The Pennsylvania State Archives is pleased to offer another event in its Community History Dialog Series: Preserving Your Congregation's History, which will be held online, April 28th from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Join us in this online discussion to inspire and help social communities think about how they can collect and preserve their own history. The event is free but requires registration.

Click here to register or copy and paste this link in your browser: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsce-qpjIsHNQXmICQI2ZIJD5IxMS46GeQ

Preserving Your Congregation's History

Many communities are brought together by shared religious views, beliefs and experiences. Preserving the stories of congregations — whether they are newly formed or have gathered for generations — is critical to understanding that community's history and the larger history we all share. Join us to learn how Mother Bethel AME Church, Christ Church, Philadelphia, and Beth Sholom Synagogue of Johnstown have been working to preserve the records and stories of their congregations and how your worship community might preserve its own history.

Speakers:

• Margaret Jerrido, Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church
• Carol Smith, Christ Church, Philadelphia
• Barry Rudel, Beth Sholom Synagogue of Johnstown

About the Community History Dialog Series:  A social community is a group of people who share some common characteristic, attitude, interest, or goals and who consider themselves to be a community. Communities might be connected by ethnic or cultural backgrounds, sexual orientation or gender identity, religious beliefs, or other shared experiences, and can be represented by a formal organization, or a community’s members can be more loosely connected. The goal of the Community History Dialog is to help such communities identify and preserve their history.

The Pennsylvania State Archives started this series in 2020 to gather community groups, archivists, and others to share their own experiences collecting and preserving their community’s stories and offer guidance. These discussions are helpful to groups just beginning to preserve their history or those who have significant collections already but are seeking next steps.

Recordings of previous Community History Dialog events and additional resources for community history projects can be found here:https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/News-Programs/CHD/Pages/default.aspx