Hellenic Foundation of Chicago Awards Grant to OCL

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity

(West Palm Beach, FL) On September 22, 2023, The Hellenic Foundation of Chicago notified Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) that it awarded a grant of up to $37,500 to fund the DePaul University Special Collections – OCL Archival Project.

The project aims to update OCL’s archive collection housed at DePaul University. The John T. Richardson Library Special Collections has housed the OCL Archive since 2006. This work will make OCL’s archive collection more accessible to scholars and patrons worldwide by arranging and describing the archives, digitizing obsolete content, and preserving website and digital media. OCL developed the project with the assistance of the DePaul University archive staff.

On behalf of the OCL Board, Executive Director David Oancea expressed gratitude to the Hellenic Foundation Grant Committee and the Archive and Special Collections specialists at DePaul for making this collaboration possible. Completing this project will provide professionally organized resources for scholars and others particularly interested in the work of OCL and the historical developments of Orthodox Christianity in America.

Chicago’s 106-year-old DePaul University is the largest Catholic University in America. Thousands of Orthodox students are among its alumni, and it currently hosts an active Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) chapter under the guidance of Fr. Chris Kerkeres.  The Special Collections of the Richardson Library also house the archives of the late professor, Dr. Andrew T. Kopan, of blessed memory, one of the founders of OCL and an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate whose research interests included the Greek immigrant history of Chicago.