News from the Archives Team

May 1, 2018 | News

by Ruth Edwards, chair

The Archives Team is looking for an Archivist to supervise the work of the Team. This person should have some professional expertise in archiving. The team presently consists of Ruth Edwards, June Coghlan, Missy Poirier and Irene McVey. The team could also use more team members.  If you are interested or know someone who might be, please contact Ruth Edwards.

The Archives Core Team was created about 2000 when ESUC was building the Religious Education Building. Prior to that, important documents were scattered throughout the campus and in the homes of congregants. The word went out to gather all documents that might be important to ESUC’s history and put them in the loft above the North Room in the Sanctuary Building. Hundreds of boxes appeared. Today, most documents are sorted and organized. Some of these documents include Board of Trustee documents, Board committee documents, Orders of Services, minister sermons, tapes and CDs of Sunday morning services since the 1980s, newsletters, congregant directories, architectural drawings of church buildings, photos of church events, legal documents, auction catalogs, music events programs, and RE curricula. More recent documents are now being stored digitally as well.

In addition to being ESUC’s ‘attic,’ The Archives Team serves as a resource for the Board, staff and congregants. It also has have supplied important information regarding prior minister searches and the history of  ESUC.

Some of the other projects and searches include:

  • Establishing the mother of the former President Barack Obama had been active at ESUC during her teenage years thereby assisting in furthering ESUC’s relationship with Obama’s sister.
  • Updating the history of ESUC which had not been updated since the early 1990s.
  • With help of the Gallery, all the pieces of art that are on the walls and grounds of the church were photographed and inventoried.
  • Became the keeper of the Legacy Conversations books and back-up materials and supplied copies of the Legacy Conversations to congregants.
  • Facilities/Grounds accessed architectural drawings of the grounds for the Eagle Scout project that took place between the Administration Building and the Multipurpose Building.
  • Assisted a professor of architecture at the UW who was studying the architecture of early UU church buildings.
  • Fulfilled requests for printed versions of sermons (when available).

If you love history and have a eye for detail, please consider joining the Archives Team.  It is a great way to to learn more about ESUC.  If you have questions or would like to request information from the Archives please email.