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Project Preserves SMDPA Records |
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Written by Layton H. Fireng, Secretary, SMDPA
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(12Apr2009) Some time ago, the SMDPA Board was shown the original membership ledger. It was in bad condition although it had previously been restored. It was judged that no further treatment would be possible. The book was fragile, and further routine handling of it was not suggested. It was determined that it had to be copied, preserved and the data put in a readily accessible form. |
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New York Times Cites SAIL1620 |
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(05Oct2000) The New York Times bestowed the honor of featuring the Society's www.sail1620.org web site today in its "News Watch" listings within their "Circuits" section. "Circuits" regularly contains news about computer and internet related products and web sites. |
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SAIL1620 Becomes Family Tree Magazine's Site Of The Day |
 (23Nov2000) Family Tree Magazine has chosen Society of Mayflower Descendants in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as Site of the Day for Nov. 23, 2000, "because we think it will be a wonderful online resource for our readers".
Family Tree Magazine is a magazine about discovering, preserving and celebrating your family's history. Susan Wenner of F&W publications went on to say, "... our web site has only been live since October 1999, but nearly 100,000 people are visiting us each month. We hope our site's visitors will check out Society of Mayflower Descendants in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when it's highlighted on our home page. Also, your site will be indexed in our Select Site Resource Guide." |
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James W. Baker Recipient of Distinguished Mayflower Scholarship Prize |
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(20Feb2002) At the recently held 105th annual membership meeting of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, James W. Baker, former senior historian of the Plimoth Plantation was the recipient of that society's annual Distinguished Mayflower Scholarship Prize. The prize consists of a certificate and a $500 check. Mr. Baker was accompanied by his wife Peggy, the director and librarian of The Pilgrim Society/Pilgrim Hall Museum. |
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Dr. Jeremy Bangs To Be Honored At Annual Meeting |
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(29Dec2000) The recipient of SMDPA's Award for Distinguished Mayflower Scholarship in 2001 will be Dr. Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, former curator at Plimoth Plantation, and recent founder of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum in the Netherlands. As Dr. Bangs lives and works in Leiden, we will make the award to him in absentia at our Annual Luncheon on January 13, 2001, showing a video tape on his museum, with some comments in his own words on his present research. |
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Y2K Most Distinguished Pilgrim Award |
(20Nov2000) Frederick T. J. Clement, Jr. received the SMDPA "Most Distinguished Pilgrim Award" for 2000 during its annual worship service in commemoration of the First Thanksgiving in Plymouth Colony in 1621 held at St. Peter's Church in the Great Valley (Malvern, PA) on Sunday, November 19, 2000. Immediate past Governor Clement was honored for his contributions to the SMDPA over the years. He has served as co-editor of the SMDPA newsletter, The Pennsylvania Mayflower; and is currently the production manager of that newsletter. He was 2nd Assistant Governor to Past Governor Constance F. Lagerman in 1991 and 1992, Assistant Governor to Past Governor Randolph D. Zelov in 1993 through 1995, and Governor in 1996 and 1997. In both 1999 and this year's Thanksgiving service, he has appeared in authentic Pilgrim costume with former SMDPA Elder Jesse A. Miller in Elder Miller's two "Thanksgiving Declaration" portions of the service: Initially in the role of the Pilgrims' Leiden Pastor John Robinson and most recently as Governor William Bradford.
He as also served on various committees of the State Society, including, most recently, the Nominating Committee. |
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New Developments in Pilgrim Sites Demolition Plans: Leiden's Vrouwekerk and Aalmarkt Sites |
(21Oct2000) Those following, and hopefully participating in, the efforts to preserve the Vrouwekerk and Aalmarkt American Pilgrim sites in Leiden, Holland, will be interested in the following turn of events.
Received 21 October 2000 from Dr. Jeremy D. Bangs, Leiden American Pilgrim Foundation, Leiden, Holland:
"Regarding the Aalmarkt site, we've won! - to the extent that AHOLD has just sent me letters announcing their refusal to participate in the project if Pilgrim sites are threatened! Great news! Of course, the town itself has yet to change its attitude, but this may heavily influence them. The many letters and the UCC petition have been very important in this, which is half the fight here. I'm sending you copies of the two letters I got this evening. |
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New developments in Pilgrim Sites Demolition Plans: Leiden's Vrouwekerk and Aalmarkt Sites |
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(01Oct2000) November 7, 2000, has been set for the Council of State’s hearing on the City of Leiden's intention to demolish the remains of the Vrouwekerk, the medieval church that was used by the Walloons (Huguenots) after the Reformation. Through its association with the families of Philip Delano, Francis Cooke and his wife Hester Mayhew, Edward Bumpas and other Huguenots who became Pilgrims, this site symbolizes the confluence of two major streams in the history of persecution, refuge, religious freedom, and colonial migration, - the English Separatists now called the Pilgrims and the French Calvinists known as the Huguenots. In addition to the Pilgrim connections, this is the church from which numerous families emigrated to New York and Guyana in 1622-24, led by Jesse de Forest. Thus the site is important for its historical associations with the beginnings of colonial settlement in both New York and New Netherlands. |
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(10Sep2000) Following discussions and decisions on the town’s plans to regulate prostitution (only four brothels), which the central government has decriminalized as of October 1st, Leiden’s Town Council debated the Aalmarkt demolition plans in its meeting last Tuesday, September 12, 2000. Despite eloquently expressed opposition to large-scale construction and to demolition of the historic sites in the Aalmarkt area, the coalition led by the Labor Party (PvdA), circumvented attempts by the opposition parties to require preservation of historic monuments as well as to require competitive bidding and plan proposals, thus retaining complete control of the develement within the cabinet of the mayor and aldermen. |
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Pilgrim Petition Getting Results |
(31Jul2000) A petition on the UCC's web site to save one of the last remaining Pilgrim church ruins in Holland seems to be paying some dividends. The official most responsible for promoting a shopping center in Leiden, where the ruins are, abruptly resigned. City fathers have now asked Jeremy Bangs, an American historian and curator of the Leiden Pilgrim Museum, to submit plans more sensitive to historical preservation.
In preparation for the city council's meeting in June, the UCC Office of Communication forwarded thousands of signatures from the petition. That online document received backing from members of conservative groups like the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference and the Southern Baptists to Mormons, Anglicans, Catholics, and Greek Orthodox. The story has also been carried by organizations like the Mayflower Society and Huguenot Heritage.
Still unknown, however, is the position of Ahold, a Dutch-based-multinational food company that is a major eloper of the site. Among its American properties is Stop and Shop, a supermarket chain strong in Pilgrim New England and other parts of the United States. Ahold says it is "committed to good citizenship and to making a contribution to society at large." |
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New SMDPA Web Site Gets Kudos |
(15Feb2000) "An example for other societies to emulate." ("Dick Eastman Online" Ancestry.com)
Since the official launching of SMDPA's new web site, www.SAIL1620.org, at the Society's Annual Meeting on January 15th, webmaster Joseph Howland Wood reports that in addition to receiving praise from members by e-mail and its appearing as a link on the North Carolina state Society's web site, the site has also been cited in the Ancestry.com newsletter. |
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Establishment of Plymouth Colony Voted 8th Most Important Religion Story of the 2nd Millennium |
(30Jan2000) The establishment of Plymouth Colony by the Pilgrims in 1620 and the 1636 establishment of Rhode Island by Roger Williams were voted the eighth most important religion story of the second Christian millennium by the Religion Newswriters Association which consists of writers and editors who cover religion on a regular basis for the secular media in the US and Canada.
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