While processing the materials in MRL and WAB, we try to keep a special eye out for any collection which includes materials related to Henry Winters Luce. Henry W. Luce and his wife Elizabeth Root Luce were Presbyterian missionaries and educators in China during the early party of the twentieth century. Henry R. Luce, who […]
The Burke Library Archives: An Unexpected Healer
Earlier this year I received the good news that I was chosen out of a large pool of applicants as one of the six graduate student interns for the CUL Graduate Student Internship Program 2012-2013. This program is designed to enrich the student’s graduate studies and professional training through hands-on archival work, while simultaneously providing […]
Storage of the UNP
Entrance to Union Theological Seminary Brown Tower When I first saw the posting for the project archivist position at Burke, it was a bit daunting. For one thing, it was a Columbia University Library – the academic library system is one of the top five in the nation. The project itself was also a little […]
Great News
The Lindquist Native American images are now online in a wonderful new website! This was a joint project between the Burke Library Archives, the Columbia University Libraries' Preservation and Digital Conversion Division, and the Libraries' Digital Program Division. You can read more about the project through the press release as well. The Lindquist Papers are […]
Why the Library is Actually the Most Exciting Place in the World
I’ll admit that prior to getting my job in archives at the Burke Library, the extent of my familiarity with archives was based on some combination of the following: Obi Wan Kenobi’s search for the mysterious planet Kamino in the Jedi Archives in Star Wars Episode II, Tom Hank’s struggle to get into the Vatican […]
Not Best Practices
Found in the unprocessed while working on the Foreign Missions Conference of North America (FMCNA) Records. […]
The Why
Now that you know a little more about the MRL and WAB collections, as well as the Luce Foundation, I thought it would be useful to explain the reason behind needing this project in the first place. Most, if not all, archives and libraries have what we call "backlog." Our collections are continually growing: we […]
Aided by the Henry Luce Foundation
The Henry Luce Foundation is generously supporting the Burke Library Archives processing grant. As quoted on the press release: "We are delighted that the Luce Foundation can play a part in The Burke Library's preservation of these important collections, so that they can be readily accessible to a wider readership," said Michael Gilligan, president of […]
What is MRL and WAB?
You may be asking yourself, why should I care about the Missionary Research Library and the William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library? History: The Missionary Research Library (MRL) was created by John R. Mott in 1914 after the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference of 1910. It was created in response to the need for a central resource […]
Welcome!
Hello and welcome to "The Hidden Archival Collections of the Burke Library!" This is a blog which will help educate and raise awareness for two important archival collection groups at the Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary (Columbia University Libraries): the Missionary Research Library Archives (MRL) and the William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library Archives (WAB). […]