Draft manuscript by Bertha Spafford Vester re the sewing rooms and Christian Herald Relief Fund lace industry

The American Colony in Jerusalem was a Christian utopian community that was established in Jerusalem in the late 19th century. The community was founded by a group of American and Swedish Christian fundamentalists who were drawn to the city for religious reasons. They arrived in Jerusalem in 1881 and established a commune in the Old City, where they lived, worked, and worshiped together. The American Colony became well-known for its photography and film production, with members of the colony, who were mainly photographers, capturing the life, culture, and landscape of Palestine and Jerusalem. The American Colony continued to exist until the 1940s when the community was dissolved and its members dispersed.