Steel titan Charles M. Schwab (far left) poses in front of the memorial flag pole with Moravian officials and members of the Class of 1915.
Moravian Moment
Remembering Our Heritage
The Memorial Flagpole
By Nancy Rutman '84
The Single Brethren’s House, now the gateway to Moravian’s Hurd Campus, was originally built in 1748 to house Bethlehem’s unmarried men. During the American Revolution, it was commandeered as a military hospital for the Continental Army under the command of George Washington, during which time more than 500 soldiers died from injuries or disease there. Many were interred on the west bank of the Monocacy Creek opposite the Hurd Campus, where a monument along First Avenue now marks a few of their remains.
In 1815, the Moravian Seminary for Young Ladies took possession of the former Brethren’s House. The students were familiar with the building’s history, and each May they would cross the Monocacy to the soldiers’ gravesite to sing, listen to historical addresses, and lay flowers. To commemorate the centennial of their school’s connection with this important piece of American history, the Class of 1915 of the Moravian College for Women decided to present a gift as a memorial not only to their class but to the soldiers on the hillside. They raised more than $1,000 for a large flagpole and pedestal, a 30-foot flag, an 18-foot flag, and a streamer. The 115-foot-tall steel pole was manufactured by the Bethlehem Steel Company and erected just south of where Foy Concert Hall stands today.
A 1915 view looking southwest across South Main Street captures the flagpole as installed (none of the buildings shown are still standing).
The members of the senior class presented their memorial during Class Day exercises on June 7, 1915. Speaking on their behalf was Charles M. Schwab, then president of Bethlehem Steel and one of the wealthiest and most famous men in the world. Throngs of spectators, including several thousand schoolchildren, patriotic organizations, and a troop of the Pennsylvania National Guard, lined the lawns and hillsides of the Church Street Campus for the presentation ceremony. Nazareth Hall Military Academy cadets fired a cannon salute. As the large flag was unfurled on the new flagpole, the Bethlehem Steel Company Band—a recent gift of Schwab to the community—played “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
During his address, Schwab praised the patriotism of Moravian students: “The influence of the Moravians has for four centuries made itself felt for good all over the world,” he said. “From this Moravian school for more than a century and a half has gone forth this spirit of patriotism, this influence of culture and refinement in the homes scattered all over the land. My hope is that the school will grow in importance, in size and in the hearts of the community, and that it will receive your support, not in money only, but in words of appreciation and encouragement, for there is no one who does not appreciate it.”