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Peter Adolph Grotjan memoirs, 1844-1846 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.33 linear feet (; 2 volumes)

Abstract:

This collection contains the memoirs and autobiographical notes of Peter Adolph Grotjan, a German merchant who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1796 and became an important figure in area commerce and politics. He served as Philadelphia County Auditor twice (once from 1828 to 1836 and again from 1841 to 1844) and published a commercial newspaper, Grotjan's Philadelphia Public Sale Reports. Volume 1 of the collection is a bound book of "preparatory notes and memoranda" used in writing his memoir, which is Volume 2. The memoir is a detailed account of Grotjan's life to 1817, briefly covering his childhood in Germany and focusing on his adult life in and around Philadelphia. It provides a detailed description of the cholera and yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia, Albert Gallatin's visit to Reading, Pennsylvania in 1798 and the ensuing riot, and encounters with political figures including Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and James Buchanan. There are also descriptions of...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Ida Kaplan Langman scrapbook, 1919-1920 (bulk) 1919-1956 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.3 linear feet (; 1 volume)

Abstract:

Ida Kaplan was born in Ukraine in 1904. While still an infant, Ida and her parents, Hyman and Dora, immigrated to the United States and settled in South Philadelphia. Ida graduated from the South Philadelphia High School for Girls (SPHS) in 1920. She went on to receive a teaching certificate from the Philadelphia Normal School, and eventually earned a Master’s degree in botany from the University of Pennsylvania in 1945. She continued her career as a teacher, botanist, and bibliographer. Ida married Oscar Langman in 1928. They had no children and Ida died in 1991. Her scrapbook documents her last year at SPHS and includes photographs of classmates, faculty, and field trips, as well as newspaper clippings about SPHS; programs for school plays and local events and performances; speeches, including two that she delivered; and a history of her class.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Archibald Hunter Graham papers, 1898, 1927-1929, undated

Extent:

0.75 linear feet (; 2 boxes)

Abstract:

Archibald Hunter Graham (1875-1943) was a physician and amateur sportsman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College, graduating in 1895 and 1898 respectively. He worked as a physician in West Philadelphia and married Grace Darling Watson in 1911. They had four children: Harry, John "Jack," Rhea, and Grace. Dr. Graham and several of his brothers were well-known cricket players in Philadelphia. Archibald toured the eastern part of the United States and Canada with a Philadelphia Cricket team and was associated with the Belmont Cricket Club. He also wrote articles about the history of cricket in Philadelphia and a book titled, "Cricket at the University of Pennsylvania" in 1930. Although some sources state that Graham wrote a book titled "The History of Cricket in Philadelphia" published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, it is unclear whether or not it was finished or if the Historical Society of...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Francis Daniel Pastorius records, 1689-1910 (inclusive)

Extent:

1.6 linear feet (; 2 volumes)

Abstract:

This collection contains the Grund und Lager Buch begun by Francis Daniel Pastorius to document the founding of the Germantown area of Philadelphia and its settlement. This volume includes "Rules and regulations for settlers" (1689-1697) and a copy of the charter for Germantown granted to Pastorius. This collection also contains an English translation of the German and Latin entries in the Grund und Lager Buch made by Marion Dexter Learned for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1910.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Eugene S. Richardson, Jr., genealogical research materials, 1807-1980

Extent:

7.0 linear feet (7 linear feet, 10 boxes, )

Abstract:

Eugene S. Richardson, Jr., was the Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. The collection consists of genealogical research files on the Richardson family and allied families. There is also a significant amount of research on the Netherlands Antilles and family members who settled there. Materials include: photocopies of newspapers articles, correspondence regarding the research (and some personal correspondence), printed materials, family charts, photocopies of 18th and 19th century documents, calling cards and invitations from the 19th century, photographs, and a very detailed card file of information on various family members. Two significant older items are "Richardson's journal, 1807," which has been photocopied and transcribed, and a notebook titled "Records" that describes family-related events in the 18th and 19th centuries. There is a separate card file documenting the chronology of the Netherlands Antilles, as well...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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E. D. Buckman genealogical collection on the Buckman and allied families, circa 1850-circa 1892, undated

Extent:

5.4 linear feet (; 47 volumes)

Abstract:

This collection, compiled mostly by Edwin D. Buckman of Philadelphia, contains genealogical records pertaining to the Buckman family of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and many related families, such as the Blakers, Burgesses, and Hestons. The majority of the material consists of handwritten notes which trace the family from its roots in England and Edward Buckman (1623-1670), a Quaker of Sussex County. The Buckmans eventually settled near Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, approximately thirty miles north of Philadelphia. This collection consists of forty-seven volumes, all in modern library bindings. The volumes’ contents vary from histories of the Buckmans to papers on related families to abstracts of minutes from Friends' meetings. There are also notes and charts on the Buckman family by generation, newspaper clippings, and a few family papers such as deeds and correspondence. A few of the volumes contain indexes of other volumes.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Shigezo and Sonoko Iwata papers, 1942-1991

Extent:

0.6 linear feet (0.6 linear feet, 2 boxes)

Abstract:

Shigezo Iwata was born in Japan and immigrated to the United States in 1924. Sonoko U. Iwata was born in Los Angeles. The couple made their home in Thermal, California where they farmed and Shigezo was secretary of the Thermal Farmers' Cooperative Association. Separated in the initial part of World War II when Shigezo was arrested and detained by the FBI at the Lordsburg Internment Camp (New Mexico), the Iwatas were reunited in 1943 at the Colorado River Relocation Center near Poston, Arizona. The collection contains letters between the Iwatas and their friends detailing life in the relocation center and the internment camp. There are also personal documents and biographical materials.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Bären-Bund des Philadelphia Turnbezirks minute book, 1891-1915 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.06 linear feet (1 volume)

Abstract:

Handwritten minute book of the Bären-Bund des Philadelphia Turnbezirks, from the founding, 23 March 1891, to 19 April 1915. The Bären-Bund was an alliance of senior gymnast squads, or Bären-Riege, of gymnastics clubs (Turnvereine) in the Philadelphia Turner district. The minutes include financial records and a copy of the constitution that was adopted upon the founding.

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

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German Society of Pennsylvania Agentur records, 1854-1938 (bulk) 1847-1947 (inclusive)

Extent:

10.0 linear feet (52 boxes)

Abstract:

72 volumes of handwritten ledgers, indexes, logs, reports, and letter books, recording the efforts of the Agentur to help needy German immigrants and Philadelphia residents of German origin over a period of a hundred years. Valuable biographical information for local history, social history, labor history, immigration research, genealogy.

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

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German Society of Pennsylvania Foreign Relief Committee records, 1919-1925, 1929

Extent:

0.5 linear feet (2 boxes + 1 oversize folder)

Abstract:

This collection contains the records of the German Society of Pennsylvania's Foreign Relief Committee, which from late 1919 through 1922 contributed humanitarian aid to the populations of Germany and Austria in the wake of the First World War. Most of the aid was distributed through the American Friends Service Committee. The collection contains correspondence, appeals, reports, financial records, and ephemera. The correspondence includes letters from 78 charitable organizations in Hamburg, Germany, that applied for distributions of donated sacks of flour in 1919; and nine letters written from various parts of Germany in 1922 during the period of inflation. The Foreign Relief Committee was comprised of an all-male committee of the Society and a committee of the Society's Women's Auxiliary, whose greatest contributions were in the form of knitted and sewn items produced by the members at weekly gatherings. Also included is a 1929 letter from the Deutsche Liga der freien...(see more)

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]