Call Number:

CONT

Repository:

Chestnut Hill Historical Society

Extent:

11.75 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

2011.60, 2003.105

Date:

circa 1980s

Creator:

Contosta, David R.

Abstract:

David R. Contosta (born 1945) is a professor of history at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The David Contosta Collection, circa 1980s, consists of various notes, memos, correspondence, bibliographies, interviews, newspaper clippings and photos related to David Contosta's completion of his publications on Chestnut Hill, Houston/Woodward families, St. Martin, and various others. Also included are tapes of interviews and various photos of Houston/Woodward family members and sites.

David R. Contosta is a professor of history at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in 1945 in Lancaster, Ohio, he received his PhD in History from Miami University of Ohio. He has written over 15 books on local history and other topics, including Suburb in the City: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, 1850-1990 (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1992), A Philadelphia Family: The Houstons and Woodwards of Chestnut Hill (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992), and A Venture in Faith: The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 1889-1989 (Philadelphia: The Church, 1988).

Bibliography:

"David Contosta, Ph.D." Chestnut Hill College, 2010. Accessed December 28, 2011. http://www.chc.edu/directories/faculty/David_Contosta/

This collection consists of the research materials collected and generated by David Contosta while writing books about Chestnut Hill. Subject files are arranged alphabetically and focus on locally-significant businesses, individuals, buildings, etc. It includes newspaper clippings, photocopies of primary source documents, and interview notes and research notes by Contosta. One box contains about two-dozen audio cassettes.

This collection also features oral history interviews conducted by David Contosta in preparation for his book Suburb in the City, published by Ohio University Press in 1992. There are three boxes of audio cassettes, and transcriptions for many of the interviews.