Baylor Libraries Receive Woolley Award for Preserving Baptist History
The Baptist Collections of the Baylor University Libraries received the prestigious Davis C. Woolley Award during this year’s meeting of the Baptist History and Heritage Society (BHHS) May 18-20, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia. The award, given jointly by BHHS and the Association of Librarians and Archivists at Baptist Institutions (ALABI), was presented by Aaron Weaver, executive director of BHHS, and Taffey Hall, executive director of ALABI and archivist and director of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. Baylor Associate Professor Kathy Hillman, director of the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society, and director of Baptist Collections and Library Advancement, who participated in the meeting, accepted the award at the Tuesday luncheon on behalf of the Baylor University Libraries.
Created in 1991 to honor Davis C. Woolley, who served as the executive secretary-treasurer of the Historical Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1959 to 1971, the Davis C. Woolley Award is presented to a library or archive that demonstrates outstanding achievement in assessing and preserving Baptist history. Since 2013, the announcement has been made in conjunction with the Association of Librarians and Archivists at Baptist Institutions at the annual meeting.
“I am delighted to receive this year’s Davis C. Woolley Award that recognizes the important work of the Baylor Libraries to preserve Baptist history,” said Jeffry Archer, Dean of Libraries, Museums, and the Press at Baylor University. “Baylor treasures its Baptist heritage, and the ongoing care, curation, and expansion of our Baptist Collections preserves the history of this vibrant Christian tradition for our Baylor students, faculty, and researchers from around the world.”
Previous recipients have included, among others, the American Baptist Historical Society, the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission, Wake Forest University Special Collections and Archives, the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, the Center for Baptist Studies of Mercer University, and several state Baptist historical commissions and university archives.