General Support
Annual Fund
Your gift to PHS provides support for the programs and services that are core to our mission. They also help us to improve the historic building that houses PHS’s state-of-the-art archives and research facility.
Below are some examples of what your tax-deductible annual gift supports!
- Special coverings that permanently preserve our most fragile rare books
- Attestations for important life events such as baptisms and marriages
- Acquisition of historic documents and materials that enhance our collection
- Digitization of thirty minutes of 8mm film from the PHS archives
- Expansion of our digital collections for increased public access to archival materials
Gifts to the Annual Fund also support the following initiatives:
African American perspectives and experiences remain under-represented in the annals of Presbyterian history. We are bringing human and capital resources to bear on collecting records of the Black Presbyterian experience--both the personal records of longtime church workers, and the original records of Black congregations. This collecting initiative redoubles PHS's efforts to document Black lives, work, and witness in an increasingly multicultural Church—from the organization of the First African Presbyterian Church in 1807 to the election of the first African American stated clerk of the PC(USA) in 2016.
Learn more about this initiative here.
In 2016, PHS began collecting records in memory of Pam Byers—the first Executive Director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians—to document fully all sides and perspectives on the forty-year movement for ordination and marriage rites in the PC(USA). Through her generosity, faith, and commitment to justice, Pam McLucas Byers united Presbyterians across the theological spectrum in conversations about the rights of LGBTQIA+ Presbyterians. Support the Presbyterian Historical Society as we extend our reach across the denomination and uncover new opportunities to add to the Pam Byers Memorial Collection by indicating that your gift is being made in honor of Pam.
Read about Pam Byers here.
The PHS pathway, known as Heritage Walk, includes pavers inscribed with the names of family members, friends, colleagues, pastors, mentors, and congregations—people and institutions our supporters choose to honor or memorialize at our Philadelphia location.
We invite you to reserve your own brick today for inclusion on Heritage Walk! Bricks can be purchased and engraved for installation for a donation of $200. All brick paver purchases are fully tax-deductible.
