
Aims and objectives
This research project aims to identify and digitalise materials that provide information on pre-modern way of life of the Evangelical Christians in Bulgaria. The project is interested in various types of documents that have not yet been submitted at the State Archive or regional archives. There are manuscripts, photos, letters, brochures, church diaries in Bulgarian or in the mother languages of the respective ethnic groups (Turkish, Romany, Hebrew, etc.). Some of these materials are still available to families and Protestant churches and are in vulnerable condition because usually do not arrange for their safe storage.
The research project focuses on history and cultural tradition of Protestant communities with creation of a detailed digital collection of photo and documentary materials providing significant information on preindustrial
features of the Protestant culture related to the period when Protestants in Bulgaria have adhered to a conservative and traditional way of life. The main task of the project is to conduct a field research among various ethnic groups, whose members converted to Protestantism, to collect materials from the representatives’ personal archives, to digitise approximately 900 materials and to systemise the digital copies in catalogue. Specific outcomes of the project are directly connected with implementation of project activities and its expected results, which are fieldtrip report, digital collection, which will be available online and a photo exhibition in the next stage of the realisation of the project idea (Major project). These digital documents will provide information on the communities’ traditions and their “hidden” history that are otherwise hardly known outside the boundaries of the respected communities. Our preliminary research showed that this possibility has not been explored and elaborated so far and since the materials are kept in private archives and collections, they are threatened with extermination and extinction. The main task of this project is a preliminary study on the possibilities for project continuation and the collection of large volumes of materials to be carried out and this opportunity to be agreed with the informants at this stage. The project also will produce interim and final report on the condition of the collected materials. Finally, we will examine the possibilities for continuation of the work at the next stage and collecting of more photo and document materials.
Outcomes
Various photographs, albums, id cards, letters, wedding and baptism certificates, training certificates, religious booklets, protocol books, and other text materials in Bulgarian were digitised as part of this project. The dominant language for the documents and hymn books with religious hymns is the Romani language. A few materials are in Armenian. Some material is also related to Turks and Jews located in Bulgarian, as well as photographs from Bessarabian Bulgarians.
The team submitted the following survey as part of the project outputs.
The records copied by this project have been catalogued as:
- EAP1145/1 Temenuzhka Alagyozova's collection of archive materials
- EAP1145/2 Yordanka Dafcheva's collection of archive materials
- EAP1145/3 Pavlina Pavlova's collection of archive materials
- EAP1145/4 Slovoto' Bansko Evangelical Congregational Church's (ECC) collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/5 Rosa Kamenova's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/6 Kamelia Kamenova-Chiron's collection of photo materials
- EAP1145/7 Ezekia Boev's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/8 Atanas Georgiev's collection of pictures
- EAP1145/9 First Evangelical Gypsy Baptist Church's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/10 Liuben Traikov's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/11 Petar Ivanov's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/12 Persida Asova's collection of photo materials
- EAP1145/13 Valeri Munelski's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/14 Khrant Keshishyan's collection of archive materials
- EAP1145/15 Ivan Stefanov's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/16 Stefka Stefanova's Collection of Archival Materials
- EAP1145/17 Archive of Еvangelical Congregational Church of Samokov
- EAP1145/18 Photograph Archive of History Museum of Samokov
- EAP1145/19 Violeta Hristova's collection of archive materials
- EAP1145/20 Adriana Angelova's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/21 Genoveva Peneva's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/22 Slavka Ilieva's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/23 Bozhidar Popov's collection of archive materials
- EAP1145/24 Theodor Angelov's collection of photographic materials
- EAP1145/25 Teodor Oprenov's collection of photo materials
- EAP1145/26 Archive of Evangelical Methodist Episcopal Church 'Dr. Albert Long' (EMEC)
- EAP1145/27 Tanya Petrova's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/28 Elena Karova's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/29 Mikhail Kontarov's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/30 Stanka Margaritova's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/31 Zhana Stefanova's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/32 Varta Mikhran's collection of archive materials
- EAP1145/33 Simeon Neychev's collection of archive materials
- EAP1145/34 Bedros Altunian's collection of archive materials
- EAP1145/35 Yambol Evangelical Pentecostal Church's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/36 Anna Shabanova's collection of pictures
- EAP1145/37 Kiril Dzhinov's collection of pictures
- EAP1145/38 Stefan Angelov's collection of pictures
- EAP1145/39 Stefan Hristov's collection of pictures
- EAP1145/40 Yancho Yanchev's collection of pictures
- EAP1145/41 Dinko Marinov's collection of pictures
- EAP1145/42 Todor Stoyanov's collection of archival materials
- EAP1145/43 Iliya Mitev's collection of archival material
- EAP1145/44 The Evangelical Pentecostal Church in Sliven's collection
- EAP1145/45 Antoaneta Stoyanova's collection of materials
- EAP1145/46 Khristo Kuriyan's collection of photographs
- EAP1145/47 Soniya Kuriyan's collection of photographs
- EAP1145/48 Photos from Vesselin Enchev's collection
- EAP1145/49 Yordan Manev's collection of archival material
- EAP1145/50 Documents and photos from Asen Raykov's collection
- EAP1145/51 Documents and photos from Nedyalka Maneva's collection
- EAP1145/52 Documents and photos from Tanya Petkova's collection
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