This is the site of the official archives of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, located in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. It is home to some two million pages of materials, including official church periodicals, GC session and NAD minutes, the Annual Statistical Report, and the SDA Yearbook. Below are the links that those researching black SDA history will find especially useful.

 

Periodicals: Any name or search term can be plugged in here. Bear in mind that search terms more than one word should contain quotation marks.

 

Review and Herald (1850-1998): This is the best source for primary source information on the Seventh-day Adventist past. Perform searches here for names of black people, local churches, locales, etc.

 

The Gospel Herald (1898-1923): Begun by James Edson White as an organ for the Southern Missionary Society's evangelistic and educational efforts in the Deep South, these issues contain eyewitness reports of the early work in the South.

 

The North American Informant (1946-1978): With the inauguration of Regional Conferences, this was the organ of Black Adventism in the United States. It was replaced by The North American Regional Voice.

 

The North American Regional Voice (1979-1990): This periodical contains invaluable information on Regional Conferences in their golden age.

 

Adventist Heritage (1974-1998): Solely dedicated to Adventist history, this journal is a gem. There could have been more on ethnic Adventism, but there are occasional issues that feature articles on the topic.

 

Note: The Periodicals website also features conference and union periodicals. These will contain stories and updates on items pertinent to the black work.

 

Minutes: Here are minutes of official church boards, committees, councils and meetings. Spring Meeting and Annual (Fall and Autumn) Council minutes can be found in the General Conference Committee Minutes. Items on the black work are in abundance in the North American Division Minutes. The General Conference Session Minutes are also a gold mine.

 

Books: Performing a general search in this section is advised. There are general histories of the church that have sections on the black work, although most of these are extracted here. These are the books completely dedicated to aspects of black Adventist history: A Place Called Oakwood, E.G. White and Church Race Relations, Lights and Shades in the Black Belt, Mission to Black America,  People of Providence, Telling the Story, The Christian Experience of William E. Foy, and The Southern Work.

 

Sabbath School Quarterlies: Every Sabbath School Quarterly, except for within two years of the most current issue, is here. There have been a number of black authors of quarterlies, and if one wishes to do a study of the contribution of blacks to Adventist theology, this is a good place to begin.

 

Regional Conference Origins, Parts 1-3: These are compilations of original documents on the black work, with a focus on 1940-1945. There is a good deal of minutes, but also correspondence and manuscripts from the GC Archives vault.

 

SDA Yearbook (1884-Present): This is the official record of the church employees and institutions in a given year, and this page contains each Yearbook that the church has produced.

 

Annual Statistical Report (1899-Present): This official annual church publication contains the essential stats of the church.

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Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists