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Start Over Repository Historical Society of Pennsylvania Year 1850 to 1899

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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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Montgomery, Scott, and Wheeler families papers, 1675-2018, bulk 1840-1995

Extent:
60.6 linear feet (; 103 boxes, 142 volumes, 11 flat files)
Abstract:
This collection from the Montgomery, Scott, and Wheeler families, spanning 60 linear feet, documents the history of Ardrossan, an estate in Villanova, Pennsylvania -- one of the largest on Philadelphia's Main Line -- and its residents over the course of more than two centuries. In 1911, local investment banker Colonel Robert Leaming Montgomery (1879-1949) hired Horace Trumbauer to design the residence on the family's 800-acre plot, complete with a dairy farm and horse stables. The son of William Woodrow Montgomery and Rebecca Waln Leaming, Robert L. Montgomery would go onto to establish what is now the investment firm of Janney Montgomery Scott. He married Charlotte Hope Binney Tyler (1881-1970) in 1902, and the couple had four children: Helen Hope, Mary Binney, Robert Alexander, and Charlotte Ives. Their eldest daughter, Helen Hope Montgomery (1904-1995), became well known in Philadelphia's social circles, and she went on to marry Edgar Scott (1899-1995), grandson of Thomas A....(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Saunders House records, 1862-1940 (bulk) 1853-2011, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
3.6 linear feet (; 8 boxes, 7 volumes, 1 flat file)
Abstract:
The Old Man's Home of Philadelphia was chartered in 1860 and opened its doors in 1864 in West Philadelphia, as a residence for old men in indigent circumstances. The home evolved to be Saunders House and began admitting women in 1960. In 1973, it moved to its current location adjacent to Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, Pa. Today Saunders House provides long-term care and rehabilitation services to up to 180 older adult residents. The collection includes the original Old Man's Home minute book; admission records; record of inmates; annual reports; financial reports; deeds and other property-related documents; newsletters; court records from an inheritance dispute involving the Old Man's Home; a program from the organization's 125th anniversary celebration; a Christian Endeavor hymn book, typescripts, and clippings.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Shee family papers, 1775-2009, undated; bulk 1775-1785

Extent:
0.4 linear feet (; 1 box [5 folders])
Abstract:
Cecelia (circa 1750-1779) and John Parke (1755-1780) were the children of Thomas Parke of Kent County, Delaware. Around 1770, Cecelia married Bertles Shee. Cecelia lived in Philadelphia and Dover, Delaware. Both John Parke and Bertles Shee served in the Continental Army. This small collection of papers from the Shee family mostly consists of detailed letters Cecelia wrote to John in the army between July 1775 and February 1777. There are also genealogical notes, a copy of Bertles Shee's will, a letter concerning property in Ireland, a letter from John Chew concering Bertles Shee's debts, and a set of typed transciptions of most of the documents in the collection.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Foerderer family papers, 1894-1994 (bulk) 1865-2009 (inclusive)

Extent:
3.8 linear feet (; 13 boxes, 1 volume, 1 flat file)
Abstract:
Percival E. Foerderer (1884-1969) was a Philadelphia businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist, although lived most of his life in the city suburbs of Merion and Bryn Mawr. His college-age medical education was interrupted when his father, Robert H. Foerderer, became ill and could no longer run the family’s decades-old leather manufacturing business. In response, Percival quit school and, in the early 1900s, joined Robert H. Foerderer, Inc, manufacturers of “Vici Kid” leather. Later in life, Percival served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Jefferson Medical College and Hospital, and on the boards of many other companies and organizations in Philadelphia. He married Ethel Brown (1885-1981), daughter of a Philadelphia textile manufacturer, who presided over the Women's Board of Jefferson and was active in several other civic and philanthropic activities. Percival and Ethel Foerderer had three daughters, Mignon, Florence, and Shirley. This family collection spans from the...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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St. David's Church (Radnor, Pa.) records, circa 1706-2008

Extent:
15.0 linear feet (; 30 boxes, 34 volumes, 15 flat files)
Abstract:
The cornerstone for St. David’s Church was laid in 1715 by a group of Welsh settlers in what is currently Radnor Township. During the Revolutionary War, the parish faced turmoil and the absence of a minister for the parishioners. By 1788, the parish once again had leadership, and in 1792, Reverend William Currie incorporated the parish and drew up a charter. The parish continued to grow as railroad lines brought urban dwellers to areas like Radnor that surrounded Philadelphia. For the next century, the parish would erect buildings to accommodate its constituency, providing the parishioners with a new rectory, chapel, parish house, and education building. Currently, the church attends to the religious needs of over one thousand families and holds many events, including an annual fair and auction. The records of St. David’s Church span from 1706 to 2006 and offer insight into the activities of the parishioners and history of the church in Radnor, Pennsylvania. This collection consists...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Wuanda M. T. Walls family papers, c.1860-2007

Extent:
2.07 linear feet (4 boxes, 10 volumes, 3 flat file items)
Abstract:
Wuanda M. T. Walls is a writer who was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, but raised in nearby Delaware County. She graduated from Chester High School in 1961 and Lincoln University in 1980. The Walls family was one of the core families of Hinsonville, Pennsylvania, a small African American community in Chester County that became the site of Lincoln University, the oldest black college in the United States. The collection documents the history of the Wallses and related families, Hinsonville, and Lincoln University Village. It includes family photos, correspondence, clippings, legal papers, diplomas and yearbooks, ephemera, an oral history audiocassette and transcript, a published essay (by Wuanda Walls) and two books on the history of Hinsonville, and other items. There is also some of Walls's own memorabilia, such as autographed photographs and programs, airplane tickets, and a program from the 1966 Newport Jazz festival.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Batcheler, Hartshorne, and Sahlin families papers, 1789-2007 (inclusive)

Extent:
40.0 linear feet
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers of the Batcheler, Hartshorne, and Sahlin families, descended from Axel (1826-March 5, 1909) and Axeline Sahlin (1834-1922), a Swedish couple whose children lived in Europe and the United States. Four generations of the family are documented here, with documentation centering around five families. In the United States, the family is represented by Gertrude Chandler (July 17, 1860-1953) and Axel Sahlin (1855-1937); their daughter Ellen Sahlin (February 21, 1895-June 4, 1988) and her husband, Judge Richard Hartshorne (February 29, 1888-September 19,1975); and their daughter, Penelope Hartshorne (1928-2007) and her husband, George Batcheler(1926-2009). The Swedish side of the family is represented by Axel and Axeline Sahlin and the family of their daughter, Essie Sahlin (1859-1950) and her husband, Simon Johannes Boëthius (1850-1924). The contents of this collection are mostly correspondence and other personal papers, including diaries, artwork,...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Historical Society of Pennsylvania poster and broadside collection, 1777-circa 2005

Extent:
2.2 linear feet (; 7 boxes, 9 flat files)
Abstract:
HSP staff assembled this collection of broadsides, circulars, facsimiles, prints, blotters, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other material largely related to Philadelphia businesses and institutions. Subjects within the collection are quite varied and include auctions, banks, insurance companies, museums, printing establishments, the Civil War, labor strikes, Washingtoniana, Lincolniana (mostly remembrances of his assassination), and transportation. In addition to items documenting Philadelphia, the collection includes materials from several other Pennsylvania counties and states along the Eastern seaboard. The collection is divided into four categories: three according to location and one solely for advertisements. It is further arranged alphabetically within each category according to subject. Oversized items have been moved to flat files. A detailed inventory is available in the Historical Society’s library.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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John Fryer papers, 1950-2000 (bulk) 1876-2004, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
76.0 linear feet (; 219 boxes; 36 volumes; 10 flat files)
Abstract:
John Fryer was a groundbreaking gay psychiatrist best-known for his appearance in full disguise at the 1972 American Psychiatric Association (APA) convention. His speech at the convention is credited with convincing the APA to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973. As a psychiatrist Fryer worked largely with gay men, lesbians, people who abused drug and alcohol, and those who were coping with death. He was also a professor at Temple University School of Medicine, and organist and choirmaster at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Germantown. The John Fryer collection consists of his personal and professional papers from 1876 to 2003 and is divided into five series: General files, Patient records (restricted to researchers until 2078), Photographs and audio-visual materials, Printed matter, and Miscellaneous papers.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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