Browse items

Year

Title

Subject

Description

1902 Immigrant press Amerikas Latweetis (Amerikas Latvietis, American Latvian) was published in Philadelphia from 1902-1905.
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.
1916 Latvian Baptists in Philadelphia A photographic postcard featuring 71 members of the Philadelphia Latvian Baptist Youth Society, plus the Rev. Peter Buschman (Pēteris Bušmanis), 1916.
1917 Latvian Baptists in West Philadelphia James Yunag's military draft registration James Frederick Yunag's military draft registration, dated June 5, 1917, shows that he claimed exemption from the draft because of his religious faith.
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.
1918 Immigrant press The December 15, 1918, issue of Drauga Balss (A Friend's Voice). Published in New York, the periodical replaced Jaunā Tēvija as the voice of Latvian Baptists in North America. Initially it was edited by the Rev. John Birseneek of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Krišjānis Nātre of New York.
1918 Immigrant press Participants pose for a photograph during the annual conference of the American Latvian Baptist Literary Society (Amerikas Latviešu Baptistu Literariskā Biedrība), which took place Sept. 27-28, 1918, in Philadelphia. Pictured left to right are (first row) J. Kvietiņš and Fr. Blumbergs; (second row) Kr. Nātre, P. Bušmanis, J.A. Blumbergs, J. Birzenieks, D. Birzenieks, A. Demberg, K.A. Karolis, H. Lagsdons, and M. Trejans; (third row) D. Kurmiņš, R.J. Monsons, E. Redowitz, H. Egle, J.F. Yunags, F. Ofgants, A.R. Dravnieks, P. Blooms, W. Konsuls, and J. Brakmans; (fourth row) F. Egle, A. Bernhardts, A. Pinkuls, Kr. Sproģis, and D. Blooms.
1919 Print culture The cover of a rare collection of religious poetry, Pirmās skaņas, self-published in 1919 by a Latvian Baptist, M. Mureneek (M. Mūrniece), in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The author's forward suggests the poems were written in an urban setting, most likely in Chicago.
1920 Immigrant press The cover of the May 31, 1920, edition of Grauds, a small periodical published from 1919-1920 in Nova Odesa, Brazil, for Latvian Baptist immigrants. The editor and publisher was J. Kudrin.