Historical Society of the Episcopal Church

About the Manross Lecture

The Manross Lecture, named for Historian and the Society's chief benefactor William Wilson Manross (1905-1987), was inaugurated in 2006. Manross was librarian of the Church Historical Society from 1948 until 1956. He was professor of church history and librarian at the Philadelphia Divinity School from 1958 until his retirement in 1973. His two major books are A History of the American Episcopal Church (1935), and The Episcopal Church in the United States, 1800-1840: A Study in Church Life (1938). Read more about him from an article in Anglican and Episcopal History below.

Manross Lectures

2026 "Now is the time for a Black Bishop: The surprising agreement between African Americans and English High Churchmen in the 1850s." The Rev. Benjamin King, Ph.D.
Video
2023 "A New Era in Engaged Anglican & Episcopal History: Memory, Legacy & Embodied Practice." The Rev. Dr. Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook, PhD, EdD.
Video | PDF
2018 "Religion, Art, and Money: Episcopalians and American Culture from the Civil War to the Great Depression." Dr. Peter W. Williams.
2015 "White Lies That Tell the Truth of the Landscape: Mapping the Episcopal Church and The Impact of 'Place' On Religion. Dr. Philip L. Barlow.
2012 "This Great Day of Suffering," The Rev. Dr. Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr.
2009 "Anglican History in the 21st Century: Remembering All the Baptized," The Rev. Canon Dr. Jane Shaw and Dr. Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski.
2006 "'Oh Brave New World that has such people in it!' Anglicanism's Global Future," The Rev. Dr. Frederick Quinn.

As the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, we acknowledge the ancestral and unceded territories of all the Indigenous Peoples who call the lands inhabited by the Episcopal Church home, as well as the diverse and vibrant Indigenous Communities who make their homes here today. We acknowledge that the lands were seized through violence, colonization, and displacement, and we acknowledge the historical erasure and ongoing harms experienced by Indigenous peoples through massacres, resource exploitation, and forced assimilation. We commit to uplifting Indigenous voices, addressing ongoing colonial legacies, and working together to build a just and equitable future.