Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church


Netherlands Pavilion at 1939 New York World's Fair	Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church

Aerial view of Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church

Links to Carillon Inventories
GCNA	Tower Bells	Bok Tower Gardens

The bells were cast by the van Bergen Bell Foundry in Heiligerlee, Netherlands and were originally installed in the Netherland’s Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair.

Greenwood, South Carolina mill owner James C. Self heard the bells at the fair and bought the carillon in honor of his mother, Callie C. Halloway Self. The bells were installed in the church he built to honor her and were dedicated on February 2, 1941.

The instrument was enlarged in 1948 with bells cast by the van Bergen Bell Foundry and the original electric playing mechanism was replaced with a traditional clavier.. A dedication was also held on January 8, 1949 with a recital given by Kamiel Lefevere.

References
1941 "Truett Speaks at Greenwood Church Dedication Today," The State, February 2, 1941, Page 26.
The bells, a part of the Netherlands government exhibit at the New York World's fair in 1938, were purchased by Mr Self and placed recently in an 87-foot tower now nearing completion on the church grounds.

1941 "Truett Speaks at Dedication," The Charlotte Observer, February 3, 1941, Page 10.
A crowd of 2,000 gathered in the church and on the grounds to hear him. The church, with a 31-bell carillon, was built by James C. Self, president of the Mathews mill, in honor of his mother, the late Mrs. Callie Holloway Self.

1947 "Ringer: Industry Chimes in Carolina Carillon," The Gastonia Gazette, November 19, 1947, Page 13.
Harry T. Van Bergen opens facility in Greenwood, S.C.

1949 "Large Crowd Hear New Carillon Played by Noted Musician," The Index Journal, January 10, 1949, Page 1 | part 2 |

1949 "Inauguration of the Carillon at Greenwood, South Caroline," Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America 3(2):11 (May 1949)

1964 Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church, Greenwood, S.C. : J.D. Anthony, pastor : 25th anniversary, December 1, 1939-December 6, 1964.:
The congregation moved from the Union church building December 1, 1939 into the new church.
At a later date a carillon tower was added to the rear of the church. This tower is (87) eighty seven feet h igh, made of red brick and topped with a lime stone coping. These bells were sent to America by the government nf the Netherlands, and placed in the arcade of the World's Fair in New York in 1938. They were purchased from the Netherlands Government by Mr. Self and brought to Greenwood in January 1940. There are (37) thirty seven bells in the carillon.
The new church and carillon were dedicated to the Lord's Service on February 2, 1941.

1977 History of Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church, by Thomas R. Bryan, Vera Rodgers Rush and J. Douglas Shannon
Page 33: The carillon tower, to the rear of the church, is eighty seven and a half feet high, made of red brick, with sixteen two and a half by eighteen feet glass brick windows, the sixteen doors of the arcade are lined with limestone, and all the insets have limestone coping. The arcade is entered over four large granite steps, which surround the base, and the floor is of six inch quary tile. Above the bells there is a three foot limestone belt and the top is finished with a heavy metal rail rising four feet above the coping.
The chimes in this tower were sent to America by the government of the Netherlands, and placed in the arcade at the World Fair in New York in 1938. They were purchased from the Netherland government by Mr. Self and brought to Greenwood in January, 1940. There are thirty seven bells in the carillon, and it is one of the few electrically operated carillons in the Western World. Practically all types of music can be played on the carillon, especially folk songs, popular songs, patriotic, classical music and sacred songs.

1979 "Van Bergen bells ring on three continents," The Index-Journal, February 2, 1979, Page 10.