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A vital primary source for re-creating the history of the Church in any
region of the country lies in the hundreds of published newspapers and
newsletters of the dioceses. These newspapers contain news of
missionary founding, parish programs and celebrations, diocesan-wide
events, and leadership in everyday ministries. Newspapers are a form of
popular text where one can read the narrative of the Episcopal Church's
story in localities across America. Preserving the story held in these
texts has become a priority for the The Archives of the Episcopal
Church.
Since 1999, the Archives has been engaged in APPEND, the Applied Preservation Project for Episcopal Newspaper Documentation.
The Archives has worked with several dioceses to gather, document, and
create a permanent film copy of their diocesan newspapers. In addition
to preserving a source of diocesan history, the project allows greater
access to the newspapers to administrators, professional communications
staff, and public history researchers.
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The Archives and the diocese work together to compile
a complete or near-complete run of newspapers. The newspapers are often
in fragile or brittle condition, and in various page sizes or bindings.
They require careful preparation, handling and manual filming. All
materials are filmed on-site by the Technical Services Archivist, Ms.
Sylvia Baker, who has over twenty years of commercial and private
microfilming experience. Ms. Baker works with diocesan representatives
to verify the newspaper run before customizing "targets" or explanatory
guide sheets that are filmed with the material to aid users in locating
issues. Upon completion of on-site filming, the film is processed by a
professional lab and returned to the Archives for quality inspection
and permanent retention. Ms. Baker certifies the copies as authentic
and accurate preservation images.
All filming conforms to ISO standards, using 35 mm silver halide roll
film. Newspapers are returned to the diocese, which receives copies of
the microfilm. The diocese assumes only the cost of film processing and
shipping, a savings of several thousand dollars in many cases where the
volumes span fifty years and the originals are bound. Dioceses are able
to retire the originals to safer storage or place their copies off-site
for security. The advantage of film is that it is not only a very
durable medium for preservation, but it can also be easily digitized or
used to create paper copies if the originals were lost. Collaboration
allows the Archives to develop a national repository of local history
on the Episcopal Church while strengthening its resources on the many
places where "church" happens.
The trove of news on parish beginnings and leavings, council and
convention news, outreach programs and ministries – indeed the Church's
response to all kinds of human need and Christian initiation – are
documented in the newspapers' expanding coverage. The APPEND collection
has generated holdings in the Archives that date as early as 1861 for
the Diocese of California, which at that time encompassed the whole
state. As a result of the project, newspapers for the following
dioceses have been filmed:
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Diocese of California
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The Pacific Church News, 1861-2000
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Diocese of Connecticut
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The Connecticut Churchman and The Good News, 1906-2003
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Diocese of Iowa
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The Iowa Churchman, 1877-1973
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Diocese of Quincy
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The Harvest Plain, 1935-1998
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Diocese of West Texas
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The Church News of West Texas, 1883-1998
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Diocese of Olympia
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The Episcopal Voice, 1861-2002
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Currently committed 2002-2003:
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Diocese of Maine
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The Northeast, 1873-2002
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Diocese of Maryland
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The Maryland Church News, 1900-2002
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Diocese of San Diego
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The Church Times, 1975-2002
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These additions complement the Archives' other diocesan newspaper holdings:
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Diocese of Central Pennsylvania
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The Harrisburg Churchman and The Churchman, 1911-2000
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Diocese of Colorado
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The Colorado Churchman, 1903-1912
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Diocese of El Camino Real
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The Mission Bell, 1981-1992
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Diocese of Minnesota
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The Minnesota Missionary, 1958-1967
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Diocese of Missouri
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The Interim, 1870-1989
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Diocese of Oklahoma
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The Oklahoma Churchman, 1891-1964
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Diocese of Texas
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The Mission Record, The Church Bell, and The Texas Churchman, 1873-1988
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The Archives is scheduled in 2003 to
initiate a pilot APPEND project in digital preservation. Enhanced
visual capture and indexing possibilities may make this approach
attractive as the future preservation strategy. To learn more about
APPEND, please contact one of the Archives' curators. |
