Guide to the Birmingham United Church of Christ Records 1843-2017
Arrangement
Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Birmingham United Church of Christ Records
Creator
Birmingham United Church of Christ (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Collection Number
MSS 1153
Extent
6 linear feet(9 boxes + O/S)
Date
1843-2017
Abstract
The Birmingham United Church of Christ was a church that served the German American community of the Borough of Birmingham on Pittsburgh's South Side. The Birmingham United Church of Christ Records contain published materials, correspondence, announcements, programs, newspaper clippings, legal and financial documents, photographs, and digital and other records created by the Birmingham United Church of Christ in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania between 1843 and 2017, the bulk from 1843 to 1977.
Language
The material in this collection is in English and German.
Author
The guide to this collection was written by Laurin Katzmarek.
The Birmingham United Church of Christ was a church that served the German American community of the Borough of Birmingham on Pittsburgh's South Side. Members mainly worked in the nearby glass factories, a rolling mill, nail factory, and lock factory at the time of the church's beginning. This community initially attended the Smithfield Street Church, the earliest German Evangelical congregation in Pittsburgh. The Birmingham congregation met for the first time under Reverend Johann Christoph Jehle on January 5, 1846 as the Deutsche Vereinigte Evangeliche Gemeinde von Birmingham or the German United Evangelical Congregation of the Borough of Birmingham. First meeting in the Presbyterian Church at 14th and Bingham Streets, the church began providing daily German School to children of the congregation Monday through Friday. The official charter was received from the Allegheny County courts on June 27, 1846 and land was purchased at 10th and Bradford Streets for a church building as well as 1/2 acre on Brownsville Avenue for a cemetery.
A cholera outbreak in 1849 resulted in the death of many individuals, including Philip Emmert, the first German School and Music Teacher. Church life suffered during this time as families left the city, yet despite this, Rev. Jehle remained and provided care to the sick in the community.
In 1854, Reverend Philipp Jakob Zimmermann became pastor. Zimmermann, from Baden, Germany, came to America in exile after being sentenced to time in prison in 1848 due to his defense of and work for political and religious freedom. He was pardoned in 1851 He served the church for 11 years.
During the Civil War, many male members of the church served in Battery G, Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. These men became personally authorized by Abraham Lincoln to order their troops in German instead of English.
In 1866, a new church building was built on Jane Street and a parsonage purchased nearby with the help of funds from the Ladies Aid Society. The new copper rooster weathervane that sat atop the spire gave the church its nickname, "The Rooster Church." Following a common practice of German protestant congregations, John H. Sorg donated the rooster, which was made in Germany, for the spire.
In 1869, Reverend Gustav Lorch became pastor and over the course of his 30-year pastorage, helped solve financial difficulties faced by the congregation. The 12-acre Zimmermann Cemetery along Brownsville Road was dedicated in 1873, leaving the old cemetery abandoned. The Fair Oaks Home for the Aged, an institution that had an agreement with the church, was founded in 1891. The Jane Street church was renovated and redecorated in 1890 in time for its 50th anniversary in 1896.
In 1913, Reverend Richard Otto Eisele, born and educated in Stuttgart, Germany, became pastor. Under his leadership, the daily German School closed in favor of a German Sunday School. Rev. Eisele also began offering services in English. The church's name changed to the Birmingham Congregational Church in 1924 when it became affiliated with the General Council of Congregational Churches. Rev. Eisele served the church for 44 years.
The most recent property on Carrick Avenue in Carrick was purchased in 1945 to better serve the church's members, as the majority lived in the South Hills suburbs in Pittsburgh, Pa. The purchase was notably funded in part by the sale of the Jane Street church's bells as well as monthly bake sale proceeds. These sales featured apfelkuchen (apple cake) and zwiebelkuchen (onion cake) baked in a traditional beehive-shaped brick oven. The cornerstone laying ceremony for the new building was held in 1950 and the property dedicated in 1951. The rooster was removed from the Jane Street church in 1951, repaired, and placed in a glass case in the vestibule, or narthex, of the new building. The name of the church changed again in 1964 when the church voted, along with other Congregational Christian Churches and Evangelical Reformed Churches, to become the United Church of Christ.
In 1980, the Birmingham Cemetery became incorporated into the non-profit Birmingham Cemetery of Pittsburgh. In 1996, the church celebrated its 150th anniversary, receiving recognition from several governmental persons including a US Senator from Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh City Council members, the Mayor of Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County Board of County Commissioners, and the Governor of Pennsylvania.
A Cooperative Ministry that began in September 2009 under Pastor Patricia Mohr-Kelly and Deacon Rich Mohr-Kelly with the Stewart Avenue Evangelical Lutheran Church ended in 2015. The church voted to close on September 7, 2014 and held its last service with Reverend Lois Morrison on June 28, 2015.
Pastor List
Johann Christoph Jehle 1846-1849
P. Meggers 1849-1851
Philipp Jacob Zimmerman 1851-1862
C.A. Herman 1862-1864
Tobias Arwid Polster 1864-1869
Gustav Lorch 1869-1899
Alfred Schramm 1899-1913
Richard Otto Eisele 1913-1957
Irvin R. Lindemuth 1954-1965
William E. Smart 1965-1972
Eugene Bartell, Associate 1966-1967
John R. Bucher 1973-1989
Jane Rathman, Minister for Church Growth 1984-1994
The Birmingham United Church of Christ Records contains published materials, correspondence, announcements, programs, newspaper clippings, legal and financial documents, photographs, blueprints, and digital records created by the Birmingham United Church of Christ in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania between 1843 and 2017. These records document activities, duties, and events of the church and its members. Included in the collection are original and microfilmed record books detailing baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and deaths of members from 1843 to 2015. Also included in the collection is an accompanying alphebatized index to baptismal records from 1919 to 1926.
Of note in the collection is a binder created by the Archive Committee of the Birmingham United Church of Christ detailing highlights of the church's history including photographs, programs, newspaper clippings, certificates, and other documents. Of note within the binder is an 80th anniversary church history written in 1926 by Rev. Eisele, as well as the original charter. This collection also contains two DVDs of footage from the church's 150th anniversary service and an oral history session.
Arrangement
The Birmingham United Church of Christ Records are housed in 9 boxes and 3 oversize folders and 6.42 GB of digital files and are arranged in eight series:
Series I. Administrative Records (1862-1977)
Series II. Buildings and Grounds (1927-1951)
Series III. Church Affiliations, Activities, and Events (1896-2017)
Series IV. Photographs (1912-2014)
Series V. Religious Education (1847)
Series VI. Scrapbooks (1846-2017)
Series VII. Records (1843-2015)
Series VIII. Oversize (1910-1956)
Folder numbers correspond to physical box location while digital folders correspond to series arrangement. Materials are chronogical within each series unless otherwise stated.
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions: None.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Access to born-digital folders (noted as "Digital") is available upon request at the computer workstation in the Detre Library and Archives at the Heinz History Center.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift from Birmingham United Church of Christ c/o Martha Wiedenheft in 2015 and 2018.
Archives accession # 2015.0076, 2018.0003
Preferred Citation
Birmingham United Church of Christ Records, 1843-2017, MSS 1153, Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
Processing by Laurin Katzmarek on 1/31/18.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Conditions Governing Use
Reproductions and copies of digital collection material are available with permission from Detre Library and Archives staff member.
Related Materials
Birmingham United Church of Christ Records, 1843-1977, AIS.1977.30, Archives and Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System. Microfilmed copies of select sacramental records, indices, and administrative records have been digitized and can be viewed at https://historicpittsburgh.org/collection/birmingham-united-church-christ-records.
Separated Materials
The Museum Division holds a number of items, including a 5-piece Communion set, offering plate, Baptismal Font, rooster weathervane, 2 clappers, 2 commemorative plates, 2 print blocks, and a kneeler.
Subjects
Corporate Names
German United Evangelical Congregation of the Borough of Birmingham (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Birmingham Congregational Church (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Birmingham United Church of Christ (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Personal Names
Jehle, Johann Christoph
Zimmermann, Philipp Jakob
Sorg, John H.
Eisele, Richard Otto
Lorch, Gustav
Morrison, Lois
Geographic Names
Birmingham (Pa.)
Other Subjects
Church buildings--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
United Church of Christ--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
