The American Religions Collection (ARC) was established by J. Gordon Melton in 1968 and is located in UCSB Library’s Special Research Collections. The purpose of ARC is to collect, organize, preserve, and make available to researchers primary resources relating to religious bodies and practices in the United States, with a particular focus on new religious movements. The Collection contains and solicits materials generated by, associated with, or written about these religious bodies and practices, including their historical, literary, social, and artistic aspects, and may include relevant international materials.
Materials considered for inclusion will pertain to religious or spiritual organizations, individuals, or practices in the United States or their international antecedents or related areas. For the purposes of ARC, religion or religious practice is defined very broadly, and may include such diverse interests as unexplained phenomena, spiritual technologies, and dietary practices. The collecting scope is focused on personal papers and institutional records from the seventeenth century and later, though the bulk of materials are from the twentieth century. Types of materials collected include, but are not limited to, books, serials, ephemera, correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, research files, artificial collections, institutional records, photographs, and audio and video recordings.
Active Collecting Areas
- Weird stuff!
- Not mainstream
- Records of intentional communities
- Ephemera
Exclusions
- Artifacts
- Plaques and trophies
- Selectively accepting books, newspapers, magazines, and other serials depending on existing holdings
Other Holdings
- Also see ARC serials database
Curator
David Gartrell
