Historical Society of the Episcopal Church

[Release] Historical Society of the Episcopal Church Contributes $20,000 to African American Episcopal Historical Collection Endowment

13 Nov 2026 12:00 AM | HSEC Director of Operations (Administrator)

The Historical Society of the Episcopal Church (HSEC) has committed $20,000 to the African American Episcopal Historical Collection (AAEHC) Endowment at Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS). This contribution matches an earlier gift from the Seminary and represents a tangible investment in the long-term preservation and stewardship of African American Episcopal history.

Established in 2003 as a joint archival project of Virginia Theological Seminary and the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, the AAEHC documents and preserves the history, personal papers, institutional records, and oral histories of Black Episcopalians in the United States. The collection is housed in the Bishop Payne Library at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.

HSEC supports the vision that the AAEHC Endowment Fund will ensure the collection continues to be expertly managed by professionals of the highest caliber in perpetuity. This contribution underscores the two institutions' shared commitment to the collection's long-term success, preservation, and institutional continuity.

Preserving and Sharing Black Episcopal History

The AAEHC provides several opportunities for research, education, and participation:

Archival Collections: The AAEHC actively accepts personal papers, photographs, institutional records, and other materials documenting the experiences and contributions of Black Episcopalians.
Oral History Program: The program conducts and preserves first-person interviews documenting the lives and experiences of Black Episcopalians. Interview transcripts are accessible through the AAEHC, with recordings available on YouTube.
Research Travel Grants: Co-sponsored by the AAEHC and HSEC, these grants reimburse eligible faculty, students, clergy, and independent researchers for travel, meals, lodging, and research expenses associated with using the collection.

Supporting the Future of the Collection

The endowment gift strengthens the financial foundation needed to ensure the AAEHC remains a professionally managed and accessible resource for future generations of researchers, historians, and the wider Episcopal Church.

Individuals interested in supporting the AAEHC may make a contribution through Virginia Theological Seminary's giving page: https://give.vts.edu/page.aspx?pid=298.

Those interested in donating personal papers or photographs, participating in the Oral History Program, or learning more about research opportunities are encouraged to contact the AAEHC at AskAAEHC@vts.edu.

As the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, we acknowledge the ancestral and unceded territories of all the Indigenous Peoples who call the lands inhabited by the Episcopal Church home, as well as the diverse and vibrant Indigenous Communities who make their homes here today. We acknowledge that the lands were seized through violence, colonization, and displacement, and we acknowledge the historical erasure and ongoing harms experienced by Indigenous peoples through massacres, resource exploitation, and forced assimilation. We commit to uplifting Indigenous voices, addressing ongoing colonial legacies, and working together to build a just and equitable future.