Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Oakwood Avenue Baptist Church (Richmond, Va.), Records, 1916-1923. Accession 40587. Church records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Transferred from the Virginia Electric Power Company Records, 14 May 2003.

Historical Information

Oakwood Avenue Baptist Church (now Oakwood Memorial Baptist Church) was established in 1916. The church's first pastor was Henry Lewis Nicholas. Services were held at Nathaniel Bacon School until November 28, 1920 when the congregation gathered at its new church at Chimborazo Boulevard and P Street. The church's name was changed to Oakwood Memorial Baptist Church when a new church was built on Gay Avenue in Henrico County.

Scope and Content

Records, 1916-1923, of Oakwood Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, including reports, minutes, correspondence, membership, officer, and teacher lists, building records, and financial records.

The reports and minutes series includes primarily reports, such as annual reports, committee reports (auditing, finance, building, missionary treasurer, Ladies Aid Society, Baptist Young People's Union, Sunbeam Band), reports to the Dover Baptist Association, treasurer's reports, and pastor's reports. The minutes are sparse. The correspondence, 1916-1923, includes primarily letters of admission and dismission concerning members. The subject files include information on church finances, the construction of a new church building, and the Dover Baptist Association, lists of church members, officers, and teachers, and Sunday school handbooks.

This collection came to the library as part of the Virginia Electric Power Company records. Norman Flippin, the secretary for Oakwood Avenue Baptist Church, was an employee of VEPCO and kept these church records in his office.