Lehigh University, in partnership with the Moravian Archives, was awarded a $90,000 grant under the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives Program to enhance scholarly access to books, records, and maps held by the Archives. This two-year collaborative project, “The Moravian Community in the New World: The First Hundred Years,” will process collections documenting the material culture, religious values and cultural diversity of the Moravian community of Bethlehem from its founding in 1741 until the opening of the community to non-Moravians in 1844 and the subsequent incorporation of Bethlehem in 1851.
The collections being cataloged through the grant reflect the multi-faceted life of Moravian Bethlehem, a transatlantic community in its interaction with other cultures. Because the church controlled every aspect of life within Bethlehem, matters were recorded in order to be reported to church leadership; matters that in other communities went unrecorded. Included are personal papers of artists, tradesmen, missionaries, and sailors, along with business records and the 2,000 volume Congregational Library. In addition, approximately 800 maps and architectural drawings showing the earliest documentation of European settlement in Pennsylvania are included in this project.
Created in 2008, the Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives awards program supports the identification and cataloging of special collections and archives of high scholarly value that are difficult or impossible to locate. It is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources in Washington D.C. Award recipients create descriptive information for their hidden collections that will eventually be linked to and interoperable with all other projects funded by this grant program.
The Moravian Archives
41 West Locust Street
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18018
Phone: (610) 866-3255
Fax: (610) 866-9210
info@moravianchurcharchives.org
Lois Fischer Black
Curator of Special Collections
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
lob206@lehigh.edu
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