LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 405

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406 SPECIAL AND SUNDRY MATTERS

4. Participation in Active Records Management: Steps should
be taken to reinaugurate a records-management program for the
synodical offices. Since the Institute has archives responsibilities, it
must be involved in such a program. The records-management func-
tion must be concerned with the preservation of records having
historical, theological, legal, and administrative importance (perhaps
20—30% of existing records) and with the destruction of the rest
(perhaps 70-80%).

At its September 1974 meeting the synodical Board of
Directors responded positively to the task force as follows:

1. The Board resolved that . . . Concordia Historical Institute's
financial needs continue to be provided for in Synod’s annual budget.

2. The Board resolved that the first-phase funding of $300,000
for Concordia Historical Institute building and fixtures be authorized
from the current allocation of the 125th Anniversary Thankoffering
funds or the next allocation from the same fund, whichever is first
available. .. .

We gratefully acknowledge these significant resolutions and
commend the Board of Directors for its courage in a day of
ecclesiastical confusion, complex problems, and sagging fi-
nances. As a result The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod
continues to be a pacesetter in denominational archives/his-
tory work.

Collections

The Institute's ability to serve as the synodical memory and
as a bridge from the past to the present depends largely on its
collections of raw and refined data. These collections have
continued to grow during the past biennium.

Some 2,420,000 documents and manuscripts are on deposit.
There are also more than 130,000 feet of microfilm resources:
some 1,600,000 feet of tape recordings of voices, synodical
conventions, meetings, music and worship services: a historical
library of 56,000 books, pamphlets, periodicals, and tracts: 133
motion picture films: 174 sets of slides and filmstrips: and thou-
sands of photographs, pictures, paintings, and museum artifacts.

All these resources provide a wealth of materials for develop-
ing a greater understanding of our Lutheran heritage. They
constitute a collection on American Lutheranism unmatched
anywhere else, offer a vast field for further study of our past,
and may be conservatively valued in excess of $1,000,000.

During the past 2 years nearly 1,800 donors have added
90,000 items to the collection. Because most of this material has
been contributed without cost to the Institute, our budget for
acquisitions remains modest.

Among the more significant resources added to the collec-
tions in the past biennium have been the papers, files, and cor-
respondence of the Board for Missions, Lutheran Women’s
Missionary League, Lutheran Laymen’s League, Board for
Lutheran Television, Commission on Theology and Church
Relations, Office of the Secretary of the Synod, Office of the
President of the Synod, Board of Directors, and Lutheran
Church in Mission. Also received were the personal papers
and collections of F. E. Mayer, Andrew Schulze, Clarence H.
Peters, William A. Koepchen, Otto Hoyer, and Martin H. Schar-
lemann.

Among our new audiovisual acquisitions are a collection
of glass lantern slides prepared in the early 1900s by William
A. Koepchen of New York, N. Y., the complete tapes of the
Synod’s 1973 New Orleans convention, and prints of the motion
pictures Call of the Cross. Amazing Grace. Christmas Is. and
Easter Is.

Services

The Institute preserves, but it also serves. The following
list identifies, in order of priority, those whom the Institute
serves, and how:

1. The Synod itself: its officials, departments, boards, com-
missions, committees, and Districts. Services performed include
preserving records having historical, legal, financial, social,
and other values; and supplying research and reference help
on subjects such as the genesis of financial accounts, District
roles and functions, and information needed by the editors of
the Synod’s periodicals.

2. Students, professors, and scholars at seminaries, universi-
ties, colleges, and high schools. Requests for help in completing
class assignments, term papers, theses, and dissertations are
received regularly.

3. Congregations and other local agencies. These requests

usually call for historical and biographical information on pas-
tors, teachers, and the professional workers, guidance in main-
taining historical-archival records, and ways to observe anni-
versaries beneficially.

4. Other kinds of agencies and institutions. Whenever re-
quested, available information is supplied. In some cases, how-
ever, we serve by referring requests to other agencies who may
have more information available. :

5. Family and amateur historians and genealogists. Re-
quests in this category frequently deal with defunct or lost
congregations.

6. Individuals engaged in preparing bibliographies or on
the trail of rare and out-of-print books, pamphlets, and other
resources.

7. Individuals needing duplication services: for example:
photographs, pictures, and Xerox or microfilm copies of docu-
ments, manuscripts, etc.

8. People in congregations needing exhibit materials for
mission fairs and educational displays. Such requests are usually
filled through our Museum Extension Service. Note, too, our
work in preserving the Saxon Lutheran Memorial, thereby
assisting localities to develop a historical awareness.

9. Individuals and groups needing help in transcribing and
translating original German Gothic manuscripts.

These services continuously engage the staff in a heavy
work load. Each day a wide variety of requests for services
and information is received. More than 5,000 letters went out
in response to requests during the past biennium, adding
significantly to the total number of services provided by the
Institute—a total that has grown steadily, as the following table
suggests:

1949__ 830001969 30,000
1954__. 4500-1978 _- 34,162
1964 19,000) :1974 45,472

Note that these figures represent people: members of con-
gregations learning about the life and labors of pastors and
teachers who have served their forebears: a pastor receiving
a treasured out-of-print volume after a long, seemingly fruitless
search; a son examining the papers of his missionary father in
order to complete a biography for publication: a woman receiv-
ing that one bit of information to get her back on the trail of long-
forgotten ancestors; a retired person directed to the proper
documentation needed to qualify for Social Security benefits;
a student from a distant university seeking information on the
background of synodical difficulties: a high school student
asking for “all the information you have on the Lutheran
Church” for a class report; a scholar from Finland or elsewhere
in Europe, researching relationships between the churches of
his country and ours. All these and more are uniquely served
and enriched through the Institute.

Special Projects

Besides receiving new materials for its collections and
providing reference and research services, the Institute also is
engaged in carrying out special projects. These include:

1. Bibliographies: The research has been virtually completed
on a bibliography of all books and pamphlets produced by or
through the Synod from its beginning. A total of 2,856 titles has
been identified. Work is now proceeding on putting this bibliog-
raphy into a form in which it can be made available to inter-
ested agencies. The project has been carried on through the
support of Concordia Publishing House, whose imprint appears
on most of the publications.

A project initiated by the Walther Publications Committee
(dissolved at New Orleans in 1973), designed to produce a com-
plete bibliography of the writings of C. F. W. Walther, has been
haltingly continued. Some 3,352 entries have been made and
a subject cross-reference prepared. This bibliography has
already proved to be a most useful tool, and publication for
wider distribution remains on the agenda as funds become
available.

2. Microfilm: The Lutheran Laymen’s League has supported
the Institute microfilm program for more than 20 years since
its first grant in 1954. During this time more than 130,000 feet of
film has been acquired, representing well in excess of 1,000,000