Pearl Collections

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Title:
African American history
Description:
African American history, including church, mid council, and national agency records; personal papers; photographs; publications; and oral histories collected as part of the African American Leaders and Congregations Initiative. Featured image: Student minister with boys, Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary, Charlotte, N.C., circa 1950.
Topics:
African American Presbyterians.
Geographic subjects:
United States.--Race relations--Religious aspects--Presbyterian Church, United States.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:afam
Title:
American Indian Correspondence
Description:
Missionary correspondence written to the secretaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions documenting the mission work among Native Americans. Letters are official in nature but often contain personal comment and experiences. A smaller portion of the collection consists of reports, including school and mission station reports and statistics; financial statements, accounts, and vouchers; agreements/contracts; and maps. View the collection guide to learn more.
Featured image: Letter to F.F. Ellenwood from Herbert Welsh, November 11, 1887. Letter to F.F. Ellenwood from Herbert Welsh, November 11, 1887.
Start date:
1833
End date:
1950
Subject names:
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions., Western Foreign Missionary Society., American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
Topics:
Ojibwa Indians--Missions--19th century., Indians of North America--Missions--19th century., Presbyterian Church--Missions--19th century., Indians of North America--History--19th century.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:rg224
Title:
Ballston Female Heathen School Society Records.
Description:
The Ballston Female Heathen School Society was founded in 1817 by fifty-seven women from the Ballston region of New York to support the work of the Princeton Theological Seminary and American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions' (ABCFM) work in Brainerd, North Carolina and Ceylon. Its scope later broadened to include support for mission work in Beirut, Syria, Iran, and with Native Americans near Detroit. The collection includes the Society’s constitution, annual reports, a subscriber roll with contributions, acknowledgments of contributions, and correspondence from recipients of support. View the collection guide to learn more.
Featured image: Ballston Female Heathen School Society constitution, 1817.
Creator:
Ballston Female Heathen School Society.
Subject names:
Ballston Female Heathen School Society., American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions., Princeton Theological Seminary.
Topics:
Women in missionary work., Women--Societies and clubs.
Geographic subjects:
Ballston (N.Y. : Town)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:rg422
Title:
Domestic missions
Description:
History of Presbyterian mission work and missionaries in domestic fields.
Featured image: Missionary Kate McBeth with the first Women's Missionary Society organized in Lapwai (present-day Idaho).
Topics:
Missionaries--United States., Presbyterian Church--Missions--United States., Home missions.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:domesticmissions
Title:
Early American history
Description:
History of Presbyterianism in Colonial and Revolutionary-era America (1600-1789).
Featured image: Painting of Reverend Charles Beatty and Reverend George Duffield preaching to the Indians on the banks of the Muskingum River by Mary W. Bonsall, undated.
End date:
1789
Geographic subjects:
United States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775., United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:early_american
Title:
Easter COVID-19 collection
Description:
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, churches across the nation have shown themselves to be beacons of hope—providing food and social services, pastoral care, and online worship. The Presbyterian Historical Society has responded to this unprecedented moment by gathering 2020 Easter Sunday worship services and sermons from PC(USA) congregations and other worshiping communities. The COVID-19 collection is a curated selection of these contributions, including services from congregations in California, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania -- including Arabic and Hakha Chin services from First Presbyterian Church (Allentown, Pa.) -- Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Topics:
COVID-19 (Disease)--United States., Easter sermons--United States--21st century., COVID-19--Religious aspects--Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:covid19
Title:
Henry Harmon Spalding and Eliza Hart Spalding Papers
Description:
In 1836, Henry Harmon and Eliza Hart Spalding, under appointment by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to the Osage Indians, met Marcus Whitman and were persuaded to go to the Northwest as Presbyterian missionaries. The Spaldings and Whitmans made a hazardous six months journey, the wives being the first white women to cross the Rocky Mountains. The Spaldings established a mission among the Nez Percé in the Lapwai Valley (present Idaho). They opened a school, set up the first printing press in the Northwest, and trained the Indians in farming. In 1847, they escaped the massacre which claimed the lives of the Whitmans. The collection consists of eight original letters by Henry and Eliza Spalding to family members. View the collection guide to learn more.
Featured image: Portrait of Henry Harmon Spalding by Matthew Brady, 1871.
Creator:
Spalding, Henry Harmon, 1803-1874. (creator), Spalding, Eliza Hart, 1807-1851. (creator)
Subject names:
Spalding, Henry Harmon, 1803-1874., Spalding, Eliza Hart, 1807-1851., American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
Topics:
Indians of North America--Missions.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:spalding
Title:
Japanese American incarceration during World War II
Description:
Images of, and publications regarding, the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Includes the entirety of Frederick Thorne's "Japanese American forced removal and incarceration during World War II slide collection," a circa 1944 slide collection documenting life at Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II, including Manzanar War Relocation Center in California and Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas. Features images of imprisoned Japanese Americans as well as scenes of Presbyterian mission work in the camps. In 2023, description found in this digital collection was revised as part of ongoing effort to address harmful and offensive language. For more information, contact us at refdesk@history.pcusa.org.
Creator:
Thorne, Frederick R. (photographer)
Subject names:
Manzanar War Relocation Center., Rohwer Relocation Center (Ark.)
Topics:
Japanese Americans--Missions., Japanese Americans--Forced removal and incarceration, 1942-1945., World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--United States., Japanese Americans--Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945.
Geographic subjects:
Rohwer (Ark.), Manzanar (Calif.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:slides_b34
Title:
Katie G. Cannon Collection
Description:
Katie Geneva Cannon was the first Black woman ordained a minister of word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church. She was born in 1950 in the Fisher Town neighborhood of Kannapolis, N.C., one of the seven children of Corine and Esau Cannon. She graduated from Barber-Scotia College (Concord, N.C.), completed a Doctor of Divinity at Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary, and was the first African American to complete a Doctor of Philosophy at Union Theological Seminary (New York, N.Y.). She was ordained by the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Presbytery of Catawba in 1974. A founding voice in Womanist theology, Cannon taught at Temple University, and Union Presbyterian Seminary (Richmond, Va.). In 2018 she founded the Center for Womanist Ethics at Union in Richmond; she died August 8, 2018. This collection represents in a single online location personal records of Katie's that she intended to distribute among Presbyterian Historical Society, Union Presbyterian Seminary, and Union Theological Seminary in New York.
Featured image: Katie G. Cannon preaching, circa 1993.
Creator:
Cannon, Katie G. (creator)
Subject names:
Cannon, Katie G.
Topics:
African American Presbyterians., Presbyterian women--United States., African American women., Womanist theology.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:kgc
Title:
Millican Family Papers
Description:
Correspondence, biographical materials, and photographs documenting the Millican family's missionary experiences in China, and to a lesser extent in the Philippines, emphasizing the difficulties of their work during the Sino-Japanese War of the late 1930s and during the post-World War II years. Edith Millican's correspondence documents medical work in China during and after World War II, giving insight into the training and experiences of, and opportunities for, American women doctors. Also included are photographs documenting Edith Millican's time serving the Board of National Missions as a physician in New Mexico. View the collection guide to learn more. The entire collection has been digitized.
Featured image: Aimee and Frank Millican just before going to China, 1907.
Start date:
1900
End date:
1984
Creator:
Millican family. (creator)
Subject names:
Millican, Frank R., 1883-1961., Millican, Aimee Boddy, 1884-1974., Millican, Edith F., 1914-1985., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. China Mission., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Philippine Mission., Christian Literature Society for China., Chenhsien Hospital (Hunan, China), Embudo Presbyterian Hospital (Embudo, N.M.), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of National Missions.
Topics:
Presbyterian Church--Missions--New Mexico., Missions--Educational work--China., Evangelistic work--China., Presbyterian Church--Missions--China., Presbyterian Church--Missions--Philippines., Religious literature--Distribution--China., Missions, Medical--China., Women physicians--China., Religious broadcasting--China., Religious broadcasting--Philippines., Sino-Japanese Conflict, 1937-1945.
Geographic subjects:
New Mexico., China., Philippines.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:rg199
Title:
PCUSA Special Committee on Racism, Truth and Reconciliation
Description:
The Special Committee on Racism Truth and Reconciliation was created by the 222nd General Assembly (2016) with a mandate to interrogate institutional racism within the Church. In support of the committee’s work, this collection brings together records of the Presbyterian Church’s responses to the Confession of 1967, the Black Manifesto, and other passages from the long-standing struggles of Black, Brown and indigenous power movements against white supremacy. The committee presents its full report and recommendations to the 225th General Assembly (2022).
Topics:
Race relations--Religious aspects--Christianity., Civil rights--Religious aspects--Christianity.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:scrtr
Title:
Phineas Densmore Gurley Papers
Description:
Phineas Gurley was born in 1816 in Hamilton, N.Y. Gurley served as chaplain of the United States Senate in 1858 and as moderator of the General Assembly in 1867. He is perhaps best remembered for having been the pastor in attendance at the deathbed of Abraham Lincoln and for the sermon he preached at the President's funeral. The Phineas Densmore Gurley Papers include photographs, correspondence, and manuscript sermons, including a facsimile and transcript of "Faith in God," the sermon Gurley preached at the funeral of Abraham Lincoln, and a transcript of the sermon he preached at the funeral of Lincoln's young son, William. View the collection guide to learn more. The entire physical collection has been digitized.
Featured image: Portrait of Reverend Phineas D. Gurley. Photographed byJohn Goldin and Company, 1867.
Creator:
Gurley, P. D. (Phineas Densmore), 1816-1868. (creator)
Subject names:
Gurley, P. D. (Phineas Densmore), 1816-1868., Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865., Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. (Old School). General Assembly (79th : 1867 : Cincinnati, Ohio), Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. (Old School). General Assembly. Moderator (1867-1868 : Gurley), F Street Presbyterian Church (Washington, D.C.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:gurley
Title:
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. African American Synods Collection
Description:
The African American Synods Collection consists of the annual minutes of the synods of Atlantic, East Tennessee/Blue Ridge, Canadian, and Catawba; newsletters published by the synods of Atlantic and Catawba; and a small number of photographs of members of the synods of Atlantic and Catawba. View the collection guide to learn more. The entire physical collection has been digitized.
Featured image: Synod of Atlantic group photo.
Start date:
1873
End date:
1988
Subject names:
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Synod of Atlantic., United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Synod of Atlantic., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Synod of Blue Ridge., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Synod of East Tennessee., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Synod of Canadian., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Synod of Catawba., United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Synod of Catawba.
Topics:
African American women--Societies and clubs., African American Presbyterians--History--20th century., African American Presbyterians--Periodicals.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:rg395
Title:
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Special Committee on Forms and Services Records, circa 1897-1910.
Description:
The 115th General Assembly (1903) of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. appointed the Special Committee on Forms of Service to prepare a manual that would standardize the form of special services, such as marriage, baptism, and communion services. Henry Jackson Van Dyke, Jr. (1852-1933) was appointed Chair and the Committee produced a manual in 1906 entitled: The Book of Common Worship. This collection contains minutes, reports, publications, correspondence, manuscripts, and other material relating to the work of the committee. View the collection guide to learn more. The entire physical collection has been digitized.
Featured image: Title page of the Book of Common Worship, 1906.
Creator:
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Special Committee on Forms and Services. (creator)
Subject names:
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.--Liturgy., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Special Committee on Forms and Services., Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Book of common worship (1906), Benson, Louis F. (Louis FitzGerald), 1855-1930.
Topics:
Worship programs., Public worship., Presbyterian Church--Liturgy.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:rg65
Title:
Presbyterian General Assemblies
Description:
History of Presbyterian General Assemblies--annual and now biennial meetings to review the work of the denomination and resolve controversies within the church.
Featured image: Rev. Joan Salmon Campbell at the 202nd General Assembly, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 1990.
Topics:
Presbyterian Church--Congresses., Presbyterian Church--Government., Presbyterian Church--United States.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:general_assemblies
Title:
Presbyterian Historical Society
Description:
The Presbyterian Historical Society, founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1857, is the oldest denominational historical society in the country. This collection details the history of the Presbyterian Historical Society/Department of History from its founding in 1852, including the Historical Foundation of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Montreat, NC, which merged with PHS in 1983.
Featured image: Postcard of the Presbyterian Historical Society building in Society Hill, Philadelphia, Pa., 1973.
Start date:
1852
Creator:
Presbyterian Historical Society. (creator)
Subject names:
Presbyterian Historical Society--Archives.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:phs
Title:
Presbyterians in Puerto Rico
Description:
Photographs, audio, and video documenting the Presbyterian communities of Puerto Rico.
Topics:
Presbyterian Church--Missions--Puerto Rico., Presbyterians--Puerto Rico., Presbyterianism--Puerto Rico.
Geographic subjects:
Puerto Rico.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:puerto-rico
Title:
Rachel Henderlite Papers
Description:
Rachel Henderlite was a teacher, writer, ordained minister, and activist. In 1965, Henderlite was ordained by Hanover Presbytery as the first woman minister of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. The collection includes photographs, audio and video recordings, a scrapbook, correspondence, lecture and sermon notes, speeches and writings, and publications. View the collection guide to learn more.
Featured image: Bishop Frederick D. Jordan congratulates Dr. Rachel Henderlite.
Creator:
Henderlite, Rachel, 1905-1991. (creator)
Subject names:
Henderlite, Rachel, 1905-1991--Archives.
Topics:
Women clergy--United States., Presbyterian Church--Clergy--United States., Ordination of women--Presbyterian Church.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:rg504
Title:
Rachel Kerr Johnson Papers.
Description:
Born in February 1837, Rachel Kerr Johnson and her husband William F. (Will) Johnson served as Presbyterian missionaries in the northwestern provinces of India from 1860-1884. Upon their return to the United States, Rachel became a frequent speaker at women's missionary society meetings in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and northern West Virginia. She died in 1888 of injuries sustained in a buggy accident. The collection consists of correspondence from Rachel Kerr Johnson to her family members from 1856, her first year at the Female Seminary in Steubenville, Ohio, until 1888. Her letters reveal the dynamics of family relations and provide colorful descriptions and keen insight about India and mission life. The collection includes a few letters written by her husband Will (William F.) and daughters Mary (Mary Ella) and Jane (Jennie). View the collection guide to learn more.
Featured image: Rachel Kerr Johnson correspondence, 1886-1888.
Start date:
1854
Creator:
Johnson, Rachel Kerr, 1837-1888., Johnson, William F., 1838-1926., Johnson, Mary Ella, 1864-, Johnson, Jane, 1870-
Subject names:
Johnson, Rachel Kerr, 1837-1888--Archives., Kerr, Frank., Kerr, Samuel., Kerr, Stella., Johnson, Edwin, 1865-1890., Biddle University., Steubenville Female Seminary.
Topics:
Missions--Presbyterian Church--India., Evangelistic work--India., Female seminaries--Ohio--Steubenville., Returned missionaries--Charlotte.--North Carolina, Women in missionary work--India--19th century., Women missionaries--India--19th century.
Geographic subjects:
India., Steubenville (Ohio)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:rg392
Title:
Religious News Service Photographs
Description:
Conceived by journalist Louis Minsky (1909-1957), Religious News Service (RNS) was established in 1934 as an affiliated but independently managed agency of the National Conference of Jews and Christians (later the National Conference of Christians and Jews), and was dedicated to providing authoritative and bias-free news about religion and ethics to both the secular and religious press. This collection contains photographs documenting Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish groups. Coverage of Protestants (especially mainline Protestants) and Catholics constitutes the bulk of the images. View the collection guide to learn more. Digitization of some of the images in this collection made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Featured image: Father James Groppi, the civil rights activist priest from Milwaukee, and militant leader Rennie Davis are taken into custody during an anti war demonstration a block from the White House.
Creator:
Religious News Service. (creator)
Subject names:
Catholic Church--History--20th century., National Conference of Christians and Jews., Orthodox Eastern Church--History--20th century., Religious News Service.
Topics:
Catholics--History--20th century., Foreign news--History--United States--20th century., Jews--History--20th century., Journalism, Religious--History--20th century., Judaism--History--20th century., Protestantism--History--20th century., Protestants--History--20th century., Religion--Photographs., Religion and politics--History--20th century., Religion and sociology--History--20th century., Religion and international relations--History--20th century., Religious institutions--History--20th century., Religious leaders., Social movements--Religious aspects--History--20th century.
Geographic subjects:
United States--Social policy--20th century., United States--Politics and government--20th century., United States--Religion--20th century., United States--Social conditions--20th century.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:rns

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