Articles

Keeping the Faith? Bishops, Historians, and Catholic Diocesan Archivists, 1790–1980

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Abstract

American Catholic archives, according to Boston Archdiocesan archivist James O'Toole in a recent article, are experiencing a "renaissance in progress." In fact, since the National Conference of Catholic Bishops urged dioceses, religious communities, and institutions to "inaugurate a nation-wide effort to preserve and organize all existing records and papers" in 1976, archival programs in many sees, motherhouses, and parishes throughout the country have been born again. The Boston Archdiocese, for example, utilizing seed money from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, built a strong internal program, secured a veteran professional archivist to direct it, and adapted its Chancery facility to house the records of the faithful in a safe, stable setting. The New Jersey Catholic Historical Records Commission, pursuing a very different approach, rescued hundreds of feet of moldy sacramental registers, insect-infested bishops' diaries, and faded, virtually illegible adoption records from a basement boiler room in an overcrowded Chancery Office in Downtown Newark, and transferred them to Seton Hall University, where students and scholars might leisurely peruse the documents in a more comfortable, hospitable environment.

How to Cite:

Wosh, P. J., (1984) “Keeping the Faith? Bishops, Historians, and Catholic Diocesan Archivists, 1790–1980”, Archival Issues 9(1), 15–26. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/archivalissues.10400