News Release
October 2003
(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)-Payne Gallery at Moravian
College will exhibit "Buried
Treasure: Discovering the Moravian College Archives," from October
23 through November 30. The exhibit comprises almost 90 objects, mostly
documents, but also banners, posters, a painting, a photo album, and
an ornate armchair. The archival exhibit of materials from the 260-year-old
vaults of Moravian College is the first to be held in Payne Gallery.
The oldest piece in the exhibit is a letter from Count Zinzendorf
written when he himself was a student, in 1716; the youngest, an aerial
photograph of the College taken in 2002. The exhibit includes the earliest
known Moravian Theological Seminary class schedule (1808) and the first
faculty minutes book (1858). It showcases the photograph album of William
Gerdsen '30, in which he captured campus life of his time, and a color
film about the college, made in 1948. This has been transferred to
videotape and will play in a continuous loop during exhibit hours.
John Weeren, Moravian's archivist, has assembled
an impressive array of objects and artifacts that demonstrate Moravian's
unique place in
American history, some of which have been recently discovered. One
such find included a collection of mid-19th-century instructional charts
in the attic of the Brethren's House, two of which will be featured
in the exhibit. Bound copies of the College’s student newspaper,
The Comenian, dating back to 1891, and The Belfry (its counterpart
at Moravian College for Women) were rescued from the open stacks at
Reeves Library.
Though the archive offices at Moravian are two small rooms tucked
into the basement of Reeves Library, next to the Groenfeldt Moravian
Collection, they contain extensive holdings with great potential to
contribute to the college and scholarly communities.
Some of the more unusual items in "Buried Treasure":
- A certificate of discharge from the Continental Army
signed by George Washington. The discharged soldier was not an
alumnus, but the letter
itself comes from a collection of Presidential autographs donated
by a Moravian layman, Gustav Kraemer. (My fault; John corrected
his name,
but I changed it only in the magazine article.)
- The armchair, with
a 1924 photograph that shows it in place in Main Hall.
- The check
issued to Alice Kent Stoddart in 1936 for the portrait of President
Hamilton that now hangs in Comenius Hall.
- A blueprint for Harvey
Memorial Library, which was added to Comenius Hall in 1907.
- A Spanish-American
War broadside (1898) calling for a rally in support of the war.
The exhibit is divided into 12 sections spotlighting teaching, the
campus, student life, administration, and athletics, among other areas.
The spine of the exhibit is a Moravian College timeline illustrated
with documents.
"It's exciting to delve into the past and create as complete
a road map as we can of what has come before," Weeren says. "That's
what I love about archives. They contain the raw material of history.
They prepare the ground that allows historians and scholars to do their
work in reconstructing a world that no longer exists, thereby helping
us to understand our own."
Payne Gallery is part of Moravian College's Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus
on Church Street in downtown Bethlehem. Hours are 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Tuesdays through Sundays. It is closed Mondays, major holidays, and
during the College's fall break (October 11-14). Information and directions:
(610) 861-1680, weekend (610) 861-1667, or www.moravian.edu.
