African American Archives

In 1994, the Board of the Archives resolved to give special emphasis to the acquisition, research, and educational opportunities that document the historical contribution of the African American Church within our faith community. This commitment is part of The Episcopal Church’s effort to actively confront institutional racism and make visible to the people of the church the conflicted story of its participation in and eventual rejection of racial division and prejudice. The Archives of the Episcopal Church recognizes this as an iterative and ongoing process that involves and challenges all Episcopalians to re-examine their history as well as to hear and tell the stories that are part of community’s identity. The Archives’ mission is to reach a greater understanding of the church’s spiritual and cultural heritage, drawing on evidence of its continuing evangelization to people of color and the descendants of the African diaspora.

The Archives of the Episcopal Church is The Episcopal Church’s official archival agency, supported by the General Convention and mandated to document the full diversity of the church community.  The Archives is home to a number of African American historical collections that form a corpus for research and education. The following is a select list of major manuscript collections found in the Archives. Other key sources held by the Archives include published works of Episcopal Church agencies and members, oral histories, and photographic collections.

Organizational Records Relating to Civil Rights

  • Department of Christian Social Relations
  • Office of Black Ministries
  • The Bishop Tuttle School
  • Haiti Mission Papers
  • Liberia Mission Papers
  • Panama Mission Papers
  • The Special Program of the General Convention
  • American Church Institute and related Historically Black Colleges and Universities
  • Bishop Payne Divinity School
  • Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity
  • Home Department: Negro Work

Papers of Prominent African American Episcopalians

  • The Right Reverend George Daniel Browne
  • The Reverend Tollie Caution
  • The Reverend Alexander Crummell
  • The Reverend John Edwin Culmer
  • The Right Reverend Walter Dennis
  • The Right Reverend Edward Demby
  • The Reverend Samuel David Ferguson
  • The Reverend Theophilus Momulu Gardiner
  • The Right Reverend James Theodore Holly
  • The Reverend Canon Thomas Logan, Sr.
  • The Reverend Canon Henri Alexandre Stines

The African American Archives can be read alongside the personal papers of other minority and white figures who fought for civil rights and change in the church’s direction on race, including:

  • The Most Reverend John Maury Allin
  • The Most Reverend John Hines
  • The Reverend Daisuke Kitagawa
  • The Reverend Jack Morris
  • The Right Reverend Paul Moore
  • The Right Reverend Will Scarlett
  • The Right Reverend Bill Spofford
  • The Right Reverend John Shelby Spong