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John Wanamaker collection, 1827-1987 (inclusive)

Extent:
193.2 linear feet (; 316 volumes, 438 boxes)
Abstract:
John Wanamaker (1838-1922) was a well-known merchant, entrepreneur, and lifelong resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was active in the city's religious, political, and philanthropic areas, founded several Presbyterian churches and Sunday schools, and served as postmaster general under President Benjamin Harrison from 1889 to 1893. He opened his first Philadelphia clothing store, Oak Hall, with partner Nathan Brown in 1861, and founded John Wanamaker and Co. in 1869. In 1876, he opened "A New Kind of Store" known as the Grand Depot at Thirteenth and Market Streets. This store later became the flagship store, with satellite stores eventually established in central and southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as New Jersey, Delaware, and New York City. Wanamaker was at the forefront in many areas of retailing including merchandising, employee relations and advertising. His sons Thomas B. Wanamaker and L. Rodman Wanamaker were also active in the business. Thomas ran John Wanamaker and...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Mutual Assurance Company (Green Tree) records, 1784-1995 (inclusive)

Extent:
455.0 linear feet
Abstract:
The Mutual Assurance Company for Insuring Houses from Loss by Fire was organized in Philadelphia in 1784, in order to make fire insurance available to those citizens who wished to have trees in front of their houses. A group of sixty-one men met on July 8, 1784 at the City (or London) Coffee House and agreed to create a new mutual fire insurance company. A deed of settlement was adopted and a green tree was selected as a symbol to appear on the company's policies and fire marks. The company archives of The Mutual Assurance Company, familiarly known as the Green Tree, consist of financial accounts and receipts, correspondence, histories, cancelled insurance surveys and policies, and miscellaneous material. The records date from the formation of the company in 1784 to 1995.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle papers, 1938-1961 (bulk) 1912-1961, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
40.0 linear feet (; 109 boxes)
Abstract:
Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr. (1896-1961) was very active in Democratic politics, including serving as associate secretary of the Democratic National Convention in 1936. His activity in the political arena led to several appointments as a diplomatic officer. He served as minister to Norway, 1935-37, and ambassador to Poland, (1937-Sept. 9, 1939). After the invasion of Poland by the Germans, Biddle accompanied the Polish government to France, where he served as interim ambassador to France and ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States to the governments of Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Greece, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Luxembourg. He resigned from diplomatic service in 1944, and then served in various positions with the U.S. Army, including as a staff member to General Dwight Eisenhower and General Matthew Ridgway. From 1955 to 1961 he was adjutant general of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and in 1961 served as U.S. ambassador to Spain....(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Richardson Dilworth papers, 1940-1972 (bulk) 1881-2002, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
87.7 linear feet (; 258 boxes, 19 volumes, 7 flat files)
Abstract:
The papers of Richardson Dilworth include correspondence, office files, accounts, reports, political campaign materials, brochures, pamphlets, scrapbooks, and photographs that primarily pertain to the immediate years before and after he became mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962). The collection also contains papers related to Dilworth’s role on the Philadelphia Board of Education, his failed run for Pennsylvania governor, and from his law firm Dilworth Paxson LLP.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Harold E. Cox transportation collection, 1858-1960 (bulk) 1803-1967 (inclusive)

Extent:
199.5 linear feet (160 boxes, 624 volumes, 38 rolled items)
Abstract:
Prior to the 1870s, Philadelphia's public transportation system consisted of dozens of independently owned and operated horse drawn streetcar lines. In the 1880s and 1890s steps were taken toward electrification and unification, a goal finally achieved in 1902 with the founding of Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT). PRT constructed subway and elevated train lines, and managed public transportation until 1940, when the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) was established, absorbing PRT and all of its functions. The Dr. Harold E. Cox transportation collection is composed primarily of records from PTC and PRT, as well as PRT's subsidiary and predecessor rail lines. This collection dates from 1803 to 1967, with the bulk of materials ranging from 1858 to 1960. It consists of financial records, legal records, correspondence, administrative records, ephemera, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, atlases, and route maps and diagrams. The collection documents the growth and...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Belfield papers, 1697-1977 (inclusive)

Extent:
106.0 linear feet (235 boxes and 99 volumes)
Abstract:
The Belfield papers include materials from families who lived in the Belfield mansion in Germantown, Pennsylvania from 1826 until 1984; however, the papers span the years 1679 to 1977. Featured individuals include William and Sarah Logan Fisher Wister, their son John Wister and his wife, Sarah Tyler Boas Wister, their granddaughter Sarah Logan Wister Starr and her husband, James Starr, and their great-granddaughter S. Logan Starr Blain and her husband, Dr. Daniel Blain. The collection also houses papers from related individuals in the Emlen, Fisher, Hall, Lindley, Logan, Meigs, Wister, and other families. This collection includes correspondence, financial records, ephemera, photographs, scrapbooks, pamphlets, periodicals, and other items. Topics that are particularly well documented in the Belfield papers include: Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania; Colonial Dames of America; the Sesquicentennial Exposition; stamp collecting; world travel during the Great Depression;...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Charles A. Quinn family albums, 1898-1919 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.5 linear feet (; 1 volume)
Abstract:
Charles Quinn was an unusually talented and meticulous amateur photographer, as well as a competent painter. The photographs in this album provide an exceptionally rich look at the life of a Philadelphia family over the first two decades of the 20th century. Photos document Charles Quinn's courtship and marriage to Ann Weber, and the growth from infancy into young adulthood of their daughters Viola and Hilda. Quinn also decorated the pages of the albums with hand painted thematic images. There are numerous candid photos of leisure activities in Fairmount Park; Wildwood, New Jersey; and other Philadelphia area locales. All of the photos have captions and most pages include the year the photographs were taken. Although the photographs are in a single album, reserachers should be aware that they came to The Historical Society of Pennsylvania as two albums. Conservation staff combined the two albums into one after page numbers made it clear that this was the original arrangment of the...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Athena Tacha papers, 1942-2000 (inclusive)

Extent:
3.4 linear feet (3.4 linear feet, 12 boxes, 2 volumes )
Abstract:
Athena Tacha (1936-) is a Greek American sculptor, photographer, and conceptual artist who received degrees from the National Academy of Fine Arts (Athens, Greece), Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), and the University of Paris (Sorbonne). In the 1960s she settled in the United States and became a professor of sculpture at Oberlin College. Her commissioned pieces are installed as public art across the United States and in several other countries as well. This collection contains mostly early correspondence, education materials, publications, and artwork from 1950 through the 1980s, although it spans from 1950 to 2000.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Philadelphia Record World War II servicemen photographs, 1943-1944 (inclusive)

Extent:
5.5 linear feet (; 11 boxes)
Abstract:
After the entry of the United States into World War II (1941-1945), the Philadelphia Record newspaper began publishing photographs of and articles about servicemen from Philadelphia and the surrounding regions. The resultant collection is comprised of these photographs and any accompanying information originally used for publication, and later, reference purposes.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Philadelphia Record Photograph Morgue, 1920-1945 (bulk) circa 1900-1947 (inclusive)

Extent:
390.0 linear feet (936 boxes)
Abstract:
The Philadelphia Record, which was established in 1897 and closed in 1947, was for a time one of the leading newspapers in the United States. The Philadelphia Record photograph morgue is comprised of black and white photographs dating primarily from 1920-1945, though some date from as early as 1900. The collection is divided into two series: Subject (approximately 20%) and Alphabetical (approximately 80%) with the former covering events and the latter focusing on individuals and families.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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