Roberts United Methodist Church Records (MS048)

Access and use

Location of collection:
Alexandria Library
Alexandria Library
Local History/Special Collections
717 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Patricia Walker, Branch Manager
Phone: (703) 746-1719
Phone: (703) 838-4577
Fax: (703) 706-3912
Preferred citation:

[Item identification], Roberts United Methodist Church Records, MS048, Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Alexandria, Va.

Summary

Extent:
.41 Cubic Feet 1 box
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item identification], Roberts United Methodist Church Records, MS048, Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Alexandria, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The original collection consisted of a variety of record books and other loose materials. The books recorded the attendance at the Sunday School as well as more general church events, such as a list of contributors or the events of the quarterly conferences on the condition of the church. Of particular interest to historians of the church may be the notes of the pastors in the front of the Comprehensive Church Record (folder 6) which record some of the financial and congregational struggles of the church between 1893 to 1905. Genealogists may well want to search the same Record for the names of members during this same period.

Biographical / historical:

In 1830, African American members of the Trinity Methodist Church decided to form their own congregation. They formed the Methodist Episcopal Church which became more firmly established with the building of a chapel in 1834. This chapel, named the Davis Chapel, after a white minister, was renamed the Roberts Chapel in 1844 giving the congregation its current name. Until the Civil War, white ministers led the church, but after 1866 African Americans have filled the pulpit.

Arrangement:

The records are divided into two series: I. Sunday School Records, arranged chronologically. II. Other Church Records and Miscellaneous Materials, arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard