Category: history

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GAR Program March 1st

From our friends at the GAR Museum 

THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC (G.A.R.) 

CIVIL WARMUSEUM & ARCHIVE

Presents a Free Zoom Program

 Sunday, March 1, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.

“The Life and Struggles of Mary Edwards Walker:

Doctor, Feminist, Medal of Honor Recipient’

by Walt Lafty

Many people know that Mary E. Walker served as a doctor during the Civil War. Some are also aware she was the recipient of the Medal of Honor. This presentation will focus on her early family life, and her struggle to attain recognition as a doctor, prior to the war, as well as during and after the war. It will also cover her lifelong commitment to fighting for the right to vote for women and many other issues regarding feminism. She has been described as unconventional and eccentric, but she was also graceful, understanding, compassionate, and committed. Mary was above all else, a patriot who was loyal to the flag of the United States. Her sacrifices throughout her life to remain true to herself were difficult but inspiring.

Walt Lafty is a historian with a focus on the American Civil War (1861-1865), but also World War 2, as well as the history of Ireland. He has been active in various Civil War groups for many years. Those include the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Museum where he serves as the research administrator and volunteer. He is also active in the Delaware Valley CWRT where he is a board member as well as a member of the preservation committee. Walt is also an active member of Baker-Fisher Camp 101 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in Hatboro and currently serves as the camp secretary. In addition, he is a member of the Old Baldy CWRT and the General Meade

To reserve a virtual seat for this outstanding presentation, reply by e-mail to garmuslib1866@gmail.com

You will be sent a link with a password that will enable you to access the program within 24 hours of the start of the presentation. 

Deadline for signing-up is Noon, Saturday,

February 28, 2026

As a lover of history, you know how critical it is to keep history alive, especially today.  We very much appreciate your continued support for the GAR Civil War Museum & Archive.  Become a Member. Application attached.

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC MUSEUM & ARCHIVE
8110 Frankford Ave. (Holmesburg – N.E. Philadelphia), 19136
 www.garmuslib.org

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Frederick Douglas Program at the GAR Museum

From our friends at the Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Archive:

THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC (G.A.R.) CIVIL WAR

MUSEUM & ARCHIVE

Presents a Free Zoom Program

 Sunday, February 1, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.

“Frederick Douglass” by Prof. Nilgun Anadolu-Okur, Temple University

Frederick Douglass rose to prominence as an eloquent author, intellectual and human rights advocate, as well as a women’s rights leader. He was the first African American to hold high U.S. government ranks, as a diplomat in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and the first to be nominated for vice president. In her talk, Professor Okur will highlight Douglass’s lesser known characteristics.

Dr. Nilgün Anadolu-Okur is the Presidential Professor of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University’s College of Liberal Arts. She holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in African American and American Studies. She has two Fulbright appointments internationally and she has received grants and national awards in humanities. Currently she serves as chair of the Faculty Senate Status of Women Committee and as the Graduate Director of her department. In 1990s as the Pennsylvania Humanities Council (PHC) Commonwealth Speaker she toured Pennsylvania and lectured on Underground Railroad and Black Abolitionists. She is the co-founder of the “Annual Underground Railroad Conference at Temple University,” since 2003. She has authored books on African American Studies and her articles are published in peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Black Studies, Gender Issues, Human and Society. Her research has a broad spectrum ranging from theory and methodology in Africology and Afrocentricity, race and racism, women’s rights, abolition, Black Women authors (19th to 21st century), African American history, and motherhood in antiquity.

To reserve a virtual seat for this outstanding presentation, reply by e-mail to garmuslib1866@gmail.com

You will be sent a link with a password that will enable you to access the program within 24 hours of the start of the presentation. 

Deadline for signing-up is Noon, Saturday, January 31, 2026

As a lover of history, you know how critical it is to keep history alive, especially today.  We very much appreciate your continued support for the GAR Civil War Museum & Archive

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC MUSEUM & ARCHIVE
8110 Frankford Ave. (Holmesburg – N.E. Philadelphia), 19136
 www.garmuslib.org

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Becks’ Philadelphia Brigade Band

Tanks to the Grand Army of the Republic Museum:

Becks’ Philadelphia Brigade Band is a Civil War era brass band portraying the brass band of the 2nd Division, 2ndCorps, 2nd Brigade of the Union Army of the Potomac in 1863. The Band plays the music of the Victorian era for concerts, ceremonies, balls, parades and commemorations. The band is authentically uniformed, playing music of the period on instruments that were correct for the time.  The program featured tunes played during the Civil War era, including Christmas songs that date back to the 1850’s, plus some vocal renditions from that period. Songs will include “Cheer Boys Cheer”, “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, “Shenandoah”, “Battle Cry of Freedom”, and “Dixie” (a personal favorite of President Lincoln.)

The music comes from manuscripts dating back to 1830, publications courtesy of the Library of Congress, and arrangements created for the band by our own members.

 

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Historical Society December Meeting – Carol Smith

The Historical Society of Frankford is hosting Carol Smith, the archivist for both Christ Church and its Preservation Trust, at its meeting and lecture on December 9, 2025, at 7:30 PM.

She will demonstrate the Digitizing Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations website, and discuss individual records found during the project. The Digitizing the Records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations project demonstrates that dissension, political unrest, and social reform initiatives are not without past precedent. Vestry minutes, sacramental registers, account books, sermons and more from Philadelphia’s earliest congregations help interpret the social and political world Philadelphia’s 18th and 19th century worshippers at 17 congregations inhabited. A grant from the Council for Library and Information Resources, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, supported this multiyear project. Supplemental funds from other sources and harvesting of previously scanned materials brought in other records and today there are more than 141,000 records online.

Carol W. Smith is an independent curator and archivist who has worked with the Christ Church Archives since 2005. She has a BA in American Civilization and an MA in Material Culture from the University of Pennsylvania and is a certified archivist. In 2022 she received the Sister M. Claude Lane award from the Society of American Archivists for the Congregations project.

The meeting and lecture will occur at the HSF library/museum at 1507 Orthodox St, Philadelphia. The event is free and open to the public. Live stream also available at this link:  https://www.facebook.com/TheHistoricalSocietyofFrankford/.  Light refreshments will be served.

The Historical Society of Frankford, founded in 1905, preserves and interprets the history of Frankford and Northeast Philadelphia  through its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs.

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March Meeting Historical Society of Frankford

March 11th is the opening day of the Historical Society’s 2025 program series. The subject is something never discussed in my memory, organ building in Frankford.  see below for more information.

John Roberts (1829-1877), Frankford Organ Builder

presentation by Gail Rodgers McCormick and Paul Marchesano

A native of Salford, England, John Roberts arrived in Philadelphia with his parents and siblings in 1848. Apprenticed in the organ trade in England, Roberts was soon offering his services repairing and building pipe organs in his shop on Frankford Avenue and Orthodox Street. He built organs in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, for a few years in the late 1850s, then returned to Frankford, setting up his residence and workshop at Orthodox and Penn Streets. Roberts and members of his family were among the early residents of the Orthodox Street block that was developing in the 1860s and has been home to the Historical Society of Frankford for over a century. Roberts’ organs graced many churches in the Philadelphia area, as well as in Chicago, Wilmington, and Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh organ (1874), one of only two Roberts organs known to be extant, was the first of many financed by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Although little-known now, John Roberts was at the forefront of organ building in Philadelphia during an early period of growth in the industry. 

Gail Rodgers McCormick, historian, archivist, and author, will discuss Roberts’ background and his life in Frankford. McCormick’s new two-volume history Charity, Change, and Community: Frankford’s Swedenborgians, 1817-1971, features John Roberts and his family, who were longtime members of the New Jerusalem Society of Frankford. 

Paul Marchesano, a professional pipe organ restorer, historian, and chairman/editor of the Organ Historical Society’s Pipe Organ database, will discuss the basics of organ construction and John Roberts’ role among other organ builders in Philadelphia and the United States. Paul recently advised the University of Pennsylvania on restoring its Curtis Sesquicentennial Exhibition Organ (Austin, 1926). He is president of Fans of the Curtis Sesquicentennial Exposition Organ, which plans to hold a centennial Symphonic Organ Symposium in 2026.

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Doors open at 6:30pm for in person attendance, live streaming begins at 7:30pm, click the Facebook link to the right. Refreshments served after the program.