John Overholt

“Jennifer Cromack was combing through the American Baptist archive when she uncovered a slim box… Opening it, she found a scroll in pristine condition.

A closer look revealed the 5-foot-long document was a handwritten declaration titled ‘A Resolution and Protest Against Slavery,’ signed by 116 New England ministers in Boston and adopted March 2, 1847. Until its discovery… American Baptist officials worried the anti-slavery document had been lost forever.” https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/07/03/massachusetts-slavery-abolition-baptist-new-england-document

Jul 6 at 6:00pmWeb
Show threadMustardon22h ago
@overholt
Point to keep in mind, American Baptists are NOT Southern Baptists.
Show threadGrumble 🇺🇸 🇺🇦19h ago

@bitsnpieces @overholt The Southern Baptists split from the other Baptists over slavery in 1845. Even though the slavery issue is now moot, the Baptists have never reconciled.

I can only assume the Southern Baptists are patiently hoping to reverse the Emancipation Proclamation.

Show threadBetsy Roberts Miller ⁂17h ago

@bitsnpieces @overholt

On Friday I drove around a block to confirm that I'd read a church's identifying sign correctly - "First Baptist Church
OF CHRIST"

As opposed to ... ?

#Boggled

Show threadDusk To Don 21h ago

@overholt

Interesting!

I recently learned that it was two years prior, in 1845, that the Southern Baptists separated from the Baptists “to uphold the institution of slavery”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Baptist_Convention

Southern Baptist Convention - Wikipedia

Show thread((Jann Gobble)) 🏳️‍🌈21h ago
@overholt Okay. YEAH! It was found, but BOO! Why aren't they wearing GLOVES!!!????
Show thread.20h ago
@jgobble @overholt
I read a few years ago that it was determined that clean hands do less damage to some archival surfaces than cotton archivist's gloves. I'll see if I can find info...
Show thread.20h ago

@jgobble @overholt
Here's an article about it, the first one I found. There are others, and some collections still grapple with the issue of gloves vs. no gloves.

https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/handling-historic-collections-the-gloves-are-still-off/

BTW, this doesn't answer the question of why those two particular people in the photo aren't wearing gloves. Rather, it's that wearing gloves is not a universal archival practice any more. Some do, some don't.

Handling historic collections: The gloves are still off - The National Archives blog

The use of gloves in handling historic collections is a question that arises frequently.

The National Archives blog
Show thread((Jann Gobble)) 🏳️‍🌈20h ago
@fembot @overholt I kept WONDERING! Cos I watch "History Hit" a lot... AND Lucy Worsley... and Prof Susannah Lipscomb weren't wearing gloves and I had a COW every time I watched them! 😂
Show threadJohn Overholt20h ago
@jgobble @fembot I helped make a video about this. https://youtu.be/zem70azfnoQ?feature=shared
FAQ | Shouldn’t you be using gloves?

YouTube
Show thread((Jann Gobble)) 🏳️‍🌈20h ago
@overholt @fembot Just downloaded this to watch.
Show threadahimsa19h ago
@overholt Thank you! I had heard a little bit about not wearing white cotton gloves when handling rare books these days, but your video had a lot more interesting detail!