{"value"=>"<p>The subseries, <span class=\"title\">Churches,</span>1878-1986, is arranged alphabetically according to states for those in the U.S. and country for those in Africa. This arrangement was chosen because it was not always clear in which district or conference the churches belonged. Moreover, while in most cases the district or conference could be determined, in some instances, churches, such as those in the North Carolina Annual Conference were related at different times to the Carolina Annual Conference, or the North Carolina and South Carolina Annual Conference.</p> <p>The states which together account for most of the documentation are the Eastern seaboard states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and North and South Carolina, as well as the District of Columbia. The first six states and the District of Columbia belong to the New York-Washington Annual Conference and the Carolinas or portions thereof belonged to the Carolina Conference, North and South Carolina Conferences, or the North and South Carolina Conference, at different times. All of these fall under the umbrella of the Seventh Episcopal District, the headquarters of the C.M.E. Church during Bunton's bishopric.</p> <p>This subseries consists of correspondence from pastors and letters from individuals who discuss the churches and the organizations within them, appeals and complaints from church members, programs, church bulletins, clippings, financial statements, minutes and agendas, baptismal records, biographical sketches, correspondence regarding sales and purchases of property and transfer of property ownership, deeds, reports, and souvenir journals. With the exception of the Florida and Tennessee folders, none of the folders devoted to states in which Bunton pastored contain material that sheds light on the churches where Bunton pastored prior to assuming the bishopric. The Tennessee folder contains a brief historical sketch of Mount Olive C.M.E. Church and a souvenir journal on the occasion of the centenial of the church and the Florida folder contains one of Bunton's first church bulletins at Carter Tabernacle Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.</p>"}