(Maryland Diocesan Archives)
Address: |
4 East University Parkway
Baltimore, MD 21218 |
Telephone Number: |
(800) 443-1399
(410) 467-1399 |
Fax Number: |
(410) 584-7788 |
Contact Persons: |
Mary O. Klein, Archivist |
Email Address: |
archives@ang-md.org |
Hours of Service: |
|
Open to the public: |
Monday-Wednesday 9:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. |
Photocopying: |
Yes |
Interlibrary loan: |
No |
The public
is welcome; very few materials are restricted. Most items may be
photocopied, at a charge, depending on condition. All materials
must be used on site; there is no interlibrary loan.
- Reference Policy:
- Reference is provided by telephone, mail, email, and
on site. In general, the collection is of only incidental use
for genealogy,
apart from some biographical material and the registers of some
defunct churches. The Archivist cannot undertake genealogical
research, but information and suggestions on the holdings will
be provided.
- Borrowing Privileges:
- Not a lending institution..
- Networks/Consortia:
- Baltimore Archives Network
- Background Note:
- In 1855, William Rollinson Whittingham, Bishop of Maryland,
called for preservation of long-accumulating diocesan papers,
and in 1860 a Records Committee was created to care for them.
Independently, at least from 1840, the Reverend Ethan Allen, first
Historiographer of the Diocese, was forming a great personal collection
of papers relating to the Church from colonial times; this was
purchased by the Diocese in 1869. The Archives were vastly augmented
ten years later, when Bishop Whittingham bequeathed his voluminous
and important collection of papers to the Diocese. Growth has
continued, from official and private sources, but most of the
collection has only been arranged and partially catalogued since
1960.
In addition to the religion-related materials described below,
the Diocesan Archives are a rich source of information on American
history and the history of Maryland from colonial times to the
present. The papers of a number of prominent Maryland families
(e.g. the Chases, Callisters, and Goldsboroughs) have been deposited
with the Archives.
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- Books and monographs:
- Approximately 1,300 volumes, several thousand pamphlets, and
innumerable printed ephemera, circulars, etc., with publication
dates from 1588 to the present. There are about 114 titles printed
prior to 1699, with 90 volumes from the 18th century, and the
remainder from the 19th and 20th centuries. Apart from reference
books, imprints relate to subjects and individuals represented
in the wide-ranging manuscript collection, such as the general
history of the Church of England and the Episcopal Church, the
Anglican Church in the American colonies, colonial and state Maryland
law, diocesan and parish histories, doctrinal controversies, relations
with the Roman Catholic and Old Catholic Churches, sermons, and
works by or about American bishops and Maryland clergymen. Publications
before 1760 are almost entirely British.
Books and pamphlets are currently being catalogued, with about
100 books and 2,000 pamphlets catalogued so far. Other works
are arranged by category and author.
- Periodicals and newspapers:
- 28 titles and eight current subscriptions, dating from 1819
to the present. Significant periodical holdings include the Washington
Theological Repertory, Vols. 1-8 (1819-1827); The
True Catholic (sponsored by Bishop William R. Whittingham,
1843-1856); American Church Monthly, Vols. 1-3 (successor
publication to The True Catholic, 1857-1858); The
Maryland Churchman (Diocese of Maryland periodical, 1892-1913,
1918-1958); The Communicator (successor publication
to The Maryland Churchman, incomplete holdings from
1959-1967); Maryland Church News (1971-date); Church
Work, Vols. 1-4 (1885-1889); and The Evergreen,
Vols. 1-10 (1844-1853). There are also convention journals for
the Dioceses of Maryland (1780-date), Easton (incomplete holdings
from 1882-date), and Washington (1905-date, with incomplete holdings
for early years). Prior to 1868, the Diocese of Maryland comprised
the whole state and the District of Columbia. In that year the
Eastern Shore became the Diocese of Easton; and in 1895, the District
of Columbia and four Maryland counties were set apart as the Diocese
of Washington.
Some periodicals are catalogued; most are arranged by title
chronologically.
- Archives, manuscripts, correspondence, and oral histories:
- Approximately 270 linear feet of materials dating from 1676
to the present, with special concentration in the period 1730-1900.
Materials covering the entire state and District of Columbia include
official records, correspondence, minutes, and other records of
the Diocese of Maryland and its bishops, clergy, churches, institutions,
and organizations. These are augmented by colonial manuscripts,
many colonial and later sermons, parish histories, registers of
closed churches, biographical writings, family papers, educational
materials, and memorabilia. There are abundant materials describing
the history of the Church of England (17th through 19th centuries),
and organization and development of the Episcopal Church since
1780. Holdings include much information about the social, political,
and economic history of the U.S., including colonial law, the
War of 1812, the Civil War, slavery, women's history, native Americans,
and black history; church-state relations; the westward expansion
of the Episcopal Church; and relations with other denominations,
particularly the Roman Catholic, Methodist, and Lutheran Churches,
as well as the Greek Orthodox Church (from 1826), the Russian
Orthodox Church (from 1840), the Church of Jesus in Mexico (1870s),
the Old Catholic Church in Europe (from 1871), and the ecumenical
movement. There is also much material on foreign missions, especially
in Greece and the Near East (from 1826), Africa (from 1820), China
(from 1835), Cuba (from 1869), and Haiti (from 1861).
The greater part of the archival collections are materials
related to the first six Bishops of Maryland:
- Thomas John Claggett (1742-1816)--over 1,000 manuscripts
regarding local and parish history, official certificates,
and other materials related to Claggett's ecclesiastical career
from 1767 to 1816. Claggett was the first Episcopal bishop
consecrated on American soil; his papers deal largely with
the development and administration of the Church after the
American Revolution, politics, local and parish history, and
other topics.
- James Kemp (1764-1827)--over 2,000 items dating from 1784
to 1827, including letters, sermons, notes, and official papers.
Topics covered include slavery, the Evangelical Episcopal
Church, and the War of 1812.
- William Murray Stone (1779-1838)--over 300 items, mostly
dating from 1802-1838, relating to parish affairs and Stone's
episcopate.
- William R. Whittingham (1805-1879)--Approximately 30,000
papers, including private correspondence, 1808-1886; Whittingham's
official correspondence and journals as Bishop of Maryland;
his minutes and notes on proceedings of the General Convention,
1832-1877; sermons, clippings, pastoral letters, circulars,
private diaries, sermons, and many other documents. The papers
contain much material on church affairs throughout the United
States, ca. 1823-1879; Civil War troubles; relations with
other denominations in this country and in Europe; missions,
particularly in the Near East, Greece, and Cuba; educational
enterprises; doctrinal controversies, and other topics. Much
personal and biographical information includes Whittingham's
early years as a clergyman in New York and New Jersey; his
work as librarian and professor at General Theological Seminary
in New York, and subsequently as a Trustee; editorial activities;
involvement with the Sunday School Union; travels in Europe;
and many other activities.
- William Pinkney (1810-1883)--over 500 cataloged items, including
letters, sermons, addresses, pamphlets, and record books.
Topics covered include canon law, organizational problems,
relations with the Methodists, and Church affairs during the
Civil War.
- William Paret (1826-1911)--a large collection of correspondence,
circulars, pastoral letters, sermons, visitation notices,
and other materials dealing with Church administration, missions,
rural church work among African Americans, and other topics.
In addition to papers of later bishops of the Diocese of Maryland,
there are large collections of papers of other Episcopalian bishops
in the U.S., including: Thomas Atkinson (1807-1881; Bishop of
North Carolina), Philander Chase (1775-1853; Bishop of Ohio, later
of Illinois), Arthur Cleveland Coxe (1818-1896; Bishop of Western
New York), George David Cummins (1822-1876; Assistant Bishop of
Kentucky, later founder of the Reformed Episcopal Church), George
Washington Doane (1799-1859; Bishop of New Jersey), Alexander
Viets Griswold (1766-1843; Bishop for the New England states),
John Prentiss Kewley Henshaw (1792-1852; Bishop of Rhode Island),
John Henry Hobart (1775-1830; Bishop of New York), Levi Silliman
Ives (1797-1867; Bishop of North Carolina), John Johns (1796-1876;
Bishop of Virginia), Jackson Kemper (1789-1870; Bishop for several
Midwestern states), John Barrett Kerfoot (1816-1881; Bishop of
Pittsburgh), Henry Champlin Lay (1823-1885; Missionary Bishop
of Arkansas and the Indian Territory, later Bishop of Easton),
Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873; Bishop of Ohio), William
Meade (1789-1862; Bishop of Virginia), Richard Channing Moore
(1762-1841; Bishop of Virginia); Benjamin Tredwell Onderdonk (1791-1861;
Bishop of New York), Horatio Potter (1802-1887; Bishop of New
York), Benjamin Bosworth Smith (1794-1884; Bishop of Kentucky);
Horatio Southgate (1812-1894; Missionary Bishop in the Ottoman
Empire), William Bacon Stevens (1815-1887; Bishop of Pennsylvania),
Henry Benjamin Whipple (1822-1901; Bishop of Minnesota), William
White (1748-1836; Bishop of Pennsylvania), and Richard Hooker
Wilmer (1816-1900; Bishop of Alabama).
Other materials include hundreds of sermons by Bishop Atkinson
(materials dated ca. 1826-1879, including sermons during the
Civil War), Rev. Joseph G.J. Bend (materials dated 1785-1812),
Rev. Thomas Cradock (materials dated ca. 1745-1770), and Bishop
William R. Whittingham (materials dated ca. 1825-1879); historical
writings of Rev. Ethan Allen (to 1879); the Chase Family Papers
(1738-1855) which include sermons and other items, 1738-1773,
by Baltimore rector Rev. Thomas Chase (1700-1779), as well as
voluminous materials about other members of that prominent Maryland
family; and papers of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore
(from 1911), the Corporation for the Relief of Widows and Children
of Deceased Clergymen (1783-1989), the Girls' Friendly Society
(1892-1958), the Hannah More Academy in Reisterstown (1834-1974),
the Maryland Society for Promoting Useful and Ornamental Knowledge
(minutes, 1798-1806), the Protestant Episcopal Brotherhood (ca.
1856-1966), and the Women's Auxiliary (1926-1968).
A catalog of approximately 165,000 cards indexes part of the
collection by name and subjects. There are also finding aids
for shelf locations. For further assistance, consult the Diocesan
Archivist.
- Microforms:
- One reel of microfilmed diaries of Bishop William R. Whittingham,
1823-1869; and three reels of microfilmed manuscripts from Duke
University pertaining to St. Paul's Parish, Baltimore.
- Maps:
- 37 maps, dated 1923-1983, including a large fold-out map showing
ten counties and thirty original parishes of Maryland as laid
out in 1692-1694 (published with The First Parishes of the
Province of Maryland by Percy G. Skirven, 1923); a large
framed map showing the location of churches in the Diocese of
Maryland, ca. 1970; 34 maps showing boundaries of parishes in
the Diocese as of 1960 (published with Parishes of the Diocese
of Maryland by Nelson G. Rightmyer, 1960); and a framed
map printed in 1983, showing the original Diocese of Maryland
and its division into the Diocese of Easton (1868) and the Diocese
of Washington (1895).
- Vertical files:
- Five file cases of materials, dated from 1698 to the present
and arranged by subject, including manuscripts, pamphlets, biographical
information, parish histories, clippings, photographs, official
documents, and ephemera, all related to the Episcopal Church,
the Church of England, and the Diocese of Maryland.
- Paintings, photographs, slides, and prints:
- A large number of uninventoried photographs, prints, and engravings
from the 19th and 20th centuries. Subjects include churches, church
events, clergy, lay people, and charitable institutions. There
are also three oil paintings of prominent clergy: Bishop William
R. Whittingham, ca. 1840, evidently copied from a daguerrotype;
Rev. William Francis Brand (1814-1907), ca. 1900; and Rev. Samuel
Jarvis Farmer (1786-1851), ca. 1840
- Other holdings not listed above:
- Scrapbooks of Reverend Ethan Allen (to 1879); the mitre and
other items pertaining to Bishop Thomas John Claggett.
African Americans--Missions; Anglican Communion; Apostolic succession;
Catholic Church; Church of England; Church of Jesus--Mexico; Claggett,
Thomas John, 1742-1816; Ecumenical movement; Episcopacy; Episcopal
Church; Episcopal Church--Diocese of Easton; Episcopal Church--Diocese
of Maryland; Episcopal Church--Diocese of Washington; General Theological
Seminary (N.Y.); Greek Orthodox Church; Indians of North America--Missions;
Liturgy; Lutheran Church; Missions and missionaries; Oxford movement;
Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia; Reformed Episcopal
Church; Religious education; Ritualism; Russian Orthodox Church; Sermons;
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Religious aspects; United
States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Religious aspects; Whittingham,
William Rollinson, 1805-1879
Hallowak, Thomas L., ed. Baltimore's Past: A Directory of
Historical Sources. Baltimore, MD: History Press, 1995. |