The Lititz Moravian Archives can trace its beginnings to the efforts of Abraham Reinke Beck (1833 - 1928). The son of John and Johanna Augusta Huebener Beck, he first taught in his father's school and later established the Beck School for Boys. He was a skilled musician, poet, artist, and gifted singer and composer.
As the archivist of the Congregation, he compiled the book "The Moravian Graveyards of Lititz 1744-1905". He carefully collected the early registers, diaries, ledgers, and personal writings of the congregation, adding many translations and explanatory notes about the items he gathered. Books, textiles, artwork, and furniture of the early Lititz Community were also included in his collection.
By the time of his death in 1928, two rooms of the third floor of the Brother's House were filled with historic items. Two decades later, groups of Lititz Moravians began to discuss the possibility of organizing the collections into museum displays of historic Lititz items. While the concept of an Archives/Museum dated from the mid-19th century, nothing concrete had ever been done before.
Early members of the committee who eventually called for the establishment of a museum were:
Dr. Byron Horne, Herma Losensky, Ernie Johnson, Bea Posey, Mary Huebener, and Katherine Bricker
(organizer of the tour guides).
A generous donation by Eli L. Garber allowed work to begin, and the first museum display was set up in the two front second-floor rooms of the Brother's House.
Archives committee members who arranged the exhibits and planned the opening program were:
Herbert H. Beck (son of A. R. Beck), Mary Huebener, Dr. Byron Horne, Ford Gochenaur, James H. Yerger,
Abram B. Beck, and Bishop Carl Helmich.
The opening of the museum included a lovefeast service and concert in the church featuring Mason Jones, principal French horn with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as soloist and narrator. The service was conducted by Dr. Herbert H. Beck. The concert included the playing of several of the ancient instruments of the congregation, fourteen of which had been prepared for display in the northwest room of the new museum, which had formerly been known as the Temperance Room.
With the construction of Moravian Manor in the early 1970's, the building on the west side of
church square which had been built as the Moravian Home for Aged Women in 1908 became available
for museum purposes. Early in 1979, the Archives and Museum Committee named a sub-committee to
pursue the preservation and appropriate display of Lititz Moravian's large collection of early
musical instruments. The committee, consisting of several musicians from the congregation,
contacted instrumental preservation experts and began planning exhibit areas for the collection.
Dr. Robert Eliason, Curator of Musical Instruments at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan,
was recommended to the committee by the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. With Trustee approval,
Dr. Eliason was invited to come to Lititz to examine the collection. Eliason's recommendations
noted the historical importance and value of the Lititz Moravian instruments. The recommendations:
1. Cautioned proper restoration procedures such as hand rubbing, no machine
buffing;
A thorough search of the church complex revealed instruments and music equipment stored in various
corners and attics. By the summer of 1980, these had all been collected, restored, and organized
into displays in two second-floor rooms of the museum - one for brass, the other for strings and woodwinds.
Two outstanding instruments in the collection are the 1764 John Antes viola, which is the oldest
viola known to have been built in the new world, and an exceptionally well preserved serpent horn,
built circa 1830.
Also of great interest are the extra-tall Windsor chairs intended for trombone players, multi-rack
wooden music stands for ensemble playing, and old wooden instrument cases.
The Archives Committee operates by the authority of the Board of Trustees, who originally appointed
all the members of the committee membership now is open to any congregation member who wishes to
contribute their time and talent.
The first president of the Archives Committee to be elected by the committee itself rather than
by the Trustees was Wayne Lefevre. Wayne was a church historian as well as church organist,
meticulous in both research and performance.
He made many lasting contributions to the Archives and Museum, most notably the publishing of the
"Church Square Journal" for several years.
Other well-known Lititz Moravian historians and archivists have been A. R. Beck,
Herbert H. Beck, Mary Huebener, Hiram Eberly, and Dr. Byron Horne.
Herbert H. Beck served as archivist for 32 years, succeeding his father, A. R. Beck.
Dr. Horne's "Walk Down Main Street" lectures were enthusiastically received and, fortunately for
his successors, preserved on audio tape.
Today, the president of the Archives and Museum Committee is once again a selected member of the
Board of Trustees.
Admission to the Archives and Museum continues to be at no charge, though donations are gratefully accepted.
These contribute to the continual search for items of historical value to Lititz Moravian.
The Archives and Museum is open on Saturdays from Memorial Day through Labor Day and at other times
by appointment.
A corps of volunteers serves as tour guides and provides staffing to keep the museum
open to the public.
2. Proposed the manner in which a final and permanent inventory should be
prepared; and
3. Suggested the way in which the pieces should be displayed.
This website is maintained by Dale Groff
The above information was transcribed by Angela Lundberg
8/7/04