Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society
Records Preservation Project Begins in Diocese
Wilkes Barre - The term "archives" usually conjures images of yellowed, brittle papers stuffed in cardboard boxes in a basement storehouse or tucked in an old filing cabinet in the corner of an unused office.
That can frequently be the case with church records, which are invaluable in Northeast Pennsylvania because complete civil records weren't kept until the turn of the century.
A project is now underway in the Diocese of Scranton to begin preserving some church related records for safer keeping, a project that meets with the Vatican's directive that renewed attention be paid to the preservation of church archives with the approach of the new millennium.
With the approval of Bishop James C. Timlin in consultation with Chancellor James Earley, who is canonically responsible for diocesan archives, the Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society of Shavertown will begin preserving burial records at cemeteries around the diocese.
The project began this week at the largest Catholic cemetery in the diocese, St. Mary's Cemetery in Hanover Township, with its approximately 57,000 burial records.
The society will place the St. Mary's Cemetery records, currently kept on large note cards, on microfilm using a computerized process that also tracks and indexes the records.
The society, which uses the services of people trained in microfilming and document security, does not charge for its services. Burial records are public documents, so one set of records is maintained in the Genealogical Society library and the cemetery office is given a complete back-up security microfilm set for its files.
"We have full confidence in the professionalism of the Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society and its ability to provide this invaluable service to our cemeteries," said Bishop James C. Timlin.
The group has already filmed the records of 36 cemeteries, mostly from the Susquehanna River flood plain in Luzerne County, where some cemeteries have lost records to past floods.
"Scores upon scores of those original, single source cemetery records have already been destroyed by floods and fires and all those remaining are daily at risk of being destroyed and lost forever," explained Dean Sawyer of the Genealogical Society.
The group is beginning its long range project with cemetery records because these are often the only records that contain birth, marriage and death information prior to the late 1800's, according to Sawyer.
An added benefit of the service is that the Genealogical Society will make the records available in its library for people doing genealogical research, saving parish staff members hours of time looking for records.
"In the past, we have had many genealogical requests from around the country, and it has become almost impossible to respond to the all," said Msgr. Thomas Banick, pastor of St. Mary's Church in Wilkes Barre.
In a 1997 circular letter on the Pastoral Function of Church Archives from the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, it is noted that "archives are places of memory of the Christian community and storehouses of culture for the new evangelization."
The letter continues to outline the need for archival preservation, including the use of modern technology and collaborative efforts with civil groups.
"The Vatican focus on the preservation of records shows its importance to the Church at all levels," said Earley, who met with Sawyer prior to approving the project. "We encourage pastors and cemetery directors to take advantage of the services offered by Mr. Sawyer and his organization."
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