Selected Records on microfilm, 1921 - 1981

The Red Bird Mission Collection consists of the Mission’s known, extant records dating from 1921 until 1981. From 1921-46, the Mission’s schools, churches, hospital and clinics were all supported by the Evangelical Church. The primary sources documenting this period and administrations of Red Bird Mission superintendents J.J. DeWall (1921-28) and A.H. Lehman (1929-46) consist of the minutes and reports of the annual meetings of the Red Bird staff, an unpublished history of the Red Bird Mission by A.H. Lehman (c. 1946), and excerpts from church and missionary publications detailing the Mission’s philosophy, purpose, and program.

From 1946-73, the Mission enjoyed continuous stability in the person of superintendent, Reverend John Bischoff. He saw the Mission through the devastating effects of a 1947 flood, the rebuilding and expanding of the physical plant in the late 1940s-60s, important mergers of the sponsoring national church, and administrative and organizational changes in Red Bird Mission. It is important to briefly detail these mergers and changes in order to understand the nature of the Red Bird Mission collection.

In 1946, the Evangelical Church merged with the United Brethren Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB). By 1955, the EUB had organized the Kentucky Missionary Conference (KMC). The Conference united the churches of Red Bird with the churches of the Cumberland District (former United Brethren Churches) in order to foster a denominational connection and a strong feeling of fellowship between the EUB churches that served the same region. The Red Bird Mission continued its efforts in education and medical care as well as being active in the KMC. In 1968 the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with Methodists to form the United Methodist Church (UMC). With this merger, the Kentucky Missionary Conference was re-organized and re-named the Red Bird Missionary Conference (RBMC). The Red Bird Mission was formally incorporated in 1968, and it continued to support schools, churches, hospital and clinics for area residents. In 1973, the Red Bird Missionary Conference was given the status of being the central organization through which the UMC would support the work of the Red Bird Mission. Administratively, this meant that the Red Bird Mission Inc. became an agency operating under the Red Bird Missionary Conference. Also, Methodist related Henderson Settlement at Frakes, Bell County, Kentucky, voted to join the Conference in 1973. Later, in 1977, the Red Bird Mission Hospital incorporated as a separate agency under jurisdiction of the Red Bird Missionary Conference.

During the 1946-73 period, John Bischoff directed Red Bird Mission and the Kentucky Missionary and Red Bird Missionary Conferences. In 1973, he became the chief administrator of the Red Bird Missionary Conference, and Edward Ehresman became the executive director of the Red Bird Mission Inc. The collection consists of the records of both men. Through the correspondence, financial records, minutes, reports, and publications, the Red Bird Mission Collection documents not only the policies and activities of Bischoff and Eresman, but also those of the various governing and advisory boards of both the Mission and the Conference. Since it is virtually impossible to separate the Conference record from the Mission record—historically and physically the files are intertwined—the entire record is considered one collection. The collection offers a great deal of information on the hospital and churches. However, in 1981 a fire destroyed the non-current records of the Red Bird Mission School.