Descriptive Summary
Title: Bethel A.M.E. Church Papers
Date Span: 1926-2009
Acquisition Number: N/A
Creator: Bethel A.M.E.
Donor: Bethel A.M.E.
Date of Acquisition: 1977-1978; 1989; 2019
Extent: 3 reels, 12 discs; 281 .pdf files
Format: Microfilm; 16mm filmed with a 34X lens; .pdf
Language: English
Locations: (1) The Monroe Fordham Regional History Center, Archives & Special Collections Department, E. H. Butler Library, SUNY Buffalo State; (2) The Frank E. Merriweather Library and William A. Miles Center for African and African-American Studies
Processed: reprocessed 2017, 2020, Hope Dunbar
Information on Use
Access:
The Bethel A.M.E. Church Papers Collection is open for research. Appointment necessary.
Reproduction of Materials:
See Archivist for information on reproducing materials from this collection, including photocopies, digital camera images, or digital scans, as well as copyright restrictions that may pertain to these materials.
Even though all reasonable and customary best-practices have been pursued, this collection may contain materials with confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the SUNY Buffalo State assumes no responsibility.
Preferred Citation:
[Description and dates], Box/Item/Reel number, Bethel A.M.E. Church Papers, The Monroe Fordham Regional History Center, Archives & Special Collections Department, E. H. Butler Library, SUNY Buffalo State.
Biographical Note:
Historic Bethel A.M.E. Church is the oldest Black institution in the City of Buffalo. Organized in 1831, the Church has a proud history beginning with its original site being a station on the Underground Railroad to producing numerous leaders in all aspects of life in the City of Buffalo. Bethel is a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest and largest of African American Methodist denominations, and is a connectional Church.
Scope and Contents:
Church ledgers; church membership; church programs; committee records; conference reports and materials; ephemera; event programs; financial reports and records; funeral programs; guidelines; letters; minutes; newspaper clippings; personal letters; photographs; planning reports; printed programs; records of marriages, deaths, and baptisms; reports of the pastor; scrapbooks; sermons, and tax records.
Arrangement:
Series I: Microfilm, 1977
Series II: Digital Papers Collection, 2019
Series III: Audio Sermon Collection, 1989
Downloadable Finding-Aid and Inventory
About Bethel A.M.E.
Historic Bethel A.M.E. Church is the oldest Black institution in the City of Buffalo. Organized in 1831, the Church has a proud history beginning with its original site being a station on the Underground Railroad to producing numerous leaders in all aspects of life in the City of Buffalo. Bethel is a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest and largest of African American Methodist denominations, and is a connectional Church.
More information can be found on the church website at: http://bethelame-buffalo.org/
