Presbyterian Historical Society launches dedicated #GivingTuesday campaign

PHILADELPHIA — When Presbyterians and people of goodwill the world over come together on #GivingTuesday on Dec. 2 to support the causes and programs that matter to them most, the Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) will top their list.

As the repository for more than 250,000 titles reflecting the history of the Presbyterian tradition in America and over 40,000 cubic feet of official records and personal papers, PHS regularly invites not only Presbyterians but also the public to use its resources to research and study a broad range of subjects.

Because “history matters,” according to PHS’s well-known watchword, the national archives of the PC(USA) is dedicating its #GivingTuesday campaign again this year to helping researchers and scholars.

All funds raised this year on #GivingTuesday will serve to support PHS’s Research Fellowship Program, which awards annual research and travel grants to eligible scholars, students and independent researchers who wish to use PHS’s rich holdings.

Since 2004, the program has supported scholarships in a range of fields including mission history, social justice movements and ecumenism. Fellows submit reports to PHS and are encouraged to publish their work in the Journal of Presbyterian History.

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“Even though we set an ambitious goal to support four Research Fellowships in 2026, we fully expect to meet or even surpass it thanks to an anonymous donor who has stepped up with a challenge gift of $5,000 for the past several years,” said Luci Duckson-Bramble, PHS’s director of development. “We are beyond grateful to this donor, who is committed to the important research projects these scholars are pursuing.”

According to Nancy J. Taylor, PHS’s executive director, the significance of scholarships and access to research materials has never been more important. Each grant of $2,500 is awarded through a competitive application process and can be used to cover travel, lodging and other research expenses. Consideration is given to those whose primary residence is more than 75 miles from Philadelphia.

“We’ve heard from past fellowship recipients how important it has been for their dissertation and book projects to visit PHS and do in-person research,” said Taylor. “I’m very glad PHS can provide financial assistance through the Research Fellowship Program.”

Because the history of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is deep, rich and important, PHS retains a devoted staff of archivists, communicators, administrators and fundraisers to ensure its collections are cared for and accessible.

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One grateful recipient of both financial and research assistance was 2025 Research Fellow Dr. Amber R. Clifford-Napoleone.

Clifford-Napoleone, who is both Professor of Anthropology and Director of the McClure Archives and University Museum at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, was awarded a grant for her project titled, “Haymaker and the Ki'che: A Reparative Study.”

The subject of Clifford-Napoleone’s research, Edward Haymaker, was a Presbyterian missionary and educator who lived in Guatemala for many years. Because Haymaker’s family was from Central Missouri, where they had returned after leaving Guatemala, they eventually donated a sizable collection to the university museum, not only of records but also of native-made fabrics and other craft materials. PHS also has significant holdings.

Haymaker, as only the second Protestant man in Guatemala, had what Clifford-Napoleone characterized as a “mixed attitude when it came to indigenous people [the Ki’che].” 

“I'm trying to create a system in the records and a way of talking about a missionary like Haymaker that also allows us to repair the relationship with the Ki’che that we have, at least in the record,” Clifford-Napoleone said of her project.

Her ambitious research complements the important work that PHS is already doing through its Reparative Description Committee, which seeks to “revisit, reconsider, and ultimately adjust the way we as archives describe or characterize marginalized groups, especially when our description inflicts harm.”

In commending Clifford-Napoleone for the fellowship Dr. Michael Sawyer, Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science at UCM, wrote, “Dr. Clifford’s proposal to create a reparative catalog of the PHS and UCM Haymaker Collections is promising indeed, holding value not only to our respective institutions but to the Ki’che indigenous communities and all who find value in furthering our understanding of the relationships and interactions between early Presbyterian missionaries and the indigenous cultures among which they lived and worked.”

Clifford-Napoleone’s research, Sawyer noted, will aid the missions of both the UCM museum and the PHS.

“Both will benefit with a cross-referenced documentation of the collection which can help both groups build stronger relationships with descendant populations,” he said.

As a researcher, scholar and museum director employed by a small university, Clifford-Napoleone was particularly grateful to PHS for the generous grant.

“We don't have the kind of money necessary to send me somewhere to do research,” she said. “And it's a teaching college, so I don't necessarily have a lot of time to do the research either, because I teach a full load and direct the museum. But the fellowship allowed me to say to my dean and administrators, ‘I got this fellowship and I'm leaving,’ and be able to carve that time. So it's been just incredibly useful. I’m really happy and lucky to have it.”

Click here to give now in support of the PHS’s #GivingTuesday effort to fund its Research Fellowship program to ensure that more researchers like Amber Clifford-Napoleone have access to the archives! To watch an interview with Clifford-Napoleone, click here.