Subject: German Americans / Form: Financial records / Language: English - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Start Over Subject German Americans Form Financial records Language English

Extent:: 27.4 linear feet
Abstract:: The German Society of Pennsylvania, founded in Philadelphia in 1764, directed its early efforts to assisting new German immigrants, especially those forced into indentured servitude when they were unable to pay their sea fare. Throughout the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Society was very visible in the thriving German-American community in Philadelphia, boasting just over one thousand members at the peak of its growth, in the late 1870s. In the 20th century, the Society’s scope and prominence was affected by the two World Wars, which created suspicion and criticism of Germanic culture. That suspicion and government scrutiny played a role in the dwindling membership of the Society. In the post-World War II era the Society channeled its overseas relief activities through a Quaker-based aid society. In the second half of the century, the neighborhood was also changing, as it became predominantly African-American, rather than German, and more impoverished. But the Society pressed...(see more)

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

Extent:: 0.38 linear feet (3 boxes)
Abstract:: This collections comprises three minute books of the Ladies Social Club of the Philadelphia Rifle Club, which was founded 12 February 1914, with the aim of holding social events and assisting the Philadelphia Rifle Club (Philadelphia Schützen-Verein), a German-American society that dated back to 1846. The Ladies Social Club also made charitable donations. It held meetings at the clubhouse of the Rifle Club in Schuetzen Park near Tabor Station, at the edge of the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia. The extant minutes cover two periods, 1914 to 1944, and 1959 to 1971. Loose correspondence found with the minute books dates to as late as 1982.

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

Extent:: 0.25 linear feet (2 boxes)
Abstract:: This collection comprises two volumes of records of the Ladies Society (Damen-Verein), or women's auxiliary, of the Philadelphia Turners. The parent club, which was known until the late 1930s as the Philadelphia Turngemeinde, was one of the oldest German-American Turner, or gymnastics clubs in the United States, founded in 1849. The Ladies Society was founded on 5 September 1877 to assist the Turngemeinde. These partial records of the Ladies Society are from two different periods. The first volume is a ledger recording member information and dues paid from 1933 to 1938. The second volume is a cashbook kept from 1954 to 1959. In the 1950s the Ladies Society mainly held social events such as card parties, dessert parties, picnics, and dinners; and besides supporting the Turngemeinde it partly had a general charitable purpose.

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

Extent:: 0.21 linear feet (1 box + 6 posters + 1 oversize folder)
Abstract:: This collection contains the records of the Liberty Loan Committee of Americans of German Birth or Descent, a committee that coordinated the campaign for the purchase of Liberty Bonds among German Americans in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1918, during the First World War. Liberty Bonds were issued by the United States government to finance the American war effort. These records were kept by Louis H. Schmidt, treasurer of the Committee, and pertain mainly to the Third and Fourth Liberty Loans, with inclusion of a few subscription lists related to the fifth loan, issued in 1919 and known as the Victory Liberty Loan. The collection contains correspondence, subscription forms, lists of subscribers, reports, clippings, and ephemera, including Liberty Loan volunteer buttons and six posters promoting the purchase of Liberty Bonds.

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

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