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American Church History

This guide lists encyclopedia and bibliographic resources for the study of American church history, including both Catholicism and Protestant denominations.

Religious/Theological

Bowden, Henry Warner. Dictionary of American Religious Biography. 2nd ed., rev. and enlarged. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993.
     Ref. BL72.B68 1993

Byrne, Pamela R. And Susan K. Kinnell, eds. People and Religion in North America: Summaries of Biographical Articles in History Journals. Santa Barbara, CA; Oxford, England: ABC-CLIO, 1988.
     BL2525.P46 1988

Dupree, Sherry Sherrod. Biographical Dictionary of African-American, Holiness-Pentecostals 1880-1990. Washington, DC: Middle Atlantic Regional Press, 1989.
     BX8762.Z8D86 1989

Elwell, Walter A., ed. Handbook of Evangelical Theologians. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993.
     Ref. BR1640.H363 1993

Hall, Timothy L., ed. American Religious Leaders. New York: Facts on File, 2003.
     Ref. BL72.H33 2003

Holte, James Craig. The Conversion Experience in America: A Sourcebook on Religious Conversion Autobiography. New York: Greenwood Press, 1992.
     BV4930.H65 1992

Lewis, Donald M. Blackwell Dictionary of Evangelical Biography 1730-1860. 2 vols. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995.
     Ref. BR1640.B53 1995
See listing by country at back of vol. 2.

Lippy, Charles H., ed. Twentieth-Century Shapers of American Popular Religion. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
     Ref. BL2525.T84 1989

Melton, J. Gordon. Biographical Dictionary of American Cult and Sect Leaders. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1986.
    BL2525.M448 1986

_____. Religious Leaders of America. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1999.
     BL72.R444 2nd ed

Who's Who in Religion. 4th ed. Wilmette, IL: Marquis Who's Who, 1992.
     BL2530 .U6 W48

Williams, Ethel L. Biographical Directory of Negro Ministers. 3rd ed. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1975.
     BR563.N4W5 1975

Historical

American National Biography. 24 vols. Ref. CT213.A68 1999

Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography. CT213.C36 1995

Concise Dictionary of American Biography. 5th ed. 2 vols. E176.C73 1997

Dictionary of American Biography. 11 vols. + suppls. Ref. E176.D562 1964

Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives. 7 vols. Ref. CT213.S37 1998