Riverside Church in New York: Using the archives as a tool for justice

Among The Riverside Church’s archival collections are a Bible printed in 1493 and stained-glass windows from the 16th century. But just as valuable to the church, established in 1930, are its thousands of institutional documents, committee minutes, sermons, membership records, and photographs that capture a unique slice of American history.

While Riverside’s collections have long been used by local, national, and international researchers, today the church itself is exploring these materials to analyze the trajectory of its stance on issues of racial justice.

Members and staff have drawn on the archives as the basis for a seven-week online lecture series, “Remember and Repair: Expanding Racial Justice and Equity in Church and Society,” and for social justice writing workshops. 

The interdenominational church has also examined the archives to track the makeup of its own membership, noting that until the 1950s or ‘60s, it was almost exclusively white and wealthy. 

“Our past is integral to our identity,” says Diane Russo, the archives’ director. “We’re looking at our journey – all the good and the bad – to assess who we are as a congregation. We want to see how we’ve dealt with things. It’s important for us to do this work to help figure out where we’re going in the future.”

No one would argue that a Bible printed in 1493, stained-glass windows from the 16th century, and Heinrich Hofmann’s 1890 masterpiece “Christ in Gethsemane” aren’t valuable assets. But just as valuable to The Riverside Church, established as an interdenominational church in 1930, are its thousands of institutional documents, committee minutes, sermons, program booklets, membership records, audio and video recordings, and photographs that capture the development of liberal Christianity and a unique slice of American history.

It’s a history seen through the eyes of a New York City church grappling in real time with the changes happening in society. With documents from predecessor churches dating back to 1841, Riverside’s collections have long been used by local, national, and international researchers, historians, and journalists as primary sources. Today, the church itself is making greater use of its archival materials to analyze the trajectory of its stance on issues of racial justice.

“Our past is integral to our identity,” says Diane Russo, who came to Riverside four years ago as director of its archives. “We’re looking at our journey – all the good and the bad – to assess who we are as a congregation. We want to see how we’ve dealt with things. It’s important for us to do this work to help figure out where we’re going in the future.”

“You can’t heal what you don’t reveal,” is a chant echoed by Martha Wiggins, a congregant who has been accessing the archives to create educational programming. Earlier this year, she and a planning team used materials from the archives to design a seven-week online lecture series, “Remember and Repair: Expanding Racial Justice and Equity in Church and Society.” A focus of the series was to help congregants and friends look at the church’s racial history with a sharp, critical lens.

“The archives helped us take a more factual than anecdotal approach to history,” Ms. Wiggins says. “Many people think of an archive as housing a lifeless past, but it breathes, … it speaks to us of our beginnings and our unfinished work. It houses stories that are begging to be excavated and shared.”

“Materials to interrogate our history”

One way Riverside’s stories are being told is through its social justice writing workshops and their ensuing publications. The workshops were launched during the pandemic, which laid bare many of the inequities in health care and social services that severely affected marginalized communities. For Riverside’s fourth workshop, the planners collaborated with Ms. Russo to identify photographs, media, and works of art that could be used to spark creativity and prompt the writing process.