Administration, 1919-1988
The Administration group was created in the course of processing and consists of those records related to the structure and organization of the church. This group, arranged alphabetically by type of material, runs just over one linear foot and includes annual reports, constitutions, financial records, histories, and minutes. The histories are valuable in providing self-reflective views of Second Baptist as a church very concerned with its place in history. The financial records are fulsome and quite detailed, so they provide telling insights into the challenges facing Second Baptist during the lean years of the Depression and the boom times of postwar Detroit. The annual reports and minutes of the advisory board and trustees are quite illuminative of the 1970s and 1980s as the church faced the challenges of an aging congregation grown fewer in number and the court controversy surrounding the removal of Pastor Holloman.