Call Number:

MC.1142

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

28 linear ft. (36 horizontal document boxes, 15 volumes, 12 vertical document boxes.)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Friends School Haverford records (HC.MC.1142), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1885-2010 (inclusive)

Creator:

Brown, Miriam Jones and Jones, Elizabeth B. (Elizabeth Bartram)

Abstract:

The records include minutes, reports, newsletters, correspondence, photographs, lists, financial records, curriculum records, notes, printed material, school publications, book manuscript and drafts, clippings, and other papers of Friends School, Haverford. Many of the records originated during the tenure of Miriam Brown as principal, 1950-1980, and include her notes, drafts, etc. for "Friends School Haverford, 1885-1985," a centennial history of the school.

Friends School Haverford, located on Buck Lane in Haverford, Pennsylvania, opened in 1885 as the first Quaker elementary school on the Main Line, and expanded to serve up to grade 8 in the early part of the 20th century. It is run by the School Committee, which is under the care of Haverford Friends Meeting.

This collection includes minutes and agendas from the School Committee and other subcommittee meetings, such as the Instruction Committee, the Committee on Distribution, Scholarship Committee, and others. Some of the agendas also include notes. Also includes related documents, such as treasurers' reports, lists of needs for Haverford Friends School Building, a memorandum related to a scarlet fever outbreak, and a menu for the week of November 18, 1935.

Also included are letters, primarily correspondence of Miriam Jones Brown as Principal (1950-1980). Later years are predominately thank you notes to Brown, with little official correspondence (except 1977-1980 folder).

The collection also documents discussion of the place of Friends schools in society, including the admission of the first African American child to Haverford Friends School and reactions from the Haverford School community; there are letters both for and against the admission of Black children to the school. Related discussions include the objectives of Friends School Haverford in general, as well as in music, art, French, and physical education; discussions of nearby Quaker and non-Quaker schools; the results of a questionnaire on opportunities provided by Friends' schools in the Philadelphia area for their students to work for peace during World War II; and the results of a survey on integrating Westtown School, 1943, as well as comparisons of Westtown to other schools.

Included in the collection are also lists of students in each class, lists of members of various iterations of the school committee, lists of staff and faculty members, and lists of parents of students. The curriculum is documented as well, through outlines of various units taught across all levels and subjects. These outlines include aims, methods, benefits, activities, and bibliographies. Also includes outlines for education by year. Documents generated by the Parent-Teacher Association and by Teachers' Meetings are also included.

Miriam Brown's personal and official papers as the head of the school, as well as the official papers of Elizabeth B. Jones as the treasurer, are also included, as well as financial documents generated by Jones as well as John Forsythe.

Photographs, films and audio recordings are contained in this collection as well.

Unless stated otherwise, each series is arranged chronologically.