萝莉社

Tucked in the basement of the Brandel Library is the F. M. Johnson Archives and Special Collections鈥攁 treasure trove of photographs, documents and audiovisual materials that tell the stories of 萝莉社, the Evangelical Covenant Church, and of Swedes in Chicago.

Director of Archives Andy Meyer maintains this massive collection of historic materials, and he is also overseeing the disbursement of a $9,000 grant the archives has received from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He will use funds from the grant, which basically doubles his annual budget, to help take stock of the University鈥檚 vast audiovisual collection. In general, too, Meyer hopes the grant will help bring more visibility to the archives, and 鈥渉elp people engage with them more.鈥�

Items in the archive range from the sublime to the mundane, with each telling an important part of North Park, Covenant or Swedish history. Perhaps the most valuable item in the collection is an Erasmus Bible that dates to the 1500s and is written in Latin on one side and Greek on the other, with the hand-written notes of long-ago scholars scribbled in the margins.

On the other end of the spectrum are the musty satin shorts donned by members of the Men鈥檚 Vikings Basketball team, circa 1970s. On the side of the box holding them is the word 鈥淐lean鈥� with what looks like a question mark after it.

Other items of note include Carl Sandburg鈥檚 oversized safe (part of the Swedish-American collection); David Nyvall鈥檚 chair from the only church he pastored; and several paintings by Warner Sallman, who created the iconic portrait of Jesus Christ seen in Covenant and other protestant churches everywhere.

Such items are stored behind the scenes, in a cool, well-lit storage room lined with tall moveable racks that slide apart at the touch of a button.

Meyer says the bulk of the NEH grant will be used on the AV assessment, which will help Meyer and his Archive staff (including longtime volunteer Chuck Olson A鈥�59 C鈥�63) determine what items should be digitized and saved forever, and which items might not be as relevant to future generations.

鈥淭he idea is to put more stuff into the computer system and less in my brain,鈥� jokes Meyer of digitizing the archives, 2,000-plus audiotapes and 800-900 video-tapes. 鈥淏ut really, we will be saying yes, let鈥檚 save the tape of the Baccalaureate Service from 1983, but maybe the trumpet recital from 1982 doesn鈥檛 belong.鈥� (Sorry, Joe LIll.)

The work requires a great deal of discernment, as digitizing can cost up to $250 per tape. To help, Meyer plans to hire a film archivist, who will begin the work later this winter. The grant also will go toward hosting a workshop for other small institutions on how to preserve their AV collections, a 鈥減aying it forward鈥� act that reflects North Park鈥檚 mission, Meyer says.

Another goal of Meyer鈥檚: To bring the archives into the future.

鈥淚鈥檇 like to see more representation of women and minority church planters and leaders,鈥� he says. 鈥淢ost of the records we have are of and by white men, which is just the way it is. But we want to change that going forward.鈥�

Then & Now