00:08 - Today pcn is in lehigh valley at moravian university

00:11 - founded in seventeen forty two

00:13 - there's over two hundred and fifty years of history to talk about.

00:34 - Moravian was founded in seventeen forty two obviously that is a very long time ago

00:39 - could you tell us how was it founded this of course

00:42 - was sitting right next to

00:44 - one of the founders this has been magnificent since then though

00:47 - she was the daughter of count Nicholas one sense

00:50 - of who is the founder of the moravian church

00:53 - in seventeen seventy two in heaven who

00:56 - Germany

00:57 - and you may wonder why a teenage girl she might

01:00 - look very teenage right now

01:02 - but why a teenage girl is

01:04 - credited with founding

01:06 - of an educational institution.

01:08 - What happened was in seventeen forty one

01:11 - another moravian woman quite remarkable woman called Anna Mitch.

01:15 - Came to america with her father

01:18 - to basically

01:19 - scope out

01:20 - this area to see whether it would be a good place for the moravians to come to

01:25 - and while she was here she started a school

01:28 - with another young woman

01:30 - in

01:31 - Town in Philadelphia

01:33 - and.

01:34 - Wrote tube panic nickname back in Germany and said

01:37 - come on hurry up

01:39 - the girls are waiting for you to come teach

01:41 - them

01:42 - and so what happened is one benignity nonsense

01:45 - and north did show up here at seventeen forty two

01:48 - she and

01:49 - and the other

01:50 - woman who's in the main was motivate the Facebook.

01:53 - They started the first German speaking

01:56 - school

01:57 - in Philadelphia which then grew into

02:00 - the female seminary here which then merged in the

02:04 - twentieth century I won't bore you with all of the details

02:07 - and with the boys seminar sorry

02:09 - that eventually became moravian university

02:12 - and so moravian can really claim to be one of the I think it's the sixth oldest

02:17 - educational institution in the us

02:19 - and one of the first educate women

02:22 - and that's really really important because the education of everybody

02:26 - has been foundational to this institute ocean from it's very very beginning

02:31 - so people from all different classes all

02:33 - countries speaking all different languages

02:36 - and of course men and women

02:37 - together

02:39 - and we're standing in front of the second single brother and home

02:57 - could you tell us what is some of the history

02:58 - behind this this beautiful architecture here

03:00 - yeah so this gorgeous house built of limestone and seventeen forty eight

03:06 - was when it was built the largest man-made structure in.

03:11 - Colonial

03:12 - america and it was constructed to house the single men

03:16 - who lived here in Bethlehem

03:18 - and the bigger coming of the eighteenth century

03:21 - and it's so big not just because there was

03:23 - so many of them who lived in dormitories and

03:26 - on up there on the

03:28 - third and fourth floor

03:30 - but also because this is where they worked

03:32 - so there were workshops down here for the bakery

03:36 - for

03:37 - the weaving shop

03:39 - and for the brewery which was good too.

03:43 - And therefore they wanted to make sure that

03:45 - everyone was kept together all the single men

03:48 - have together

03:49 - today it houses the music department

03:52 - just one of the most.

03:54 - Famous

03:54 - poems if you like American university

03:57 - and what's really cool

03:58 - is that because it was constructed with very very thick stone walls

04:03 - and it's very good for acoustics right

04:06 - so that if you'll you'll go if you go in the building

04:09 - you'll hear lots of students practicing on the piano or

04:13 - voice.

04:15 - I.

04:32 - But the sound is muted

04:35 - it's thickness of the wall

04:37 - thickness of the walls also allows you to have double doors

04:40 - as well

04:41 - so this is where this

04:43 - building has been in continual use

04:45 - since it was built and seventeen forty eight.

04:49 - So a student at moravian

04:50 - would have the opportunity to study

04:53 - in a building that is that old plug most.

04:57 - Recently last year

04:58 - this was one of the buildings that was designated a world heritage site

05:02 - building

05:03 - for the moravian church settlements Bethlehem

05:06 - world heritage unesco site as well

05:08 - so that's very cool

05:10 - that a student can study not only in a building

05:13 - that is

05:14 - what nearly three hundred years old

05:16 - and also a unesco world heritage site as well

05:21 - and

05:31 - so what would life have been like for a student

05:33 - whenever they came to moravia in one of his first though

05:36 - right so when we were first founded we were originally

05:38 - the women's institution right here on south campus as

05:42 - our residents halls when we started transitioning from men and women.

05:46 - We had separate residence halls

05:48 - today

05:48 - most of them are coeducational

05:50 - so the building behind me

05:52 - is the hill

05:53 - or hurt integrated living and learning complex

05:55 - so it's for boys girls

05:57 - all the way from freshmen to graduate students

06:00 - we also have

06:01 - educational spaces specifically or art music students.

06:05 - Throughout the building as well

06:07 - you mentioned world heritage earlier

06:09 - why is that designation so significant for

06:12 - a student here at moravian university yeah

06:14 - that's a really really good question festival

06:17 - world heritage status

06:19 - is something that's really difficult to get

06:21 - and it took twenty years of work

06:23 - for

06:24 - the

06:25 - group that wanted the designation to actually achieve it last year.

06:29 - In July

06:30 - and there's only two institutions of higher education in the u s that have.

06:36 - Buildings on the property that are.

06:39 - World

06:39 - heritage designated.

06:41 - The way in which I think that matters to a moravian university student

06:45 - is it gives you an absolutely unique opportunity

06:49 - to do work in a

06:50 - living lab like

06:52 - this building here

06:54 - and it could be works that is across the discipline so maybe you're interested in

06:58 - architecture you can look at how this was built in seventy

07:01 - sixty eight

07:03 - to house widows for example

07:05 - there are very very few

07:07 - institutions in the eighteenth century that care about the welfare

07:11 - of women who have been widowed

07:13 - and the moravians were one of them so that

07:14 - might be of interest to students in sociology

07:17 - and history

07:18 - and architecture looking at the import here of

07:21 - the architecture from Europe from central Europe

07:24 - but using local stone so this is local limestone that was quarried near here

07:29 - was used to build this building

07:31 - and today this building

07:33 - which I've lifted myself actually in an apartment

07:36 - houses

07:37 - both faculty and staff from moravian university

07:40 - so again it's still income tenuous use and

07:43 - the world heritage designation that's also really important

07:47 - is the original purpose of the building

07:49 - something that husband's estate and it hasn't been changed a great deal

07:53 - so I think this many opportunities for work or research for classes

07:58 - for students across the curriculum here at moravian because of the world heritage desk

08:02 - and

08:10 - so we're just around the corner from when we were first introduced this building the

08:13 - second single brother in the house

08:15 - and there's a plaque here what is it commemorating

08:18 - so this is a really

08:19 - super impressive plaque it's very big it's put up

08:21 - here by the sea sons of the American revolution

08:24 - in memory of the soldiers in the continental army

08:27 - who was stationed here during the revolutionary war

08:31 - what happened was that George Washington.

08:33 - Needed a

08:34 - hospital the largest buildings close to the battle of Trenton for example

08:39 - to house the sick and injured continental army soldiers

08:43 - and he asked the leaders of moravian Bethlehem

08:46 - if he could

08:47 - requisition this particular building cause it was the largest building

08:51 - and

08:51 - the moravians were pacifists

08:54 - had obviously qualms about getting involved

08:57 - but they said yes

08:59 - and so this building became a hospital where thousands of

09:02 - soldiers were were nursed by some of the moravian sisters

09:06 - who lived across the street here.

09:09 - Many of them died

09:11 - and are buried across the democracy creek on the other side

09:14 - of the industrial quarter

09:17 - and this

09:18 - some of the soldiers who were here up on the fourth and fifth floors especially where

09:22 - they were crammed in like sardines

09:24 - did write graffiti

09:26 - on the

09:26 - rosters and so you can still go up to those those

09:30 - those attics are empty except for

09:32 - remnants of that time

09:34 - and you can still go up there and find that graffiti on the rafters and of course

09:39 - students aren't allowed up that but guess what.

09:42 - They do

09:43 - so the graffiti has been added to over the years

09:46 - but I think it's a really amazing place

09:48 - to be able to study

09:50 - to be able to understand that you're part of

09:54 - the American story especially now in

09:57 - the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the American revolution

10:00 - so in terms of who was here and the leadership from

10:04 - that time

10:05 - George Washington himself was yep

10:07 - and he'd gifted at dusk to the moon

10:10 - immunity

10:11 - you can go into Washington's room in this building and see that dust

10:16 - you can also read about John Adams visit here to the moravian.

10:22 - Community at that time

10:24 - and they loved it here I have to say the generals

10:28 - and the doctors they loved coming to Marie avian

10:31 - services they love listening to the music

10:34 - and I think that they also realized

10:36 - that the food and water

10:38 - and the hospitality that they got here and married in Bethlehem

10:42 - was very very important to the health of that

10:45 - and

11:01 - we spent most of our time on the south campus talking about the

11:04 - oldest building which she was built in seventeen forty eight

11:07 - now we're on the northern part of campus could you tell us what building are we

11:11 - sure this is the holbert student union building

11:13 - we called the hub

11:14 - it was recently renovated and reopened in early October twenty twenty five

11:19 - and it's truly moravians commitment to

11:21 - our student bonus

11:22 - we have offices ranging from our health center to

11:25 - career services to our dining halls

11:28 - is truly a place where students can come

11:30 - get our work done hang out with their friends

11:32 - no matter their major from health sciences education to user.

11:36 - Experience love coming here.

11:38 - Ambience mascot.

12:19 - And.