Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia

Name: Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia
Address: 7301 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19119, US
Telephone: (215) 248-6383

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Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia

The Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia, founded in 1792, is the Northeast Regional Archives (R

11/15/2022

We'd like to welcome our new Processing Assistant, Amanda Creek! Amanda is originally a Florida native who moved to Pennsylvania in 2018. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University late last year and also works part time as a book cataloger for Historic Trappe. She has also worked as a website designer for the past twelve years. Her current project here at the Lutheran Archives is cataloging books from the Augustana Institute collection. When she’s not working, Amanda enjoys reading and writing children’s literature and honing her illustration skills. She also enjoys traveling throughout Pennsylvania with her husband of fifteen years, along with their two small pups.

11/10/2022

We've been keeping a secret...we are thrilled to announce that we are partnering with Ancestry to digitize our parish records!! Soon birth/baptism, confirmation, marriage, and death records from hundreds of congregations will then be made fully searchable online via Ancestry.com. We are also seeking Lutheran congregations in the Region 7 area who are interested in having their records scanned. Please contact us at [email protected] for more information!

10/31/2022

Boo! These two books belonged to Sarah and Catharine Steinauer who were members of St. John's (English) Lutheran Church in Philadelphia. One was printed in 1817, the other in 1867. While lockets of hair might seem a bit spooky, in the Victorian era they were viewed as mementos! Individuals often gave hair as tokens of love and friendship. and Happy

10/21/2022

Today's is from the collection of St. John's English Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. Check out these Sunday service bulletins from 1943 -- one is in Braille!

10/14/2022

Today's is this 1927 confirmation photo of St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Reading, Pa. The collection is fully processed and the finding aid is available on our PastPerfect database at this link: https://lacphila.pastperfectonline.com/archive/AF3F222B-045D-4276-AB4C-264454923660

10/11/2022

We'd like to welcome our new Processing Archivist, Juliana Rhinehart! Juliana received a B.A. in English and Medieval Studies from Dickinson College and plans to earn a Master's of Library Science in the next couple years. She worked as an archives assistant for Dickinson's Archives and Special Collections. She is currently processing the records of St. John's English Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. In her free time, Juliana enjoys cooking, reading sci-fi and short stories, and catching up on TV shows with her partner.

10/07/2022

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! Today's is a statue of San Martín de Porres which is part of the collection of a Hispanic congregation in Allentown that bares his namesake. San Martín de Porres is the first Black saint in the Americas and is known for seeking in*******al harmony and helping the poor. Check out our latest issue of the Archives Advocate for an article for Pastor Nelson Quinoñes to learn more about this saint and the congregation's history!

10/04/2022

Our latest issue of our newsletter, the Archives Advocate has been hitting mailboxes! Have you received your copy?

09/29/2022

We'd like to say a big "thank you" to our project archivist, Melissa Bergoffen who spent the last year cataloging the Ministerium of Pennsylvania Collection. Finding aids will be going up on our website very soon! We wish her good luck on her next venture.

09/13/2022

We've been busy! The records of Grace Lutheran Church, Lehighton are now fully processed and available for research. The collection contains parish registers dating back to 1903 as well as photographs and scrapbooks. You can view the full finding aid on our PastPerfect database at this link: https://lacphila.pastperfectonline.com/archive/A0519157-0D7D-406D-B9EB-454463168622

09/09/2022

Dear congregations, here's what NOT to do: store your historical documents in a three-ring binder! Volunteer Linda Beck is processing the records of Old St. John's English, Philadelphia and came across their early 19th century financial records being housed in a way that can only add further damage over time. We recommend storing your records in acid-free folders and boxes.

09/07/2022

Sharing this post from our friends at Historic Trappe. The Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia is the proud caretaker of Henry Muhlenberg's orginal journals and correspondence!

09/06/2022

It's officially season! Check out this vintage Penstar composition book. They don't make them like this anymore!

08/23/2022

Interested in researching your family history? We'd love to help! For more information about visiting in-person or our research services, please check out our website: https://www.lacphila.org/research-fees

08/16/2022

Did you know we have a newsletter? The Archives Advocate is our biannual newsletter and is free to all subscribers. Our next issue is scheduled to come out soon. To subscribe, please email [email protected] with your name and address.

08/13/2022

Check out this cool from our Ministerium of Pennsylvania Collection. This is the original church book for Jacob's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pine Grove Township, Schuylkill County. Organized in 1780, their register (pictured here) was established in 1799. Notice the list of burials -- the entries switch from German to English!

08/08/2022

We are officially open! You can now visit us in person to conduct genealogical or historical research by advanced appointment only. Please see our website for more information and how to schedule your visit: https://www.lacphila.org/research-fees

08/04/2022

We recently updated our website! Now you can learn more about our research services, how to visit the archives in-person, and there's even an easier way to browse our collections. Let us know what you think! https://www.lacphila.org/

08/01/2022

The Archives staff is very excited to announce that starting August 8 we will be officially reopened to researchers by advanced appointment only! We know this is a longtime coming and cannot wait to assist with your genealogy and historical questions in person again. Please see our website for more information on how to make an appointment: https://www.lacphila.org/research-fees

07/22/2022

Today's is a 1917 photograph of the Annual Ladies Night for the Lutheran Society of New York which was held at the Hotel Astor on January 24, 1917. Looks like these folks had quite the evening!

07/12/2022

Who loves postcards?! Our processing assistant, Laurie Mueller recently processed the personal postcard collection of The Rev. Robert Lamparter (1917-2010) who served St. John's Lutheran Church in Phoenixville from 1954-1967. The postcards
represent churches and seminaries in the United States (mostly Pennsylvania) and abroad (mostly
Scandinavia and Germany). To learn more about the collection check out the finding aid on our website: https://www.lacphila.org/collections/manuscripts/personal-papers

07/08/2022

Today's is a banner for the Syracuse Luther League of New York State "District Award" from 1927. For being over 90 years old we think this textile is in pretty great condition!

06/30/2022

We are excited to announce that we have officially launched our searchable online collections database, PastPerfect Online! You can now browse our collections for free at this link: https://lacphila.pastperfectonline.com
This is a huge milestone for us as we have been working hard the past two years in preparing for this launch. We will be adding collections to the database as we process them, so new items will be added every month. To stay on top of what's new, just keep following along with us here on social media. Thank you to our archives team and our supporters (you!)

06/27/2022

This week is the week! This Thursday, June 30 at noon EST we will be sharing our big secret that we've been working on for over two years. It's something that will allow increased access to our collections and will provide researchers with a great virtual experience to engage with our collections, anywhere in the world. Okay, we better stop there before we spill the beans!

06/23/2022

We are officially one week away from our big announcement! Associate Archivist, Sheila Joy has been working hard behind the scenes in preparation, but she's ready to share it with the world. Any guesses on what's to come? Stay tuned because next Thursday, June 30 we finally get to share our big secret!

06/21/2022

A messy desk must mean that historical research is underway! Associate Archivist Sheila Joy shares a peak at her work space while working on her article for our next issue of the Archives Advocate, coming to your mailbox in just few weeks time. To see digital back issues of our newsletter head to our website: https://www.lacphila.org/archives-advocate

06/17/2022

Who else enjoys maps as much as we do? Today's are two different maps depicting the city of Philadelphia.

06/16/2022

We are two weeks away from our big announcement on June 30! Our project archivist, Melissa Bergoffen has been diligently working away on her computer these past few weeks in preparation. Any guesses on what we're launching?

06/10/2022

Today's is a one-hundred year old baptismal certificate for Kathryn Lavina Baily, who was baptized at St John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tamaqua, PA on April 17, 1921. On the certificate you can see Kathryn's parents' names, her date of birth, where and when she was baptized, her sponsors, and the pastor who baptized her, Rev. A.E. Schmitthenner. These types of certificates are quite the historical treasure!

06/07/2022

A picture is worth a thousand words! Processing Archivist, Laurie Mueller recently processed the collection of St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Dublin, PA (1869-2011) which contains many photos of pastors, confirmation classes, and church life. To see what's all included in the collection head to our website to view the finding aid: https://www.lacphila.org/collections/church-records/pennsylvania

06/03/2022

Today's is a 19th century Sunday School library record book from the collection of St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dublin, PA. To learn more about this congregation and other historical treasures in their collection, check out the finding aid on our website: https://www.lacphila.org/collections/church-records

06/01/2022

Something very exciting is coming on June 30, 2022. We will be sharing clues from now until then, but in the meantime are there any guesses on what our big announcement could be?

05/27/2022

We're bringing back the ! We recently received a photograph we know to be of an early 1920s confirmation class of the German Evangelical Lutheran Zion's Church in Syracuse, NY. The back of the photo contains the name "Howard John Pichaske" (1910-1998) who was a member of Zion's. Given that the photo was likely taken between 1922 to 1924, the pastor may be Rev. Dr. Herman Hustav Dattan. Thank you to photo rescuer Kate Keller of Forgotten Faces, Forgotten Places for donating this photo to us! https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForgottenFacesForgottenPlaces/

05/24/2022

We recently received the records of St. Martin De Porres Lutheran Church which started as a mission congregation to the Latino community in Allentown in the early 1980s. We are excited to process this collection and share the congregation's rich history with the public.

05/20/2022

Congratulations to all United Lutheran Seminary graduates! Today's is a photo of Philadelphia Seminary's Commencement and Alumni Day, held on Tuesday, May 21, 1912. The class and faculty are standing in front of Krauth Memorial Library and are posing for a photo right before their procession to the Schaeffer-Ashmead Memorial Church. The commencement address was delivered by Rev. Dr. John Edward Whitteker of Trinity Lutheran Church, Lancaster PA.

05/19/2022

We'd like to introduce our new processing assistant, Laurie Mueller! Laurie has processed several collections, including the records of St. Luke's Dublin, Bucks County, PA, and the pastoral papers of The Rev. Merwyn L. Shelly (1909-1991). Outside the archives she is also the Director of Music and Organist at Augustus Lutheran Church in Trappe, PA. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music from Lebanon Valley College, and a Master of Arts in Religion from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Welcome, Laurie!

05/17/2022

We recently gave our website a face lift, what do you think? On top of the new header logo, we've also been adding more collection finding aids! To check out what's new head to https://www.lacphila.org/collections

02/18/2022

Today's features a true historical treasure! This is the original parish register of Christ Lutheran Church near Stouchsburg, PA. What's so special about it, you ask? Well, if you turn to page 560 you will find the official record of the marriage on April 15, 1745, between Henry Melchior Muhlenberg and Anna Maria Weiser, daughter of Conrad Weiser. The inscription describes the couple as the "most worthy Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, meritorious Lutheran Minister, and Anna Maria Weiser, daughter of Justice Conrad Weiser" and notes that their marriage took place on the Friday after Easter.

12/26/2021

As 2021 closes, we at LACAP (especially Melissa, who has been working on the collection) are happy to announce that we are half-way through inventorying/cataloging the MOP-dedicated bookcases! Yes, pictured are shelves 8 & 9, which continue to hold programs from various congregations for anniversaries and special events, as well as historical sketches, similar to the previous bookcases.

Although the start of this project in August was slow-going, a groove has finally been found and true headway is being made! We hope to continue this progression in the new year, with the ultimate goal of providing an accessible catalog of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania collection for all of you! So stay tuned, and thank you all for your continuous support!

12/25/2021

We here at the Lutheran Archives Center wish you all a safe and merry Christmas! Pictured here are wooden St. Lucia Day figurines that are part of our Augustana Institute Collection.

Address

7301 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
19119

Telephone

(215) 248-6383

Website

https://www.lacphila.org/

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We here at the Lutheran Archives Center wish you all a safe and merry Christmas! Pictured here are wooden St. Lucia Day figurines that are part of our Augustana Institute Collection.

Happy December! This year, the Lutheran Archives are hoping to participate in #ArchiveAdventCalendar , where we will (try) to post every day according to the festive prompts (see stories for full list, though we might not follow it exactly). Today's prompt is #snow, so even though there isn't any snow currently in Philadelphia, we made a bookish snowman ⛄️ ! In this stack, we included books from our Ministerium of Pennsylvania (MOP) collection, our Rare Book collection, as well as from our reference library collection. Hopefully you’ll enjoy these posts as much as we’ve had fun making them! #archives #archivesofinstagram #lutheranarchives #rarebooksofinstagram #festive #booksnowman #explorearchives #exploreyourarchive

Starting out spooky season with something that truly horrifies archivists: metal fasteners! Even though things like staples and paper clips seem like a space-saving way of consolidating groups of paper, they actually do more damage in the long-run! That’s because they are metal and can rust, leaving markings on the papers they are holding. And with staples especially, they leave holes that damage the paper. (Just as an fyi, rubber bands are no better! They can ‘melt’ and then stick to the documents they are holding together!) Also, check out our Instagram (@lutheranarchives) for more pictures! #archives #lutheranarchives #archiveconservation #paperconservation

The Royal Scroll

The Royal Scroll was everything you needed to teach Bible education in 1896! The hand-cranked display includes more than 150 chromolithographs housed in a portable case for storage and display. There are two large scrolls entitled "An Illuminated Life of Christ including the Principal Events" and "Collection of the World's Masterpieces" along with a smaller scroll entitled "A complete Panorama of Sacred Story". It also includes a companion book to explain the illustrations along with maps and discussion questions to help teach and explore scripture. The Royal Scroll was published by Powers, Fowler & Lewis of Chicago in 1896.