Mahlon H. Hellerich (January 20, 1919 – January 17, 2010) was an American

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

local historian and president of the Pennsylvania German Society from 1973 to 1979. He was also executive director of the

Lehigh County Historical Society Lehigh County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1904, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting the history of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The Historical So ...

from 1974 to 1976. Hellerich attended Muhlenberg College in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

, where he graduated as valedictorian in 1940. He went on to receive his M.A. at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(1947) and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1957. He was academic dean of Albright College in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

from 1959 to 1966. Hellerich died in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on January 17, 2010, and was interred in

Trexlertown, Pennsylvania Trexlertown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Upper Macungie Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,382. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 86 ...

Works

*''Lehigh Heritage'' (1979) *''Allentown 1762-1987: A 225 Year History'' (1987) *''A Journey of Faith: Brief Histories of Bethlehem's Religious Communities'' (1992) *(editor) ''Proceedings of the Lehigh County Historical Society''

External links

Grave
in

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellerich, Mahlon 1919 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers American Lutherans American male non-fiction writers Columbia University alumni Lutheran writers Muhlenberg College alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni