Pullman Community Congregational Church Records, 1886-1974 Overview of the Collection Creator Title Dates Pullman Community Congregational Church Pullman Community Congregational Church Records 1886-1974 (inclusive) 1886 1974 Quantity 7 containers., (36 volumes.), (6 linear feet of shelf space.), (1280 items.) Collection Number Cage 314 Summary Repository Access Restrictions Correspondence, membership lists, organizational documents, minutes, financial records, printed materials, reports, records of the acts of the church, records of auxiliary women and young peoples societies, and photographs of buildings of the Community Congregational Church of Pullman, 1886-1913, and the Federated Church of Pullman, 1913-1937. Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections Terrell Library Suite 12 Pullman WA 99164-5610 Telephone: 509-335-6691 mascref@wsu.edu This collection is open for research use. Languages Sponsor English Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Biographical Note The Pullman Community Congregational Church was originally incorporated in 1886 as the First Congregational Church of Pullman. It was the first church formally organized in Pullman, although a loosely-organized Methodist congregation preceded it by four years. The Congregationalists located their church building at the corner of High and Paradise Streets on Pullman's Pioneer Hill, rebuilding at the same location when their structure burned in the fire which destroyed much of the town in 1890. The church entered into a federation with a Pullman Baptist congregation in 1913, after which a new building was constructed on the outskirts of the Washington State University campus. The federation, however, tended to be heavily dominated by the Congregationalist element; consequently the Baptist congregation lost the recognition of the Baptist conventions. This resulted in the creation of a new and separate Baptist congregation and virtual nullification of the federation. Recognizing that the Federated http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 1
Church was in reality but another manifestation of the First Congregational Church, the pastor and officers reincorporated the organization as the Community Congregational Church in 1937. The Community Congregational Church continued to use the Federated Church buildings and facilities after 1937. In 1954, the old Federated Church building was converted to meeting rooms and a new church building was constructed in an adjacent location. In 1961, the church entered into the United Church of Christ, a national denomination encompassing Congregational and Reformed churches. Content Description The Community Congregational Church records consist of thirty-six volumes in which have been entered membership rolls, minutes of meetings, financial records, and the acts of the church; and approximately 1280 items of correspondence, membership lists, financial records, minutes, resolutions, printed materials and photographs. Although the earliest records date from 1886, these appear to have been transcribed in 1891, possibly because of the loss of the earlier records in a fire which destroyed the church edifice in 1890. The earlier records--those in bound form--are principally concerned with recording formal acts of the church, such as minutes of meetings and lists of officers and members. Later records include some correspondence, memoranda and fuller documentation of activities of the church and of the persons who served as pastors and officers. Significant correspondents, other than pastors, include Edward F. Gaines, Carl Milton Brewster and Otho West. Use of the Collection Preferred Citation [Item Description]. Cage 314, Pullman Community Congregational Church Records. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA. Administrative Information Arrangement The arrangement of the records is based on the different practices of record keeping used by the church. These practices result in the records being ordered in two series, one series of record books and a second series of other. Generally, the church's early records are found in the bound volumes, while foldered items record later events. A considerable chronological overlap exists, nevertheless. Within each series are found several subseries, the most important of which consists of membership records, minutes, correspondence, financial records and church publications. Material within the various subseries is generally arranged in a chronological sequence. Acquisition Information The records of the Community Congregational Church of Pullman were donated to the Washington State University Library in April and May 1975 through the office of the church historian, Mr. Leonard Young. Additional records were received in Sept. 1975. Bibliography http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 2
For a history of the Community Congregational Church see Otho West, I Remember, and The Congregationalists (Pullman: Community Congregational Church, 1970. Related Materials Further church records have been received and processed as Cage 448. Related records are also located in Cage 480. Detailed Description of the Collection The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection. Series 1: Record Books Container(s) Description Dates SubSeries 1.1: General Records 1 Pastors 1886-1918 1 Deacons 1886-1908 1 Finance Board 1901-1904 1 Trustees 1886-1907 1 Clerks 1886-1903 1 Treasurers 1886-1903 1 Sunday School Superintendents 1886-1903 1 Organists 1891-1898 1 Choir Leaders 1891 1 Ushers 1892-1904 1 Infant Baptisms 1892-1903 1 Members received 1886-1903 http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 3
1 Members removed 1887-1902 1 Marriages 1891-1906 1 Charities and expenses 1891-1894 1 Annual Church Statistics 1891-1897 1 Annual Sunday School Statistics 1891-1903 1 Minutes 1886; 1891-1903 1 Principals of Organization. 2 Pastors 1886-1971 2 Deacons 1910-1919 2 Deaconesses 1910-1919 2 Trustees 1910-1919 2 Finance Board 1902-1905 2 Clerks 1903-1917 2 Treasurers 1903-1913 2 Sunday School Superintendents 1895-1913 2 Organists 1897-1913 2 Church Board 1903-1913 2 Ushers 1903-1914 2 Delegates 1905-1911 2 Baptisms 1903-1915 2 Members received 1886-1928 http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 4
2 Marriages 1905 SubSeries 1.2: Minutes 3 General meeting 1903-1926 4 General meeting and committees 1917-1921; ca 1950 5 General meeting 1922-1926 6 Minutes, documents and "history", relative to Federation 1913-1914 7 Executive Board, Federated Church 1913-1917 8 Executive Board, Federated Church 1923-1933 9 Board of Trustees 1936-1941 10 Executive Board 1941-1952 11 Executive Board 1945-1952 12 Executive Board 1953-1955 13 Board of Trustees Oct 1955-Sept 1956 14 Board of Trustees Oct 1956-Sept 1957 14b Board of Trustees Oct 1957 Sept 1958 14c Board of Trustees Oct 1958 Sept 1959 14d Board of Trustees Oct 1959 Oct 1960 SubSeries 1.3: Financial Records http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 5
15 Pledges and payments 1899-1904 16 Pledges and receipts 1907-1908 17 Pledges and receipts 1909 18 Treasurer's accounts 1903-1912 19 Pledges and receipts 1944-1948 20 Receipts and expenses 1947-1954 21 Reciepts and expenses 1954-1961 22 Receipts and expenses 1959-1964 SubSeries 1.4: Sunday School 23 Attendence and financial records 1939-1940 SubSeries 1.5: Women's Society 24 Minutes 1902-1913 25 Minutes 1917-1923 26 Minutes 1923-1931 27 Minutes 1936-1942 28 Treasurer's records 1919-1924 SubSeries 1.6: Young People's Society http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 6
29 Membership, minutes 1900-1907; 1915 30 Minutes 1913-1914 31 Pilgrim Club, membership 1958 31b Pilgrim Club, minutes 1959-1970 SubSeries 1.7: Scrapbook 32 Summer camp at Lake Coeur d'alene ca 1955 Series 2: Records Container(s) Description Dates SubSeries 2.1: Articles of incorporation 1 1 Articles of incorporation, by-laws, articles of federation and other constitutional documents 15 1886-1970 SubSeries 2.2: Reports 1 2 Reports to the Congregational Year Book 15 1 3 Annual report to congregation 25 1918-1963 1949-1974 SubSeries 2.3: Correspondence 300 http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 7
2 4 1894-1919 2 5 1920-1936 2 6 1937-1948 2 7 1949-1961 2 8 1962-1963 2 9 1964-1973 SubSeries 2.4: Resolutions, minutes, ballots, committee reports 3 10 20 1921-1952 3 11 30 1952-1954 3 12 30 1960-1962 3 13 30 1962-1973 3 14 20 undated SubSeries 2.5: Membership Lists 3 15 Lists and rosters 50 3 16 Applications for memberships, transfers 65 1920-ca.1970 1949-1965 SubSeries 2.6: Financial Records 4 17 50 1907-1939 http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 8
4 18 50 1940-1949 4 19 10 1950 4 20-28 80 1951-1959 5 29-42 140 1960-1973 5 43 10 undated SubSeries 2.7: Printed Materials and Photographs 6 44 Weekly service bulletins 50 1891-1964 Newsletters 50 6 45 Congregational Way 1944-1945 6 45 Communicator 1956-1969 6 46 Offering envelopes 20 6 47 Publicity materials 10 7 48 Brochures relative to union with United Church of Christ 50 7 49 Photographs, descriptive materials 15 1891-1894 ca 1940-1960 1961 ca 1950-1970. SubSeries 2.8: Additional Records http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 9
7 50 Correspondence, minutes and resolutions, financial records 125 1961-1965 Names and Subjects Subject Terms : Congregational churches--washington (State)--Pullman--Records and correspondence Corporate Names : Pullman Community Congregational Church--Archives (creator) Finding aid prepared by Lawrence Stark 2012 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West: http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/cc-attr.shtml http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv87895 10