Last week I not only got some major thesis research in, I went to New York City all by my big girl self! Navigating New Jersey Transit and the subway made me nervous at first, but everything went fine. From the upper west side to Grand Central Station to Times Square, I visited three historic Anglo-Catholic parishes and fit in lunch with a college friend as a bonus.
Since I've settled on Episcopal vestments as my thesis topic, I'm rediscovering the pros and cons of using parish churches as a resource. It can be tooth-gnashingly difficult at times. There are no finding aids that lead to tidy cabinets of acid-free boxes. Clergy are super busy dealing with worship schedules, committee meetings, Sunday's sermon, and homeless people knocking at the door; they are not waiting at a reference desk to take your call. Even a church possesses antique vestments, they might not know what or where those garments are.
But when things finally work out, it's amazing. Priests may be busy, but they are also in the business of being kind to strangers. Once you get in the door, they love showing off the history of their church's building or the beauty of the rarely used rose vestment set. They'll unlock cabinets and make connections for you. At one point on Thursday afternoon, as an adorable Episcopal nun led me to an attic room where chasuble-draped tables sat in rows like a hospital ward, I remembered why I love being an historian.
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