The Catholic Historical Research Center (CHRC) of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was created in 1989 by His Eminence Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua to collect, preserve, and make available to the public the historical sources illuminating the growth of Catholicism in the United States.  CHRC’s collection includes records that document the history of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as well as the collections of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, the oldest Catholic historical society in the country. 

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. The CHRC also preserves and makes available to researchers records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, which document the history and culture of Catholicism in the United States.