Pearl Collections

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Description:
History of Presbyterian mission work and missionaries. See the following related collections: Foreign missions; Domestic missions.
Featured image: Missionary to China Aimee Boddy Millican (1884-1974) and radio broadcasting staff.
Topics:
Presbyterian Church--Missions., Missionaries.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:missions
Description:
In recognition of the incredible work being done by healthcare workers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in honor of National Nurses Week (May 6-12, 2020), we have curated a collection that celebrates the long history of Presbyterian involvement in nursing, from training prospective nurses in Presbyterian schools and hospitals, to hands-on work with the sick and suffering.
Featured image: Taegu Nurses' School dedication, June 1952.
Topics:
Nurses,, Nursing--History., Missions, Medical.--Presbyterian Church, COVID-19.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:nurses
Description:
A collection of digitized and born-digital audio and video oral histories.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:oralhistories_collection
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
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:
Description:
Featured image: Portrait of Maggie Kuhn by Julie Jensen Bryan, undated.
Topics:
Presbyterians.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:portraits
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
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
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
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
Description:
This collection documents the role women have played in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its predecessor denominations, at home and abroad.
Topics:
Presbyterian women., Women in the Presbyterian Church., Women missionaries., Women in church work--Presbyterian Church., Women in missionary work.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:women
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
Description:
History of the Protestant Reformation--the series of changes in Western Christendom between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries resulting in the schism from the Roman Catholic Church.
Featured image: Martin Luther's thesis nailed to the church door in Wittenberg. Engraving by Johann Leonard Raab, from a drawing by F. Lessing, ca. 1850.
Topics:
Reformation--Early movements.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:reformation
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:bookCollection
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
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
Description:
In 2020, moved by the nationwide uprising in the wake of the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, PHS staff began curating publicly-accessible Presbyterian responses to the renascent Black Lives Matter movement. This collection includes video of worship services and Bible studies, personal messages from pastors, and news coverage of Presbyterian responses to and with BLM from 2015 to 2021.
Topics:
Racism--United States., Police brutality--United States., Police-community relations--United States.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:blm
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
Title:
Description:
Featured image: Faith in God: a sermon delivered in the East Room of the Executive Mansion, Wednesday, Apr. 19, 1865, at the funeral of Abraham Lincoln, President of the U.S. by Phineas D. Gurley.
Topics:
Sermons.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:sermons
Description:
The Shedd family were Presbyterian missionaries in West Persia from 1892 to 1918. William Ambrose Shedd was appointed to the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. West Persia Mission in 1892 and served until his death in 1918. His first wife, Adela Myers Shedd served from 1894 until her death in 1901. His second wife, Louise Wilbur Shedd, served from 1900 until her death in 1915. This collection includes photographs of missionary work and travels in Iran and Turkey.
Featured image: Urmia Hospital staff at dinner, ca. 1890-1920.
Creator:
Shedd family (creator)
Subject names:
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. West Persia Mission., Shedd, William Ambrose, 1865-1918., Shedd, Louise Wilbur, 1868-1915., Shedd, John Haskell, 1833-1895., Shedd, Margaret, 1900-, Coa, Frederick G. (Frederick Gaylord), 1859-1943., Cochran, Joseph Plumb, 1855-1905.
Topics:
Missions--Iran.
Geographic subjects:
Iran--Description and travel., Turkey--Description and travel.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:shedd_family

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