• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Moravian Archives, Winston-Salem, NC

since 1753, documenting
our churches, our families, our communities

  • About
    • Our Mission, Our Witness
    • Our History, Governing Commission, and Staff
    • The Archie K. Davis Center
    • Brochures, Forms, Flyers
    • Work Study and Internships with Us
  • Our Churches
    • The Moravian Church, Then and Now
    • Southern Province and Salem Congregation
    • The Wachovia Moravian
    • Our Local Churches and Fellowships
    • For Churches and Church Agencies Adding Records
    • Moravian Archives Sunday
  • Family History
    • Our Memoir Collection
    • Reading Room Computer Resources
    • The Genealogy Bookshelves
    • Family History Docent Program
  • Research
    • Searching our Collections
    • Selected Moravian Bibliography
    • Research Studies Sampler
    • Research Policies and Application Form
    • Helpful Links
    • Moravian Studies Collaborative
  • Services
    • Free Services For All Guests
    • Image Reproduction Services
    • Permissions For Use
    • Remote Ordering of Memoirs
    • Staff Research on Your Topic
  • Products
    • Book Series: Records of the Moravians in North Carolina
    • Book Series: Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees
    • Bookstore & More: Items For Sale
    • Exhibits
      • The Languages of Flowers in Moravian Wachovia
      • The Botanizers of Salem, 1785-1835
    • Lunchtime Lectures
    • Archives Monthly E-newsletter
  • Supporters
    • Ways to Donate and Support
    • Rev. Dr. C. Daniel Crews Friends Fund – Annual Budget
    • Technology Fund – Computers and Software
    • Book Fund – Collection Maintenance
    • Endowment Fund – Long-Term Reserves
    • Sustainers – Planned Giving
    • Collectors – Gifts in Kind
    • Volunteers – Working Alongside Us
    • Annotations, Our Supporters Newsletter
  • Find Us
    • Contact and Visit Information
    • Site Map

Our Memoir Collection

An page from the German memoir of Maria Salome Hessler, 1750-1821.

At the heart of the Archives’ family history studies is our large memoir collection. A Moravian memoir, known as a Lebenslauf in German, is an account – often autobiographical in part – of the life of a Gemein, or congregation, member. Important life events are recounted with special attention given to spiritual struggles and progress. Memoirs were encouraged by the founder of the renewed Moravian Church, Count Zinzendorf, as a way to “make the invisible church visible,” and many are preserved in the Archive for inspirational and instructional purposes. Not every memoir is detailed, but many are.

Our collection includes over 14,000 memoirs for individual members of the Moravian Church, Southern Province, from its beginnings in North Carolina to the present day. Several hundred additional memoirs since 2005 are being added, while some 500 18th-century memoirs await translation.

Visitors can access our memoir collection database through our in-house research computers. English language memoirs can be viewed digitally, and for a fee researchers can obtain copies. Copies of English language memoirs can also be ordered through our website, Click here for more information: Remote Ordering of Memoirs

Excel spreadsheet listing memoirs in collection.

back to top

Primary Sidebar

Support our Annual Giving – Rev. Dr. C. Daniel Crews Friends Fund

Give to our Technology Fund

Monies will purchase new computers and software allowing the Archives to better access and share its holdings. We have reached our initial goal, but will still accept donations. More info here.




Shop our Bookstore

Follow us on Facebook

Subscribe to Our YouTube Videos

Visiting Us

Parking is in the northwest corner of the lot at the western end of SR 4326 (Rams Drive) off Salem Avenue. The same street serves as entry to the Elbertson Fine Arts Center at Salem College.  We are currently open by appointment only. Our hours are Mondays-Friday (excepting holidays), 9:30am – noon, 1;30-4:30pm. We invite you to contact us to plan your visit.

Contact Us

Moravian Archives
457 S. Church Street
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101

Phone: (336) 722-1742
Email: sparchives@mcsp.org

Copyright © 2022 · Executive Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in