Research at Historic Bethlehem

Historic Bethlehem has:
* thousands of photographs showing Bethlehem in the 19th and 20th centuries
* historic maps and documents
* city directories from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s
* the finest decorative arts library in the Lehigh Valley
* one of the best local-history libraries in Bethlehem

Beginning later this year the libraries and archives will be made available as a benefit to members of Historic Bethlehem Partnership.

New Translations Available:
Thanks to funding provided by a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Local History Grant awarded in 2007, Historic Bethlehem and the Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, have been able to translate the minutes of the Moravian Community's Aufseher Collegium from 1762 through 1780.

The Aufseher Collegium was the committee that oversaw Bethlehem's businesses when they were still under control of the Moravian church. The newly translated documents provide a fascinating look into the everyday business affairs of Bethlehem during an exciting period of history.

The original records are at the Moravian Archives, Bethlehem. They were previously only understandable to those who could read handwritten 18th-century German script. The English translations make them accessible to many more researchers.