Philadelphia Area Archives

Start Over Form Account books Year 1947

Sarah Wistar Rhoads family papers, 1824-1930 1824-1963 (inclusive) 1824-1930 (bulk)

Extent:: 4.75 linear ft. (19 boxes)
Abstract:: The Sarah Wistar Rhoads family papers indicate strong relationships and family ties that spanned the 19th and 20th centuries. Sarah Wistar Rhoads (1839-1920) married William Gibbons Rhoads (1838-1880) on November 28, 1866. At that time, the Rhoads, Gibbons and Wistar families began corresponding, the result being an outstanding collection illustrating family support, friendship and love. These papers include correspondence, financial records, diaries and journals, memorabilia, classwork and notes, copied poems, prayers, sermons and verses, memorials, genealogical research, Quaker material and photographs. Researchers interested in family papers and Quaker family dynamics, social life, and customs may find this collection extremely useful.

Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]

Children's Seashore House Records, 1965-1995 (bulk) 1965-1995 bulk, 1965-1995 1872-1998 (inclusive)

Extent:: 20.0 linear feet
Abstract:: The Children's Seashore House (CSH) was established Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1872 as a rehabilitation center for children. Founded on the belief in the restorative powers of the ocean and fresh seashore air, CSH was the first pediatric rehabilitation hospital in the nation, and the fourth oldest pediatric hospital in the United States. Today, CSH is located in Philadelphia, on the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) campus, after having been acquired by CHOP in 1998. Remarkable aspects of this collection include correspondence from the early 20th century, a number of bound volumes from the late 19th to the 20th centuries, and an extensive collection of photographs portraying the pediatric patients of CSH throughout its existence.

Held at: Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

Thomas Leiper and family business records, 1771-1947 (inclusive)

Extent:: 47.0 volumes
Abstract:: Thomas Leiper (1745-1825) was introduced into the business of tobacco shortly after his arrival in Virginia in 1763. Within several years, he moved to Philadelphia where he opened a tobacco shop. During the Revolutionary War, Leiper became the principal tobacco provider in Philadelphia. In 1776, Leiper purchased land in Delaware County that included a mill at a waterfall on the Crum Creek. He established snuff mills and later purchased a stone quarry. The Thomas Leiper and family business records include correspondence, country estate records, and business and financial records of the family's paper, lumber and wood working businesses, quarry business, and tobacco business dating from 1771 to 1947.

Held at: Library Company of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

Joseph Bancroft Family Papers, 1868-1989 [bulk, 1868-1914] (inclusive)

Extent:: 3.5 linear ft. (6 boxes)
Abstract:: Joseph Bancroft (1803-1874) was Hicksite Quaker and cloth manufacturer from Wilmington, Delaware, who worked for the reunification of the Society of Friends in the 1860's and 1870's. He wrote a number of religious tracts and published a book, A Persuasive To Unity, which he published in 1874. At his death, Bancroft established a trust fund to secure the free circulation of this book among Quakers. This collection includes materials which relate to Joseph Bancroft's writing and other religious activities, particularly to the efforts regarding the circulation of A Persuasive To Unity. His son, William Poole Bancroft (1835-1928), continued to promote its distribution. He was active on the George School Committee 1888-1928 and served as Clerk of the Committee, 1896-1919.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

Margaret Roberts Eastburn Papers, 1786-1951 (inclusive)

Extent:: 0.63 linear ft. (2 boxes ( approx. 200 items))
Abstract:: Margaret Roberts Eastburn (1880-1964) was a Quaker elementary school teacher and principal. The collection contains primarily correspondence relating to Eastburn's career as an educator in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and especially her activities (1905-1921) as teacher and principal at Aimwell school, Philadelphia, Pa., a Quaker school for poor girls. Also included are biographical and genealogical materials, and business, financial, and legal papers of the Eastburn family of Bucks County, Pa.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

Elizabeth R. Lippincott (Elizabeth Roberts) Family Papers, 1793-1979 (inclusive)

Extent:: 2 linear ft. (3 boxes)
Abstract:: Elizabeth Roberts Lippincott (1888-1979) was a Quaker genealogist from Moorestown, New Jersey. The collection contains chiefly genealogical and card files relating to the Lippincott, Shinn, Thorne, and related Quaker families of Moorestown and elsewhere, together with correspondence, journals, and essays, and collected materials relating to Quaker history, particularly various Friends Meetings and Moorestown Friends School.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

Samuel C. (Samuel Copeland) Palmer Papers, 1895-1957 (inclusive)

Extent:: 1.5 linear ft. (3 boxes)
Abstract:: Samuel Copeland Palmer (1874-1961) was Professor of Botany at Swarthmore College, Pa., from 1909 to 1942 and a lifelong member of the Society of Friends. In 1929, he served as botanist in Bowdoin-Baffin Land expedition under the command of Donald B. MacMillan, and after his retirement from teaching, he worked on a project to illustrate all plant species in Delaware County, Pa. This collection contains biographical material, writings, correspondence, and Swarthmore College memorabilia. It is organized in four series: 1. Biographical, which includes a manuscript autobiography and a scrapbook and journal of his trip to Labrador and Baffin Land; 2. Writings; 3. Correspondence, 1894-1909; and 4. Miscellaneous, which includes personal scrapbooks with correspondence and Swarthmore College memorabilia such as photographs of Swarthmore College students of the 1890s, and fraternity and athletic programs.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

Purdy Family Papers, 1801-2004 (inclusive)

Extent:: 1 linear ft. (3 boxes)
Abstract:: The collection contains account books, financial papers, family correspondence, and miscellaneous papers of William Purdy, a New York Quaker preacher, and his family. He was a member of Amawalk Monthly Meeting, attending Croton preparative and worship meetings, and traveled in the ministry, leaving an undated record of the Friends and meetings that he visited. Purdy was donated money, land, and labor towards building a new bridge and school house in Cortlandt. Collection also includes genealogical information compiled by Elliott Baldwin Hunt and Arthur M. Tingue.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

Painter Family Papers, 1687-1948 (inclusive)

Extent:: 24.417 linear ft. (49 boxes)
Abstract:: The Painter family was an early Pennsylvania Quaker family that married into the Minshall family of Delaware County. In 1681, William Penn granted Thomas Minshall a land tract which now includes the Tyler Arboretum. The property was home to eight generations of the same family. The collection includes family correspondence, business and legal papers, property records, papers on interests and concerns of the Painter brothers, genealogical papers, and miscellaneous deeds and other papers collected by Minshall Painter. It is a rich source of information not only on the Painter family of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and the origins of the Tyler Arboretum, but also on agriculture, social life and customs, and nineteenth century Quaker concerns through day books, account books, financial records, correspondence, and other documents.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

Charlotte Cushman Club records, 1818-2000 (inclusive) 1907-1998 (bulk)

Extent:: 16.6 linear feet (26 boxes)
Abstract:: Founded in 1907, the Charlotte Cushman Club was originally intended to provide respectable lodgings for actresses appearing in Philadelphia theaters. In the years of World War II the Club ceased to provide residential services, becoming a favorite gathering place of theater lovers as well as of the many actresses and actors visiting the city with their touring companies. The Charlotte Cushman Club Records offer insight into the activities, the administration, and the membership of the Club during the whole life of the organization, until its closure in 1998. The collection also includes part of the holdings of the former Club's museum and library.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]