This collection of approximately 700 items came to STH via Southern Methodist University. It was compiled by Rev. Stephen E. Ayers, who received a MRE from BU School of Religious Education in 1932. The hymnal portion of this collection spans from the late 1830’s to the early 1950’s and includes many multiple copies. The second section of the collection consists of 84 looseleaf notebooks with alphabetized examples of hymns cut from many hymnals. A similar collection of gospel songs attached to notebook paper is contained in covers harvested from the books used to supply these examples. Despite many overlaps, preliminary review shows that this collection will fill many gaps in the STH collection of early 20th-century evangelistic song materials and will possibly be helpful to scholars studying fundamentalism.
