Amelia (Mrs. Francis B.) Gummere lived in Haverford, Pennsylvania, during the first quarter of the 20th century. She was a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Colonial Dames of America and worked at Independence Hall in an unknown capacity. She authored several articles on early American church silver.

These two scrapbooks contain information on early Pennsylvania ecclesiastical silver and its makers gathered by Amelia Gummere. In 1902, the Society of Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania mounted an exhibit at the Acadmey of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia on early American church silver. Gummere chaired the committee responsible for the exhibit. Around that time, the Colonial Dames also agreed to publish a book by E. Alfred Jones entitled The Old Silver of American Churches. Gummere gathered much of the information for Jones' research and for the exhibition, housing it in these scrapbooks.

Amelia Gummere corresponded with heads of local churches concerning silver objects still owned by the church. She often photographed the objects and tracked down genealogical information about the maker. The collection contains numerous newspaper articles and some magazine articles related to church history, other silver exhibits, and general research on silver objects.

For conservation reasons, the two scrapbooks have been dismantled and rehoused. They are organized systematically. However, folders retain items found in their respective volumes and research originally bound together has been retained in separate folders. Correspondence has been arranged chronologically.

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Gift of J. Herbert Gebelein

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Repository code: DeWint File name: col436.xml Abstract: Amelia Gummere of Haverford, Pennsylvania, authored several articles on early American church silver and helped organize exhibits of silver. She gathered the information she collected into these scrapbooks. Extent: 0.5 foot Date range: 1896-1940, bulk dates 1902-1918 Related materials: Language: English Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera Winterthur, DE 19732 (302) 888-4853 Amelia Gummere Scrapbooks Col. 436 Creator: Gummere, Amelia Title: Scrapbooks Dates: 1896-1940, Bulk dates 1902-1918 Call No.: Col. 436 Acc. No.: 67×154.1-.2 Quantity: 2 boxes Location: 30/E/2

Related materials Jones, E. Alfred. The Old Silver of American Churches. Letchworth, England: Arden Press, 1913. See also Col. 293, the Bernard M. Bloomfield Papers.