History classes explore the archives

Students from Prof. Mary Farag's and Prof. Heath Carter's classes got to view materials from Wright Library's Special Collections and Archives up close this week.

On Monday, Prof. Farag brought her History of Christianity in Egypt (CH 5230) class to the Theron Room, where Brian Shetler and Lydia Andeskie carefully arranged materials including incased 5th c. papyri, an Arabic prayer book and items with ornate marginalia from the library's collections.

On Tuesday, Prof. Carter brought students from his History of American Christianity (CH 9051) course to the reading room upstairs. There, materials relating to pre-Revolutionary America, the American Civil War and American missionaries were made available for viewing.

Photos of these materials, including some close-ups, are below.

If you would like to bring your class to the archives, contact Brian and Lydia.

• Special Collections and Archives materials staged in the Theron Room including incased 5th c. papyri (far right side)
• Daw al-Misbah (17th c), containing ornate marginalia
• An Arabic prayer book (ca. 1767) from the Persian Manuscript Collection with beautifully illuminated pages depicting the Dome of the Rock (verso) and Mecca (with the Ka’aba) (recto).

• Reading room filled with items on display; nearest table holds materials relating to pre-Revolutionary America
• Table holding materials relating to the Civil War. Most prominently displayed are the diaries of John Jay Pomeroy, a Union Military Chaplain, his writing box, and a bible he used in the field (a gift from his mother). Slightly to the left are sermons delivered by Virginian Henry Carrington Alexander to a Confederate audience.
• Presbyterian missionary Sheldon Jackson's North Star Scrapbook, opened to a drawing of a day’s catch: Trout and a Sea Serpent by Sal Pipinsky
• Another photo of the reading room in Special Collections and Archives, Wright Library, Princeton Theological Seminary with the materials on display for the class