Annabelle Yerigan Foursquare Church album
Scope and Contents
The Annabelle Yerigan Foursquare Church album is a photograph and memory book created by Annabelle Yerigan (1902-1975), an ordained minister of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. An Evangelical Pentecostal Christian church founded by Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944) in Los Angeles, the Foursquare Church is credited by some as the first megachurch. McPherson used radio broadcasts to draw in large audiences and donations to Foursquare Church events and services. In 1938, Annabelle Yerigan became an ordained minister of Foursquare Church after graduating from the church's L.I.F.E. Pilots program.
The album contains 36 black and white photographs, including one of Yerigan and an unidentified man with McPherson in the center saluting the photographer, as well as several images of Yerigan in various iterations of her preaching attire, along with a 1937 class photo. Pasted in are Yerigan's Baptismal Certificate, dated November 1933, two ministerial licenses dated 1938 and 1943, and a few newspaper clippings. Various pieces of church-related ephemera are laid in, including an Angelus Temple schedule for May 18, 1942 which lists Yerigan as Assistant at the 1 p.m. service. The materials are housed in a custom wood and string tied binding with a relief of a woman wearing a cap which reads LIFE and piloting a boat, alongside the raised title "Pilots '37".
Dates
- Creation: 1933 - 1943
Creator
- Yerigan, Annabelle (1902-1975) (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection stored off-site. Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Extent
0.96 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Annabelle Yerigan Foursquare Church album is a photograph and memory book created by Annabelle Yerigan (1902-1975), an ordained minister of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. An Evangelical Pentecostal Christian church founded by Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944) in Los Angeles, the Foursquare Church is credited by some as the first megachurch. McPherson used radio broadcasts to draw in large audiences and donations to Foursquare Church events and services. In 1938, Annabelle Yerigan became an ordained minister of Foursquare Church after graduating from the church's L.I.F.E. Pilots program. During this time, the ministry was still popular but beginning to struggle financially because of internal conflicts following a scandal surrounding McPherson's alleged kidnapping and a nervous breakdown that kept her away from the pulpit for nearly 10 months. The album includes photographs, clippings, and other documents relating to Yerigan's ministerial training and roles at the church, and several pieces of church-related ephemera. These materials highlight women's leadership roles within the Foursquare Church.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Johnson Rare Books and Archives, November 15, 2023.
Subject
Genre / Form
- Baptismal certificates
- Certificates
- Ephemera
- Newspaper clippings
- Photograph albums
- Photographs
- Scrapbooks
Topical
- Churches -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- Archival resources
- Churches -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs
- Evangelicalism -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
- Pentecostal churches -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
- Women clergy -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
- Title
- Finding aid for the Annabelle Yerigan Foursquare Church album
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Bo Doub -- with collection-level notes adapted from the seller, Johnson Rare Books and Archives
- Date
- 2024 March
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0189 United States
specol@usc.edu