The Moravian Historical Society: Home










About the Moravian Historical Society

Location: 214 E. Center St., Nazareth, PA 18064

Phone: 610-759-5070

Fax: 610-759-2461

Museum Hours: 1:00-4:00pm Mon.-Fri.

Whitefield Office hours: 8:00am-4:00pm Mon.-Fri.

Contact:

One of the oldest historical societies in Pennsylvania, the Moravian Historical Society was established in 1857 to preserve the history of the Moravian Church. The Protestant denomination was undergoing a major change at the time, transforming several "closed" communities in which only members of the church could live to "open" communities. The founding members wished to preserve the church's history and customs which they feared might be forgotten.

The new society was offered a room in the 1740 Whitefield House, one of the oldest Moravian buildings erected in America, as a place to store and use the documents, books, and artifacts which they were collecting. In 1871 the society was given the use of the entire second floor of the Whitefield House, and that became the permanent home of the society and its museum. The second floor of the building has thus been a museum for over 125 years.

In 1978 the society acquired the entire Whitefield House, the nearby Gray Cottage, built of logs in 1740, and the surrounding land known as the Ephrata Tract.  The Moravian Historical Society now owns and maintains the historic property, the oldest existing Moravian site in North America.

Read more about the Society in The Morning Call Archive, which contains articles written by the The Morning Call newspaper about the activities of the Society over the past 20 years.


 

Director: Ms. Megan van Ravenswaay Director
Business Manager: Ms Kelly Givens  Business Manager

Board of Managers

President: Stephen E. Cunningham
Vice President: Dr. Linda Shay Gardner
Treasurer: Mollie Santee
Secretary: Traci Stocker

Rev. Dr. Craig Atwood
Conrad Bowers
Darrell Crook
Barbara Dietterich
Sandra Gaspar
Jeffrey Long
Carol Messina
Mary Catherine Tachovsky
Audrey Wanamaker

Honorary Board Members
Jean K Haupt
Frederick Koehler

Committees

Development Committee:
Darrell Crook
Stephen Cunningham
Linda Shay Gardner
Audrey Wanamaker

Library and Museum Committee:
Barbara Dietterich
Joshua Fink
Jack Hommer
Anne Howlett
Jane Marshall
Erika Still
Traci Stocker
Emma Williams

Education Committee:
Barbara Dietterich
Jack Hommer
Sarah Hriniak

Maintenance and Grounds Committee:
Conrad Bowers
Lou Dishong
John Egerton
Jeffrey Long
John Stocker
Megan van Ravenswaay

Finance Committee:
Linda Crook
Sandra Gaspar
Mollie Santee
John Stocker
Mary Catherine Tachovsky

Personnel Committee:
Barbara Dietterich
Lou Dishong
Mollie Santee

Historic Sites and Monuments Committee:
David Freeman

Publications Committee:
Rev. Otto Dreydoppel, Jr.
Lou Dishong
Tiffany Fisk-Watts
David Freeman
Traci Stocker
Paul Peucker

Ex Officia on all committees:
Stephen Cunningham