P2242.xml GOODHUE COUNTY SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSOCIATION (MINN.): An Inventory of Its Association Records Finding aid prepared by Richard W. Arpi. Minnesota Historical Society
St. Paul MN.

Manuscripts Collection

 Finding aid encoded by Stephanie Grabowski,April 28, 1999. Finding aid written inEnglish August 2008Converted from EAD Version 1.0 to Version 2002 by Monica Manny Ralston, Daniel Sher, and Joyce Chapman. OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Minnesota Historical Society Goodhue County Sunday School Association (Minn.). Association records. 1860-1921. Minutes (1860-1872, 1906-1914) and programs (1891-1909, 1921) from annual meetings, statistical records (1860-1921), and miscellaneous correspondence and printed matter (scattered: 1896-1921) documenting the work , of a county-wide association of Sunday school superintendents. The organization existed to expand the county's Sunday school programs and to collect statistical information on them. 0.5 cu. ft. (1 box). See Detailed Description section for shelf location. HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

The Goodhue County Sunday School Association was organized on June 6, 1860 to promote the organization of new Sabbath day schools, strengthen those already formed, and gather enrollment and attendance statistics from existing schools. School superintendents and ministers were ex-officio members of this association and each school could elect two delegates to the county association annual meetings. The Goodhue County Sunday School Association also was affiliated with the Minnesota State Sunday School Association (which later became the Minnesota Council of Churches), and sent delegates to the annual state meetings through the years.

In addition to devotional exercises, hymn singing, and reports from schools, officers, and committees, the annual meetings featured discussions of various topics concerning Sunday school education. Among the topics discussed at the annual meetings were: what had been done for the previous year to promote Sunday schools, qualifications for superintendents and teachers, whether schools should close in winter, how to recruit older students, missionary work, and the importance of singing and Bible geography lessons to the schools.

 SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

The minutes and printed programs from annual meetings chiefly document the content of the program sermons, which usually featured several speakers. Minutes of the executive committee are, by contrast, pro forma and record little but the election of officers and approval of reports.

A great deal of the collection is devoted to statistical information on Goodhue County Sunday schools from 1860 through 1921. Among the information included is the name of the church or school, name and addresses of superintendent and pastor, number of scholars (primary, intermediate, and adult), number of teachers, average attendance, categories of meetings and programs, volumes in the school library, and brief financial information. These statistics are contained in three bound volumes (1860-1917) and in two folders of loose reports (1895-1921, incomplete).

There are also some convention programs from the Minnesota Sunday School Association (1897, 1902, 1909, 1921), as well as an issue (October 1921) of the Minnesota Sunday School Hearld (16 pp.) and some other convention leaflets from the October 1921 convention held in Mankato. Another folder contains correspondence between James C. Garrison, state superintendent, and Grace Grism of Cannon Falls concerning arrangements for a Goodhue County convention September, 1921. The last folder contains miscellaneous pamphlets (1896-1897, 1919-1921) relating to Sunday school education published by the International Sunday School Association, The Missouri and Iowa Sunday School associations, and the Wabasha County Sunday School Association (1897 program).

 CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics: Sunday schools -- Minnesota -- Goodhue County -- Statistics. Organization: Minnesota Sunday School Association. Occupation: Sunday school superintendents -- Minnesota -- Goodhue County. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Goodhue County Sunday School Association Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

 Accession Information:

Accession Number: 12,327

 Processing Information:

Processed by: Richard W. Arpi, July 1997

Catalog ID number: 09-00042855

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION P22421Constitution (1860, 1862), bylaws (19860), and annual meeting minutes, 1860-1872. Annual meeting minutes, 1906-1914. Annual meeting programs, 1891-1909 (1902 missing), 1921. Executive Committee minutes, January 1917-June 1918. Goodhue County Sunday School statistical record books, 1860-1917. 3 volumes. Annual statistical reports, 1895-1912, 1914-1921. 2 folders. Minnesota Sunday School Association convention program, 1897, 1902, 1909, 1921. Miscellaneous correspondence and notes, undated and 1921. Miscellaneous pamphlets, undated and 1919-1921.