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 parish history committee have dedicated much time and effort to preserving our fragile headstones in the churchyard, so the idea that, at one time, students played among the tombstones offers a fascinating glimpse into a different era at St. Peter’s.
As a volunteer archivist for the Diocese of Pennsylvania, I sometimes get questions about disposing of historical items in private hands. I received one such question in mid-November, and to my surprise, it involved a connection to St. Peter’s.
The materials in question were the private papers of Dr. Harold Gilbert. I agreed to take the collection, sort, and process it, and I promised to find homes for materials that would be placed in the diocesan archive. After Christmas, Timothy and I went to Elizabethtown to retrieve half of the papers. At some point in the spring, we will retrieve the rest. It was while sorting through these papers that I discovered the photograph of the choirboys at play.
Dr. Harold Wells Gilbert was a highly respected musician, choir director, educator, and editor whose career shaped sacred music in Philadelphia for over forty years. He served as organist and choirmaster at historic St. Peter’s Episcopal Church for 45 years and as headmaster of St. Peter’s Choir School for 40 years, resigning from both in 1960. From 1939 to 1959, he conducted the renowned Mendelssohn Club.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1917 and an honorary doctorate in music in 1958. Dr. Gilbert also served in the U.S. Army during World War I and made significant contributions to church music as a leading member of the Joint Committee for the Revision of the Hymnal, which resulted in the 1940 Hymnal of The Episcopal Church. Dr. Gilbert died tragically in a car accident in 1968.
Dr. Gilbert’s papers document daily life at St. Peter’s Church from the perspectives of the organist and choirmaster as well as the headmaster of the choir school. They include letters related to the parish choir performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra and on the radio during the holidays after World War II. Due to Dr. Gilbert’s varied interests and activities, his papers offer a glimpse into musical culture in Philadelphia between 1920 and 1960 and are likely to draw significant interest.