Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives

Purpose and Mission
The Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives is a worldwide center for the study of Baptist history. Governed by the Council of Seminary Presidents, the SBHLA is one of the major denominational collections in the nation and serves, by assignment of the Southern Baptist Convention, as the central depository and archives of SBC records. The Library and Archives is located on the fourth floor of the Southern Baptist Convention Building at 901 Commerce Street in Nashville, Tennessee. The library is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and other hours by special appointment.

The purposes of the Library and Archives are:

1. To serve as a research center for the study of the life and history of Baptists, in particular Southern Baptists,
2. To collect, preserve, and make available for use a wide range of materials that document Baptist history,
3. To serve as the denominational archives for the Southern Baptist Convention and to collect, preserve, and make available for use the official records of the Convention and its agencies,
4. To assist Southern Baptist churches, associations, state conventions, and SBC agencies in the location and preservation of historical records.

History & SBHLA Today
Established in 1938 as a part of the Southern Baptist Historical Society, the Library and Archives was formerly housed at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1951, the Historical Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention was chartered in Tennessee as the Convention’s history agency, and the (Southern Baptist) Historical Society was rechartered as its auxiliary. In 1953, the contents of the Historical Society library were integrated with the Dargan Library of the Sunday School Board, SBC. The Dargan-Carver Library functioned as one library with two collections. Although the collections were together, the ownership of each item was defined, and each agency kept its own accession records

Since January, 1985, the SBHLA has been located on the fourth floor of the Southern Baptist Convention Building where it occupies more than 10,000 square feet of floor space. Its resources include thousands of books, annuals of Baptist associations and conventions, comprehensive files of Baptist newspapers, audio and video recordings, photographs, pamphlets, archival records, manuscripts, microfilm reels of Baptist historical materials, and an environmentally controlled rare book room featuring a collection of rare Bibles dating from the early 1600’s.