Held at: Fairmount Park Historic Resource Archives [Contact Us]1515 Arch Street, 10th Floor, Philadelphia, PA
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Fairmount Park Historic Resource Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Sarah Logan Wister Starr (1873-1956) was a prominent philanthropist and member of Philadelphia society throughout the early 20th Century. A descendant of the wealthy and well-known Wister and Logan families, she became a public figure throughout the region for her humanitarian activities. Starr served as State Vice-Chairman of the World War I- era National League for Women’s Services and from 1921 to 1941 as President of the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. The correspondence in this collection is primarily concerned with her public service activity during World War II. During the 1940s and 1950s, Sarah Logan Wister Starr obtained permission to utilize Loudoun Mansion as the meeting place for the Women’s Permanent Emergency Association of Germantown. This organization was formed by her grandmother in the 1870s and revived by Starr in approximately 1940 as an effort to unite local women and provide clothing and knitted material to the Allied troops. The WPEA aligned themselves with the Maple Leaf Fund of Canada- an unusual occurrence for such a prominent American group. This may be attributed to Starr’s close ties with Nova Scotia, as she frequently summered in this location. The Maple Leaf Fund eventually became a branch of the British War Relief Society, and the WEPA worked to provide non-military aid to the people of Great Britain. After the end of World War II, the WPEA remained in effect to continue aiding the less fortunate worldwide. They were major contributors to the Daniel and Emily Oliver Orphanage, a school for boys and orphanage in Lebanon administered by Quakers. They also sent care packages to Holland, Norway, and Greece over the next five years. Included in this collection is the correspondence of the WEPA and, more specifically, their President, Sarah Logan Wister Starr. Correspondence includes meeting invitations and responses, Board membership nominations and acceptances, correspondence with the Maple Leaf Fund, the Maple Leaf newsletter, lists of supplies needed and shipped to this organization, thank you letters from receivers of shipments, and personal correspondence amongst the ladies of this organization. There is also information regarding the everyday upkeep of Loudoun Mansion, such as water bills and repairs to furniture, and a miscellaneous file which includes correspondence to James Starr, Sarah’s husband, from the American Swedish Association regarding involvement with World War II, a copy of a petition for a World Federation (possibly a precursor to the United Nations), and advertisements addressed to the previous owner, Maria Dickinson Logan, for flower market in Rittenhouse Square.
This collection has not been fully processed, and only a limited number of materials have been arranged and described.
This is an unfinished finding aid. Collection processing is in progress.
Publisher
Fairmount Park Historic Resource Archives
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Caity Tingo
Finding Aid Date
14 August 2012
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Archives with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.
Collection Inventory
1.. Unknown woman in mourning attire, c. 1870s-1880s., c. 1860-1900.
Dimensions note
6.5 X 8.5 inches
2.. Boat race, steamer in foreground with two rowboats.
Dimensions note
5 X 4 inches
3..
Logan, Maria Dickinson
. "Woodland scene + hickory fence".
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
4.. Front elevation of Loudoun Mansion.
5.. Seaside scene, coastal with house, possibly Maine.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
6.. Front elevation of Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
7.. Maria Dickinson Logan's bedroom.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
8.. Maria Dickinson Logan's dog, "Beautiful Witch".
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
9.. Logan dog "Sussex".
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
10.. Parlor at Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
11.. Maria Dickinson Logan's bedroom.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
12.. Maria Dickinson Logan at John Smith's tomb.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
13.. Parlor at Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
14.. Parlor at Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
15.. Parlor at Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
16.. Maria Dickinson Logan's bedroom.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
17.. Maria Dickinson Logan's room.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
19.. Parlor at Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
20.. Parlor at Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
21.. Fireplace in Maria Dickinson Logan's bedroom.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
22.. Parlor at Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
23.. Parlor at Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
24.. Maria Dickinson Logan's bedroom.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
25.. Parlor at Loudoun Mansion.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
26.. Logan dogs, Frank and Union.
Dimensions note
4 X 6 inches
27.. Springhouse or stone arch in woodland in background.
Dimensions note
5 X 7 1/4 inches
28.. Maria Dickinson Logan on horse.
Dimensions note
5 X 7 inches
29.. Walk, house (possible Loudoun Mansion) set in trees., c. 1860.
General Physical Description note
Stereoscope
30.. Stenton.
Dimensions note
5 X 7 inches
31.. Woman seated near Armatt gravestones.
Dimensions note
5 X 7 inches
32.. House through hemlock alley.
Dimensions note
5 X 7 inches
33.. Outbuilding at Stenton.
Dimensions note
5 X 7 inches
34.. Logan plot at Stenton.
Dimensions note
5 X 7 inches
35.. Pastoral scene, wheat with barn in background.
Dimensions note
Image: 4 1/2 X 3 1/2 inches Frame: 6 1/2 X 8 1/2 inches
36.. Coastal scene, rocky foreground, house and docked steamer in background.
Dimensions note
Image: 4 1/2 X 3 1/2 inches Frame: 6 1/2 X 8 1/2 inches
37.. John Dickinson's coat of arms.
Dimensions note
5 X 7 inches
38.. A.C. Logan's photographic album, containing small photographs, lithographs stamps, etc.
Dimensions note
5 1/2 X 4 1/2 X 2 inches
World War II charity - Women's Permanent Emergency Association, the Maple Leaf Fund, and the British Relief Aid.
Invitations and responses - Women's Medical College and Women's Permanent Emergency Association.
Charity work after World War II - Daniel and Emily Oliver Orphanage.
Charity work after World War II - Holland, Norway, and Greece.
Personal correspondence between members of the Women's Permanent Emergency Association.