Church history

Browse

• Collective biographies at BX9741
• Individual biographies at BX9743
• Lists in The SA history folder in the syllabi file cabinet drawer

Want to research someone other than the usual suspects, but don’t know where to start?

Tip:  Behind the current syllabi in the SA history folder in the syllabi file cabinet drawer, should be a list (Spanish may have one single sheet) of books matched with Salvation Army personalities.  The call numbers of the books are listed.  The Salvationists are listed alphabetically.  The lists are not exhaustive.

Do a broader search

Examples:

• “Salvationists biography”
• “Salvationists Africa”
• Search for the place they did most of their work
• Search for people they were closely associated with

Reasoning:  The catalog searches for main ideas and concepts associated with a work.  If a book has a broad focus such as the life of William Booth, a search in the catalog for Susie Swift will not reveal those books on William Booth that include two paragraphs on Susie Swift.

     This is why it helps to think about broader categories into which an SA personality falls.  It helps to know when the person was active, what kind of work he/she did, where he/she worked, and who the person was associated with.

Try a history book and use the book’s index to look up the person’s name

• Marching to Glory [BX 9716 .M32]
• The History of The Salvation Army (9 Vols) [BX 9715 .S3]

Tip:  A dictionary can help you find other search terms.  For instance in the HDSA, the entry for Joe the Turk gives Joe’s actual name, Joseph Garabed.  Garabed can then be looked up in the index of Marching to Glory.

Tip:  The 9 vol set is arranged by time.  Know the time frame of your SA personality so that you choose the correct volume.

Look in a dictionary or encyclopedia

• HDSA -- Historical Dictionary of The Salvation Army [BX 9715 .H57]

Tip:  Sometimes you can find information by place, event, or time in the dictionary and not name.  For instance there is no entry for Joel Mbambo Matunjwa in the HDSA, but there are a few sentences about him under the entry Southern Africa Territory.  (He received the Order of the Founder!)

SA beyond the CFOT

• USA National Archives

• Eastern Territory Heritage Museum

If more information is needed, talk with a CFOT librarian! The librarians can forward on your search history and request for information to National Archives the other SA College libraries, museums, departments, or groups.

Tip: The display on Joe the Turk alone makes a visit to the museum worthwhile.

SA online

• http://salvationfactory.org/

• https://www.pinterest.com/brenglelibrary/

• http://saconnects.org/magazine/
• http://www.newfrontierchronicle.org/

• SA Historic & Philatelic Association

\https://www.facebook.com/groups/sahpa/

Tip:  Do a Web search using +“Salvation Factory”  +“your term” to find videos of animated SA characters and other resources

Tip: Your first source for images, courtesy of Librarian Emily Nevill.

Tip: SA periodicals may cover contemporary as well as historic persons.

Tip:  They won’t research for you but if you like obscure bits of history you’ll enjoy this group. Based in Australia.

The internet

• Google Books or HathiTrust

Tip:  Remember to carefully evaluate information found on the internet.

Tip:  You can use Google Books and HathiTrust as “indexes” to books.  Both websites give page numbers of where search terms appear in a book.  If Brengle Library has the book, you now know what pages to look at.