This guide provides an overview of the foreign missionary manuscripts and archival collections in the Presbyterian Historical Society, including all materials acquired and processed through January 1, 1987. The Society's library contains materials about history and Christianity in general from the fifteenth century to the present. It also has extensive collections of nonprint media pertinent to American Presbyterian and Reformed Church life, including engravings, photographs, lantern and 35 mm slides, microfilm, motion picture film, filmstrips, phonographic disks, audio tapes, and museum items. The Society's formal archival program was established in 1967; its accomplishments are clearly evident in this guide. In addition, the Society serves as the national archives for other ecumenical organizations in which Presbyterians have been involved: these include the National Council of Churches of Christ, the American Sunday School Union, the American Foreign Christian Union, and the National Temperance Society. The Society's archives contain official minutes and files of the General Assemblies, presbyteries, synods, and individual congregations of numerous different American and Reformed denominations.
