Long before Borough Hall\, the State Archi ves or even Facebook gathered details on people&rsquo\;s daily lives\, one &rsquo\;s church might be the only place making note of your birth\, death \, and milestones in between. The history held by these churches is a trea sure\, but a buried one. These houses of worship were designed to serve th eir congregants and a religious purpose\, not the needs of academics and o thers searching for illumination of the past. Five years ago\, Carol Smith and the Christ Church Preservation Trust undertook to unearth these treas ures\, hold them up to the light and place them where all could see it.
\nCarol&rsquo\;s work with Christ Church led to a major public-records project to publish the long-hidden records of more than a dozen of Philad elphia&rsquo\;s oldest congregations. She&rsquo\;ll recount these efforts and some of the stories discovered in her \;upcoming (virtual) talk.\n
Carol W. Smith is an independent curator and archivist who has work ed with the Christ Church Archives since 2005 when she was hired to create a digital archives website. \; Since then\, that website\, \;www. christchurch.org\, through her efforts has made available to the public a wealth of information about the history\, records and precious artifacts o f that 325-year-old national treasure. She has worked to create exhibits\, oversee the move and expansion of the archives\, undertake an oral histor y program\, oversee conservation treatment of artifacts and archival holdi ngs and increase digital access to materials. \;
\nBuilding on h er work at Christ Church\, she now heads a major public-records project th at involves publishing the long-hidden records of more than a dozen of Phi ladelphia&rsquo\;s oldest congregations. To date\, more than 82\,000 recor ds of burials\, marriages\, baptisms\, and church-related events from the 18th \;and 19th \;centuries have been digitized and posted publicl y. Together\, they constitute a trove of hitherto-hidden material that wil l be a very valuable resource for genealogical and academic researchers.&n bsp\;The five-year project\, now nearing completion\, was funded initially by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through the Council \; on Library and Information Resources\, with supplemental funding from the Pennsylvani a Historical and Museum Commission and the Connelly Foundation. The result s of that project can be viewed at \;www.philadelphiacongregations.org \;. In 2022 she received the Sister M. Claude Lane award from the Soc iety of American Archivists \;for her work on this project. \;
\nCarol Smith has a BA in American Civilization and an MA in Material C ulture from the University of Pennsylvania in American Civilization and is a certified archivist. \; Other long-term clients include The Philade lphia \;Contributionship\, Fireman&rsquo\;s Hall Museum and the Carpen ters&rsquo\; Company of the City and County of Philadelphia (Carpenters&rs quo\; Hall). \;
\nRegister in advance for this program!
\nAfter registering\, you will receive a confirmation email containing infor mation about joining the program
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