Walter C. Beckett Papers

Collection ID: 
Acc. 65
Date: 
1920-1968
Footage: 
3 cubic feet, 6 reels of microfilm
Collecting Area: 
Urban Archives

Subjects:

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Walter C. Beckett was a mortician and lay member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was active in community organizations such as the West Rittenhouse YMCA, in church groups, and in business and fraternal groups. He was a prominent businessman and church leader in Germantown's black community. His mortuary was at 216 West Coulter Street, Germantown, and he attended and was a trustee of Union A.M.E. Church at 16th and Fairmount Streets. His scrapbooks contain clippings from Philadelphia's black and white presses on subjects concerning the black population.


COLLECTION OVERVIEW

Papers include incoming and outgoing correspondence, printed programs, and a microfilm copy of scrapbooks.

 

ACQUISITION INFORMATION

Deposited by Charles C. Beckett, 1970. Accession no. 65.
 

INDEX TERMS

Corporate Names
 
African Methodist Episcopal Church
Mount Lawn Cemetery (Sharon Hill, Pa.)
Union African Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Young Men’s Christian Association (Philadelphia, Pa.), West Rittenhouse branch
 
Personal Names
 
Alexander, Raymond Pace, 1898-1974
Alexander,  Sadie Tanner Mossell, 1898-1989
Beckett, J. Campbell 
Millen, Herbert E., 1892?-1959
Tyler, Edward Ernest
Wright, Emanuel C. 
Wright, Richard Robert, 1855-1947
 
Subjects
 
African American churches
Undertakers and undertaking
 
Geographic Places
 
Germantown (Philadelphia, Pa.)
 

INVENTORY

Box 1

URB 19/1-41 Incoming correspondence A-Ci
See list of added entries for names of correspondents

Box 2
URB 19/42-98 Incoming correspondence Co-K
See list of added entries for names of correspondents

Box 3
URB 19/99-151 Incoming correspondence L-P
See list of added entries for names of correspondents

Box 4
URB 19/152-199 Incoming correspondence R-W See list of added entries for names of correspondents

Box 5
URB 19/200-212 Incoming correspondence Y-Z
See list of added entries for names of correspondents
URB 19/213 Miscellaneous incoming correspondence
URB 19/214-223 Outgoing correspondence 1920-1950 See list of added entries for names of correspondents

Box 6
URB 19/224 Speeches
URB 19/225 Funerals and memorial services 1920-1968
URB 19/226 Church services 1924-1953
URB 19/227 Testimonials
URB 19/228 Commencement and ceremonial programs 1928-1959
URB 19/229 Concerts and recitals
URB 19/230 Concerts and recitals
URB 19/231 Publications and magazines
URB 19/232 Morticians' literature
URB 19/233 Greeting cards

Microfilm
Reel 1 Scrapbooks 1934-1943
Reel 2 Scrapbooks 1943-1950
Reel 3 Scrapbooks 1951-1957
Reel 4 Scrapbooks 1957-1961
Reel 5 Scrapbooks 1961-1965
Reel 6 Scrapbooks 1966-1968