Paper Documents
Salem’s paper documents date back to the first days of the church in 1841. Then called the German Methodist Episcopal Church, many of the early documents are handwritten in German.
Archives
The Archives of Salem United Methodist Church chronicles the history of Salem United Methodist Church in St. Louis from 1841 to today, with a variety of collections including paper documents, photographs, blueprints, and more.
Researchers welcome by appointment:
Elizabeth Kurrus
eterryhistory@gmail.com
(314) 283-1779
HOLDINGS
The Salem United Methodist Church Archives is a repository for materials dating back to the church's founding in 1841.
The collection includes newly translated German documents which give researchers insight into the economics of building a church in the 1840s. The documents trace the church’s significant growth in spite of the temperate, out-spoken nature of this German congregation within the heavily beer-drinking German population of St. Louis in the mid-late 1800s. The church’s documents parallel the St. Louis German population, phasing out the German language around 1900. Additionally, the Archives contains valuable genealogical information such as memberships, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. Researchers can follow the church’s transitions from German Methodist Episcopal, to Methodist Episcopal, to Methodist, and finally United Methodist. The material related to the inner-workings of the church include charge and church conference minutes, administrative notes, church directories, newsletters, and bulletins, as well as pieces from Salem’s second site, The Connection. Salem’s blueprint collection traces the vernacular growth of the church, dating from the early 20th century to the present, documenting Salem’s westward movement. Salem’s noteworthy ephemera and photograph collections offer further insight into the history of the church.