Paul M. Peucker, archivist and director of the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, gave a wonderful presentation on the Moravian Church in Philadelphia and the response to the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 at the Archivists of Religious Collections section meeting for the Society of American Archivists. Carol Smith alluded to it in this past transcribers’ coffee hour and many requested a link. We are delighted to be able to provide it here. The records of the First Moravian Church of Philadelphia will be brought into our CLIR Philadelphia Congregations project this year.
On September 11, 2020, Carol Smith presented a talk to the Philadelphia Club’s members and guests highlighting the stories found in the records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations and outlining the project that is bringing these records to life. Click here to listen to Preserving the Past: Stories from the Records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations.
September 14th, 16th, 21st, and 23rd the Athenaeum of Philadelphia hosted our project with CLIR for a workshop in four parts, which you will find below.
Each date we focused on different aspects of this CLIR Project to Digitize Philadelphia Congregations Early Records.
September 14th was an overview of the project where Carol Smith – Archivist at Christ Church – spoke about the origins of the project. Watch it at the link below: Athenaeum Transcription Workshop with CLIR Session #1
On September 16th, we focused on the rules surrounding transcription of the many different types of documents that have been scanned as a part of this project.
To watch this, please click on the link below: Athenaeum Transcription Workshop Session #2
During Session Three of the Athenaeum Workshop of the CLIR Project to Digitize Philadelphia’s Congregational Early Records held on September 21st , Walter Rice, the Digital Consultant on this project, provided us with a tour of how the Athenaeum of Philadelphia scans these many documents. He also reviewed what happens with the scans and the many working parts that make all the data they convey appear on the website for viewing.
View this session at the link below: Athenaeum Transcription Workshop with CLIR Session #3
The final session of the Athenaeum Transcription Workshop with CLIR held on September 23rd, we learned about how the information from these scans can be and have been used in many ways. We had the authors, historians, and scholars Bill Quigley and Libby Brown talk about their use of these types of records.
To listen and watch, click the link below: Athenaeum Transcription Workshop with CLIR Session #4
Philadelphia in 1776 was a city in the midst of political turmoil and social upheaval and Christ Church was not immune to these issues. Delegates to the Continental Congress frequently worshipped at Christ Church and the Church’s rector, The Reverend Jacob Duché, served as the chaplain to the Continental Congress. The signing of the Declaration of Independence left Christ Church, the first Anglican Church in Pennsylvania, in a particularly precarious situation.
On July 4, 1776 the Vestry minutes record:
Whereas the honorable Continental Congress have resolved to declare the American Colonies to be free and independent States In consequence of which it will be proper to omit those Petitions in the Liturgy wherein the King of Great Britain is prayed for, as inconsistent with the said Declaration. Therefore resolved that it appears to this Vestry to be necessary for the peace and well being of the Churches to omit the said Petitions and the Rector and Assistant Minister of the United Churches are requested in the name of the Vestry and their Constituents to omit such petitions as are above mentioned.
This resolution resulted in the crossing out of the petitions to the Royal Family in the Book of Common Prayer as seen here.
How did our countries ancestors fair in times of trouble and tribulations? What can we learn from them now facing our own time of trial and tribulation?
We are looking for people who want to help transcribe some of our amazing documents that we have scanned so far.
If you have any inclination, check out our “Help Transcribe!” page. Here you can see our two pages to begin transcription: Transcription Guidelines
and the page on Getting Started with Transcribing
Here is a recently done transcription of page four & five of Christ Church Steeple Accounts, 1751 by one of our volunteers. Steeple Accounts, 1751
Volunteers attended at Transcription Workshop put on at Christ Church’s Neighborhood House November 13th, 2019, 5-6:30 pm by Walter Rice, Carol Smith, Carly Sewell, and Allan Hasbrouck in order to learn how to transcribe various items for the Digitization of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations Project.
The goal of workshop is to receive feedback from volunteers on our transcription rules in order to improve them for volunteers in the future, and to train volunteers to learn how to transcribe so they can train others at their respective congregations.
Food, drinks, and other snacks were served to volunteers.
Digitizing the Records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations Presentation
On Wednesday October 23rd, 2019, 7 pm at Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church off of Christian St. & Columbus Boulevard Carol W. Smith will provide an overview of an exciting project which brings together the records of 11 of Philadelphia’s oldest congregations including Gloria Dei in one unified website. She will discuss the background of the project, what is still to come and how best to use this website for all types of research from genealogical to social history.
This free event will take place in the church sanctuary, followed by a reception in Riverside Hall. For a modest donation, enjoy gourmet cheesecake by a local pastry chef, paired with moscato wine, coffee or tea.
Sunday, September 15, 2019 2:00 pm at Christ Church Philadelphia 2nd & Market Street
Christ Church, Philadelphia is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the death of the Rev. Benjamin Dorr, the Church’s rector from 1839-1868. Dorr had the difficult job of holding together a split congregation during the trying years of the Civil War, compounded by his worry over the fate of his son, Captain William Dorr who served in the Army of the Potomac. Bill Quigley wrote a moving history of these two individuals: Pure Heart: The Faith of aFather and Son in the War for a More Perfect Union published by Kent State University Press in 2016. Professor Quigley will speak about his research and the roles these two men played in their own time and the lens through which we can view their actions today.
The Civil War echoes ever more ominously in the partisan politics and culture wars of our time. Mocked by monuments to the Confederacy and its leaders, American ideals are enshrined, instead, in older, truer monuments to American heroes Benjamin Dorr and his son, Captain William White Dorr. As acknowledged by The Journal of Southern History, theirs is “a story rightfully restored to history about character, integrity, faith, forgiveness, atonement, and the passions of the human heart in a world turned upside down.” Theirs is also a story of firmness in doing right, as God give us to see the right, in a time of perilous national division. Never more, in the 150 years since the Reverend Dorr’s death, have Americans needed to hearken to his story as we do now.
This lecture is jointly sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania’s History Committee and Christ Church, Philadelphia.
Below is the text and audio of his speech in their entirety
On August 29th, 2019, from 1:45 – 3 pm, representatives working on the CLIR (Council on Library and Information Resources) Project – Christ Church Archivist Carol Smith, Walter Rice of R & R Computer Solutions, and Nancy Taylor of Presbyterian Historical Society – to Digitize the Records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations, presented their work at the American Association for State and Local History 2019 Conference.
The project consists of six congregations and three archival repositories who have made an effort to digitize the records of eleven of Philadelphia’s historic congregations and make their records available digitally. All of these items are available on this site!
This session explored how working collaboratively and sharing resources makes great initiatives possible.
Walter Rice, Nancy Taylor, Carol Smith, and Mike Seneca presenting Working Collaboratively – Digitizing the Records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations at AASLH 2019 in Philadelphia.
