological studies of peoples and groups, social and cultural studies, mission histories (particularly Baptist), and strategies for the creation and growth of new churches

Periodicals and newspapers
The IMB Libraries own approximately 160 periodical titles, about 50 of which are current subscriptions. Periodical holdings retention runs from a few years to long runs. Subject emphases include missions-related topics, current events, and Baptist-related journals and newspapers.

The Archives maintains in print copies and/or on microfilm a complete run of most issues of the Home and Foreign Journal, Southern Baptist Missionary Journal, The Commission, and the Foreign Mission Journal.

Archives, manuscripts, correspondences, and/or oral histories
The Archives has more than 2,000 linear feet of materials with inclusive dates from 1845 to the present. Subject highlights include materials on the Southern Baptist Convention, international missions, missionary correspondence, and records from the International Mission Board, with a geographic global emphasis.

Microforms
The Archives has about 5,200 reels of microfilm and approximately 75,000 microfiche. Subject highlights include materials on the Southern Baptist Convention, international missions, missionary correspondence, and records from the International Mission Board, with a geographic global emphasis.

Videos and sound recordings
The IMB Libraries have a small collection of videos on various ethnolinguistic groups.

Vertical files
The IMB Libraries have 20 drawers of material on people groups.

Images
The Archives contains paintings including oil on canvas and watercolors. These are portraits of missionaries, Presidents of the International Mission Board, and a variety of landscapes and other scenics.

Maps
The Archives has some maps with inclusive dates from 1825 to the present. Highlights include a pre-war (1930) map of China and a map of Africa drawn in 1825.

The IMB Libraries’ map collection has about 400 flat maps.

Digital collections
The Archives has a fully searchable database of the International Mission Board that contains minutes from 1845 to 1979 and Annual Reports from 1846 to 1953, African American Heritage and Lottie Moon Correspondence. This is available on the Archives' web page. External

The Image Archive has more than 300,000 photographs related to mission work from the 1920s to the early 2000s. There are a limited number of 19th century photographs.

Baptists – Missions; Missionaries. Southern Baptist Convention. Foreign Mission Board; Southern Baptist Convention. International Mission Board