First Reformed Church’s Rev. Henry Harbaugh
A Founding Trustee of F&M College:
Rev. Henry Harbaugh was one of the most influential Reformed pastors in of his era. He pastored Lancaster’s First Reformed Church from 1850 to 1860.
Rev. Harbaugh was a publishing powerhouse. He authored innumerable books and pamphlets. He founded and edited the magazine Guardian, compiled church almanacs, wrote for the Reformed Church Cyclopaedia, edited the Mercersburg Review, was on the staff of the Reformed Church Messenger, and composed many hymns.
In addition, he became a pioneer of Pennsylvania German literature by writing dialect poetry published as Harbaugh’s Harfe / Harbaugh’s Harp.
1850s: Reformed Church Leaders Created F&M College.
Rev. Harbaugh was on the College’s First Board of Trustees:
1871: The First Harbaugh Hall
F&M College’s First Dormitory
Named for Rev. Henry Harbaugh:
Many American Ivy League universities were founded by Christian clergy. Congregationalists created Harvard and Yale. Presbyterians created Princeton. And Pennsylvania’s German Reformed Church created Franklin & Marshall College.
The memory of F&M College’s former dormitory, named Harbaugh Hall, is an architectural example of how F&M evolved from a small-town Reformed school to a world-class, secular college with international appeal. That dormitory building was eventually replaced by today’s Stager Hall.
Rev. Henry Harbaugh helped guide the founding of F&M College in the 1850s. During that time he was pastor of First Reformed Church, downtown Lancaster.
F&M College was founded in the 1850s by the merger of Lancaster’s Franklin College with Mercersburg’s Marshall College. Rev. Harbaugh had strong ties to both those school. He was a trustee of Franklin College, and he was a graduate of Marshall College. He served on F&M College’s first board of trustees. The majority of the board members were German Reformed.
In 1855, Rev. Harbaugh proposed building the college’s first dormitory. The building was constructed in 1871 and named “Harbaugh Hall” to honor Rev. Harbaugh who had first proposed its construction.
1959: The Second Harbaugh Hall
Also named for Rev. Henry Harbaugh
This one is in First Reformed Church:
1958: The Church’s Harbaugh Hall
Proposed Plans Drawn by Architect Oscar L. Lenski
(Brother of Famous Author / Illustrator Lois Lenski)
The ecclesiastical design firm of DeLong, Lenski, and DeLong created this architectural rendering in 1958 to propose renovations for First Reformed Church’s Harbaugh Hall. The company manufactured church furniture and did architectural renovations for churches throughout the Northeast.
Principal owners included two DeLong brothers who specialized in making church furniture: Victor Wilson DeLong, of Allentown, and his brother Elwood Fenstermacher DeLong, of Philadelphia. The brothers’ father, Tilghman DeLong, began the business in 1905 as T. DeLong Furniture Co. in Berks County. The DeLong family was German Reformed.
The third partner was Architect Oscar Luke Lenski, of New York City. He is also remembered as the brother of Lois Lenski, the famous author and illustrator of children’s literature. Architect Lenski penned this drawing.
The company’s architectural projects include Syracuse University Chapel, Union College Chapel in Schenectady, N.Y., Foundry Methodist Church in Washington, D. C., and Muhlenberg College Chapel in Allentown.
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