Research Archives and Records
The International Mission Board provides archives and records management services to researchers and staff for the study of Southern Baptist missions history.
Our Mission: Preservation
The mission of the archives and records service is to identify, organize, and preserve information that details the Southern Baptist international missions experience. We seek to inspire future generations by sharing the rich history of Southern Baptist ministry among the nations.
- We collect, preserve, and make available for use resource materials that document Southern Baptist field personnel and missions history.
- We collect, preserve, and make available for use IMB organizational records.
- We network with Southern Baptist Convention entities on research requests, records management practices, information sharing, and special projects.
Search Archives Databases
The following archives databases are available for research.
Board Minutes
This database contains board meeting minutes (FMB) from 1845 to 1979. Board meeting minutes after 1979 are available upon request from the IMB archivist. The database also contains the board’s annual reports to the SBC from 1846 to 1953.
Lottie Moon and Sallie Holmes Collections
This database contains Lottie Moon’s letters and reports to the board’s Corresponding Secretaries, Henry A. Tupper and Robert J. Willingham, as well as letters to her friends and family from 1873 to 1912. It also contains her articles written for publication in the Home and Foreign Journal and Foreign Missions Journal.
This database also contains correspondence written by Sallie and Landrum Holmes who were appointed to serve in China in 1858. Landrum was murdered in 1861. Sallie remained on the mission field and became both a colleague and mentor to Lottie. The Holmes letters were written to family members from 1858 to 1871.
Periodicals
This database contains scanned images of journals published by the Foreign Mission Board from 1845 to 1970. Journal titles include: Southern Baptist Missionary Journal, Home and Foreign Journal, Foreign Mission Journal, and The Commission.
African American Heritage
This database contains transcripts of The Commission magazine, Southern Baptist Missionary Journal and Home and Foreign Journal articles from the board’s early missionaries to Liberia and Sierra Leone (1846-1861), including John Day, Boston J. Drayton, A. P. Davis, B. P. Yates, and others.
Map Journals
Journey to the Orient – Robert Josiah Willingham served as Corresponding/Executive Secretary (now called President) of the Foreign Mission Board from 1893–1914. A graduate of the University of Georgia and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he served as a pastor of churches in Georgia and Tennessee before becoming the youngest FMB (now IMB) president elected prior to 2014. Journey to the Orient is an interactive map journal about Mr. and Mrs. Willingham’s 1907–08 tour of the mission stations around the world, the first ever taken by a Southern Baptist mission leader.
Location and Hours
The Archives and Records Center is located at 2109 Loumour Avenue, Richmond, Virginia.
Our office is open, by appointment, Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Contact Archives and Records
We’re here to serve you. If you need additional information or assistance, please contact us.