CHANGING LEHIGH
The first brick of Lehigh's Packer Memorial Church was laid on Founder's Day, October 8, 1885. The church was a gift of Mary Packer Cummings, one of Asa Packer's daughters.
1885
PACKER
MEMORIAL
Lehigh's Packer Memorial Church was completed on Founder's Day, October 13, 1887.
1887
The Bach Festival was held in the Packer Memorial Church for the first time in 1911.
1911
A new organ and a new altar were added to Packer Memorial Church in 1950. The rennovation, which also included money for redecoration, was a gift from the W. P. Starkey family.
1950
1965
A Roman Catholic Mass took place in Packer Memorial Church for the first time at Lehigh in 1965.
1969
A new coffee house, named "The Catacomb," opened in the basement of Packer Memorial Church on February 1, 1969. The coffee shope was later transformed in 1980 into the Graduate Student Center.
Lehigh's Packer Memorial Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
