Call Number:

05

Repository:

Germantown Historical Society

Extent:

14.75 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

circa 1880-1989

Creator:

Germantown Historical Society.

Abstract:

Germantown, a section of northwest Philadelphia, was settled in the late 1600s. It is well known as the site of the first American anti-slavery protest, the Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown, and the seat of the National government during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. The Germantown Historical Society scrapbook collection, circa 1880-1989, contains scrapbooks from multiple creators relating to local Germantown families, events, and organizations.

Germantown, a neighborhood in the northwest section of Philadelphia, was the site of several nationally significant events. It was settled in the late 1600s by Mennonite and Quaker German-speaking emigrants and incorporated as a borough in 1689. Germantown is sometimes called the home of the American anti-slavery movement, because the first organized protest against slavery in the Americas was begun by four members of the Germantown Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1688. In 1777, the courage displayed by American troops at the Battle of Germantown helped to spur the French to assist the United States in the Revolutionary War. During the yellow fever outbreak of 1793, government officials escaping the epidemic in Philadelphia relocated to Germantown, and it served as the temporary home of George Washington and the First Bank of the United States.

Germantown was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia in 1854.

This collection consists of the scrapbooks and photograph albums stored in Germantown Historical Society's open stacks. Additional photograph albums can be found in the Germantown Historical Society photograph collection, and additional scrapbooks in the Germantown Historical Society small collections or under the names of individual scrapbook creators.

The photograph albums and scrapbooks in this collection depict local families, social club events/outings, and Germantown buildings and sites. The books are as follows:

1. Unidentified photo albums (2)

2. George Clarence Johnson (v. 1-2)

3. Kreuger Duffield Platt

4. William Rush Dunton

5. Unidentified postcard album

6. Judge Harold D. Saylor album on Germantown historic buildings, 1955

7. Germantown Hospital Fete, 1912

8. Historic American Buildings Survey

9. Bullus family

10. Mary Lean Perot

11. Clara Whartmann

12. Groff-Bates-Yeakle

13. Germantown Chestnut Hill Improvement Association

14. Lucia B. White

15. Benjamin Randolph Boggs

16. Watson Prints

17. "Homewood," 1912

18. "Our Trip to Maine," 1934

19. Earle N. Barber, Sr. Houses, etc.

20. Firth, Franklin Jones (1843?-1912) Water treatment facilities

21. Watt-van Dusen album of Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy and Germantown

23. v. 1 Morris House dedication, 1950; v. 2 Postcards, printed illus, interiors, &.

24. Site & Relic Society outing to Brandywine, 1926

25. Germantown and Chestnut Hill Improvement Association outing, 1916-1923

26. Photo scrapbooks of Frick, Brooks, Buntor, Buchanan etc. families [Vault stack A, shelf 4]

27. Button family, "A Summer's Memories," 1902 (2 v.)

28. Edward Hall Sanborn, 1862-1932 (3 boxes include photo albums, indexed diaries (1914-1931), and clippings scrapbook)

29. Lankenau school albums (4)

30. Boltz-Huckel albums (2 boxes)

Emlen postcard album 1.

40. Weygandt album

41. Engle family photos

Germantown Historical Society and Bear family postcards.

Germantown Horticultural Society scrapbook, 1915-1980.

Eleanor Boggs scrapbook of Valentine's Day cards, 1900-1914.

Site and Relic Society/Germantown Historical Society scrapbook.

Germantown and Chestnut Hill Improvement Association clippings scrapbooks, circa 1937 (indexed).

Warren H. Poley scrapbook, 1896-1937 (indexed).

"Reminiscences of Old Germantown" articles by Rev. David Spencer, D. D., 1904-1905.

Dr. I. Pearson Willits scrapbook, 1899-1922 (indexed).

Ernest H. Yardley newspaper clippings scrapbook, 1959-1955.

Unidentified clippings ("Vol. 5") scrapbook, 1890-1919.

Two additional scrapbooks belonging to the African American Genealogy Group are housed at Germantown Historical Society. One is a clippings scrapbook by Joseph Dunston, circa 1931-1941, with items relating to dentistry, African American public figures, and Civil Rights. Another clippings scrapbook, 1978-1984, consists of items relating to genealogy and African-American history. (These volumes are not included in the collection extent measurement.)