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Preserving the Past: Stories from the Records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations

Long before Borough Hall, the State Archives or even Facebook gathered details on people’s daily lives, one’s church might be the only place making note of your birth, death, and milestones in between. The history held by these churches is a treasure, but a buried one. These houses of worship were designed to serve their congregants and a religious purpose, not the needs of academics and others searching for illumination of the past. Five years ago, Carol Smith and the Christ Church Preservation Trust undertook to unearth these treasures, hold them up to the light and place them where all could see it.

Carol’s work with Christ Church led to a major public-records project to publish the long-hidden records of more than a dozen of Philadelphia’s oldest congregations. She’ll recount these efforts and some of the stories discovered in her upcoming (virtual) talk.

Carol W. Smith is an independent curator and archivist who has worked with the Christ Church Archives since 2005 when she was hired to create a digital archives website. Since then, that website, www.christchurch.org, through her efforts has made available to the public a wealth of information about the history, records and precious artifacts of that 325-year-old national treasure.

She has worked to create exhibits, oversee the move and expansion of the archives, undertake an oral history program, oversee conservation treatment of artifacts and archival holdings and increase digital access to materials.

Feb 9, 2023 06:30 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)