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 and photos by location into two large postcard albums and the originals can be seen in our local history collection.
BAPL ILL Librarian Caitlin Cuba spent many hours digitizing the collection and creating the web exhibit using Omeka. Since many of the postcards contain messages, this collection also provides a small glimpse into the lives of the senders and recipients. One of Caitlin’s favorite postcards in the collection shows a snowy Easter Morning service in Moravian Cemetery with a message addressed to Mabel in Puerto Rico: “Whenever you feel uncomfortably warm sit down look at this picture and get a chill.”
So if you’re interested in seeing what Bethlehem’s Main Street looked like in the early 1900s, if you like postcards with bridges (we have 85 of those!), or if you just want to see how the Lehigh Valley has changed over the years, then we hope you enjoy this collection!