OUR HISTORY

Welcome to the history section of the website. Here you will find materials that give a quick overview of major developments from the colonial period to the present, as well as more in-depth examinations of particular times, places and figures.

In this diocese, we strive to tell the story of our church as faithfully and as fully as we can. This means a willingness to explore and bring to light hitherto neglected areas of our past. Since 2006, this has meant paying attention to our racial history, to tracing the impact of slavery and segregation and the struggle to dismantle racism. It has meant lifting up the stories of the Black Episcopal Church and its leaders, such as the Ven. Odell Greenleaf Harris; the Rev. Thomas White Cain, in whose memory All Saints’, Warrenton was built; and the Rt. Rev. Henry Beard Delany.

It has also meant paying attention to the women of the Episcopal Church, whose stories have too often been overlooked. Among the documents posted here, you will find the stories of Sarah Hunter, who spearheaded the building of St. Agnes Hospital​ on the grounds of St. Augustine’s University, and of Bertha Richards, who oversaw the Bishop Tuttle Training School, an early school of social work in the South, also located at St. Augustine’s, erected and funded by the National Women’s Auxiliary.

To encourage the telling of our history, we have occasionally held special programs at our annual conventions, and since 2012, we have regularly held annual “History Days” throughout the diocese. Papers and programs from these occasions are posted here, and we are always adding new material.

We hope you will find these offerings useful in broadening and deepening your understanding of our diocesan heritage.

-The Rev. N. Brooks Graebner, Historiographer