Overview

The digital archives hold records of Saint Luke’s primarily from 1900 to the present. These records include annual reports, newsletters, and council/trustee meetings minutes as well governing documents, historical books, and essays, oral histories, and partial member records from the late 19th century. The physical archives stored at Saint Luke’s were subject to fire and flood, and so there are significant gaps in the record.

Until the mid-1920s, the council minutes were written in Sütterlinschrift, a historical form of German handwriting that is no longer comprehensible to modern German speakers. Highlights of these minutes, which include annual reports, appear in English in the digital files. The original ledgers can be accessed only at the church.

Prior to 1946, annual reports were not published separately. They can be found in the council minutes of the following year.

The membership file in the archives is partial. It contains information only on families headed by men. That information is incomplete. Information on many prominent members of the congregation is missing. There is no information on women head of households and single members.

At this time, the digital archives do not contain information on baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and funerals. These records are held at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. They include: baptisms (1850–1976), confirmations (1851–1871), marriages (1850–1976 [missing 1866–1871]), deaths/funerals (1853–1940), and council minutes (1856–1900).