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Elizabeth Drinker diaries
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Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]370 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Haverford College Quaker & 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
Elizabeth Sandwith Drinker (1735-1807) was born circa 1735 in Philadelphia, where she married Henry Drinker. Together they had nine children. Elizabeth was a prolific journal writer throughout her life, and kept journals from the colonial period, during the Revolutionary War, and in the early years of American independence. Elizabeth died in Philadelphia in 1807.
The collection includes unbound, typed transcripts of Elizabeth Drinker's original diaries. Diaries are from 1758 to 1800; diaries from 1787 and 1788 are missing. The diaries are composed of Elizabeth's personal reflections of the day-to-day life of a wealthy Quaker woman in colonial Philadelphia. The majority of Elizabeth's entries detail her daily life, including social calls with other Quaker families and individuals, the births, deaths, and marriages within her community, and attendance at, and descriptions of, weekly and monthly Quaker meetings. While Elizabeth is generally not concerned with larger economic or political events, her entries during the Revolutionary War discuss military movements by both the British and the Americans, specifically General Washington's military movements. Elizabeth's description of events during this period include general military events, as well as personal experiences during the war. In addition to the Revolutionary War, Elizabeth's entries are often concerned with medical and health matters, both within her own family and as concerned the city of Philadelphia more generally. Specifically, her entries provide a record of small pox and yellow fever outbreaks during her lifetime, and her personal entries detail the illnesses of herself and her family, as well as treatments administered to herself and her children.
Unknown.
Processed by Kara Flynn; completed June, 2015.
People
Subject
- Yellow fever
- Medicine -- United States -- History -- 18th century
- Women -- United States -- Social life and customs
- Quakers -- Pennsylvania -- Social life and customs
- Quaker women -- United States
Place
- Publisher
- Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- Kara Flynn
- Finding Aid Date
- June, 2015
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).
Collection Inventory
Record of knitting and needlework projects.
Yellow fever and smallpox outbreaks, illnesses of children.
Family's struggles with illness, death of son Henry.
Descritpions of General Washington's military movements.
Family's experience during the Revolutionary War, including Drinker's husband's exile to Virginia, illnesses of children, and arrival of British troops.
Outbreak of yellow fever.