Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska Records

Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska Records A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2011 Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms011165 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm82038695 Prepared by Antoinette Shalkop, Brian McGuire, Vera W. DeBuchananne, and staff members of the Manuscript and European divisions of the Library of Congress Collection Summary Title: Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska Records Span Dates: 1733-1938 ID No.: MSS38695 Creator: Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America. Diocese of Alaska Extent: 87,000 items ; 748 containers plus 23 oversize ; 326 linear feet ; 402 microfilm reels Language: Collection material in Russian, with English, French, and Ukrainian. Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Principally ecclesiastical records relating to the administration of the numerous parishes and chapels of the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska, and, to a lesser extent, in Canada and the United States, comprising correspondence, registers of births, marriages, and deaths, confession and communion records, a clergy dossier, orders and edicts (ukases) from imperial and ecclesiastical authorities, financial records, diaries and travel journals, photographs, printed matter, and other material. Includes material relating to missionary work among the Tlingit Indians; Russian administration of Alaska through the bureaucracy of the church; schools and education; the Russian-American Company; and papers of various church officials, including Tikhon Bellavin, Evdokim Meshcherskii, and John S. Kedrovsky. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Evdokim, Archbishop of the Aleutian Islands and North America, 1869-1935. Kedrovsky, John S. (John Savva), 1879-1934. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, 1865-1925. Organizations Rossiĭsko-amerikanskai͡a kompanii͡a. Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America. Diocese of Alaska. Subjects Education--Alaska. Indians of North America--Missions--Alaska. Missions--Russia. Registers of births, etc.--Alaska. Tlingit Indians. Places Alaska--Religion. Alaska--Statistics, Vital. Canada--Religion. Administrative Information Provenance The records of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska were received by the Library of Congress in 1927 as a gift of the Most Reverend John S. Kedrovsky, Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Churches in North America and Canada; in 1940 as a gift of the Metropolitan Council of the Church; and in 1943 as a gift of the Right Reverend Nicholas J. Kedroff through a transfer from the New York City Historical Records Survey of the Work Projects Administration. Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska Records 2 Processing History In 1979 the State of Alaska joined with the Library of Congress in funding a project to organize and describe all of the records making up the Library's collection of the Alaskan Russian Church Archives and to produce a microfilm edition. The project was conducted by Antoinette Shalkop and completed in 1984. The finding aid was revised in 2011. Additional Guides In 1936-1938 the records that had been received in 1927 were described in part in an Alaska History Research Project in nine volumes of typescript entitled Documents Relative to the History of Alaska available in the Manuscript Division Reading Room and on microfilm in the Microform Reading Room. Vital Statistics (Series E) in these records have been indexed in four segments: 1816-1866 (3 vols.), 1867-1889 (2 vols), 1890-1899 (1 vol.), and 1900-1936 (1 vol.); and these indexes are available on microfilm (see footnote to Container E1). Copyright Status The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.). Access and Restrictions The records of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Microfilm A microfilm edition of these papers is available on 402 reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition. Preferred Citation Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska, Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Chronology Date Event 1741, July Discovery of Alaska mainland by Vitus Bering and Aleksei Chirikov in two different locations 1743 Temporary Russian stations established along the discovery route 1759, Nov. Establishment of the Irkutsk, Nerchinsk, and Iatkutsk Diocese 1784, Aug. Grigorii Shelikhov formed a permanent Russian settlement at Three Saints Bay, Kodiak Island 1794, Sept. Establishment of the first Russian mission on Kodiak Island 1796, July Establishment of the Kodiak Vicariate under the Irkutsk Diocese 1799, July Charter granted by Emperor Paul I to the Russian-American Company 1799 Aleksandr A. Barnov established the first settlement at Novo-Arkhangelsk on Sitka Island, now called Baranov Island Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska Records 3 1802, June Massacre at Novo-Arkhangelsk by Tlingit Indians 1804 Tlingit settlement destroyed, new fort built; became Sitka, which was the center of Russian activity in North America until 1866 1808 A small chapel erected on Unalaska 1812, Sept. Fort Ross built on the California shoreline, north of San Francisco Bay 1816 Aleksei Sokolov, the first Russian priest in Novo-Arkhangelsk, began service 1824, July Ivan Evseviev Popov (Anginskii), later called Ioann Veniaminov, and subsequently Bishop Innokentii, appointed first missionary priest to Unalaska 1834, Aug. Veniaminov transferred to Sitka 1840, Dec. Veniaminov became Bishop of the Kamchatka, Kurile, and Aleutian Islands Diocese Count Nikolai Aleksandrovich Protassov, Over Procurator of the Synod, issued ukaz proclaiming the establishment of a special diocese formed by the churches of Russian American settlements and neighboring areas 1859, Mar. Fedor Ekaterinovskii made Bishop and placed in charge of the Novo-Arkhangelsk Vicariate 1866, Nov. Petr Popov made Bishop 1867, Oct. Ceremony of transfer of Alaska to the United States 1868, Jan. Veniaminov became Metropolitan of Moscow 1870, June Stefan Egorov Mitropolskii became Bishop of newly established ecclesiatical center of the Aleutian and Alaskan Diocese Church headquarters transferred from Sitka to San Francisco 1878, Dec. Nikolai Pavlovich Zass became Bishop Nestor 1887, Dec. Vasilii Sokolovskii became Bishop Vladimir 1891, Sept. Mikhail Zakharovich Ziorov became Bishop Nikolai, the last Bishop of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska 1900 Diocese title changed to Aleutian Islands and North America 1905 Episcopal See transferred from San Francisco to New York Scope and Content Note The records of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska form a highly varied and extensive collection of more than 87,000 items that spans two hundred years, from the 1730s to the 1930s. Siberian documents date from as early as 1733, during the reign of Empress Anna Ivanovna, and 1758, during that of Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great. Vast geographical areas are also accounted for, since the records trace the Church's expansion from Siberia throughout the widespread settlements of Alaska and across the United States and Canada. Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Diocese of Alaska Records 4 The bulk of the collection, however, relates to the history of the Russian Orthodox Church (hereafter referred to as the Church) in Alaska. Although most of the reports and papers in the collection originated in ecclesiastical offices, they also reflect much of the secular life of the communities in which parishes were established. This is due in part to the fact that the priests functioned not only as agents of their Church, but of the Russian government as well. From the Synod of 1721, opened by Peter the Great, until the revolution of 1917, the Church in Russia was an integral part of the imperial bureaucracy. Thus, in areas where there were insufficient civil servants, the clergy assumed certain secular functions that required them to work closely with local inhabitants. They kept records of vital statistics, took the census, and performed a variety of less well defined duties. Even in the most remote areas, clergymen were informed of the latest government regulations through decrees or ukases. Diocesan control over Alaskan parishes, and later over those in the United States and Canada, shifted from place to place. Such authority first emanated from Siberia,

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