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Charters, by-laws, rules, and related documents
Notifications
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
Haverford College was founded in 1833 as Haverford School by a group of New York and Philadelphia Quakers who sought to create an institution of learning grounded in Quaker values.
The collection contains published by-laws, laws, and other documents that document the founding of Haverford College.
The records are arranged in chronological order.
Processed by Krista M. Oldham, completed 2018
- Publisher
- Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- Krista M. Oldham, Elizabeth Jones-Minsinger, and Cullen Worth
- Finding Aid Date
- August, 2018
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Standard Federal Copyright Law Applies (U.S. Title 17).
Collection Inventory
This file contains two copies of a single document titled "Rules of Haverford School." Both documents are dated 1833, the year of the school's opening, and one is marked on the back as being the "printed rules of managers." The rules primarily cover a student's freedom to move throughout the campus building (Founders Hall) and explicitly prohibit any exploration beyond the building without permission. Guidelines for polite interactions are also outlined, as well as the prohibition of smoking and chewing tobacco. The rules also recommend that money sent by parents or other guardians be forwarded to the superintendent, rather than directly to the student.
The Haverford School was the former name of Haverford College. The school was founded in 1833 by the Religious Society of Friends and was entirely contained in a single building, Founder's Hall. After facing financial issues in in the 1840s, the Haverford School was forced to close its doors in 1845, re-opening in 1849 as Haverford College.
An Account of Haverford School From Its Institution To the Close of the Winter Session--Fourth Month, 1835: With The Constitution And By-Laws Of The Association. Published by Direction of the Board of Managers (Philadelphia: William Brown, Printer, 1835)
The Haverford School Association was an organization founded to pursue the incorporation of the new Haverford School. A petition was sent by Thomas P. Cope and others for the establishment of the "Friends Haverford School Association" in 1833. This request was granted by the Pennsylvania legislature in the same year. The association, upon incorporation, was effectively comprised of the Board of Managers who continue to oversee Haverford College's finances to this day. In 1846, amidst a period of financial instability for the school, the association petitioned the state of Pennsylvania to allow for the alteration of rules and regulations in the association's original constitution. This petition was granted in the same year.
This file contains four documents regarding the incorporation and establishment of the Haverford School. The first two documents represent the original petition, by founders of the school, to create the corporate entity (known as the Haverford School Association), which would manage the new school. The latter documents pertain to a supplement, issued by the state of Pennsylvania, which allowed the members of the Haverford School Association to "alter or repeal any of the rules, orders, regulations and constitution of the said association." This clarification allowed for non-Quakers to be admitted in 1849 and eventually paved the way for the school's incorporation as a college in 1856.