Research access will be limited until Sept. 1
The Archives of The Episcopal Church is closed to the public and to extensive research requests until Aug. 1 as it relocates to a new facility in Austin, Texas.
For the past 60 years, Seminary of the Southwest in Austin has hosted the Archives. A campus renovation scheduled to begin in June necessitated the need for the Archives to relocate. The Episcopal Church extends its heartfelt thanks to the seminary and its president, the Very Rev. Cynthia Kittredge, for their generous hospitality.
The move to a new facility in Austin’s Highland neighborhood is expected to be completed by Sept. 1. As the physical archives are packed for transit starting April 15, the staff will only be able to access common reference items and documents of known business operation. The staff hopes to begin processing inquiries again by Aug. 1.
Archives users are asked to plan accordingly and to consult the digital archives at https://www.episcopalarchives.org/.
Staff will attempt to respond to internal business requests, such as priority legal or Executive Council research, but internal survey questions requiring extensive interpretation and reporting, as well as questions from the public, will be impossible to research effectively during the transition.
Below are additional instructions for specific groups:
- Researchers with an urgent need for vital personal information they believe is in the national Archives (almost all sacramental records are held by local parishes or dioceses) should call the Archives at 512-472-6816.
- Dioceses and parishes requesting consultation in records retention and archival documentation should check the resources tab at https://www.episcopalarchives.org/ but may also call the Archives for quick assistance.
- lndividuals associated with the General Convention and Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society may continue to contact the archives for mission-critical information.
Archivists will do their best to accommodate these inquiries, but deep research will be extremely unlikely. All other historical inquiries will be queued for a response after Sept. 1.