Exhibit honoring missionary 'Miss Bertha' opens at SBC Library & Archives

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) - An exhibit honoring the life and ministry of Bertha Smith, missionary to China and Taiwan, has opened for a two-year run at the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in the Southern Baptist Convention building.

The Spartanburg County (S.C.) Baptist Network, an association of 92 churches, donated the Olive Bertha Smith Collection to the Southern Baptist Convention a year ago. The exhibit includes many artifacts collected by the legendary South Carolinian affectionately known as "Miss Bertha," though not her official correspondence with the former Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) during her years of active service in China (1917-48) and Taiwan (1948-58).

The exhibit, which is housed on the fourth floor of the convention building in downtown Nashville, is expected to draw visitors especially from South Carolina during the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville June 21-22.

A high point in the career of Bertha Smith was her involvement in the famous revival that broke out in 1927 in the northern Chinese province of Shantung, where Smith labored with her missionary partners and prayed for a spiritual awaking among the Chinese.