Browse our Suggested Reading List for books of interest.

Manuscripts

Martha Alfonso Collection
Consists of videotapes of services held July 17, 1987 at the Congregational Holiness Church, Griffin, Ga.

John Fain Anderson Collection
Scrapbooks include clippings related to various churches and religious activities in the region, c. 1861-1925.

Appalachian Preaching Mission Records
The collection consists of material (1954-80) related to this effort among Tri-Cities area churches to bring religious speakers to the upper East Tennessee area. Includes brochures, correspondence, financial statements, memoranda, minutes of committee meetings, and recordings of Mission speakers. An index of guest speakers is included.

Barnicle-Cadle Collection
Includes recordings of sermons, hymns, and spirituals recorded throughout the region and elsewhere in the country between 1935 and the early 1950s. Restriction: The recordings are available for educational use only and may not be used in commercial recordings.

Franklin B. Baxter Papers
Includes clippings, pamphlets, periodicals, and miscellaneous materials documenting Baxter's diverse interests as a scholar and Cumberland Presbyterian theologian, c. 1863-1927.

Blountville Circuit. Holston Conference of the Methodist Church. Stewards' Quarterly Conference Records
Minutes (1841-59 and 1873-86) includes financial statements, ministerial examinations, and licensing, reports on the state of the church for the Blountville Circuit, and committee reports on various subjects.

Thomas G. Burton Collection
Includes photographs and videorecordings which depict the serpent-handling practices and rituals of fundamentalist, serpent-handling churches in Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. Restriction: Recordings and photographs may not be duplicated without the permission of the donor.

Burton-Headley Tapes
Consists of audio and video recordings on snake-handling religious practices in the region, and includes "Carson Springs: A Decade Later." Restriction: Recordings may not be duplicated without the permission of the donor.

Brainerd Cheney Papers
Consists of a photocopy of Cheney's play Strangers in This World, a three-act play dealing with the topic of snake handling by using music and dance. Original script is held by Special Collections at Vanderbilt University.

Congregation B'Nai Sholom Records
Consists of administrative records (constitution, minutes, deeds, etc.); correspondence; financial records (ledgers, passbooks, receipts, etc.); and publications of the congregation and its auxiliary, the B'nai Sholom Sisterhood. Records cover 1905-83, though primarily between 1945-65.

Imanual Lutheran Church Records
Contains photocopies of records (1811-31) of this Washington County, Tenn. church and includes lists of communicants, baptisms (noting parents and date of birth), confirmants, those attending catechism, and church minutes.

Charles Gunter, Jr. Collection
Includes recording of Alfred Ball of Newport, Tenn. discussing the taking up of serpents in religious practice.

Holston Baptist Association Collection
Consists of the minutes of the Holston Baptist Association for various years between 1826-1904.

Holston Methodist Conference Collection
Consists of the minutes of the Holston Methodist Conference, 1833-40 and various published material related to the Methodist faith, including pamphlets, the Holston Conference Messenger, and Monthly Miscellany.

Murray Family Papers
Includes sermons, a hymnal and homiletics notebook of Rev. Isaac G. Murray, a native of Washington County, Tenn. who served as pastor of churches (1893- 1922) in Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, and South Carolina.

Philadelphia Congregation (Limestone, Tenn.), Presbyterian Church, USA Records
Includes session minutes and church registers, 1906-58. The minutes record church proceedings, while the registers list pastors, elders, deacons, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. Also included are annual church reports and reports to the presbytery.

Melanie Sovine and Sue Smith Collection
Consists of an audio recording and transcript of interviews (1982) with Cleo Green, her daughter Pearlie Ann Price, and granddaughter Dale Ann Price discussing their religious beliefs as members of the Calvin Primitive Baptist Church, Bell County, Ky.

WHCB Homecoming '86 Project Records
Consists of audio recordings and transcripts of a three hour radio program which examined the history of numerous area churches, including churches in Johnson City, Jonesborough, Bristol, Kingsport, Blountville, Bluff City, Erwin, Butler, Mountain City, Tenn. and Bristol and Abingdon, Va.

Appalachian Vertical Files

Clippings, brochures, histories, and other material can be found in files on the following topics: Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Church Archives--Tennessee, local counties and communities, Holston Baptist Association, Holston Methodist Association, Religion, and Snake Cults.

Appalachian Publications Files

The following periodicals have articles on religion in the region: Goldenseal, 5 (April-June 1979), Farley, Yvonne Synder, "Holiness People," pp. 22-29 (Snake-handling in Raleigh County, West Virginia); Southern Exposure, Vol. 4, no. 3, "On Jordan's Stormy Banks. Religion in the South," (includes some articles on religion in Appalachia).

Appalachian Photographic Archive

The Appalachian Photographic Archive has prints, negatives, and slides on the following topics: Johnson City--Churches; Religion; Snake Cults.

Suggested Reading from Special Collections

The following is a list of selected titles relating to religion in Appalachia. For a complete listing, consult Sherrod Library Online Catalog.

Abell, Troy Dale. "The Holiness-Pentecostal Experience in Southern Appalachia." diss., Purdue University, 1974.

Alexander, J. E. A Brief History of the Synod of Tennessee, From 1817 to 1887. 1890.

Ambrose, Kenneth Paul. "A Serpent-Handling Church in a Midwestern City: A Study of Commitment." diss., the Ohio State University, 1978.

Ardrey, Julia A., ed. Welcome The Traveler Home. Jim Garland's Story of the Kentucky Mountains. 1983.

Brownlow, William G. Helps to the Study of Presbyterianism. 1984.

Bruce, Dickson D. And They All Sang Hallelujah: Plain-Folk Camp Meeting Religion, 1800-1845. 1974.

Burton, Thomas G. Serpent-Handling Believers. 1993.

Clark, Elmer T. Methodism in Western North Carolina. 1966.

Commission on Religion in Appalachia. Atlas of the Church in Appalachia. 1983.

Cornwell, Cynthia Ann. Beside the Waters of the Buffalo: A History of Milligan College to 1941. 1989.

Crews, Mickey. The Church of God: A Social History. 1990.

Dickinson, Eleanor and Barbara Benziger. Revival. 1974.

Dorgan, Howard. Giving Glory to God in Appalachia: Worship Practices of Six Baptist Subdenominations. 1987.

Dorgan, Howard. The Old Regular Baptists of Central Appalachia: Brothers and Sisters in Hope.

Dorgan, Howard. The Airwaves of Zion: Radio and Religion in Appalachia. 1993.

Ergood, Bruce and Bruce E. Kuhre, eds. Appalachia: Social Context Past and Presented. 1983. Chapter IX: "Religion," pp. 309-33.

Eshman, A. N. Why I Am a Cumberland Presbyterian. 1916.

Ford, Thomas R., ed. Southern Appalachian Region: A Survey. 1962.

Frayser, Anne Rebecca Finch. Missions. 1951.

Gillespie, Paul F., ed. Foxfire 7. 1982. (Mountain religion is the subject of this Foxfire).

Harrison, Ann Strickland. A Long Communion. History of First Presbyterian Church of Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia, 1820-1976. 1979.

Hassall, Harry S. A History of Concord Presbyterian Church. 1963.

Henkel, Socrates. History of the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod. 1890.

History of Central Baptist Church, Johnson City, Tennessee in Celebration of the 100 Anniversary 1869-1969. 1969.

Hood, John O. History of Chilhowee Baptist Association. 1970.

Hoss, E. E. William McKendree. A Biographical Study. 1924.

Johnson, Douglas W. The Commission on Religion in Appalachia: A Case Study. 1971.

Kane, Stephen M. "Snake Handlers of Southern Appalachia." diss. Princeton University, 1979.

LaBarre, Weston. They Shall Take Up Serpents. Psychology of the Southern Snake Handling Cult. 1969.

Lindsey, Edwin S. Centennial History of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1853-1953. 1953.

Martin, Isaac Patton. Methodism in Holston. 1945.

Maynard, Charles W. Where the Rhododendrons Grow: A History of Camping and Leisure Activities in the Holston Conference. 1988.

McConnell, Lela G. Faith Victorious in the Kentucky Mountains. The Story of Twenty-Two Years of Spirit-Filled Ministry. 1946.

McCown, Mary Hardin and Josephine Carpenter Owen, compilers. 100th Anniversary History and Directory, 1871-1971. First Christian Church. Johnson City, Tennessee. 1971.

McMahan, Winifred W. and Margaret N. Wimberly. Hearts Strangely Warmed. A History of the First Broad Street United Methodist Church Kingsport, Tennessee, 1911-1975. 1976.

Munsey, William Elbert. Sermons and Lectures. 1878.

O'Daniel, V. F. The Father of the Church in Tennessee. Or the Life, Times and Character of the Right Reverend Richard Pius Miles, O.P. The First Bishop of Nashville. 1926.

Parker, Max Y., compiler. A History of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church. Kingsport, Tennessee, 1929-1970. 1970.

Paschal, George Washington. History of North Carolina Baptists. 1930.

Patty, John C. Life of Lucius Bunyan Compton, The Mountaineer Evangelist. 1914.

Peacock, James L. and Ruel W. Tyson, Jr. Pilgrims of Paradox. Calvinism and Experience Among the Primitive Baptists of the Blue Ridge. 1989.

Photiadis, John D., ed. Religion in Appalachia. Theological, Social and Psychological Dimensions and Correlates. 1978.

Posey, Walter Brownlow. Frontier Mission, A History of Religion West of the Southern Appalachians to 1861. 1966.

Preece, Harold and Celia Kraft. Dew on Jordan. 1946.

Pritchett, Reuel B., with Dale Ackerman. On the Ground Floor of Heaven. 1980.

Ramsey, James G. M. History of Lebanon Presbyterian Church. 1952.

Richardson, Frank. From Sunrise to Sunset. Reminiscence. 1910.

Robinson, John J. Memoir of Reverend Isaac Anderson, D. D. 1860.

Tindall, Samuel W. The Baptists of Tennessee. 1930.

Titon, Jeff Todd. Powerhouse for God. Speech, Chant, and Song in an Appalachian Baptist Church. 1988.

Toomey, Glenn A. Centennial History of the Holston Valley Baptist Association and Its Affiliated Churches, 1884-1983. 1983.

Toomey, Glenn A. Bi-Centennial Holston: Tennessee's First Baptist Association and Its Affiliated Churches, 1786-1985. 1985.

Toomey, Glenn A. The Sesquicentennial History of the Nolichucky Baptist Association and Its Affiliated Churches, 1828-1977. 1977.

Weatherford, Willis Duke. Life and Religion in Southern Appalachia. An Interputation of Selected Data From the Southern Appalachian Studies by W. D. Weatherford and Earl D. C. Brewer. 1962.

Wilson, Samuel Tyndale. The Southern Mountaineers. 1906