Online Content: Not Available / Form: Photographs / Year: <span class="single" data-blrl-single="1844">1844</span> - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Extent:: 1.5 linear feet (; 2 boxes)
Abstract:: Patrick Coad (1783-1872), an Irish immigrant who settled in Philadelphia, was the first patentee of a graduated galvanic battery with insulated poles. Touting his battery among other uses as an instrument that helped cure various diseases, Coad’s invention attracted a good deal of attention within the scientific and medical communities. A teacher whose interests focused on medicine and the sciences, Coad also travelled throughout Pennsylvania and the surrounding area as a lecturer on the natural sciences. The collection includes Coad’s correspondence, his lecture and medical notes, and ephemera, such as newspaper clippings, pamphlets and broadsides, publicizing his galvanic battery and lectures. Several of Coad’s family members are also documented through correspondence, ephemera, and estate items, including his son Joseph R. Coad (1829-1868), a prominent Philadelphia physician. A family scrapbook with miscellaneous materials is also included.

Held at: Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center [Contact Us]

Extent:: 5.2 linear feet (; 13 boxes)
Abstract:: This collection contains papers that document several generations of the Martin, Campbell, and Furlong families with the Martin family receiving the most coverage. To a lesser extent, the Kennedy and Jenkins families, who had strong personal and mercantile ties to the Martin family, are also represented. These interrelated middle class Irish Catholic families from Philadelphia were involved in several prominent industries in the region, including overseas commerce. Devout in their religious beliefs, the families, the Campbells in particular, played a significant role in shaping Catholicity in Philadelphia. Members of the Campbell family were also actively involved in political and social movements of the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries, including the labor movement and women’s suffrage. Distinguished members of these families are represented, including suffragist and writer Sarah Jane Campbell (1844-1928). Items in the collection date from 1795 to 1939 with the majority of...(see more)

Held at: Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center [Contact Us]

Extent:: 20.0 linear feet
Abstract:: Edwin Wolf 2nd (1911-1991) was a librarian, bibliophile, author, historian, Franklin scholar, and a civic leader in Philadelphia. Wolf was Curator of the Library Company from 1953 to 1955, and then served as Librarian from 1955 to 1984. During those years, he led the Library Company though a period of rejuvenation, growth, and prosperity. The Edwin Wolf 2nd papers contain correspondence, research files, volumes, publications, photographs, and other records that document the education, career, and personal family life of one of Philadelphia’s most prominent bookmen during the 20th century.

Held at: Library Company of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

Extent:: 22.0 linear feet
Abstract:: The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) was founded on November 24, 1827 by fifty-three prominent Philadelphians; among them Horace Binney, David Landreth Jr., William Davidson, George Pepper, Nicolas Biddle and Moses Brown. Emulating similar societies existing in England at the time, the men formed their Society to promote “a highly instructive and interesting science for the purpose of improving the growth of vegetables, plants, trees, fruits and flowers.” Since that time, the Society and its membership has fostered “…an appreciation of plants, acquiring scientific knowledge about them, disseminating horticultural information, and involving the public in gardening and beautifying the City of Philadelphia.” More recently, the Society has worked specifically to beautify the city and help realize William Penn’s founding vision for Philadelphia to be a “greene countrie towne.” This is a collection of administrative records from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The...(see more)

Held at: Pennsylvania Horticultural Society [Contact Us]