Church and Estate: Religion and Wealth in Industrial-Era Philadelphia

Acknowledgments

acknowledgments I have received a wealth of support in the course of researching and writing Church and Estate. It gives me great pleasure to recognize the many individuals to whom I owe debts of gratitude. This work reflects the expert guidance of those who mentored me in graduate school. My advisor, John McGreevy, could not have been more gracious in his support or more generous with his time. His thoughtful reading and intelligent advice greatly helped me hone my arguments. Scott Appleby, Gail Bederman,andGeorgeMarsdenroundedoutanexcellentcommittee.Thomas Slaughter was wise to encourage me to take up a project on Philadelphia. Kathleen Sprows Cummings shared my enthusiasm for our native city, and Robert Sullivan could always be trusted for wise counsel. I am fortunate that Philadelphians and their religious communities have been such avid collectors and such dedicated custodians of their history . I am very much indebted to the archivists, librarians, and staff members who guided me though the collections at the following repositories: the Athenaeum of Philadelphia; the Architecture Archives of the University of Pennsylvania; the Archives of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (with particular thanks to Stephanie Morris); the Bryn Athyn College Library, the Drexel University Archives; the Episcopal Divinity School Archives; the Free Library of Philadelphia; the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College; the Hagley Museum and Library; the Quaker and Special Collections of Haverford College; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Lower Merion Historical Society (with particular thanks to Gerald Francis and Ted Goldsborough); the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, the Presbyterian Historical Society; the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center (with particular thanks to Shawn Weldon); the Temple University Archives; the Temple University Urban Archives; and the University of Pennsylvania Archives. Several churches and congregations kindly opened their doors and private collections to me. For their hospitality, I wish to thank Church of St. Asaph, Bala Cynwyd; Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia; St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia; Cathedral of Our Saviour, Philadelphia; St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church, Whitemarsh; Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge; Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church; and Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, Elkins Park, as well as Christ Church, Philadelphia, and St. Mary’s Church, Roxborough, for generously allowing me to use images from their collections. My special thanks go to Nathanael Groton Jr. for sharing his father’s diaries from his first two years as rector of St. Thomas’s, Whitemarsh. A number of scholars have been generous with both their time and advice. David Contosta, a wonderful supporter since the day I first sought his help in navigating the Philadelphia scene, was kind enough to bring me into a circle of scholars working on the history of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. Anne Rose provided extensive feedback on conversion as dealt with in chapter 4, while Ken Fones-Wolf offered helpful comments on social reform as dealt with in chapter 6. Peter Williams both shared his research on Episcopalians and advised me on my own. David Bains provided information on national houses of worship . Jim McCartin and Vanessa May each read chapters and supplied helpful comments as the book neared completion. My colleagues in the history department at Seton Hall University offered me an intellectual home and supportive environment. I also extend my appreciation and gratitude to those who have provided financial support at various stages of this project. A presidential fellowship from the University of Notre Dame and a three-year fellowship from the Dolores zohrab Liebmann Foundation sustained my graduate studies. A Gest Fellowship from Haverford College funded my research in the college’s Quaker and Special Collections. Seton Hall provided publication support through funding from the university core. Kathryn Yahner and the staff of Penn State Press have been exceptionally helpful in guiding me and my book through the production process. I am grateful as well for earlier assistance from the editors of those journals where portions of this research first appeared. An earlier version of chapter 5 was published as “Representatives of All That Is Noble: The Rise of the Episcopal Establishment in Early-Twentieth-Century Philadelphia,” Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation (Winter 2009). Portions of chapter 2 appeared in modified form in “The Parochial Enterprise: Financing Institutional Growth in the Brick-and-Mortar Era,” American Catholic Studies (Fall 2010). I thank both journals for allowing me to use that material here. Remarkable friends have offered encouragement and moral support throughout this project. Fellow graduate students at Notre Dame served as sounding boards for ideas, read through...