DIOCESAN ARCHIVES
Annual Report to Convention
September 2005– August 2006

Introduction:
Archiving is never a static or passive activity.  There is always more to do than hours in the day or week, especially for a "Lone Arranger," (a nomenclature invented to identify those like your archivist who wear the hats of director to go-fer, without support staff).   Much time is often spent on the phone or in e-mail messaging helping a researcher locate alternate areas to search when we don't have what they need.  Processing and research back up when time must be spent attending meetings, compiling statistics and writing reports.  

Yet, it is a report, such as this one, that has the potential for telling the Episcopalians in this Diocese about the Archives and the many interesting facts, papers and artifacts that reside here … for conjuring up visions of something besides musty papers … for bringing history and the evidence of that history alive … for convincing the parishes that they should be as passionate and caring about their historical heritage as I am.  

I hope you will read this report with these things in mind.  Your heritage, locked into paper and artifacts, is more than just "The Past."   It is a reminder of your roots and the pathway taken over the years to arrive at the present.   And, perhaps just as important, it is also a guide for avoiding the pitfalls of the past and building God's Kingdom on the positive aspects of those years.   All archives – parish and diocesan  -- by their very nature, should reflect this.

Archives Activities:

•     Info Requests:  52
•     Bap/Conf/Trans - 4
•     Genealogical -  8    
•     General research -  9
•     Information/materials requests –  28
•     In-house Researchers - 3

        From:  Arkansas, California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania (including Pittsburgh), Texas, London-UK and SAMS.   Of these, about 18 arrived as phone calls, 3 as letters, and about 31 by e-mail.
 
Conferences/Meetings:
         

• Attended seminar on Fund Raising for Preservation, sponsored by University of Pittsburgh

Other Activities

• Year-long hosting of Dr. Jeremy Bonner at the Archives Processing Center as he researches material to write the history of the Diocese
  
• Prepared information packet on history and needs of the archives for COO.
  
• Assembled list of grant resources for congregations for COO
  
• Wrote 7 historical/archival articles for "Archival Findings" column in Trinity
  
• Drafted "Procedures for Emptying a Closed Church" for administrative consideration
  
• Met with Capt. John Stanley to remove last of historical materials from All Saints, Aliquippa before church was sold.
  
• Conducted two-part, hands-on seminar on archival principles of historic preservation for March Ministry Leadership Day
  
• Supplied 12 photos from the archives to The Very Rev. Cynthia Black, Dean and Rector of The Cathedral of Christ the King in Kalamazoo, Michigan for use in a video honoring Dean George Werner's retirement from General Convention
  
• Responded to a call from the ARCS ListServ for assistance to the religious archives community in Katrina–ravaged New Orleans by assembling and filling 13 requests for Disaster Preparedness/Recovery  packets
  
• Met with Fr. John Leggett to discuss the Parish History project
  
• Researched information on Marquis de Lafayette and Sanson Brunot for Col. Charles Stevenson of St. Peter's, Blairsville for Lafayette flag presentation
  
• Presented seminar on preservation to Grace, Mt. Washington's women's group
  
• Attended and worked at November 2005 ACN "Hope and a Future" conference, as well as sang with Diocesan choir
  
• Worked with other staff members at the 2005 Diocesan Convention
  
• Worked with Peter Frank to design and implement page for Archives on diocesan website
  
• On-going processing in Processing Center on third floor of Trinity Cathedral of Epiphany-Avalon, All Saints-Aliquippa and Resurrection-Cranberry collections.
  

Important Acquisitions for the Processing Center

• From Trinity Cathedral - Microfiche Reader, originally belonging to Trinity Bookstore
  
• From The Pittsburgh Experiment - Four-drawer filing cabinet and metal cupboard with locking doors

Important Acquisitions for the Archives

• From Board of Trustees – 1984 Church Home Feasibility Study
  
• From the Cathedral – miscellaneous materials from Dean's office
  
• From All Saints, Aliquippa – Bishop's Chair with brass plaque in memory of Bishop Cortlandt Whitehead
  
• From Communications Dept. – 1960s-90s photo files and 1997-99 correspondence on disk
  
• For the Library:   With the Eyes of the Heart, by Betty Noll, c. 2005      

                        
                                        Lynne Wohleber, Archivist