HISTORY – Saint Shenouda The Archimandrite

December 23, 1979: The Society was founded in Los Angeles by small group of Coptic immigrants
Early 1980: Received the first microfilm of Coptic manuscripts from the British Library
Mid 1981: Published its first monograph on the Ecclesiastical Position of St. Shenouda the Archimandrite in the Coptic Church
Late 1982: Purchased the first Microfilm Viewer/Copier
January 10, 1983: Registered as a California Non-Profit Religious Organization,
November 1983: Recognized as an IRS 503c(3) charitable organization,
November 1983: Started its first membership drive,
Early 1984: Received a microfilm copy of the Fayoum Hamuli manuscripts from the New York Pierpont Morgan Library
June 1984: Received the microfilms of Coptic manuscripts from the Vienna Manuscript collection through the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library in Minnesota
Mid 1984: First attempt at computerizing Coptic texts using Atari Computer System
October 1984: The Society held its first semi-academic Coptic Language class
January 1985: Published its first issue of the Bulletin of the St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society as a monograph on Martyrs and Martyrdoms in the Coptic Church
April 1985: Received the first microfilms of Coptic manuscripts from the Vatican
June 1985: Received the first microfilms of Coptic manuscripts from the National Library of Paris
September 1985: First English Translation of Mallon’s Bohairic Glossary
September 1985: Began the St. Shenouda Coptic Microfiche Project to archive paper copies of research material in reproducible microfiche cards
November 1985: Received the first microfilms of Coptic manuscripts from the Oxford Bodleian Library
November 1985: Published a booklet titled, Coptic: Its Value and Treasures
March 1986: Received the first microfilms of Coptic manuscripts from the Manchester John Rylands Library
May 1986: Received the first microfilms of Arabic manuscripts of St. Catherine monastery from the Library of Congress
July 1986: Joined the International Association of Coptic Studies (IACS)
September 14, 1986: Held the first Seminar on Coptic Art at UCLA
September 1986: Publication of Coptic Primer (Bohairic)
September 1987: Publication of St. Shenouda the Archimandrite: His Life and Times
September 1987: The Society shifted it computerizing of Coptic texts to IBM PC systems
Late 1989: Began the computerization of Coptic (Biblical, hagiographical, literary) texts on the new IBM PC system, using the software Multi-Lingual Scholar.
August 1992: The Society was represented for the first time at the 5th International Congress of Coptic Studies at Catholic University of America, Washington DC
September 1992: Inaugurated the St. Shenouda Center of Coptic Studies (SSCCS)
September 1992: Published Report on the Fifth International Congress of Coptic Studies
November 1992: Received the microfilms of the Coptic Museum manuscripts from Utah
Late 1992: Converted the computerized Coptic texts to Microsoft Windows system using the newly developed TrueType Coptic fonts developed at St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church
November 1993: Expanded the SSCCS to its current facility
October 1994: Published the St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter
October 1994: Published The St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society on the Road in England
April 1995: Produced the first Coptic Studies Software on computer disks as part of the previously announced Nagi Khalil Coptic Software Center (NKCSC)
April 1995: Received microfilms of the Cambridge University Library
August 1995: Awarded the first Coptic Scholarship
December 1995: The Society made its debut on the Internet
February 1996: The Society registered the domain stshenouda.com and used it a platform to showcase the work of the Society and to publish the first internet-based course in Bohairic Coptic, which was devised back in 1984
June 1996: Financed the publishing of Rev. T. Hall Partrick’s Traditional Egyptian Christianity, which provided a scholarly proof of the continuation of Coptic Church from the time of St. Mark to the present day
January 1997: Received microfilms of the Vienna National Library Papyrus Collection
May 1997: Received microfilms of manuscripts of the Gottingen University Library
July 1997: Convened the first Symposium on Coptic History and Liturgy at St. Peter Coptic Orthodox Church in Santa Monica
Early 1998: Assisted St. Mark Foundation in establishing their organization and
April 1998: Published the first Coptic CD that included a course for the study of Bohairic Coptic, the first electronic Bohairic Dictionary, a Coptic-English Lectionary for the Annual cycle, and the New Testament in Bohairic-Sahidic-Greek-English
August 1998: Convened the first 2-day Conference of Coptic Studies on the campus of the California State University Long Beach
August 1999: Convened the second 2-day Conference of Coptic Studies on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in cooperation with its Department of Near Eastern and Languages and Cultures (NELC) and it became the permanent place for the annual Society Conference since. During the first day of the Conference, Dr. Gawdat Gabra proposed the idea of a Coptic Symposium on site for Wadi al-Natrun, which was adopted by St. Mark Foundation (SMF) and came to fruition in February 2002
January 2002: Published the electronic edition of A. S. Atiya Coptic Encyclopedia on behalf of SMF
July 2002: Published the journal Coptica with St. Mark Foundation
March 2003: Acquired the first item in the our Manuscript Library
January 2004: Helped finance the first Coptic Studies course, taught by Prof. Gawdat Gabra at Claremont Graduate University (CGU)
October 2004: Published the St. Shenouda Coptic Quarterly
October 2004: Announced the establishment of the St. Shenouda Electronic Institute of Coptic Studies (SSEICS)
Mid November 2004: Added a new suite to SSCCS to house the Coptic Library
Late November 2004: Received Prof. Sami A. Hanna’s Library
November 2005: Established the Coptic Studies Lecture Series with NELC
January 2007: Established the Coptic Studies Visiting Professor at CGU
January 2008: Funded 50% of the Coptic Language Lecturer at UCLA and later in January 2011
November 2008: Offered the first online courses in Coptic Studies at the previously announced SSEICS
January 2009: Established the CGU Fr. Antonious Henein Scholarship Fund
May 2010: Established the Coptic Studies Lecture Series at CGU
December 2011: Added a new suite as a dedicated office for its operation
December 2011: Launched the Coptic Heritage online subscription website to give access to the Society’s collections and publications
October 2012: Acquired the 3000-volume Prof. Boulos Ayad Ayad
March 2013: Acquired a microform digital scanning system
April 2013: Acquired electronic distribution rights for Coptic Analysis of Liturgical and Biblical books published by Mr. Monir Raphael
September 2013: Leased a professional office Copier/Scanner/Printer to support the work of the Society
March 2014: Added a new Suite to serve as a Cultural Museum
June 2015: Began our partnership with the St Athanasius and St. Cyril Theological School in Los Angeles by conducting a combined online and onsite class at SSCCS
July 2015: Opened the Bible in Egypt Exhibit at the Cultural Museum
October 2016: Added a new 2-room suite to accommodate large book collections and periodicals
September 2017: Added a new Suite to house the Microform and Slides Collection, including the viewing and Scanning equipment
September 2017: Acquired a 16-TB NAS computer system to set up a future external access to the Center’s Digital libraries
November 2017: Received a gift of over 550 books and periodicals primarily on Ancient Egypt from the personal library of Mrs. Norma Gurba-Kleit of Palmdale, California
November 2017: Acquired high-resolution digital images of St. Bishoy Monastery fragments acquired by the University of Hamburg Germany
December 2017: Received a gift of over 830 books primarily published in Egypt from the personal library of Mr. Michael Jacob Galiouby of Bakersfield, California

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