Search

Start Over Repository Historical Society of Pennsylvania Online Content Not Available Year 1945 to 1949

Main content

Marie Ward collection of New York Turn Verein memorabilia, 1925-1975

Extent:
0.42 linear feet (; 2 boxes)
Abstract:
The New York Turn Verein was founded under the name Sozialistischen Turnverein of New York in June 1850. Established by German immigrants who came to the United States as political refugees, the NYTV served as a social, athletic, and political club based on the ideals of Friedrich Jahn's Turnverein movement. This collection of memorabilia dates from the 1920s to the 1970s and consists of anniversary programs, copies of bylaws, objects, and other materials related to New York-based Turn Verein and other German-American clubs. There is also a small amount of printed matter related to travel in Germany and Austria between 1925 and 1940.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Earl Leas correspondence, 1943-1945

Extent:
2.0 linear feet (; 5 boxes)
Abstract:
Earl Leas was born in 1920 in Reading, Pennsylvania, and lived there most of his life. The collection includes 473 letters, dated 1943-1945, that Leas wrote to his family in Reading during World War II. The letters are mostly about his activities in the army and the time he spent in Oran, Algeria and Marina Di Pisa, Italy.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Frank C. Di Prima papers, 1938-1962, undated

Extent:
0.6 linear feet (2 boxes)
Abstract:
Frank Di Prima was born in Sicily in 1897 and came to the United States when he was seven years old. He became a musician, playing the guitar, banjo, violin, and mandolin. In addition to performing in schools as a WPA musician, Di Prima played with well-known performers including Ray Miller, Paul Whiteman, and Al Jolson. After his marriage to Amelia Marta, a second-generation Italian, the family settled in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. The collection contains sheet music, some compositions by Di Prima, materials on music theory, printed matter, and photographs.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Natalie Saxe Randall papers, 1960-1962 (bulk) 1923-1998, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
19.0 linear feet (; 56 boxes, 25 volumes, 6 flat files)
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers of Natalie Saxe (later Natalie Saxe Randall), campaign coordinator and organizer of the Democratic Party in Philadelphia, director of the Committee for Philadelphia established by Joseph Sill Clark and Richardson Dilworth, executive assistant to Richardson Dilworth during both his stints as mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) and president of the Philadelphia Board of Education (1965-1970); and lobbyist in Harrisburg for Lincoln University, the Academy of Natural Sciences, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and Franklin Institute, among others. The collection is comprised of office and personal files, papers related to political campaigns in all Pennsylvania counties, and a set of her appointment books, agendas, work diaries, and travel journals.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Slovak Catholic Sokol, Assemblies No. 61 and No. 173 (Philadelphia, Pa.) records, 1920-1966

Extent:
0.67 linear feet (; 2 boxes)
Abstract:
Slovak Catholic Sokol is a social, recreational, and sports association open to people of Slovak or Slavic descent, organized in 1905. Its primary purpose is to unite Catholic Slovak Americans in social and recreational activities. The organization sponsors athletic events and provides scholarships and insurance benefits. The collection contains minutes, membership and financial records.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Stiefel family papers, circa 1920-2007

Extent:
2.6 linear feet (; 6 boxes, 1 volume)
Abstract:
Asher Shtevel/Stiebel and his wife, Miriam, lived in Poketilov, Russia (now part of the Ukraine) in the nineteenth century. Three of their sons came to Philadelphia in 1887: Abraham, Jacob, and Michael (1871-1954), who were followed by other brothers, including Hyman (1860-1927). Sometime after 1887, the American branch of the family started using the name Stiefel. In 1903, members of the Stiefel family set up a movie theater in Philadelphia, the Fairyland on Market Street. In the following years, they opened other theaters in Philadelphia, elsewhere in Pennsylvania, and in Baltimore, New York, Washington DC, and California. The Stiefels were also in the film distribution business and produced live shows and at least one film. Theaters run by the Stiefels, notably the Uptown Theatre in Philadelphia and the Howard Theatre in Washington, were part of the so-called "Chitlin Circuit" and gave starts to many black entertainers whose music later appealed to a wider audience. The...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Athena Tacha papers, 1942-2000 (inclusive)

Extent:
3.4 linear feet (3.4 linear feet, 12 boxes, 2 volumes )
Abstract:
Athena Tacha (1936-) is a Greek American sculptor, photographer, and conceptual artist who received degrees from the National Academy of Fine Arts (Athens, Greece), Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), and the University of Paris (Sorbonne). In the 1960s she settled in the United States and became a professor of sculpture at Oberlin College. Her commissioned pieces are installed as public art across the United States and in several other countries as well. This collection contains mostly early correspondence, education materials, publications, and artwork from 1950 through the 1980s, although it spans from 1950 to 2000.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Merchants Fund records, 1853-2003 (inclusive)

Extent:
13.0 linear feet (; 9 boxes, 24 volumes)
Abstract:
"The Merchants Fund is a Philadelphia charity established in 1854 to provide charitable gifts to business persons facing financial hardships. It evolved from the Mercantile Business Association, an organization dedicated to providing business advice, networking opportunities, and protection from financial failure or defualt due to illness, old age, or disability." (From their website) The collection consists primarily of administrative, financial, and legal records of the Fund. There are board minutes, business and legal correspondence, and tax returns. There are also extensive files on beneficiaries that include wills and estate papers. Other financial records include audit reports, treasurer's reports, tax- and Social Security-related records, and reports on the "Oliver Fund." Among the records are also several volumes, some dating to the mid 1800s. These include ledgers, cashbooks, bound annual reports, and bound minutes.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Volksverein of Philadelphia records, 1886-1949 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.1 linear feet (; 1 box, 12 volumes)
Abstract:
Now defunct, the Volksverein of Philadelphia was a local unit of the Catholic Central Union of America, which is a national Catholic social action and social welfare organization. The collection contains minutes of the meetings of the Volksverein, and job, financial, and subscription records of the organization's official organs, Philadelphia Volksblatt and Nord Amerika. The collection includes eleven ledgers recording cash transactions, subscriptions, and advertising. Also included is one book of minutes.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Harry E. Adamson papers, 1880-2021 (inclusive)

Extent:
11.1 linear feet (; 27 boxes, 6 volumes)
Abstract:
Harry Egan Adamson Jr. (1949-2021) was a Philadelphia AIDS and gay rights activist and restaurant manager. Infected in 1982, Adamson lived with HIV for nearly 40 years. He moved to Philadelphia in 1981 with his partner David Yontz. The couple stayed with Dr. John E. Fryer (1937-2003), who became one of Adamson’s lifelong friends. Yontz returned to Chicago in 1982, but Adamson remained in Philadelphia. Many of his friends and former lovers succumbed to AIDS between 1984 and 2000, but Adamson was a slow progressor and did not need to start medication for his disease until 1998. Though his HIV disease was under good control, neuropathy in his extremities became disabling in 1993. Adamson remained as active as he could, completing a master’s degree in pastoral counseling at La Salle University in 2002, acting as agent executor for Dr. John Fryer’s estate after his death in 2003, and serving on the board of Philly AIDSThrift from 2010-2013. Nonetheless, medical problems and depression...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Limit your search

more »

more »

more »

more »

more »

more »

more »

more »

Current results range from 1592 to 2021

View larger »