The American Catholic Historical Society (ACHS) is a

historical society A historical society is non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, and promoting the history of a particular place, group of people, or topic. They play a crucial role in promoting historical awareness and understan ...

based at 263 South Fourth Street,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Founded in 1884, it is the oldest Catholic historical society in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The goal of the society is to collect, research, and maintain historical records relating to the contribution of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

to American society and culture. The American Catholic Historical Society was founded in response to

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

's 1883

pastoral letter A pastoral letter, often simply called a pastoral, is an open letter addressed by a bishop to the clergy or laity of a diocese or to both, containing general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circu ...

on historical studies, '' Saepenumero considerantes''. The society was organized on July 22, 1884, received the blessing of the pope on January 10, 1886, and formally approved by the Archbishop of Philadelphia,

Patrick John Ryan Patrick John Ryan (February 20, 1831 – February 11, 1911) was an Irish-born Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1884 until his death in 1911. Early life and education Patrick Ryan was born in Thurles, County Tippera ...

, on September 6, 1886. The Catholic Historical Research Center of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Archdiocese of Philadelphia () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia originally included all of Pennsylvania and Dela ...

houses the society's manuscript collections.

''American Catholic Studies''

The American Catholic Historical Society issues the oldest continuously published Catholic scholarly journal in the United States, entitled ''American Catholic Studies.'' The journal was founded in 1887 as the ''Records'', and merged with ''American Catholic Historical Researches'' in 1913. The ''Researches'' had been the project of Msgr. Andrew Arnold Lambing and his short-lived Ohio Valley Historical Society. When that society dissolved in 1886, Martin I. J. Griffin carried on its work, and as librarian of the ACHS, oversaw its merger with the journal of the Philadelphia society. Since 1999, the journal, under its current name, has been published on a quarterly basis by

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

References

External links

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American Catholic Historical Society Manuscript Collections
{{Authority control Catholic Church in Pennsylvania Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia Villanova University Historical societies in Pennsylvania Organizations established in 1884