American Colony in Jerusalem

American Colony, a non-denominational utopian Christian community was founded by a small group of American expatriates in Ottoman Palestine in 1881. The collection is a gift to the Library of Congress from the board of directors of the American Colony of Jerusalem, Ltd., which is made up of American, British, and Swedish descendants of the early colonists.

The materials in the collection were initially retained by Bertha Vester in connection with her writing of the memoir Our Jerusalem (1950), and later by her daughter-in-law Valentine Vester and others at the American Colony Hotel.

The collection focuses on the personal and business life of the colony from the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, through World War I and the British Mandate, and into the formation of the state of Israel.
The bulk of the materials dates from 1870 to 1968 and relates to the leadership of the colony by members of the Spafford, Vester, and Whiting families.

Photographs show members of the American Colony, a Christian community in Jerusalem founded by immigrants from the United States and Sweden. Includes photographs of American Colony leader Anna Spafford, her daughters Bertha (Spafford) Vester and Grace (Spafford) Whiting, Frederick Vester (husband of Bertha), John D. Whiting (husband of Grace), and her grandchildren (Anna Grace, Horatio, Tanetta and John (Jock) Vester, and Spafford and David (Whiting). Primarily portraits and photographs of the grandchildren as they take part in various activities, such as playing at the beach, participating in a July 4th pageant, having tea, celebrating first birthday, riding on a donkey, playing musical instruments, playing in garden and snow. Also includes a photograph of the American Colony store with Frederick Vester.
Album page image number 1-12 (inside front cover-p. 11) Photographs include: a family portrait of Whiting and Vester families: Standing left to right: Jacob Spafford, Grace and John Whiting, Frederick and Anna Grace Vester; seated: Anna Spafford holding John (Jock) Vester?, Horatio Vester, Bertha Vester holding unidentified baby; floor: Tenetta Vester, Spafford and David Whiting. Grace Whiting holding Spafford, Anna Spafford holding David?; Jock and David in baby carriage, baby and toddler portraits, child playing outside with nurse, Spafford? celebrating first birthday, July 22, 1911; donkey ride, tea time, July 22, 1912; Spafford playing in leaves, feeding a horse and playing with water faucet, July 1911; family outing, portrait of Vester children, bath time for Spafford, and Vester children playing at the beach.
Album page image number 13-26 (p. 12-25) Photographs include: Whiting family portrait (Grace, Spafford, John D.) 1911, Vester family portrait (Frederick, Anna Grace, Bertha), Bertha with Anna Grace on her back, Vester children playing in the garden and playing musical instruments with friends, Jock Vester and David Whiting feeding a turkey, Spafford Whiting in a baby carriage, Vester children pose with friends, Yates family, great grandmother Mary Whiting holding Spafford, children playing in the snow, Jacob Spafford? with child, Granny Hornstein, Selim Barakat, Vester children with Spafford, children with umbrellas, children on sled, woman and little girl standing outside, Anna Grace sitting with Tanetta and Horatio?, girls playing with dog, July 4th pageant (little boys lined up holding toy rifles), American Colony store with Frederick Vester standing out front, unidentified child with Spafford? and David? sitting in the grass, unidentified woman in Arab dress holding a child, Grace Whiting having tea with women, John D. Whiting and child riding on a donkey, David playing with plants, Whiting and Vester families at Ein Karem, David Whiting, and Spafford Whiting playing with hammer and wooden crates.