History

A monthly feature brought to you by the St. Peter’s History Committee. This article was written by parishioner Michael Krasulski. While organizing historical materials for the diocesan archives, I came across a remarkable photograph showing students from St. Peter’s Choir School playing football in our churchyard, right among the tombstones. Both Preserve St. Peter’s and […]

The master builder of St. Peter’s Church, Robert Smith, was born in Scotland on January 14, 1722, so it is timely to share with you some high points in the remarkable story of his life. Quoting from “St. Peter’s Church: Faith in Action for 250 Years,” published in 2011 by Cordelia Biddle, Alan Heavens, and

A monthly feature brought to you by the St. Peter’s History Committee. This article was written by parishioner Keith Betten. Answer: More than a half century ago (yikes!), I landed my first professional “public sector historian” position as the Director of the Burlington County, New Jersey, Cultural and Heritage Commission. As part of the job,

Between the end of the Civil War and the First World War, Philadelphia’s newspapers recorded with remarkable detail the daily life of its Center City Episcopal parishes—and St. Peter’s was no exception. From the calling of new rectors to vivid descriptions of Easter Day services, the local press chronicled the rhythms of parish life with

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the volunteer archivist of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, I received several requests for information about the 1918 influenza epidemic—how parishes responded, what they endured, and what long-term effects followed. With the archives closed, I turned to digitized parish records I had collected over the past decade,

Dorothy Krotzer, a neighbor who lives just a block from St. Peter’s, was walking her dog Romeo through the churchyard as she often does. Although most of the gravestones around her were in good condition, a few damaged ones caught her eye. Several marble grave markers were cracked and one had been pushed off its

St. Peter’s Church is adorned with plaques and memorials throughout the church and parish house, each telling the stories of those who have shaped its legacy. Portraits of past rectors and images of the church’s picturesque campus line the parish house walls, offering glimpses of generations gone by. Though these memorials once held deep significance,

Last summer, Parish Administrator Kate Randall was contacted by a patriotic historical organization composed of and incorporated as the “Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.” Unbeknownst to us, that group had discovered that Elizabeth Matthews Heyward, the wife of one of the signers (Thomas Heyward of South Carolina), had been buried in

The little light that is hanging from the chancel is an Epiphany star lamp, but we really don’t know much about it! Every year, it is brought down from its home above and behind the front of the chancel on or about January 6, the start of the Epiphany season, and goes back before Ash