Church Historical Society Meets
Diocesan Press Service. August 1, 1973 [73184]
AUSTIN, Tex. -- The annual meeting of the Church Historical Society was held May 26. at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Tex., where the Society has its headquarters and Archives. The following matters of business were discussed.
(1) Three new members of the Executive Board were elected, all of them knowledgeable concerning our Archives: The Ven. Charles F. Rehkopf, Archdeacon of Missouri; the Rev. Canon Gerald N. McAllister of San Antonio; and the Rev. Dr. W. Roland Foster, Dean-elect of the General Theological Seminary. These Board members succeed three who asked that they not be nominated for another term: Mrs. James Walker Cain of Houston, Dr. James F. Hodges of the Diocese of Olympia, and Dr. William A. Clebsch of Stanford University. We shall miss them very much, for all of them have given distinguished service to the Society.
(2) We are proceeding this summer to the necessary constructions on the second floor of the library of the Seminary. Our contract with the Seminary trustees has been renewed for a seven year period, in which we shall now have the use of the entire second floor of the Seminary library, rent free. The Seminary agrees to undertake the costs of lighting and air conditioning, and the Society is undertaking the cost of constructing a new fire wall for the protection of the Archives. The Society shall also pay for all new equipment necessary for the care and preservation of our collection -- such equipment to be a permanent possession of the Archives.
We are able to do this needed work because of the funds in our "Friends of the Archives" account. In particular, we are grateful for two large gifts for this purpose -- one of $10,000 from the Church Missions Publishing Company, another of $25,000 from Trinity Parish in New York City. We shall, however, have to use all of the funds in the " Friends " account to do the necessary work of reconstruction and providing for new equipment.
We are grateful to Bishop Walter H. Gray for his assistance in gaining some of these needed funds, and we regret his resignation as chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Friends. Also, Dr. Clifford Morehouse has given invaluable time and assistance on this Committee, especially with respect to the grant from Trinity Parish. We are now in the process of re-organizing the Advisory Committee, and I am asking Canon McAllister, who is in frequent touch with our offices in Austin, to serve as chairman.
(3) We are setting up a committee at " 815 " which will secure a regular depositing of important papers of the national Church headquarters in the Archives. I hope that by the end of the summer we will have a working committee at " 815 " which will be responsible for this project. It is extremely crucial that significant papers from the national headquarters, which are a vital part of the Church's official archival collections, not be lost or destroyed. Sensitive papers of a confidential nature can always be sealed from the use of researchers for a designated period. This is one of the rules we have established for the use of the Archives.
(4) We are presenting to the General Convention a much larger proposed budget than we did in 1970. Obviously, the increased size and scope of our archival collections and the increasing use of them calls for more assistance to the Archivist than we have at present, and prospects for the next ten years suggest that the archival collections are steadily increasing in volume. We hope that the General Convention will understand our difficulties, even as we realize the serious concerns it has at the present time in adjusting the national Church's budgets.
(5) We shall not have a booth at the General Convention, since past experience has proven that such a booth does not contribute in any way to the increase in membership in the Society. We have, however, in this past year had a notable increase in membership due to promotional work in our offices in Austin, especially by Dr. Lawrence L. Brown, editor of the Historical Magazine, and Mrs. Inez Wimberly. The Magazine pays for itself out of subscriptions and advertising, and we are happy to announce a steady increase in subscriptions to it. We hope you will be an advocate of the Magazine with any persons or parishes whom you believe would be interested in it.
Massey H. Shepherd, Jr. President