Truth and Reconciliation Ministry Oral History Project

In a time when the Episcopal Church, and the Diocese of Maryland in particular, is deeply devoted to reconciliation work among its congregants, we feel that it is our responsibility as members of St. Anne’s to do that work in our own community as best we can.

To that end, we are launching an oral history project to hear stories about what St. Anne’s was like during the 1960s and 1970s, a time of civil and racial unrest.  We would like to capture as many memories as we can from those who were familiar with St. Anne’s during that period.  Whatever those memories are, whether the narrator was a child, a young adult, an established member of St. Anne’s, or someone adjacent to the church, we would love to hear and preserve them.  These are original sources for this part of our parish’s history, and we don’t feel that a full understanding of that time can be achieved without including these voices.

Our process includes identifying potential narrators, asking if they would be willing to participate in the oral history project, conducting interviews, gathering the recorded interviews, working with a professional transcriber to produce transcripts of the interviews, archiving record copies of all materials at the Diocesan archives, and determining the best way to share the results with our congregation and others.  Our interview team has participated in training conducted by a professional oral historian and, given the sensitivity of sharing personal and potentially difficult memories, every effort is being made to handle the interviews respectfully and in a manner that allows participants to feel comfortable with the process.

We are still discerning the best way to present the results of this project within and external to St. Anne’s so that we may all understand this part of our history.  We have worked to some extent on this project with St. Philip’s, whose history during some of this period is also our history, and the two churches participated jointly in the oral history training.  St. Philip’s is conducting a separate but parallel oral history project and we hope that in time we may find ways to share our results with each other.  

If you have a personal story to share about your experiences with St. Anne’s from the 1960s or 1970s, please email Herb Fowler at hfowler5634@gmail.com.

Frances Burke, Co-Chair, St. Anne’s Truth and Reconciliation Ministry