On December 19th, 1777, the Continental Army led by George Washington established their winter camp at Valley Forge, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Over the next six months the army dealt with harsh weather, often limited supplies, and the spread of disease, while at the same time reorganization and training helped make them a more effective force in the ongoing Revolutionary War.

While looking through our online finding aid to see if we had any interesting material to highlight in relation to this famous event, we found the document shown above, the text of a presentation titled “Dr. Bodo Otto: Senior Hospital Physician and Surgeon of Valley Forge” delivered by James E. Gibson to the Mongomery County Historical Society on February 22nd, 1935, in honor of George Washington’s birthday. Dr. Bodo Otto (1711-1787) was a prominent surgeon who worked with the Continental Army, including at the Valley Forge camp’s hospital.  The presenter was the author of several works on medical personnel from the Revolutionary War era, among them a book titled “Dr. Bodo Otto and the Medical Background of the American Revolution”.

The document is part of the Elizabeth Lehman Myers collection, as is the letter shown above, which was sent to her by James E. Gibson. Elizabeth Lehman Myers (1869-1936), was a Bethlehem native who was a historian for both the city and the Moravian Seminary and College for Women and wrote extensively on both Moravian history and the history of Bethlehem and the surrounding region. The Moravian Archives received her personal papers in 1960 and they’ve often proven to be a valuable and fascinating resource, with her interviews with various Bethlehem residents and a pair of recipe books[1] being especially interesting. The letter is dated August 21, 1935, and appears to be one side of an exchange concerning William Shippen Jr., another physician who played an important role with the Continental Army.

The items described above are a good example of how Moravian archivists and historians have long worked with their counterparts from other institutions to learn more about the history of the Moravian Church and the people and events around it and to share this knowledge to educate others. While many of these posts have dealt with topics of preservation and organization, we at the Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, are also proud to be continuing this tradition through our work with researchers, publications, school visits, and lectures, and look forward to continuing this important work far into the future.

[1] We highlighted a pair of Thanksgiving appropriate recipes from one of these recipe books in a post from 2020, available here: https://tinyurl.com/yuwcz4eh