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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.

Birmingham's Independent Presbyterian Church at 100

February 4, 2016

In 1915, maverick and charismatic 37-year-old minister Henry Morris Edmonds, on trial before the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. North Alabama Presbytery for doctrinal heresy, walked out of his pastorate at Birmingham’s South Highland Presbyterian Church, taking five hundred of the church’s members with him. Closely allied in the then radical Social Gospel Ministry with Jewish Rabbi Morris Newfield, Edmonds literally led his...

Author:

Guest Blogger

Tags:

American History, Congregations, Civil Rights

Calder Conservation Project Update

January 15, 2016

In the late 1890s, six statues representing famous early American Presbyterians were designed by Alexander Stirling Calder, fabricated in North Philadelphia, and transported by horse and buggy to the heart of Center City. As if unsettled by their future placements high on the Witherspoon Building, each...

Author:

Fred T

Tags:

American History, Preservation, News and Events

A Century of Presbyterian Response to Immigrants

January 14, 2016

The Presbyterian Historical Society is a major repository of stories related to the settling of the United States. Since the 1850s it has shared the stories of immigrant peoples who have entered this country, as well as the ongoing saga of Presbyterian engagement with the human rights struggles for an open and democratic U.S. society. In this election year, when immigration has become a central issue in our national discourse, it seems fitting that we should revisit our historical tradition of providing safe boundaries for refugees fleeing war and political oppression.

As many U.S....

Author:

Guest Blogger

Tags:

American History, Immigration, Poethig

Notes on First Presbyterians in the American Colonies

November 13, 2015

In seminary and graduate school, I was taught that the first North American Presbyterians were part of the Puritan immigration that began in the 1620s in Massachusetts and soon spread to other portions of New England, especially Connecticut. The Puritans who peopled New England were usually contrasted with the “Cavaliers” who populated Tidewater Virginia.

Subsequently, I learned that the Puritan movement was a far more variegated and

...

Tags:

American History, Early Presbyterianism, Immigration

Presbyterian America: Chicago

November 12, 2015

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 Chicago area collected by PHS.

1) Chicago Pioneers

Presbyterians have been active in Chicago since the city’s beginning. The First Presbyterian Church was...

Author:

David K

Tags:

American History, Collections

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Blog

Birmingham's Independent Presbyterian Church at 100

Calder Conservation Project Update

A Century of Presbyterian Response to Immigrants

Notes on First Presbyterians in the American Colonies

Presbyterian America: Chicago