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Eleanor Birkman collection on Holmesburg (Philadelphia, Pa.) history
Notifications
Held at: Friends of Northeast Philadelphia History [Contact Us]8732 Krewstown Rd, Philadelphia, PA, 19115
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends of Northeast Philadelphia History. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Eleanor P. Birkman (1905-2003) was a local historian and resident of the Holmesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She often gave local history presentations about Northeast Philadelphia, focusing specifically on the history of Holmesburg.
Eleanor P. Birkman was born in 1905 to John and Emma D. Birkman, the youngest of their three daughters. She lived in the Holmesburg neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania her entire life, graduating from Frankford High School in 1923 and becoming a public school teacher. Birkman passed away in 2003.
This collection consists mainly of secondary-source materials pertaining to Holmesburg and Northeast Philadelphia history, such as published books, research articles, clippings, and copies of historic documents and photographs. There is also a small amount of primary materials such as late 19th and early 20th century photographs, pamphlets, newspapers, and other documents. A large portion of the collection is notes and materials from local history presentations given by Birkman.
Of interest is a set of approximately one hundred Holmesburg Gazette newspapers (1871-1872); an original deed signed by Furman Holme (1887); the constitution, by-laws, and a small amount of other records of the (apparently short-lived) Holmesburg-Torresdale Historical & Arts Society (1960s); and early 20th century pamphlets and other materials from fraternal organizations.
There are both original and photocopied photographs in the collection. The images depict scenes of Holmesburg; one section is block-by-block images of the neighborhood.
Other materials in the collection include narrative histories, atlases, and Birkman's notes (both handwritten and typed) and index cards.
Acting as executor of Eleanor Birkman's estate, attorney Edwin Moore, gave the collection to local historian Fred Moore (no relation) in the fall of 2008 for safekeeping. Fred Moore donated the collection to the Friends of Northeast Philadelphia History when that group was formed in 2013.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Friends of Northeast Philadelphia History directly for more information.
People
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Friends of Northeast Philadelphia History
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Sarah Leu through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Friends of Northeast Philadelphia History for information about accessing this collection.