The Historical Society of the Episcopal Church (HSEC), formerly the Church Historical Society, was founded in Philadelphia in 1910. This voluntary society includes scholars, writers, teachers, ministers as well as others interested in its goals and objectives. It publishes the quarterly academic journal
Anglican & Episcopal History and co-publishes a newsletter, ''The Historiographer'' with the
National Episcopal Historians and Archivists (NEHA). It is presently based in
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh)
is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...
.
Purposes
HSEC has three objectives:
# To promote preservation of the historical heritage of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States and its antecedents.
# To publish articles of interest to the historical heritage of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States and its antecedents.
# To cooperate with others who support the first objective.
HSEC holds an annual meeting which includes a variety of activities. John H. Hopkins, bishop of the
Diocese of Vermont, addressed the first meeting of the Society.
It also gives grants and awards to promote its objectives, participates in major projects, and partners with Archives of the Episcopal Church, the National Episcopal Historians and Archivists (NEHA), the Episcopal Women's History Project (EWHP), and the office of the Historiographer of the Episcopal Church. With NEHA and EWHP it co-sponsors a triennial conference of all three organizations.
African American Episcopal Historical Collection
In 2003, the society established the African American Episcopal Historical Collection (AAEHC), a joint venture with the
Virginia Theological Seminary
Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the Unit ...
Archives. The collection documents the experiences of African American Episcopalians through
oral histories
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
, personal papers, documents, institutional records, and photographs.
Members of the society began to discuss the creation of the AAEHC in the 1990s, and began gathering materials for the collection in 2000. In December 2002, the HSEC and the Virginia Theological Seminary agreed jointly to sponsor the AAEHC. The collection was formally dedicated in February 2005, and donations of appropriate archival materials continue to be received. Since 2014, the HSEC has made travel grants available for individuals wishing to use the collection for research.
References
External links
Website of the Historical Society of the Episcopal ChurchHistorical Society of the Episcopal Church
African American Episcopal Historical Collection
at Virginia Theological Seminary.
*AAEHC Annual Report, 2016-201
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Organizations established in 1910
Historical societies of the United States
Episcopal Church (United States)
1910 establishments in Pennsylvania