NATCHEZ — Sherry Jones can’t help but be fascinated with history.

And her passion for the past has now been recognized nationally.

Jones has frequent talks with Bill Leonard of Philadelphia about books and interesting history, and Leonard was impressed with her knowledge.

What Jones didn’t know was Leonard was part of the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, and he had a bright idea about Jones.

“I told her that I thought her interest in history, plus she was very active in the Presbyterian church, would make her a really good board member,” Leonard said.

Jones said she never expected an offer like that would sprout from a genuine conversation.

“He asked me if I would be interested in joining and I asked, ‘What is it?’” Jones said. “He told me and this is how I got into it.”

The PHS is the national archives of the Presbyterian churches in America.

Its mission is to collect, preserve and share the story of the American Presbyterian experience.

Jones said the board of directors were quite intimidating, and she suddenly felt like she may not know as much as she thought she did about the church’s history.

“I was scared to death, because I didn’t feel like I was qualified to do this,” she said. “These people are scholarly, they know the Bible and they have been on this board for a while. I was intimidated, but they were all wonderful and very nice.”

Leonard said he and the board made sure Jones felt comfortable.

“I have been on the board for two terms (four years a term), and I shared with her my experiences with being on the board,” Leonard said.

Jones was inducted into the PHS on Oct. 31 in Philadelphia. Now a member of the board, Jones is steadily searching for historical artifacts to become part of 30,000 cubic feet of archival records, personal papers and unique information about the history of the church, as well as helping raise money to keep the organization going.

“We ensure the financial stability (of the society) and we’re advocating for it,” Jones said. “We’re trying to get fundraising because when you get all of these archives, it costs a lot of money. So that’s our focus.”

Jones said some of the collection highlights gathered by the PHS include original copies of John Calvin’s “Institutes of Christian Religion” from 1553 and minutes from the first Presbytery meeting in America held in Philadelphia in 1706.

Jones said her short-term goals are to educate the Miss-Lou and surrounding area about the PHS and to gather any information about churches in the local area, as well as across the nation.

“I would hope people would come to me with records or archives of their churches or anything they want to donate to the PHS,” she said.

Leonard said the board chose Jones because of her links to the South, knowing several out-going members had those links, as well.

“So it was important that we had someone on the board from the South,” he said. “This is a national board, we have to have the appropriate representation of most parts of the country.”

Jones said the history of the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) are both accepted.

“(When I was first inducted), they wanted our opinion, and we stated that the PHS has to open itself up to all of the Presbyterian churches,” Jones said. “That was the first thing we said, and they took it pretty well.”

Jones said people can also log on to the Presbyterian Historical Society website, history.pcusa.org, and trace their ancestors using the Genealogy and Family History Research tool.