August 3, 2023

Hanover Township Through the Years

BAPL serves a wide and diverse area. Many don’t know that the library doesn’t just house historical records of the City of Bethlehem–the library also has a great array of resources, including those from Hanover Township.  And we figured what better way to highlight some of these artifacts than a historical summary of the township […]

Local History
June 27, 2023

BAPL on Market Street

While the current Main Library at City Center (11 W. Church St.) has been here for over 50 years, many Bethlehemites have fond memories of the prior home of BAPL on Market Street. A few folks have recently asked for pictures so we thought would be fun to dig through the archives and share some […]

BAPL News, Local History
June 15, 2023

Fountain Hill’s Rich History

BAPL serves a wide and diverse area. Many don’t know that the library doesn’t just house historical records of the City of Bethlehem–the library also has a great array of resources, including those from the Borough of Fountain Hill.  And we figured what better way to highlight some of these artifacts than a short historical […]

Local History
October 4, 2022

May Yohe: Once Owner Of Hope Diamond

This article comes out of a multi-year effort to index the “vertical clip files”—which are articles and pictures cut from newspapers and other sources over the past 100 years or so, lovingly saved by our wise predecessors at the library—that take up many long drawers in the Bethlehem Room. From time to time as we […]

Local History
August 25, 2022

Join us for “A Century of Liberty High School” At BAPL: September 27, 2022

Join the Head Reference Librarian at BAPL on September 27, 2022 at 6:30pm to celebrate and explore a brand new digital archive all about Liberty High School as the school celebrates its 100th anniversary. The archive includes a newly released collection of the entire century of The Cauldron, Liberty High School’s annual yearbook.  Head Reference […]

Local History
July 13, 2022

Step back in time with our newest digital collection!

Check out our newest digital collection – the Marlene Spector Levine Postcard Collection!  Here you will find over 800 postcards and photographs showing various Lehigh Valley sights and landmarks as they appeared in the past. The collection was donated to the library by Marlene Spector Levine, a former resident of Bethlehem. She carefully arranged postcards […]

Local History
May 12, 2022

Stories from the Archives – The Palette Club

From Our Local History Collection The Bethlehem Palette Club: The Arts in Postwar Bethlehem In the years after World War II, the arts flourished in Bethlehem. The Palette Club, a local group of artists, held their first meeting on June 11, 1947. Nine artists joined together to form the club with the common goal of […]

BAPL News, Local History
March 22, 2022

A Farewell to the Boyd Theater

The History of the Boyd Theater by Julia Brennan  Ah, movies! The cultural time capsules preserved within a motion picture, full of great costume design and bad acting! Nah, just kidding, there are plenty of great movies out there. Movies have really kept society pushing through despite difficult times over the decades – they make […]

Local History
March 10, 2022

“Nine Prominent Women” – the founding of BAPL

We were recently asked an interesting question by the City’s Director of Equity and Inclusion, our friend Janine Santoro. Were there important women in the history of BAPL that we could highlight as part of the City’s Women’s History Month Celebration? Good question, Janine! We knew that there must be, as women played a prominent […]

Local History
February 12, 2022

Bethlehem and the Olympic Games – An Early Connection!

Did you know Bethlehem had a historical connection to the Olympics? 1908 was the fourth Summer Games of the modern Olympic competitions. The games were held in London that year, and they were the longest Summer Olympics in history (187 days). There were also marked by controversy, including several disputes between British and American athletes. […]

Local History
January 28, 2022

Tales from the Archives: “As To Vaccination”

This article is part of an ongoing series to let people know what kinds of things are hanging out in our local history archive, the Bethlehem Room, as well as the local history services we can provide. “As To Vaccination” Letter to the editor Bethlehem Daily Times, March 7, 1881 While fulfilling patrons’ various research […]

Local History
December 17, 2021

Tales from the Archives: “Voros Lukacs: Pioneer Polar Trail Blazer”

This article comes out of a multi-year effort to index the “hanging clip files”—which are articles and pictures cut from newspapers and other sources over the past 130 years (give or take), lovingly saved by our wise predecessors at the library—that take up many long drawers in the Bethlehem Room. From time to time as […]

Local History
September 23, 2021

Tales from the Archives: “You’d Better Clean Your Plate”

This article comes out of a multi-year effort to index the “vertical clip files”—which are articles and pictures cut from newspapers and other sources over the past 100 years or so, lovingly saved by our wise predecessors at the library—that take up many long drawers in the Bethlehem Room. From time to time as we […]

Local History
July 21, 2021

Check out our historical Musikfest display!

We here at the Bethlehem Area Public Library are overjoyed to see the return of Musikfest again this year! In celebration we put together a small display using local history materials from the library archives and items on loan from Information Technician Mary Catherine Bluder, who also created the display. From pins to postcards to program […]

Local History