Land was acquired for religious services by the Polish community in Washington, Pa., in 1913. Shortly afterwards, a church was built and a charter was applied for through the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Bishop Kanewin was sent from Pittsburgh to confer with members of the parish. At this time he asked that they secure a legal deed for the church in the name of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. This caused a rift in the church membership. A sizeable number of parishoners rebeled against deeding over the church they had financed and built. A letter was sent to Bishop Francis Hodur, head of the Polish National Catholic Church in Scranton, Pa. asking for a charter with their church. In the meantime, the church was closed until the Roman Catholic and Polish National factions could reach a settlement.
The church was bought in 1914 at a Sheriff's sale and was given a charter with the Polish National Catholic Church. Three acres were purchased for use as a cemetery and provisions were made for a temporary rectory until the present one could be constucted in 1920. Bishop Hodur came to Washington to formally dedicate the church on August 25, 1915.
Holy Trinity is affiliated with Branch 65 of the Spojnia or Polish National Union. Each Polish National Church is associated with this Union which provides insurance, loans, and social services to members of the Polish community. For further information about the Polish National Catholic Church, consult Fox, Paul, The Polish National Catholic Church Scranton, Pa.:School of Christian Living, 1955 and Janowski, Robert, The Growth of a Church: A Historical Documentary Scranton, Pa.: Straz Printery, 1965.
This collection contains four series. Series I includes the combined church record, 1914-1980, containing indexes of baptisms, marriages, deaths, holy communions, and confirmations. Series II contains an indexed baptismal record book, 1925-1971. Series III contains minute books of the Parish Council, 1907-1957 (in Polish until June 12, 1965), and of Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament Society, 1914-1964 (in Polish). Series IV contains financial records, 1914-1958. The records are contained in Parish Ledgers (in Polish) and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament Society ledgers (in Polish).
No restrictions.
This collection was microfilmed by Archives of Industrial Society with funds provided by NEH grant RC-0036-79-1210, "Survey and Acquisition of Source Materials Relating to Immigrant and Ethnic Life in Southwestern Pennsylvania" in 1980.
Original records in the possession of Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church, 147 Griffuth Ave., Washington, PA 15301
Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church, Washington, Pa. Records, AIS.1980.10, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church, Washington, Pa. Records, AIS.1980.10, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church, Washington, Pa., Records, 1907-1980, AIS Micro 80:10, Archives of Industrial Society, University of Pittsburgh Libraries
This collection was processed by Katie Kirwan in May, 1980.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Dan Horvath in October 2003. Information about the collection title and the controlled access terms was extracted from the MARC record in the University of Pittsburgh catalog Voyager ID number: 1374604
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
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