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Drexel family collection
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Held at: Drexel University: Archives and Special Collections [Contact Us]W. W. Hagerty Library, 3300 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Drexel University: Archives and Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The progenitor of the Drexel family, Francis Martin Drexel, was born at Dornbirn in Austria near the Swiss border in 1792. He was the son of a merchant who sent him to school in Italy where he showed a natural gift for painting. Fleeing from a conscription measure imposed by the Austrian government, he wandered though Switzerland, Germany, and France working as an itinerant laborer and part-time portrait painter.
In 1817, Drexel moved to the United States and established himself in Philadelphia, working as an artist of some distinction for a period of approximately twenty years. In 1826, he toured South America as a portrait painter and painted a number of portraits including one of General Simon Bolivar. He spent four years in South America. While traveling abroad, Drexel learned the many nuances of currency exchange - a skill he would later use to earn a great fortune when he returned to the United States.
After a number of years experimenting in business while maintaining his career as an artist, Drexel finally made a permanent career change from artist to banker. In 1837, Drexel opened a brokerage house in Philadelphia called Drexel and Company. Amidst the turmoil created by the end of the Second Bank of the United States and an unpredictable currency system, Drexel thrived. When Drexel's sons, Anthony and Francis A., turned eleven, he began teaching them the banking business. Both became members of the firm at age twenty-one. Drexel and Company made vast sums of money on financial opportunities created by gold discoveries in the west, opening a branch of Drexel and Company in San Francisco. They were also involved in financial deals with the federal government during the Mexican and Civil War. In the second half of the nineteenth century they played a conservative - which turned out to be a lucrative - role during the railroad boom. Anthony Drexel became the head of Drexel and Company when his father died in 1863. He partnered with J.P. Morgan and began one of the most lucrative banking interests in the world. By the end of the nineteenth century, Anthony Drexel and his brothers had significantly increased the wealth of an already lucrative banking firm.
Anthony Drexel's success in business led to significant philanthropic activity. He gave considerable sums to Christian hospitals and other institutions that administered care for the poor. In the 1860s, Drexel had started to consider using his wealth to fund a school. Under the influence of his niece Katharine Drexel, who would later be canonized by the Catholic Church, he decided to open an industrial school. What was unique about Drexel's vision was his intention to make his school accessible to all, without restrictions based on gender, creed, or social class. In December 1891, the Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry dedicated its Main Building on 32nd and Chestnut Streets. Anthony Drexel died two years later in 1893.
The collection contains items related to the Drexel family found in the Drexel University Archives in 2005. The provenance for most of the items has been lost. The majority of the collection contains newspaper clippings and scrapbooks related to the Drexel family in the twentieth century. A preliminary index of the scrapbooks is available in the University Archives.
The nineteenth century items include a scrapbook containing obituaries of A.J. Drexel in 1893; memorial books for A.J. Drexel's wife and brother; a diary kept by Frances Martin Drexel while traveling in South America; three letters by A.J. Drexel - one written on the day of his death; and a cash book, believed to be related to F.M. Drexel, from 1830 and 1831.
The collection also contains genealogical charts created, mostly, for the hundredth anniversary celebration of Drexel University in 1992. Legal documents in the collection contain information about the estates of A.J. Drexel and his children including detailed inventories of the estate of George W. Childs Drexel and his wife Mary. The limited number of photographs in the collection likely came from the museum where some of the original prints and paintings reside.
Original order has been maintained where apparent; otherwise the collection has been arranged at the archivist's discretion. The pages of scrapbooks have been removed from binding and individual pages placed in folders.
- Scrapbooks
- Name/subject files
- Diaries and memoirs
- Correspondence
- Publications and printed matter
- Legal and financial records
- Family reunion material
- Genealogical material
- Photographs
- Oversized items
Found in collection, 2005. Most items are believed to have been transferred from the Drexel University Museum.
Hymnal and Book of Common Prayer transferred from Drexel Collection in 2012.
People
- Drexel, Anthony J, (Anthony Joseph), 1826-1893
- Drexel, Francis Martin, 1792-1863
- Drexel, Mary S. Irick
- Drexel
Organization
- Publisher
- Drexel University: Archives and Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Kevin Martin
- Finding Aid Date
- 2005
- Access Restrictions
-
Portions of the collection are restricted. See series descriptions for further details.
- Use Restrictions
-
Consult archivist regarding copyright restrictions.
Collection Inventory
Individual pages (many double sided) from twelve volumes of scrapbooks covering 1884 to 1980. Includes newspaper articles, photographs, and ephemera about the lives and activities of the Drexel family and other families connected to the Drexels.
Physical Description709.0 folders
Chiefly newspaper clippings, but also articles, correspondence, and other ephemera, arranged by surname or subject.
Physical Description57.0 folders
Includes the original diary of Francis Martin Drexel kept while traveling as a portrait painter in South America (1826 to 1830) along with a privately published edition (a photocopy of the original is also available). Life and Travels of Francis M. Drexel tells the story of his early life in Austria and travels throughout Europe. The memoir ends with his leaving for South America after marrying Catherine Hookey in Philadelphia. This series also includes a memoir by A.J. Drexel Paul (original and photocopy) about the Alcedo, a yacht owned by George Drexel that was the "first ship in the United States Navy to be torpedoed and sunk by the Germans."
Physical Description4.0 folders
Includes three original letters written by A.J. Drexel as well as copies of letters from a familial relation of Ulysses S. Grant to A.J. Drexel and a letter from Matthew Vassar to A.J. Drexel.
Drexel family folders in University Records, Office of the President, for correspondence related to fund raising, involvement with trustees, donations to the museum, and other matters.
Physical Description8.0 folders
Variety of published and printed materials related to Drexel family genealogy, business, philanthropy, biography, etc.
Physical Description20.0 folders
An assortment of documents related to the personal property and business of A.J. Drexel and his children. Includes copies of business agreements between the Drexels and Morgans as well as detailed inventories of George W. Childs Drexel's Wooton estate. The cash book identified as Partenhemier and Drexel appears to be from a business started by Francis M. Drexel upon his return from South America (see Rottenberg, The Man Who Made Wall Street, p. 25).
Physical Description12.0 folders
Includes material related to Drexel family reunions hosted by Drexel University in 1970, 1983, and 1991. Material from 1991 has correspondence from Drexel family members to the organizers of the reunion.
Physical Description3.0 folders
Family charts that trace the descendents of Francis Martin Drexel into the late twentieth century. Box 10 contains an indexed genealogy that has a typed page for eight generations of Francis Martin Drexel descendents. Many pages include photographs.
Physical Description20.0 folders
Small collection of photographs made up mainly of head shots. Francis Martin Drexel folder contains photos of his paintings. A.J. Drexel folder includes a duplicate photo of Drexel and George W. Childs, one of the earliest known photos of either man.
Physical Description15.0 folders
Bound memorials compiled upon the death of A.J. Drexel, Mrs. A.J. Drexel, and Francis Anthony Drexel. Includes a Drexel family bible that was purchased by the Drexel Institute in 1950 containing records of A.J. Drexel's children kept by Ellen Drexel. Memorial book for Mrs. A.J. Drexel includes original copies of letters, telegrams, and calling cards received by A.J. Drexel upon the death of his wife in 1891. Among the notable documents include handwritten letters from Andrew Carnegie, Joseph Pulitzer, Jay Cooke, and Levi Morton.
Physical Description5.0 items
11.0 folders
58.0 folders
1.0 folder
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1.0 folder
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1.0 folder
2.0 folders
1.0 folder
3.0 folders
1.0 folder
1.0 folder
1.0 folder
Hymnal and Book of Common Prayer used at the wedding of Frances K. Drexel to James W. Paul, Jr. in 1877. Inscribed by the officiant, Rev. J. Houston Eccleston. Book of Common Prayer includes signatures of witnesses, one of whom was J. Pierpont Morgan.
Physical Description1.0 folder
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5.0 folders
9.0 folders
20.0 folders
1.0 folder
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12.0 folders
1.0 folder
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3.0 folders
20.0 folders
17.0 folders
11.0 folder
1.0 folder
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1.0 photographs