Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1580

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.2 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Holy Land trip diary and slides, 1955, Ms. Coll. 1580, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1955

Form:

Diaries, Travel photography, and Color slides

Abstract:

This collection contains a diary and slides documenting a 1955 trip to Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land.

Based on the information written on one of the slides' boxes, the creator of this material is possibly E.A. King from Wauseon, Ohio.

Little is known about King, but he or she was likely Christian and appears to have traveled on their own on an organized trip. The diary contains mentions of attending services at Calvary Baptist Church in New York City, a Bible school in Paris, and services at St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Paul's American Church in Rome. Their travel companions included three reverends, Reverend McCloskey, Reverend Miller, and Reverend Isharn [?].

This collection contains a diary and slides documenting a 1955 trip to Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land.

The diary details the trip from the departure from Lake Winona, India on July 27, 1955 through the return flight from Rome, Italy on August 24, 1955. The author provides details from their trip, including a broad schedule, tourist activities and sightseeing, the meals they had, and the clothing worn by local people. The diary also contains several references to Christianity and Christian churches, groups, and services.

Though the trip's itinerary is unclear in some parts of the dairy, it was roughly as follows: July 27-29, Lake Winona, IN, New York, NY, and Newfoundland, Canada; July 29, Shannon, Ireland; July 29-30, Paris, France; July 31-August 4, Rome, Italy; August 5-8; Egypt; August 9-11, Damascus, Syria and Amman, Jordan; August 11-21, Israel and the Holy Land (including Jerusalem, Bethany, the Dead Sea, Emmaus, Galilee, and Tel Aviv, among other locations); August 21-24, Greece; and August 24, Rome, Italy for the return flight to the United States.

The slides are sorted by their locations, which include Europe and the United States, Egypt, Israel and the Holy Land, and unidentified (likely Holy Land). Within these general locations, the slides are organized alphabetically by specific location, rather than chronologically following the trip's itinerary, because some of the timeline is unclear, not all locations are referenced in the diary, and several locations were visited more than once.

The Europe and United States slides include images from New York, NY, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Switzerland.

The Israel and the Holy Land slides include images from Amman, Beirut, Beit-Jala, Bethany, Bethlehem, Damascus, Jacob's Well, Solomon's Pool, Abraham's Well, Dead Sea, Emmaus, Golgotha, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Megiddo, and Mt. Zion, among others. There are also slides depicting the trips between Jerusalem and Bethlehem and Jerusalem and Jericho.

The unidentified slides consist of 36 slides that either contain unclear identifications or no identifications. They appear to be from the Holy Land portion of the trip.