Eduard Adam Skendzel churches reference collection
Scope and Contents
This collection, 299X includes selected documents on Western Michigan churches, with a few Detroit churches also found. These items were acquired and used by Ed Skendzel for his reference library, and subsequently given to the Grand Rapids Public Library Archives. Coll. 299X is a sibling collection of Coll. 299, the Eduard Adam Skendzel Polonian Historical Collection. Coll. 299, the primary collection given by Skendzel, documents his research of the Polish communities of Grand Rapids and Michigan, including references related to churches with Polish members.
This collection, Coll. 299X, the Skendzel Church References Collection, contains items which were out of scope for the Polish collection, but were desired for the archival collections and substantial enough in number to warrant a separate collection.
Documents for those churches which supported Polish, usually Catholic, congregations have been retained in the Skendel Polonian Historical Collection, 299. Many of the documents in this collection are specific to one institution and congregation. Included in those specific to an institution may be those related to the congregation in general, or to specific subgroups, such as committees or schools, etc.
Other documents found here are general to one faith, though they may document specific aspects or documents of that one faith. Histories, correspondence and periodicals are some of the representative times of documents documenting those faiths. There may also be found some directory type materials which document several different area churches, such as maps of area churches. Directories for specific churches will be found under the name of the specific church. Catholic, Christian Reformed and other Netherlands based reformed churches, are those most heavily represented. But, Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and various other denominations are also included in the documents found here.
Most of the items in the collection in their published state, but some are represented by photocopies.
Dates
- no date
Creator
- Eduard Adam Skendzel (Person)
Biographical Note
Eduard Adam Skendzel, son of Adam and Mary Angela (nee Dzierwa) Skenzdel, was born in Grand Rapids in 1921 and died there in 1999. Skendzel obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Detroit, following which he pursued graduate studies in Linguistics and Philology at Wayne State University, Northwestern University, Indiana University, and La Universidad Interamericana in Mexico. As a linguist fluent in nine languages including Polish and Italian, Skendzel taught at Edsel Ford High School and Henry Ford College, both in Dearborn, Michigan.
He in addition practiced a vocation in history, conducting extensive research in the study especially of “Polonia” (Polish-speaking communities outside of Poland proper) in the Midwestern United States. His publications include several books and a plenitude of articles on “Pioneer Poles” in Grand Rapids and Detroit, as well as on the Catholic Church as a significant communal institution in immigrant Polish life. During the course of his work Skendzel accrued a large amount of material on West Michigan and Detroit churches, unrelated to the Polish community, which comprises this present collection.
Historical Note
Religion has always been a formative influence in Grand Rapids history, and, as one author remarked, “Grand Rapids people have always been a church-going people.” (qtd. in Lydens, 445). Churches of many denominations began springing up in the Grand River Valley with the foundation of the earliest settlements in the 1830s and 1840s. From the Catholic mission of Father Frederick Baraga in 1832-1833 to the establishments of the Methodist Church in 1842 and the Lutheran Church in 1856, a great diversity of creeds (not necessarily exclusive to Christianity) were represented, reflective of similar diversity in the ethnic and national origin of residents. Baptists, Episcopalians, Jews, Roman Catholics, and others early on made the city their spiritual and temporal home. Slightly later, Dutch Calvinist sects emerged in large numbers and quickly became one of the largest denominations in the region.
Churches have multiplied in Grand Rapids in the last 150 years, increasing in step with the size of the city. However grand or humble they may be in appearance, their buildings and parishioners are nevertheless an important part of the city's fabric.
For further reading on churches in West Michigan see also these books in the GRHSCC Collection:
The Story of Grand Rapids. ed. Lydens. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1967.
Baxter, Albert. History of the City of Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids, MI: Munsell and Company, 1891.
McGee, John. The Catholic Church in the Grand River Valley, 1833-1950. Grand Rapids, MI, 1950.
Extent
5.6 Linear Feet (11 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Eduard Adam Skendzel (1921-1999) was a linguist and historian from Grand Rapids, Michigan. His research focused on the history of the Polish community and the Roman Catholic church, as well as other churches. This collection includes material he collected on non-Polish churches in the Grand Rapids area, covering Catholic, Baptist, Christian Reformed, Lutheran, Presbyterian and other churches. The material includes written histories, anniversary booklets, building dedication programs and some newspaper articles, personal correspondence, biographical documents and interview notes.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Eduard Skendzel Estate, accession number 1999.026.
Separated Materials
Items given by Skendzel which do not relate to Skendel's Polish research directly, and are also not documents about or from Grand Rapids area churches, are listed in the Separated Materials section of Coll. 299. These items are valued by the library, often duplicating those titles currently in use, but desired as replacement copies when those in use become too worn and fragile.
Some duplicates of items in Coll. 299 or 299X may also be included with the separated materials.
- Title
- Finding aid for the Eduard Adam Skendzel churches reference collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Ethan L. Menchinger
- Date
- Summer 2005
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Grand Rapids History Center Repository
Grand Rapids Public Library
111 Library Street NE
Grand Rapids Michigan 49503 USA
616-988-5497
localhis@grpl.org