Archival Collections
Filter By Section
Archival Collections
The Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity offers a wide array of local history books and documents, as well as a full archive of other materials relating to Nazareth history and beyond. Our Special Collections Books and Pamphlets are available for viewing by the public within the library building. This collection is housed on the first shelf of the Adult Nonfiction area, and consists of useful and rare books on Nazareth and Lehigh Valley history, including area directories, small-press publications, major historical volumes, and urban revitalization studies. Several of these books have second copies that may be circulated from the regular nonfiction section.
The Nazareth Library also boasts an archive of rare and unique material relating to local history, culture, and industry. These materials are available for research purposes during library open hours. Our collection spans almost two centuries, consisting of photographs, manuscripts, private letters, advertising ephemera, and textile arts. Ask a librarian about utilizing this fantastic and unique resource today!
Through a partnership with Power Library’s Scan PA program, MLNV is working to continually digitize a number of our archival materials for full public access. Anyone will be able to freely access these online historic collections from anywhere. The following collections have been fully digitized and are available for browsing right now:
The Item
The Nazareth Item was an independent family newspaper devoted to literature, local and general intelligence. Published 1891-1975.
Millgrove Schoolhouse
Millgrove School District operated out of a schoolhouse in Bushkill Township, Pennsylvania from about 1860 to 1956. The house was torn down in 1967. It was part of a collection of schoolhouses that served the different villages of Bushkill Township, until the township joined Nazareth School District in 1950. Millgrove was named after the nearby Aluta Mill, and was built on land donated by Paul Siegfried, Adam Heckman, and Daniel Schlabach. These documents, including recordings of district trustees meetings, daybooks of expenses from those who worked in relation to Millgrove, and some photographs and ephemera, covers the years 1848 to the last recorded reunion of Millgrove students and teachers in 1985.
Nazareth Area World War II Scrapbook
Newspaper clippings chronicling the lives of area Servicemen and women during World War II and the Korean Conflict.
The N.H.S. Chronicle
The N.H.S. Chronicle was a literary and news magazine published by the students of Nazareth High School in Nazareth, Pennsylvania beginning in 1914 and ending in June 1915. It was the first consistent student publication within the Nazareth Area School District, succeeded by the school yearbook and later the Blue & White Standard. It contained prose and poetry, short articles about school happenings, humorous quotes, alumni news, and reviews of other student publications from local schools. It also functioned as a precursor to the yearbook, as it published the names and photos of graduating seniors during June. It was briefly revived during the 1920s,during 1921, as a bimonthly newsletter on school happenings and news.
World's Fair
The Nazareth Band and Drum Corps performed on August 6, 1939 at the New York World's Fair in Flushing, Queens. Nazareth town residents were invited along at discounted train and fair entry ticket prices. This collection consists of the original correspondences between the Nazareth Merchants Association and the Special Events coordinator of the 1939 New York World's Fair. It also includes fair memorabilia, such as souvenir stickers and Greyhound transportation brochures, fair advertisements and pamphlets, and train tickets to and from the fair. This collection highlights a small community's involvement in one of the biggest events of the twentieth century. New items are still being added to the collection.
