Gospel of Health Archival Research Project

Our research examined an archive of letters from the Painter/Collins family, who were involved with Sylvester Graham’s health reform movement in the pre-Civil War 19th century. This research project combined both processing raw archival data and analyzing the content. Using the digital archive software Tropy and Chat GPT-4o, we collaborated to sort and transcribe the collection of letters. We then analyzed the letters in greater depth, specifically focusing on the themes of experiencing and processing suffering and the death of loved ones, as well as the influence of both religion and the circulating health reform movement. We organized and compiled our findings as a research component of Dr. Jonathan Riddle’s book project, the Gospel of Health.