Lititz Historical Foundation

“An Establishment of Order and Prosperity: Outsider Visitation to Bethlehem and Other Moravian Towns”

The Moravian town of Bethlehem went through a series of developmental changes between 1741-1845 that saw the community go from a closed form of church-controlled communalism to an entirely open society. In his talk, Christopher will highlight the changes that were precipitated by the outside world’s direct influence and change to the Moravian’s mission efforts in North America. Bethlehem went from an economy based on supporting the church’s missionary goals to one that focused on pleasing outsiders through the goods and services they provided to visitors. Outsiders flocked to Bethlehem and other Moravian towns for their health, to be entertained, and for the church’s international trade connections. Their new economy of goods introduced the Moravians to new textiles, books, and other objects, but most importantly to endless cycles of the wider world’s changing tastes. Outsider visitation resulted in architectural, spatial, and social changes within Bethlehem and the wider Moravian community into the 19th century.

Christopher Malone is a curator and scholar who focuses on Pennsylvania German material culture with a focus on the Moravians and other intentional communities. Christopher completed a Masters in Architecture at Syracuse University and a Masters in American Material Culture from the Winterthur Program. His thesis centered on the ways that outsider visitation changed Moravian material culture in the community’s first one hundred years in Pennsylvania. He won the program’s E. McClung Fleming Thesis prize for the most distinguished thesis. Christopher has worked for the Moravian Historical Society and was the curator at the American Swedish Historical Museum. He is currently the curator at both Historic Trappe and the Lutheran Archives Center in Philadelphia. Christopher is a columnist for Maine Antiques Digest, and is the editor of The Daily Antiquarian, a blog focusing on the history, architecture, and material culture of the American Mid-Atlantic.

Registration begins at 9am on December 28^th at 9am. Beginning on that date and time, please call the Lititz Library at 717-626-2255 to register. This program is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!