




Behind Halvey's Lens
A Photographic History of Catholic Philadelphia
CHRC holds one of the largest collections of
Catholic newspapers in the United States.
CHRC has numerous images of churches, religious persons, events, and places relating to the history of the Archdiocese.
The Manuscript Collection includes records of all of the bishops and archbishops of Philadelphia up to the present. The Manuscript Collection of the American Catholic Historical Society (ACHS) includes the papers of prominent Catholic clergy, laity, and institutions.
Stay connected as we highlight and explore
a different piece of our collection in each post.
Welcome to the Catholic Historical Research Center of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The purpose of the Catholic Historical Research Center (CHRC) is to collect, preserve, and make available for research the official records of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and those ancillary records and items that reflect the growth and development of Catholicism within the Archdiocese in accordance with the approved Collection Access Policy.
NEWS
Parish Mapping Project
Explore our maps of the parish boundaries from different points over the history of the Archdiocese:
View the 1971 parish boundary map here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1kAuttxjUNIOTogr05zzDB31kB9gq4myC&usp=sharing
View the 1921 parish boundary map here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=12hZun1-1hUN1DowqK7ICETiiYl4dIndo&usp=sharing
View the 1891 parish boundary map here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1Yhysl8mMehtqFoBYKT5_WX0uHKT4O-pB&usp=sharing
The Catholic Historical Research Center of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia receives grant in the amount of $20,720 from The Ambassador's Fund for Catholic Education!
Catholic Heritage Archive
Check out this great new resource powered by FindMyPast! The Catholic Heritage Archive is a digital archives containing thousands of parish records! You can flip through the marriage and baptismal records for each of the Archdiocese's parishes and best of all its FREE to use!
https://www.catholicheritagearchive.com/
New Digital Resources Available!
CHRC joined with FindMyPast to make historical parish baptismal and marriage records available to the public. Pre-1919 records are on-line and can be searched and downloaded. Also available are the Philadelphia Roman Catholic Diocesan Newspapers, from 1833-Sept. 28, 1951 with some gaps when either issues were missing or a newspaper was not published. Click here for information about Catholic newspapers in Philadelphia.Â
All the records are indexed and keyword searchable. The search is free; however, to view the records a subscription to Findmypast is required.