Hamilton to retire after 13 years at helm of Alabama Baptist Historical Commission

Hamilton to retire after 13 years at helm of Alabama Baptist Historical Commission

Trying to write a book about her more-than-a-century-old church overwhelmed Betty Pugh, but after a couple of phone calls, she connected with the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission (ABHC) and the rest is history.
   
“I knew it was going to be a gigantic project and didn’t have an idea how to begin,” said Pugh, a member of Northbrook Baptist Church, Cullman, in East Cullman Baptist Association. “They (ABHC) gave me a packet of information with suggestions on how to gather materials. Before, I was just reaching in the dark.”
   
Frances Hamilton, ABHC executive director, and Lonette Berg, special assistant to Hamilton, came to Cullman to meet with Pugh and other church history committee members. 
   
They discussed how to preserve information and then present it in book form.
   
“I am delighted when a church calls and wants our help,” said Hamilton, who has set a Dec. 31 retirement date. “One of the joys of this job is to get to meet with people, sit around the table and talk about their history. It’s inspirational.” 
   
“We do try to make it possible for Alabama Baptists to learn about their past by giving them resources to tell about the commission, the state convention and ways to help them preserve their own histories,” Hamilton said.
   
Later, upon Hamilton’s suggestion, Pugh traveled to Birmingham to do research in the special collection department of the Samford University Library.
   
“The library was a gold mine of materials,” she said. “Besides the microfilms of our church’s minutes all the way back, we also found our association’s minutes and can compare them.”
   
The ABHC, which was started in 1965, is housed at Samford’s Beeson Divinity School, located just across the quad from the library.
   
Hamilton defined the work of the commission and her job as preserving the story of Alabama Baptist life and sharing the story through the collection of written records, videos, photos and oral histories.
   
“We collect the stories of Alabama Baptists and pass it on, but it’s not just for the purpose of collection. It’s not an end in itself,” she said. 
   
“We could collect thousands of pages of records and preserve it, but who would benefit from that? Who would benefit unless we share the message of what God has done through Alabama Baptists?”
   
Hamilton said Psalm 102:18 mandates what she does.  
   
“‘Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord,’” she quoted. “I feel like that is a direct command to us.”
   
Mabel Prince, chairwoman of the historical committee of First Baptist Church, Athens, in Limestone Baptist Association, called upon Hamilton to help her figure out what to do with 186 years’ worth of documents, photos and records from her church’s storage room.
   
“She is the guru of historical archiving and has answers to every question,” Prince said. “She told us how to store our records, photos, blueprints, newspaper clippings in acid-free folders — things we would never have thought of. She told us what to save and not to throw anything away until we had gone through it all.”
   
Hamilton said technological advancements have enhanced some of the commission’s methods during the course of her time as director.
   
“There are some things that will not change like collecting records and always wanting to preserve history,” Hamilton said. “But things do change, and we are trying to keep up with the age of computers more now than when I started here. We’re emphasizing the importance of making video records when people do oral history interviews, and we’re also using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology to locate churches and make maps.”
   
She said the commission is working with the state convention on a cartographic series.
  
 “We use it (the GPS) for producing associational maps with a database that can tell how an association developed and divided and when boundary lines changed,” Hamilton said. “It will give all kinds of information like if there’s a cemetery at the church, who the pastor is or when it was founded.” 
   
She said she has hopes that Alabama Baptists will one day have greater online access to the tools and resources the commission provides.
   
“One day, anyone wishing to do research could go to their associational office, link to us and get information such as the map series or the historical collection at Samford’s library,” Hamilton said. “We won’t just be centralized in one office, but it will be possible to go to more than one place and immediately access all of our resources.”
   
After more than 13 years of serving first as interim director and then director, she will soon become part of the commission’s history. 
   
“I have the finest job in the Alabama Baptist State Convention,”  said Hamilton, who added she intends to play with her grandchildren and travel after retiring. “Alabama Baptists have a wonderful history and heritage, and it’s my responsibility to direct the commission’s efforts to preserve their records. 
   
“I still want to continue working with Alabama Baptist history even after I retire.”
   
To read more about Hamilton, visit www.thealabamabaptist.org and type “Frances Hamilton” in the search field.