Preserving the Past, Empowering the Future
The Presbyterian Historical Society has been the faithful steward of archives for the Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.) for over 170 years.
As we live into our new mission to Collect, Preserve, Share, and Transform, we are poised to expand outreach and education in the denomination, further community collaborations, and ensure that the PHS building is accessible to everyone.
To that end, we are proud to announce Preserving the Past, Empowering the Future. This campaign will enable PHS to increase its outward facing engagement across the denomination and the wider community. The goal is to raise $500,000 by the end of 2025. We are halfway there and will use the next two years to reach that goal.
Please join us!
Explore how funds raised through Preserving the Past, Empowering the Future will help us expand outreach, strenghten collaboration, and create a welcoming environment.
The Society will use funds raised through the Campaign to hire a fulltime outreach specialist who will create and amplify PHS educational resources for the PC(USA) and connected communities. In particular, the outreach specialist will lead efforts to assist mid councils and congregations in gathering and sharing their histories in new and transformative ways.
PHS has always valued opportunities to collaborate with community-based organizations to amplify the impact of our archival collections. Through our partnership with Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), for example, students have engaged with materials from our archives and created projects that transformed their understanding of history and Presbyterianism.
Campaign funds will help continue the collaboration with CCP, and PHS will use that as a framework for future work with similar institutions.
The volume of visitors to PHS has steadily increased with the reopening of our building following the pandemic, and upgrades are required to make the building more accessible.
The Campaign will fund an ADA compliant access ramp and new furnishings in the reading room with table-top electrical outlets, comfortable and ergonomic chairs, and task lighting. Creating a warm and welcoming environment is critical in our efforts to share our archives.
