Friends Fiduciary Corporation Records

The Trustees of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (1898-1975) and the Friends Fiduciary Corporation (1920-1975) merged to form the Fiduciary Corporation of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in 1975. That body reorganized as Friends Fiduciary Corporation in 2000, separating from the separately incorporated Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

The Trustees of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends was a corporation formed in 1898 to hold property and execute trusts of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Hicksite), its subordinate members, and certain related organizations. Its members were appointed by the Yearly Meeting.

The Friends Fiduciary Corporation was chartered in 1920 to receive, hold, and administer real and personal property and to execute trusts of the Orthodox branch of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. The two groups remained separate after the 1955 reunification of the Orthodox and Hicksite branches until the creation of the Fiduciary Corporation of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Friends Fiduciary primarily manages and invests funds entrusted to it by Friends meetings and organizations. The Corporation's mission statement centers Quaker principles, and it identifies as participating in "shareholder advocacy" on behalf of Quaker values. In addition to investment, the Corporation also holds title (without management responsibilities) to a number of Quaker properties. It manages more than $600 million in assets on behalf of hundreds of Quaker organizations.

The Friends Fiduciary Corporation Records includes four linked organizations: the [Hicksite] Trustees of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (1898-1975), the [Orthodox] Friends Fiduciary Corporation (1920-1975), and the Fiduciary Corporation of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (1975-2001) which renamed itself as Friends Fiduciary Corporation in 2001.

Records for each organization include minutes and annual reports, and some committee records and historical information relating to the many grants and funds managed by the Corporation. A large portion of the collection is financial records like ledgers and cash books.

Minutes and annual reports are comprehensive through 1993 and 2005, respectively. Of interest include records related to Quaker philanthropist Anna Jeanes's complicated bequest over the decades, including related to what is now Temple University's Jeanes Hospital. There is also documentation of the Fiduciary Corporation's response to increasing demands to divest from South Africa in the early 1980s.

The collection is grouped in three parts, according to the organization that created the records. The first group, the originally Hicksite Trustees of he Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (1898-1975), includes Series 1-4. The second grouping, the originally Orthodox Friends Fiduciary Corporation (1920-1975), includes Series 5-7. The final grouping is the united Fiduciary Corporation of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (1975-2001) and the reorganized Friends Fiduciary Corporation (2001- ).

Within each organizational grouping, there are series for minutes/annual reports, correspondence, committee records, and financial records (like ledgers and cash books).

A final Series 12 includes historical fund reference information that crosses across several creating bodies.

Deposit

The financial records of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Meeting House Trust Funds Committee are described separately in QM-Phy-223, and the records of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Finance Committee and Treasurer are described in QM-Phy-325.

Use

Copyright has not been assessed for these materials. Works over 120 years old are generally considered to be in the public domain. For permission for other materials, please contact the repository where the materials are on deposit.

Publisher

Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Date

2004

Creator

Fiduciary Corporation of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

Friends Fiduciary Corporation (1920-1975 : Philadelphia, Pa.)

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite : 1827-1955). Trustees

Friends Fiduciary Corporation (2001- : Philadelphia, Pa.)

Subject

Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania

Society of Friends -- New Jersey

Society of Friends -- Delaware

Society of Friends -- Maryland

Wealth -- Moral and ethical aspects

Trusts and trustees

Stewardship, Christian

Religious institutions -- Investments

Social ethics

Society of Friends -- Finance

Organization

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends -- Finance

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite : 1827-1955) -- Finance

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (Orthodox : 1827-1955) -- Finance

Language

English

Form

Financial records