The CHIRP Project - a DRAFT in Progress

This website was created and designed

by Ray Olszewski

Concordia Resident and Archivist

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The Purpose of this website is to develop the tool to use to access the digital archives of Concordia Lutheran Ministries, Cabot, Pennsylvania, USA.

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History:

Beginning in August 2024, Ms. Emily Bitting-Jha, Concordia at Cabot Public Relations Specialist asked Ray Olszewski to scan the Institution's archival records that date to the early 1800s when the institution was established as a 501(c)3 Pennsylvania Non-Profit Organization. 

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As a result of the work a year and a half later, over 60,000 digital pages in searchable .pdf format from 30 boxes of now preserved records, files, photographs, summaries, minutes, board reports, German hand-written Journals and the like.  These analog records are now organized and preserved in those 30 file containers held by the Concordia Public Relations Department in Cabot PA.

The resulting over 2,000 files generated from ths effort are full of rich-historical information about the beginnings of the Institution before, during, and after its existance initially as an orphanage and later care for the elderly in need.  One hundred and forty-four (144) years later, today, Concordia Lutheran Ministries cherishes its unique and rich history.  Contained in these records are vital information of over 1,000 orphans and as many more elderly. In addition to rich genealogical information, these records reflect volumes of names, dates, places, and biographical information. 

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The methods to access this rich data to pull intelligence from are in development.  This particular window is the first. Because it is being developed it is restricted and not for Public use.  Any information drawn from the content(s) of this development is experimental, unofficial, non-attributed, and unauthorized.  Individuals are welcome to contact the CHIRP team of Ms. Emily Bitting-Jha, Concordia's Public Relations Specialist as follows:  (724)352-1571 x 8477 Email: ebitting@concordialm.org or Ray Olszewski (703) 244-5678 Email: ROlszewski@aol.com.

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Concordia in this effort is seeking to learn from any source of information what they may know about the organage when it existed to add to its history.  This could be in the form of records, photographs, relationships, family archives.  As one learns as we are learning using these archival data, this history has yet to be told comprehensively. 

<insert> help brochure

<insert>Faither in Caring Dec 2024 article about the personages involved and this project started.

<insert>Faith in Caring Dec 2025 article update on the project and links to Concordia website.

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Cosmetic's such as colorization, tables, graphics, etc. will be applied.

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Insert here the flow diagrams created in power point.

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Development Work Follows:

My partner ChatGPT (AI) Tool(s) used in this development asked to create the following as part of this project:

CHIRP Index Portal (Read-Only) — v1
Author: Raymond + CHIRP collaboration
Usage (Adobe Contribute-friendly):
1) Create a folder on your site:  /chirp/
2) Save THIS file as:            /chirp/index.html
3) Create these folders:         /chirp/assets/   and   /chirp/indices/
4) Copy your images into /chirp/assets/ with these filenames:
   - CHIRP_engine_bridge_visual_C_highlevel.png
   - CHIRP_user_execution_flow.png
5) Put your index files (PDF/XLSX/CSV) into /chirp/indices/ and update the links below.

 

CHIRP Index Portal

Read-Only • Stewardship: Emily + Raymond

The CHIRP Engine Bridge

This portal provides guided, user-friendly access to Concordia’s cross-indexed institutional intelligence. Processing and publication are managed under designated stewardship during the pilot phase.

 

Bridge Statement

The CHIRP (Concordia History Information Research Project) was established to address the practical difficulty of extracting usable institutional intelligence from Concordia’s large and complex historical corpus. While the holdings have been successfully digitized and inventoried, their native organizational structure does not by itself support efficient analytical interrogation. The CHIRP Engine was therefore developed as a structured processing layer that systematically converts the digitized corpus into cross-indexed intelligence. In doing so, the Engine provides the operational linkage between Concordia’s descriptive archival listings and the ten-index architectural framework described in this study, enabling users to move efficiently from document identification to evidence-based institutional analysis.

 

DATA → PROCESS → INFORMATION Ten Indices Forensic Re-Entry Loop Mission-Aligned Insight

Pilot Stewardship

 

What users do here: read and download published indices (read-only).

Note: File selection, processing, and publication remain steward-controlled.

Update cadence: published periodically as new high-value materials are processed.

Last updated: YYYY-MM-DD

Open Indices Start Here

Mission alignment: CHIRP ensures Concordia’s history remains an active strategic asset in advancing its mission of care.

CHIRP Engine Bridge — from historical record to institutional intelligence.

Execution Flow — how stewards process and publish indices for users.

Start Here

Common ways to use CHIRP indices

Choose a path below. Each path points you to the most relevant indices first. (Remember: this portal is read-only during the pilot; stewardship controls what is processed and published.)

 

 

Find a person or family

• Start with People → confirm spelling variants and roles.
• Then Timeline → locate where/when they appear.
• Optionally Donor or Congregational Network for connections.

 

Trace donors and giving

• Start with Donor → contributions, recurrence, context.
• Then Financial → flows, obligations, patterns.
• Use Analytical Signals for emergent themes.

 

Buildings, land, and physical plant

• Start with Property / Physical Plant → assets and changes.
• Then Institutional Development → growth signals.
• Use Timeline for sequencing and verification.

Indices

CHIRP Ten Index Portal

Click an index to download the most current published version. Replace the placeholder links below with your actual files placed in /chirp/indices/.

 

People

Index 1

 

Individuals, roles, variants, appearances, cross-links.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____

Donor

Index 2

 

Giving events, recurrence, context, donor networks.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____

Financial

Index 3

 

Receipts, disbursements, obligations, patterns.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____

Governance

Index 4

 

Boards, decisions, authority, motions, procedures.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____

Institutional Development

Index 5

 

Growth, milestones, program evolution, scaling signals.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____

Property / Physical Plant

Index 6

 

Land, buildings, improvements, infrastructure changes.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____

Congregational Network

Index 7

 

Congregations, pastors, connections, regional linkages.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____

Operational Activities

Index 8

 

Daily work, staffing, provisioning, workflows, services.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____

Timeline

Index 9

 

Chronological events, dated entries, sequencing anchors.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____

Analytical Signals

Index 10

 

Emergent patterns, hypotheses, forensic re-entry targets.

 

Format: PDF/XLSX • Updated: ____