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Start Over Repository Historical Society of Pennsylvania Online Content Not Available Year 1900 to 1904

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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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Samuel H. Ashbridge letters, 1899-1900, undated

Extent:
0.4 linear feet (1 box)
Abstract:
Samuel H. Ashbridge was born December 5, 1849 in North Philadelphia and died March 1, 1906. He was mayor of Philadelphia from April 3, 1899 to April 5, 1903. The letters in this collection are of a time when Philadelphia was “the workshop of the world.” During Ashbridge’s mayoralty, the industrial districts within the city contained mills and plants of striking diversity. It was the heyday of John Wanamaker’s “new kind of store.” The letters, which include the years 1899 and 1900, in many respects serve as a window into the commerce and politics of the city during the turn of the twentieth century. Most of the letters are from inhabitants of the city, although there are a few from other states. Letters from Mexico, France, Russia and Germany, written in those countries’ respective languages, make up a small part of the collection. Several letters discuss the issues of the day. The correspondence ranges from April 4, 1899 to December 26, 1900. Only the first two years of Ashbridge’s...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Frank McGlinn collection, 1950-1993 (bulk) 1835-1993 (inclusive)

Extent:
52.0 linear feet (; 51 boxes, 10 flat files)
Abstract:
The Frank McGlinn collection consists of the ephemera collection and professional materials of Frank Cresson Potts McGlinn (1914-2000) who was a Philadelphia lawyer, corporate executive, humanitarian, museum trustee, and patron of the performing arts. He earned degrees from the University of North Carolina and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. During World War II, he served as a naval officer on a minesweeper and was awarded the Purple Heart in 1944. After the war, he worked as a legal counselor, a marketing executive for several banks, and a consultant for over forty years. Outside of his career, McGlinn was a prominent fundraiser for the Republican Party, serving on the Executive Committee of the Republican National Finance Committee. He was also active in various community organizations, but especially those associated with theater, throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. Among other institutions, he served on the boards for Walnut Street Theatre, Theatre of the Living...(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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Merchants Fund records, 1853-2003 (inclusive)

Extent:
13.0 linear feet (; 9 boxes, 24 volumes)
Abstract:
"The Merchants Fund is a Philadelphia charity established in 1854 to provide charitable gifts to business persons facing financial hardships. It evolved from the Mercantile Business Association, an organization dedicated to providing business advice, networking opportunities, and protection from financial failure or defualt due to illness, old age, or disability." (From their website) The collection consists primarily of administrative, financial, and legal records of the Fund. There are board minutes, business and legal correspondence, and tax returns. There are also extensive files on beneficiaries that include wills and estate papers. Other financial records include audit reports, treasurer's reports, tax- and Social Security-related records, and reports on the "Oliver Fund." Among the records are also several volumes, some dating to the mid 1800s. These include ledgers, cashbooks, bound annual reports, and bound minutes.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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United Singers of Philadelphia records, 1887-1932 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.4 linear feet (;1 box; 1 oversized photograph)
Abstract:
The United Singers of Philadelphia was an umbrella organization that represented approximately forty area singing groups, the majority of which were comprised of German immigrants. This collection dates from 1887-1932, although the bulk of the material is from 1905-1916. It includes a scrapbook compiled by the United Singers of Philadelphia, a German songbook, and a panoramic group photograph. The scrapbook contains detailed press coverage of German-American singers, musicians, and choirs, and political events in Philadelphia in the years before and during World War I. Contents include concert programs and reviews as well as clippings describing related (and often overlapping) political meetings and rallies.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Volksverein of Philadelphia records, 1886-1949 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.1 linear feet (; 1 box, 12 volumes)
Abstract:
Now defunct, the Volksverein of Philadelphia was a local unit of the Catholic Central Union of America, which is a national Catholic social action and social welfare organization. The collection contains minutes of the meetings of the Volksverein, and job, financial, and subscription records of the organization's official organs, Philadelphia Volksblatt and Nord Amerika. The collection includes eleven ledgers recording cash transactions, subscriptions, and advertising. Also included is one book of minutes.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Harry E. Adamson papers, 1880-2021 (inclusive)

Extent:
11.1 linear feet (; 27 boxes, 6 volumes)
Abstract:
Harry Egan Adamson Jr. (1949-2021) was a Philadelphia AIDS and gay rights activist and restaurant manager. Infected in 1982, Adamson lived with HIV for nearly 40 years. He moved to Philadelphia in 1981 with his partner David Yontz. The couple stayed with Dr. John E. Fryer (1937-2003), who became one of Adamson’s lifelong friends. Yontz returned to Chicago in 1982, but Adamson remained in Philadelphia. Many of his friends and former lovers succumbed to AIDS between 1984 and 2000, but Adamson was a slow progressor and did not need to start medication for his disease until 1998. Though his HIV disease was under good control, neuropathy in his extremities became disabling in 1993. Adamson remained as active as he could, completing a master’s degree in pastoral counseling at La Salle University in 2002, acting as agent executor for Dr. John Fryer’s estate after his death in 2003, and serving on the board of Philly AIDSThrift from 2010-2013. Nonetheless, medical problems and depression...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Ritter family papers, circa 1840-2004, undated

Extent:
2.2 linear feet (; 6 boxes)
Abstract:
This family history collection documents the Ritter family and its ancestors beginning in the late 18th century. Diaries, autobiographies, memorandum books, family photos, and legal papers comprise the bulk of the material that spans almost 200 years (1773-1962). The collection focuses heavily on James Hansell Ritter (1859-1912) and his wife, Mary LeBaron Stoddard Ritter (1867-1949), both descendants of William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth Colony from 1622 until 1656. The couple’s lineage is documented in Series 1 which houses genealogical notes including a letter dated 25 December 1872 and an application for membership in the Pennsylvania Society of the Colonial Dames of America. Many of the ancestors appear in original or copied photographs in Series 2. Material related to ancestors and relatives of James Hansell Ritter - including his maternal great-great grandfather, Jacob Ehrenzeller, Sr. (1725-1798); his paternal grandfather, Jacob Ritter, Jr. (1784-1840); his father...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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