ATLANTA—Angelique Richardson has been appointed vice chancellor for the Archdiocese of Atlanta by Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv.  

Richardson has served in the archdiocese since May 2012, first as archivist, then director and now as vice chancellor. In her current role, she manages records in all formats across the archdiocese through records reviews, retention schedules, disposition forms, litigation support and training classes. The office also maintains the permanent historical archives for the archdiocese. She will assist Chancellor Deacon Dennis Dorner. 

Richardson answered a few questions about her role by email. Some answers were lightly edited.  

Georgia Bulletin: What is an archivist? What drew you to this work in the Archdiocese of Atlanta?  

Richardson: An archivist is a trained professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves and provides access to historical materials. I found out about the archivist role at the archdiocese from a colleague at an internship. When I was in graduate school at the University of Michigan, I did a summer internship at The Coca-Cola Company corporate archives here in Atlanta, and one of the archivists at Coke was on the Archives Advisory Board for the Archdiocese. They knew I was looking for a new opportunity after having worked as an archives contractor at the Kraft Foods Corporate Archives in the Chicago suburbs for three years. I was ready for a new opportunity, so I applied for the job at the archdiocese and was offered the role after a few interviews.  

Georgia Bulletin: If you were creating an ‘essentials collection’ from the archives to tell the story of the archdiocese, what documents would you curate and why?   

Richardson: Sacramental Registers—Sacramental registers contain the vital records that document church life in the diocese. These document births, confirmations, marriages, deaths for parishioners across the diocese. It also includes the priests’ names who performed these sacraments, creating documentation of who was assigned where and when.  

Arch/bishops Correspondence—The correspondence collections for our bishops and archbishops contain incredible details of church business, parish life and their personal lives. It’s fascinating to see what opinions were shared or how decisions were made as well as who corresponded with whom.   

Board Minutes—I know it doesn’t sound exciting, but the minutes of various boards, committees and councils are actually quite fascinating. Not only do you get to see who served on what committees, but you also see the debates that led to various decisions throughout the diocese’s history. Many topics may be discussed for several years before the committee decides on a policy or on moving ahead with a new parish or school.  

The Georgia Bulletin—Our diocesan newspaper is invaluable when it comes to researching the history of the diocese, and the photo collections are also fantastic. It’s an excellent resource for anyone to use, especially now that the newspaper has been fully digitized.  

Georgia Bulletin: For parishioners who may not be familiar, what’s a vice chancellor? How will your role change?   

Richardson: I was specifically appointed as the Vice Chancellor for Archives and Records to be canonically responsible for managing the official records and archives of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. While I was already responsible for those things as the director, being appointed as vice chancellor makes it a canonical role in addition to an administrative one. I’ll have some additional duties related to corporate governance, such as acting as Assistant Corporate Secretary, and I’ll serve on a few more committees than I did previously, but for the most part my role as far as interactions with employees or the public will remain the same. The title change is more about solidifying the impactful role of the Office of Archives and Records and rewarding the incredible progress it has made over the last 15 years in becoming one of the premier diocesan archives and records programs in the United States.   

Georgia Bulletin: What’s something some people may be surprised to learn about you?  

Richardson: I’m actually in the archives. After then Archbishop Wilton Gregory left to serve in Washington, D.C., our volunteer Phil Mooney, the former head of the Coca-Cola Archives and my internship supervisor, was organizing Archbishop Gregory’s collection and discovered a thank you card written and drawn by an 9-year-old Angelique congratulating then Bishop Gregory on his appointment as Bishop of Belleville (Illinois), which is where I grew up. I have no memory of creating it, but my entire Catholic grade school class must have sent in cards as I found several from my classmates as well. Very cool to see Cardinal Gregory held on to them for more than 25 years! Fun fact: Bishop Gregory also performed my confirmation.