Call Number:

02

Repository:

Friends of Northeast Philadelphia History

Extent:

8.0 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

circa 1880-2013 (bulk 1980-2005)

Creator:

Stopper, Pat Worthington, 1928-

Abstract:

Patricia Worthington Stopper (born 1928) was a local historian in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is involved in many Northeast Philadelphia history societies and groups and has researched and written extensively about the neighborhoods of Bustleton, Somerton, and Byberry. She has also given presentations and lectures at schools, libraries, and historical groups about Northeast Philadelphia history. The Pat Stopper collection on Northeast Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pa.) history, circa 1880-2013 (bulk 1980-2005), consists of scrapbooks, maps, audio and video recordings, and photographs all relating to Northeast Philadelphia, especially the neighborhoods of Bustleton, Somerton, and Byberry.

Born Patricia Worthington in 1928 into a family whose roots in Northeast Philadelphia go back over 300 years, Pat Worthington Stopper spent many years collecting, preserving, and sharing local history. A longtime resident of the Bustleton neighborhood, she has researched and written extensively about the neighborhoods of Bustleton, Somerton, and Byberry, and has given presentations to schools, libraries, and historical groups.

In the early 1990s Pat Stopper was a founding member of the Northeast Philadelphia History Project. She is the author of the books A Pictorial Glimpse into the Past: Bustleton-Somerton-Byberry (1995) and A Pictorial Glimpse into the Past: Bustleton-Somerton-Byberry II (1999), and a major contributor to Historical Northeast Philadelphia: Stories and Memories (1993) and Take a Trip Through Time: Northeast Philadelphia Revisited (1996). After her books were published, Pat, along with her husband Fred Stopper, began doing speaking engagements and public presentations about the past for schools, libraries, and other educational programs.

Pat Stopper was also very active in researching and preserving the history of Pennepack Baptist Church, the oldest surviving Baptist church in Pennsylvania.

Bibliography:

"Pat Worthington Stopper, NE Philadelphia Historian/Author." Draft biography provided by Friends of Northeast Philadelphia History, June 2014.

This collection consists of scrapbooks assembled by Pat Stopper, as well as maps, audio and video recordings, and photographs she collected.

Scrapbooks compiled by Pat Stopper form the bulk of this collection. Focusing on Northeast Philadelphia history, specifically the neighborhoods of Bustleton, Somerton, and Byberry, the scrapbooks are organized by neighborhood and topic. They consist of newspaper clippings, original and copies of original photographs (late 19th century and early 20th century, as well as some from the 1970s and more recent photos taken by Stopper), pamphlets, ephemera, narrative histories, photocopies of research articles on local history, real photo postcards, and some original documents, such as receipts.

There are 16 audiocassette tapes (1989-1993, 1998). Some of the tapes are of lectures and presentations (with slide scripts) on Northeast Philadelphia history done by Pat Stopper and others, but most of the tapes appear to be interviews conducted as research for Harry Silcox's book Historical Northeast Philadelphia: Stories and Memories (1993).

Also present in the collection are aerial photographs (1985) of Northeast Philadelphia neighborhoods with corresponding film negatives; several photocopied maps, especially atlas plates; and a VHS videocassette tape (probably of a lecture/presentation).