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Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri records
The collection documents the history of Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri through the society’s meeting minutes, membership lists, and financial records. The collection materials span from 1906 (the Societatea Banatiana’s founding year) and go as far as 1982, but the bulk of the collection date...
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| Collection: | Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri Records |
| Collection Number: | 3685 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | Romanian |
| Subjects and Genres: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
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| LEADER | 12548ntc a2200433 u 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | ead-3685 | ||
| 008 | 240419i19061982xx rum d | ||
| 040 | |e dacs | ||
| 041 | 0 | |a rum | |
| 099 | |a 3685 | ||
| 110 | 2 | |a Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri |e Donor (dnr) | |
| 245 | 1 | |a Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri records |f 1906 - 1982 | |
| 300 | |a 4.2 Linear feet |f ; 54 volumes, 1 flat file | ||
| 351 | |b Series I. Meeting Minutes, 1907-1965 (Volumes 1-8) Series II. Member Records, 1909, 1918, 1929-1930, 1938-1939 (Volumes 9-12) Series III. Finances and Assets, 1906-1982 (Volumes 13-48) Series IV. Sick and Death Benefits, 1906-1930, 1936-1955 (Volumes 49-50) Series V. Merged, Affiliated, or Similar Groups, 1909-1913, 1916-1919 (Volumes 51-54) Series VI. Artifacts (Box 1) | ||
| 500 | |a Processing Information: Volume 41 was cleaned for mold in 2012. The remaining volumes in the collection are in stable condition. Item identification closely followed the notations of Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri member Carmen D. Valentino, who provided a collection inventory and labeled each of the collection’s volumes prior to the collection's arrival at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The entire collection has been digitized including the pages within each volume. The digitized collection also includes photographs, clippings, and ephemera that are not in the physical collection and are instead held at the Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri sponsored museum at Descent of the Holy Spirit Romanian Orthodox Church in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. The oversized map in Series 6 was removed to conservation for repair. The finding aid will be updated when conservation is complete and the item is returned to the collection. | ||
| 506 | |a The collection is open for research. | ||
| 520 | |a The collection documents the history of Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri through the society’s meeting minutes, membership lists, and financial records. The collection materials span from 1906 (the Societatea Banatiana’s founding year) and go as far as 1982, but the bulk of the collection dates from 1906-1955. Minute books offer insight into the society’s goals and activities while membership lists provide member names and sometimes member addresses. Membership dues account books include notations on dues collected and frequently contain membership indexes. The membership indexes often provide a member’s birth and death dates, initiatation date, home address, age, and marital status. In a few instances, a member’s former Romanian village may be listed in these indexes. Property inventories, library and bar ledgers, and sick and death benefit account books provide additional insights into the organization’s general activities. Also included in the collection are records from the Vasili Alecsandri Society prior to its merger with Societatea Banateana. These records span Vasili Alecsandri’s only years of independent existence, 1912-1913. In addition, one 1916-1919 income and expense account book from an affiliated group in Ambler, Pennsylvania is included, presumably because the group was directly associated with Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri. Finally, one Philadelphia Romanian-American Voluntariul meeting minutes book spanning 1909-1913 is included. No records indicate the relationship of this group to Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri. The physical collection does not contain membership correspondence, society publications, or photographs. However, the digital collection contains facsimilies of photographs, clippings, and ephemera that may be of interest to researchers. (The originals are at the Societatea's museum.) Most of the early documents were written exclusively in Romanian. English begins to appear more frequently in the documents created after 1930. English translations of meeting minutes appear consistently after 1936. Researchers of Romanian-American life in the 20th century, early 20th century immigration, ethnic fraternal societies in the United States, and insurance institutions may find this collection useful. The collection may also be useful for genealogy purposes. | ||
| 520 | |a Founded in 1906 by immigrants to Philadelphia from the province of Banat in southwestern Romania, the Societatea Banateana was one of the first Romanian-American beneficial and cultural organizations created in the United States. In 1913, it merged with Vasile Alecsandri, a similar society that was founded in 1912, and formed Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri. Like many other ethnic organizations of the time period, the society offered social opportunities and economic relief for its members. Through the society, members enjoyed cultural events that celebrated Romanian heritage, and the society also provided its members with sick and death benefits. The society was also responsible for the establishment of Philadelphia’s first Romanian Orthodox parish, Descent of the Holy Ghost Romanian Orthodox Church (known today as Descent of the Holy Spirit Romanian Orthodox Church). The society’s headquarters was located on the northwest corner of Third and Brown Streets in Old Fellows Hall until it purchased the property of 229 Brown Street in 1923. The Society remained on Brown Street until 1974. After 1974, it rented space from the parish it helped to establish, which had found a permanent home at 1323 Ashbourne Road in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. In 1993, the society established a cultural museum at the church that documents the history of the Greater Philadelphia’s Romanian-American community. The society continues to host social and cultural events for the community. The collection documents the history of the society and the Philadelphia area’s Romanian community for three-quarters of a century. The collection consists primarily of Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri’s meeting minutes (general meetings and committees), membership lists, and financial records. Among the financial records are membership dues books, property inventories, sick and death benefits paid, and income and expense books for the organization and the organization’s library and bar. Also included in the collection are records from the Vasili Alecsandri Society prior to its merger with Societatea Banateana, records from an affiliated group in Ambler, Pennsylvania, and a minute book from the Philadelphia Romanian-American Voluntariul – an unrelated but similar Romanian fraternal organization. The collection is in Romanian and English. | ||
| 524 | 8 | |a Cite as [Indicate cited item or series here], Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri records (Collection 3685), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. | |
| 541 | 1 | |a The 2013 president of the Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri , John Petiu, donated the Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri records on behalf of the organization to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 2013. Accession number: 2013.055. | |
| 544 | |a At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Archival Materials: Balch Institute collection of Romanian-American miscellaneous materials, Collection D0354 Descent of the Holy Ghost Romanian Orthodox Church (Elkins Park, Pa.) collection, Collection SPC 236 John Popovich papers, Collection 3473 Books: Descent of the Holy Ghost Romanian Orthodox Church (Elkins Park, Pa.). The Romanian Orthodox Church Descent of the Holy Ghost, Consecration 323 Ashbourne Rd., Elkins Park, Pa., September 26, 1965. [S.l.: s.n., 1965.] [ BX738.R67 D34x] Diamond, Arthur. The Romanian Americans. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988. [E184.R8 D5 1988] Hategan, Vasile, and Union and League Romanian Societies of America. Romanian Culture in America. Cleveland, Ohio: V. Hațegan, 1988. [E184.R8 H38 1988] Wertsman, Vladimir. The Romanians in America, 1748-1974: A Chronology & Factbook. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, 1975. [Ts .103] At other institutions: Iuliu Maniu American Romanian Relief Foundation Records, 1953-1965, University of Minnesota Libraries Immigration History Research Center. Union and League of Romanian Societies in America Records, University of Minnesota Libraries Immigration History Research Center. | ||
| 545 | |a During the wave of European immigration that occurred during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, European immigrants to the United States frequently established fraternal societies that represented a particular ethnic heritage and provided their members with insurance and other financial benefits. These fraternal societies were often vital to the survival of a particular ethnic group as newly arrived immigrants struggled to adapt to the language and customs of the United States. Following this pattern, Romanian immigrants living largely in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia who were from the then Austria-Hungarian Timis County in the province of Banat established Societatea Banateana in 1906. In 1912, a similar society named Vasile Alecsandri formed in the city. The two united in 1913 to form Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri, an organization that as of 2015 continues to provide cultural and financial support for its members. Like other organizations of its kind, the society offered its members sick and death benefits and an opportunity to socialize in an environment that reflected the culture of their homeland. Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri frequently hosted activities such as public dances with music provided by Romanian American musicians. In addition, the society encouraged the formation of choral groups and dance troupes to perform traditional Romanian forms of entertainment. In an effort to provide Romanian immigrants a comfortable place to worship, in 1913 the society helped form Philadelphia’s first Romanian Orthodox parish: Descent of the Holy Ghost Romanian Orthodox Church (currently known as Descent of the Holy Spirit Romanian Orthodox Church). The society allowed visiting Romanian clergymen to celebrate services in the society’s original headquarters in Old Fellows Hall on the northeast corner of Philadelphia’s Third and Brown Streets. The parish eventually moved in 1923 to a church building at 723 N. Bodine Street. The parish remained there until 1965 when it moved again to 1323 Ashbourne Road in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. The Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri rented space for its headquarters in the Old Fellows Hall on Third and Brown Streets from 1906 until 1923. In 1923, the society purchased a building at 229 Brown Street where it remained for fifty-one years. In 1974, the society’s members sold the property and rented headquarters space from the parish it helped establish – Descent of the Holy Spirit Romanian Orthodox Church in Elkins Park. Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri remains active. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the society sponsored cultural exhibits at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and promoted a Romanian folkdance ensemble, “Banateana.” In 1993, the society established a cultural museum at Descent of the Holy Spirit Romanian Orthodox Church which currently preserves manuscripts, photographs, and artifacts that document Philadelphia’s Romanian-American community. | ||
| 555 | |a Finding Aid Available Online: | ||
| 546 | |a Materials in the collection are written predominantly in Romanian. However, meetings were recorded in both Romanian and English beginning with the 1937 meetings. | ||
| 610 | 2 | 7 | |a Banateana Society |2 Local Sources |
| 610 | 2 | 7 | |a Decent of the Holy Spirit Romanian Orthodox Church (Elkins Park, Pa.) |2 Local Sources |
| 650 | 0 | |a Fraternal organizations--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Insurance, Fraternal--Pennsylvania. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Insurance, Life. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Pennsylvania--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Romania--Emigration and immigration. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Romanian Americans--Ethnic identity. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Romanian Americans--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Romanian Americans--Religion. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Romanian Americans—20th Century. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Romanian Americans—Pennsylvania—Philadelphia | |
| 657 | 0 | |a Charity organization—Pennsylvania—Philadelphia—History | |
| 852 | |a The Historical Society of Pennsylvania |b Societatea Banateana-Vasile Alecsandri Records |l 3685 | ||
| 856 | 4 | 2 | |y Link to finding aid |u http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/b/Banateana3685.html |