Inventory to the Helen E

1 Inventory to the Helen E. Falls Collection AR 680 Prepared by: Taffey Hall, Archivist Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives August 2003 2 I. Biographical Sketch Dr. Helen Emery Falls, retired professor of Missions at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) in New Orleans, Louisiana, dedicated her life to the teaching Southern Baptist mission studies. Though Falls never served as a missionary, her expertise in the knowledge and understanding of the history and structure of Southern Baptist missions both at home and abroad make her a connoisseur in the field of mission studies. She served as Professor of Missions and Dean of Women at NOBTS from 1945 to 1982 and has remained active in missions-education across the country since her retirement, serving as a visiting professor of missions at Boyce Bible College (a school of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She also contributed articles to the Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists project of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Historical Commission. The daughter of an active Southern Baptist minister, Helen Falls spent much of the early years of her life moving from city to city with her family as her father accepted pastoral positions at various churches across the country. She was born in Bay City, Texas on April 17, 1916 to the Rev. Oswald Benjamin and Glennie Augusta (Parker). Shortly after she was born, Helen’s father accepted the position of pastor at the First Baptist Church of Kissimee, Florida. The Falls family stayed in Florida until 1921 when Helen’s father next accepted a pastoral position in Marion, South Carolina and two years later, a position in Bamberg, South Carolina. In 1925, Oswald Falls moved his family again – this time to Washington, D. C., where he accepted the position of pastor of the Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church in the nation’s capital. Finally, in 1927, the family moved again to Richmond, Virginia where Oswald pastored the Immanuel Baptist Church of Richmond. Falls graduated from the John Marshall High School in Richmond, Virginia in1932 and enrolled immediately in Westhampton College (the women’s college of the University of Richmond) that fall. She earned a B.A. degree from the University of Richmond in 1936, an M.R.E. from the Woman’s Missionary Union Training School at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1941, M.A. and Ed.D. degrees from Columbia University in 1953 and 1964, and was the recipient of an honorary D.D. degree from the University of Richmond in 1976. In addition, Falls studied at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Outstanding Educators of America award, the Volunteer of the Month award from the Foreign Mission Board, Distinguished Alumni awards from the University of Richmond, and special recognition awards from the Association of Professors of Missions, the American Bible Society, and the Woman’s Missionary Union. She has also been listed in Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who of American Women, and Who’s Who in the South and Southwest. 3 II. Scope and Content Note The Helen E. Falls Collection consists of three linear feet of material (594 folders contained in three record boxes) mainly documenting Falls’s career as a professor of missions at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisiana. Some personal folders containing biographical information, cards she received while a professor and Dean of Women at NOBTS, certificates of accomplishment, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia are also a part of the collection as well as one file on the Consultation on Women in Church-Related Vocations Conference of 1978 and various information files on the Woman’s Missionary Union, of which Falls was an active member. The collection will be especially valuable to individuals researching an overview Southern Baptist missions, from the earliest Southern Baptist missions up through 1980. Prominent individuals contained in the correspondence section of the Helen E. Falls Collection include Catherine B. Allen (former Woman’s Missionary Union Associate Executive Director and author of The New Lottie Moon Story and other books on women in missions), Clifton J. Allen (Editorial Secretary of the Baptist Sunday School Board from 1945 to 1968), J. D. Hughey (former Secretary for Europe and the Middle East for the Foreign Mission Board), Lynn E. May, Jr. (Executive Director of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Historical Commission from 1971 to 1995), Duke McCall (former Executive Secretary of the SBC’s Executive Committee, President of the Baptist World Alliance, and retired President and Chancellor of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), and Porter Routh (also past Executive Secretary of the Southern Baptist Convention). The bulk of the collection’s correspondences include letters and telegrams to and from editors and publishers, missionaries, and general letters Falls wrote to send to families working in the mission field. Other important portions of the Helen E. Falls Collection include materials mostly related to Falls’s career as a professor of missions at NOBTS. These include bibliographies, course proposals, faculty addresses, manuscripts, test questions, and a voluminous amount of material relative to her class lectures. The teaching plans included in the collection are mostly instructional outlines of books Dr. Falls used in her classes. The published articles portion of the collection contains numerous articles Dr. Falls wrote throughout her career for The Theological Educator, Baptist History and Heritage, and other journals. In addition, the Helen E. Falls Collection also contains materials used for devotionals and speeches. Falls authored several study guides, a teacher’s guide, and a writer’s guide for the Seminary Extension division of the SBC on mission-education and these also comprise part of the collection. The collection also includes several files on Falls’ general educational experiences, both in completing her academic degrees and in teaching at NOBTS. Finally, the collection includes one folder on various mission tours Dr. Falls conducted while a missions professor and several files on her visiting professorships at Golden Gate and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminaries. The collection is arranged alphabetically. 4 III. Series and Folder Listing Box 1 1.1 Bibliographies – Africa 1.2 Bibliographies – Asia 1.3 Bibliographies – Bible in Missions, The 1.4 Bibliographies – Europe and the Middle East 1.5 Bibliographies – History of Baptist Missions 1.6 Bibliographies – History of Christian Missions 1.7 Bibliographies – Introduction to Southern Baptist Missions 1.8 Bibliographies – Missionary Candidates 1.9 Bibliographies – Principles and Practices of Missions 1.10 Bibliographies – Southern Baptist Home Missions 1.11 Bibliographies – Southern Baptist Missions 1.12 Consultation on Women in Church-Related Vocations (1978) 1.13 Correspondence – A 1.14 Correspondence – Allen, Catherine B. 1.15 Correspondence – Allen, Clifton J. 1.16 Correspondence – B 1.17 Correspondence – C 1.18 Correspondence – Cauthen, Baker J. 1.19 Correspondence – D 1.20 Correspondence – E 1.21 Correspondence – F 1.22 Correspondence – G 1.23 Correspondence – H 1.24 Correspondence – Hughey, J. D. 1.25 Correspondence – J 1.26 Correspondence – K 1.27 Correspondence – L 1.28 Correspondence – M 1.29 Correspondence – May, Lynn E. 1.30 Correspondence – McCall, Duke 1.31 Correspondence – N 1.32 Correspondence – O 1.33 Correspondence – P 1.34 Correspondence – R 1.35 Correspondence – Routh, Porter 1.36 Correspondence – S 1.37 Correspondence – T 1.38 Correspondence – V 1.39 Correspondence – W 1.40 Course Proposals – Principles and Practices of Missions 1.41 Course Proposals – Women in Baptist Churches 1.42 Devotionals – Consecration Service 5 1.43 Devotionals – Laborers Together 1.44 Devotionals – Romans 12:1 1.45 Devotionals – Prayer 1.46 Devotionals – Time 1.47 Devotionals – Worship the King 1.48 Education – Columbia University – E.D.D. Degree 1.49 Education – Columbia University – Summary of Dissertation 1.50 Education – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary – Bulletin (1979 – 1980) 1.51 Education – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary – Professorship 1.52 Education – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary – Student Handbook (1980 – 1981) 1.53 Education – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary – Theological Educator, The (In Honor of Professors Emeriti) (1994) 1.54 Education – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary – Vision Alumni Magazine (1966 & 1970) 1.55 Education – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary – Vision Alumni Magazine (1985 – 1992) 1.56 Education – Woman’s Missionary Union Training School 1.57 Faculty Addresses – Changing Role of the Overseas Missionary in a Rapidly Changing Society, The 1.58 Faculty Addresses – Up-dating the Study of Missions 1.59 Leader’s Helps for Young People – Inca Gold (By: Henry W. Schweinsberg) 1.60 Leader’s Helps for Young People – Sixteen to One (By: W. Boyd Hunt) 1.61 Lectures – Bible in Missions, The 1.62 Lectures – Comparative Religions 1.63 Lectures – Comparative Religions – Bahaullah 1.64 Lectures – Comparative Religions – Buddhism 1.65 Lectures – Comparative Religions – Christianity 1.66 Lectures – Comparative Religions – Christianity – Jehovah’s Witnesses 1.67 Lectures – Comparative Religions – Christianity – Mormons 1.68 Lectures – Comparative Religions – Greece 1.69 Lectures – Comparative

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