Guide to the Records of Woodlawn United Presbyterian Church (Aliquippa, PA), 1896-1995
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Records of Woodlawn United Presbyterian Church (Aliquippa, PA)
- Creator
- Woodlawn United Presbyterian Church
- Collection Number
- MSS#364
- Extent
- 1.5 cubic feet (3 boxes)
- Date
- 1896-1995
- Abstract
- In 1895, in accord with the Pittsburgh Presbytery, arrangements were made, establishing the Woodlawn Presbyterian Church with 42 charter members. Woodlawn Village dedicated the first Woodlawn Church building in 1897. Woodlawn ended with the assimilation of the few Woodlawn members left with the Ohio United Presbyterian Church in 1995. The records include commemorative brochures and pamphlets narrating Woodlawn history, societies within Woodlawn, a short glimpse of Woodlawn membership subscriptions, and scattered correspondence and memorabilia.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History of Woodlawn United Presbyterian Church
Caldwell's Illustrated Historical Centennial Atlas (1876) suggests that the McDonald and Maratta families already resided in Beaver county nineteen years before the founding of Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in 1895. The founding and growth of Woodlawn cannot be separated from the economic history of Beaver County. Near Hopewell Township, the site of present-day Aliquippa, on 1876, railroad tracks ran parallel alongside both sides of the Ohio. A few miles south of the Ohio, the McDonalds, Marattas and others grew small - scale farms numbering dozens of acres.
McDonald and his farm neighbors met at the Logstown Academy building to worship from 1895 to 1897. In 1895, in accord with the Pittsburgh Presbytery, arrangements were made, establishing the Woodlawn Presbyterian Church with 42 charter members. Woodlawn Village dedicated the first Woodlawn Church building in 1897. Just before the turn of the century, the Ladies' Aid Society evolved, providing an opportunity for female Presbyterians to celebrate and tie faith with their community and vice versa. Other similarly minded societies followed, like the Men's Bible Class, the Woodmada and U and I Classes, respectively, for young women and young men. Outgrowths of these former groups resulted in group mergers and absorption, but the essential functions of these groups remained.
With the rise of the Jones and Laughlin steel mill, population increased in Hopewell and vicinities, prompting the construction of a more spacious church building. Onlookers on Highland Avenue witnessed this building's dedication in 1912. As Jones and Laughlin grew, another, larger church building arose, complete, in 1928. According to Baptismal and Sunday school statistics, the heyday of Woodlawn was in the 1950s and early 60s. As the steel mills declined, younger people moved away, and fewer baptisms resulted. From the mid 1960s onward, Woodlawn entered a long, slow decline that ended with the assimilation of the few Woodlawn members left with the Ohio United Presbyterian Church in 1995.
The history of Woodlawn Church and members cannot be fathomed without studying the economic history of Aliquippa that flourished and declined with the railroads and steel. Certainly, the decline of heavy industry, particularly steel, resulted in the extinction of Woodlawn Presbyterian, but it is doubtful whether industry played the biggest part prompting McDonald to found Woodlawn with forty-two members in 1895.
Scope and Content Notes
The Woodlawn Presbyterian Church Records are housed in three archival boxes. The records include commemorative brochures and pamphlets narrating Woodlawn history, societies within Woodlawn, a short glimpse of Woodlawn membership subscriptions, and scattered correspondence and memorabilia. This collection offers intimate details about many of Woodlawn's societies, and thus, is valuable for social historians studying the community-church relationships. Only sparse information is provided about the history of Woodlawn itself, and only one written account of a speech in 1898 tells us what kinds of themes Presbyterian elders preached about. Researchers wishing to find anything else should go to the Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, Pa., 19147.
Each file folder contains the records for either church societies or significant events that transpired at Woodlawn. The majority of the Woodlawn material consists of church societies. The societies represented are: the Woman's Missionary Society, the Woman's Association, the Woodmada Bible Class, the Twentieth Century Bible Class, and the Ladies' Aid Presbyterian Church. There are books detailing meeting minutes, discussing committees formed (i.e. Flower Committee - used to decorate church), social events relating to the Church (i.e. Congregational Dinner, Strawberry Festival), rendezvous with other institutions (i.e. Mt. Carmel Society, H. J. Heinz Co.), new membership information, purchases of Presbyterian books, and general information about the marriages and deaths of members.
The minority of the Woodlawn material consists of miscellaneous correspondence, artifacts, membership books and other sundry records. One such folder contains pamphlets, brochures, and commemorative histories that celebrated some famous anniversary of the Church's founding in 1895. The most important historical documents relating to the history of Woodlawn Presbyterian Church are in this folder. Another folder houses the correspondence of Ms. Elizabeth Ruffner, then Clerk of Session, at Woodlawn. She successfully disposed and dispersed the documentary history of Woodlawn to many places: some of which are the Ohio United Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Historical Society, and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Yet another folder houses a membership book that recorded cash subscriptions by Presbyterian Church members. Presumably, the cash subscriptions helped Presbyterians to support their church. There are also some entries that indicated money was paid to some members of the Church. Another folder houses the correspondence between Woodlawn Presbyterian Church and the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. A dispute between the two parties prompted correspondence from 1963-1976. Finally, there are a few artifacts associated with Woodlawn: two woodcut blocks, and an undated corporate seal.
Additional Notes: The Session Minutes of the Woodlawn United Presbyterian Church from 1895 thru April 10, 1989, consisting of 6 volumes, are on deposit at the Department of History, The Presbyterian Church USA, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA. Session Minutes from 1989 until Woodlawn UP Church merged with Ohio UP Church, and other records of this congregation are held at the Ohio UP Church, Aliquippa, PA.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection came in one accession in November of 1999.
Accession # 1999.0205. Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth W. Ruffner, Clerk of Woodlawn United Presbyterian Church
Preferred Citation
Records of Woodlawn United Presbyterian Church (Aliquippa, PA), 1896-1995, MSS #364, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Walter Fort in June 2002. >
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Robert O. Stakeley on November 11, 2003.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.