For nearly six decades, Robert S. Halvey has used his tremendous photography to document the history of the Catholic Church in Philadelphia, writes Elena Perri for Catholic Philly.

“It was almost like he knew when he was taking these photos how important they would be for people later, looking back on this time period, because they are just a fantastic resource,” said Patrick Shank, head archivist at the Catholic Historical Research Center of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Last year, Shank and research center staff created a new exhibit titled, “Behind Halvey’s Lens: A Photographic History of Catholic Philadelphia,” featuring approximately 50 images from Halvey’s photo archive.

Halvey’s photography has great value, from the photographs themselves to the names and details he’d include alongside his photos.

“You can’t calculate the value of it in terms of history and in terms of sociological events. The life of the Catholic Church throughout every year was in Bob’s files because he was there. Bob captured an amazing time in the life of Philadelphia,” said Joseph Kirk Ryan, former managing editor of The Catholic Standard & Times. 

The hope is for people to visit the Catholic Historical Research Center to get a glimpse of history.

Read more about Robert S. Halvey’s photography in Catholic Philly.

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