Year |
Title |
Subject |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Sunday School, Philadelphia, 1925 | Education | The Sunday School of the First Lettish Baptist Church of Philadelphia poses in 1925 for a photograph outside the meeting house at the corner of Preston and Ogden streets in West Philadelphia. The image also was reproduced on the cover of the September 15, 1925, edition of Kristīgā Balss, a Baptist semi-monthly periodical published in Latvia. |
| 1922 | Insurance map, West Philadelphia, 1922 | West Philadelphia | A page from Insurance maps of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Vol.14, 1922, created by the Sanborn Map Company of New York. The specific page 1354 shows a section of Ward 24 in West Philadelphia where many Latvian Baptist immigrants lived in the early 20th century. At the southeast corner of Preston and Ogden streets is the Lettish Baptist Church. |
| 1918 | American Latvian Baptist Literary Society | 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. |
| 1918 | Drauga Balss | 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. |
| 1917 | Martin Treyan's military draft registration | 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. |
| 1917 | James Yunag's military draft registration | 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. |
| 1916 | Filadelfijas latviešu baptistu jauniešu biedrība | 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. |
| 1914 | Obituary for the Rev. Jānis Neibuks | 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. |
| 1913-1917 | Jaunā Tēvija | Immigrant press | Jaunā Tēvija (The New Homeland) was an illustrated monthly for Latvian-Americans that was published by Andrejs J. Fūrmanis (Andrew J. Fuhrman) beginning in September 1913. The journal was religious (Baptist) and nationalist in tone. Its editorial office originally was at 787 North Preston St., Philadelphia, but as of the October 1915 issue it moved to Bradley Beach, N.J. Until February 1916, the cover of the magazine featured a stylized "Jaunā Tēvija" title floating above an image of the Statue of Liberty shining a beam of light from its torch onto a passenger ship named "Baltija" as it steams toward a dock, where a standing Uncle Sam waits with outstretched arms. With the February 1916 issue (which also saw a change from the glossy covers of earlier issues), a stylized title remained, but now it floated above a pair of images drawn by Gustavs Aboltiņš. In one, on the left side of the cover, the sun rises on what can be assumed to be a scene in Latvia, while on the right side a young woman reads Jaunā Tēvija. |
| 1912 | Who Are the Letts? | Latvian Baptists | In 1912, as part of an appeal to raise money for a new church, the Rev. Jānis Kvietiņš, then pastor of the First Lettish Baptist Church of Philadelphia, wrote a 16-page pamphlet on the history of the Latvians titled Who are the Letts?: A short historical sketch of the Letts and the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia. |