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News, events, updates, and tidbits from the Presbyterian Historical Society. Use tags to read related articles or sort by author for similar posts written by PHS staff members and volunteers.

The March 1st Movement: 100 Years Later

March 19, 2019

Mansei! The shouts rang out in support of Korean independence on March 1, 1919. After nine years of Japanese colonial rule, thirty-three activists—including pastors of Korean Presbyterian churches and other leading Christians—gathered in Seoul to read aloud the newly drawn up Korean Declaration of Independence. That same afternoon, crowds filled the streets in locations around the country, waving Korean flags and shouting their support for independence.

Marchers had called for peaceful, non-violent protests. But Japanese authorities did not respond in kind. Over...

Author: 
Nancy
Tags: 
Mission History, Korea
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Presbyterian America: Houston

February 1, 2019

The Presbyterian Historical Society documents the experiences of Presbyterians from across the country. As part of our series on regional history, here are five stories about the Houston area collected by PHS.

Organization of Houston's first Presbyterian church

General Sam Houston (a Presbyterian) secured the future of the newly-minted Republic of Texas in April 1836 when he defeated the Mexican army in the Battle of San Jacinto.  In the aftermath of war, land promoters founded a...

Author: 
Nancy
Tags: 
Houston, Texas, Congregations
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Remembering Jan Hus

July 14, 2015

More than a century before the start of the Protestant Reformation, the Czech reformer Jan Hus paid for his beliefs with his life.

He was born in Bohemia in 1369, during a time of schism in the Roman Catholic Church—a time of popes, antipopes, and attacks on the church’s hierarchy. Hus received a university education in Prague before being ordained a priest in 1400. He joined other Bohemian reformers who advocated for preaching in the native Czech language rather...

Author: 
Nancy
Tags: 
Reformation Sunday, Foundations of the Faith
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The Selma-to-Montgomery Marches

February 12, 2015

Fifty years ago this March, Americans witnessed a rapid and tumultuous turning point in the Civil Rights movement. After the “Bloody Sunday” attacks on African-American marchers in Selma, religious leaders from across the country called on their followers to support the non-violent protests for equal voting rights in the South. Presbyterians joined many others in heeding that call.

A focus on voting rights in Alabama was not new. Frustrated by the continued use of intimidation, poll taxes, and literacy tests to prevent blacks from registering to vote, African-American activists in...

Author: 
Nancy
Tags: 
American History, Selma, African American History, Civil Rights
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Detroit GA 1954: A Tale of Two Cities

May 21, 2014

Sixty years ago, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. held its 166th General Assembly in Detroit. The U.S. auto industry was booming, and the city had acquired considerable wealth and size. At the same time, however, Detroit was experiencing an “inner-city problem.” Presbyterian Life, in the May 15, 1954, issue, wanted to educate its readers and GA commissioners about these problems, even amidst the general glow of mid-1950s prosperity.

The magazine captured the great movement of people that had characterized Detroit during and after World War II. “Practically...

Author: 
Nancy
Tags: 
PCUSA, General Assembly, Detroit, Congregations, Civil Rights
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