wfn.org | ACNS3254 Virginia Theological Seminary and the Historical

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ACNS 3254     |     USA     |	  14 JANUARY 2003

Virginia Theological Seminary and the Historical Society of the Episcopal
Church sign agreement

Virginia Theological Seminary's Bishop Payne Library chosen as site for the
deposit and preservation of collection that documents the history of African
American Episcopalians

Alexandria, Virginia

6 January 2003

Virginia Theological Seminary and the Historical Society of the Episcopal
Church recently entered into an agreement that designates the Seminary's
Bishop Payne Library as home for the "African American Historical Collection
of the Episcopal Church: A Joint Project of the Historical Society and the
Bishop Payne Library of the Virginia Theological Seminary."

The agreement is a result of four years planning on the part of the
Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, including two year's discussion
with Virginia Seminary. The planning phase was funded by grants from the
Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, the Louisville Institute, and
the Episcopal Church Foundation

The African American Episcopal Collection is a newly created archival
project that will be a historical collection, composed of various media
(oral history, documents, institutional records, photographs) chronicling
the lives and experiences of African American Episcopalians.

Virginia Seminary will collect, house, arrange, and make the Collection
available in the Bishop Payne Library. The agreement between the Historical
Society of the Episcopal Church and Virginia Seminary outlines a plan to
expand the Collection, obtain additional funding and materials, and improve
its accessibility to interested parties.

In summer of 2003, the Bishop Payne Library will construct additional
archival space to accommodate the Collection, which currently includes
collected writings from prominent African American Episcopalians that are
being processed and preserved for future use.

The Bishop Payne Library currently contains significant archival collections
and is a key resource for scholarly theological research, particularly in
Episcopal history and the Anglican Communion. The Library is named in honor
of the Bishop Payne Divinity School, a seminary for the education of African
and African American Episcopalians. Part of its mission is to sustain the
memory and heritage of that school, which merged with Virginia Seminary in
1953.

Prospective donors to the collection, those who are aware of materials that
are appropriate or those who want additional information about the
collection, please contact Mitzi Budde, Head Librarian, or Julia Randle,
Archivist, at 703-461-1731. Individuals interested in providing financial
support for the African American Episcopal Collection should send
contributions to Virginia Theological Seminary, 3737 Seminary Road,
Alexandria, Virginia 22304.

The mission of the Collection is to collect and preserve unique archival
materials that chronicle the experiences of African American Episcopalians
in the United States. The primary goal of the Collection is to make such
materials available for both scholarly research and education of the wider
Church.

Founded in 1910 in Philadelphia, the Historical Society of the Episcopal
Church furthers understanding of church history through research,
conferences, archival preservation programs, and publication. The Society,
an official agency of the Episcopal Church, is a voluntary organization for
people who are engaged in researching and preserving church history and for
those who enjoy reading that history. The Society serves the Episcopal
Church by adding historical perspective to contemporary discussions of
theological significance.

Virginia Theological Seminary is the largest of the 11 accredited seminaries
of the Episcopal Church and was founded in 1823. The school prepares men and
women for service in the Church, both as ordained and lay ministers, and
offers a number of professional degree programs and diplomas.

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