Browse items

Year

Title

Subject

Description

1934 Immigrant press
1927 Immigrant press
1930 Immigrant Press
1910 Latvian Baptists in Philadelphia A drawing of the First Lettish Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, published in the April 28, 1910, edition of the Rīga-based periodical Avots. The building at 855 Preston Street was a two-story house that the congregation began using in 1910 but quickly outgrew. The illustration was created by J.W. Celms.
1914 Latvian Baptists The Rīga-based Latvian Baptist periodical Avots carried this obituary for the Rev. Jānis Neibuks (1849-1914) in its March 19, 1914, issue. Neibuks had served the First Lettish Baptist Church in Philadelphia from 1904-1909, but then moved to Boston, where he was pastor until 1913. Illness forced him to step away from the ministry, but after recuperating he began mission work through the Chicago congregation. Niebuks also served the small Latvian Baptist congregation in Sussex County, Virginia. Before his death, he had returned to Philadelphia to once again lead the congregation there. The obituary was written by the Rev. Jānis Kvietiņš, then pastor of the Baptist congregation in New York.
ca. 1916 Latvian Baptists in Pennsylvania A photograph of the Rev. Peter Buschman (Pēteris Bušmanis) baptizing an unidentified person in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, ca. 1916. Bucks County, a rural area north of Philadelphia, developed into a "colony" for Latvian Baptists.
ca. 1920 Philadelphia Latvian Baptist Youth Society To remind members to attend, the Philadelphia Latvian Baptist Youth Society sent them notices of meetings such as this one. The text stressed the importance of participation. Photograph by Andris Straumanis.
1932 Latvian Baptists in West Philadelphia Members of the Women's Missionary Society (Māsu misiones pulciņš) of the First Lettish Baptist Church of Philadelphia sit for a photograph on April 17, 1932. The society began its work in 1894. According to an article by Alma Treyan published June 1, 1932, in the Rīga-based Baptist journal Kristīgā Balss, those pictured in the first row (left to right) are L. Gertz, M. Upmal (founding member), E. Krastin, M. Licke (founding member), R. Inke, M. Fischer, K. Sommer, L. Girgen, and L. Upeneek. In the second row (left to right) are S. Grikman (former chair), J. Egle (former chair), M. Pluhme (former chair), A. Treyan (secretary), A. Yunag (vice chair), Natalija Peterson (chair), M. Brenson (treasurer), L. Robinson (learned secretary), J. Luhks (manager), and A. Johnson (officer). In the third row (from left to right) are E. Fuhrman, E. Luhks, M. Pawelkop, A. Aldin, J. Krusen, A. Yunag, and L. Spruhde. In the fourth row (from left to right) are M. Stanislaw, A. Smit, K. Lukewitz, M. Dambis, L. Fischer, L. Reke, E. Johnson, M. Kamer, and A. Spruhde.
1917 Latvian Baptists in West Philadelphia Martin Treyan's military draft registration card, submitted June 5, 1917, shows his place of birth as Sakkenhausen, Russia, which today is Saka Parish in Latvia. At the time he registered, Treyan was employed as a carpenter in Chester, Pennsylvania.
ca. 1910 Library Rules for use of the Philadelphia Latvian Baptist Youth Society's library, housed in the First Lettish Baptist Church, 855 Preston Street. Patrons could check out up to two books at a time and had to return them in two weeks' time. Photographed by Andris Straumanis.