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News, events, updates, and tidbits from the Presbyterian Historical Society. Use tags to read related articles or sort by author for similar posts written by PHS staff members and volunteers.

June 22, 2023

At the end of June, Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II will conclude his historic tenure as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). Throughout his seven years in the role, Rev. Nelson’s leadership has inspired the Presbyterian Historical Society in immeasurable ways. He has compelled and empowered us to consider how PHS, the national archives of the PC(USA), can do more to document a fuller history of the church; he has guided us through challenging and trying times with grace and compassion; and he reminds us all that history can inform, inspire, and...

June 12, 2023

Harmful Content Alert: This story contains outdated and offensive language. 

In the South in the early 1960s, churches debated whether and how to accommodate African Americans who came to worship. The US Supreme Court's Brown v. Board decision upended legal segregation, and intentionally intercultural congregations emerged to challenge both de facto and de jure segregation in the church. Berea in St. Louis, responding to combined white flight and...

May 30, 2023
Synod of Catawba meeting, 1925.[Pearl ID: 2142]

The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) is the recipient of a 2023 grant from the Pennsylvania Abolition Society Endowment Fund, following a recommendation by Ms. Cindy Little.

The $1,800 grant, awarded to the Society’s...

May 1, 2023

Each month, the Presbyterian Historical Society is bearing witness to the lives of African American leaders throughout the history of the PC(USA). Click here to learn how PHS is collecting records of the Black Presbyterian experience through the African American Leaders and Congregations Initiative.

Additionally, a free bulletin insert about each figure is available for download at the end of...

April 25, 2023

Mary Jane Patterson was born on February 12th, 1924, in Marietta, Ohio. At that time in southern Ohio, very few African American families lived there. Mary Jane spoke of this time fondly and noted that she was not very aware of race relations growing up because she lived in an integrated town. After her high school graduation, she moved to Columbus, Ohio, where her worldview changed drastically. It was her first encounter with more extreme forms of segregation, and she became more acquainted with the blooming civil rights movement taking hold in the 1940s. 

She enrolled in...

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