By 1997 when Saint Joseph's University approached the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for permission to photograph stained-glass windows in archdiocesan buildings for use in this volume, a number of wrenching church closings and consolidations had been effected. Although Church officials had a well-organized plan in place to communicate the availability of stained glass and other liturgical art for use in new church construction, they regretted the likelihood that much of the stained glass would leave the Philadelphia region. Mindful of the importance of parish churces to Philadelphia's Catholics as witness and place of life's most important rites and transitions, the idea to establish a collection of windows from retired parish churches at Saint Joseph's University took shape.
The eventual goal of this initiative is to create a permanent exhibit of stained-glass windows from retired churches, in a gallery setting on the campus, to preserve and commemorate something of the spirit of the parish communities and their working-class immigrant roots—the same roots from which Saint Joseph's originated 151 years ago.
The agreement between Saint Joseph's University and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is similar to a partnership agreement to exhibit stained glass between Loyola University of Chicago and the Archdiocese of Chicago. The collection at Saint Joseph's is wider in scope, though, as it some thirty-three windows spanning two centuries, seven studios, and eight Philadelphia churches. The collection at Saint Joseph's also includes an equal number of windows collected outside the archdiocese in support of the Philadelphia windows and to enlarge the context in which they can be studied.