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Wright's Industrial and Beneficial Institute of Frankford records
Notifications
Held at: Historical Society of Frankford [Contact Us]1507 Orthodox St., Philadelphia, PA, 19124
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historical Society of Frankford. 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
Wright's Industrial and Beneficial Institute was founded in the neighborhood of Frankford in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the mid-19th century by Joseph Wright (1792-1858) as a charitable institution for the community, which was initially supported by his estate. The Institute was to maintain organizations geared towards the improvement of the industrial, literary, and scientific pursuits of the young people of the community. The Institute held lectures on various subjects and encouraged industry and thrift in the community to improve the condition of the laboring class. It also provided assistance to needy individuals living within a one mile radius of the Institute.
The Institute supported a free library and reading room for the community, which would later become the Frankford Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Other organizations supported by the Wright's Institute included the Frankford Camera Club, the Drawing School of the Wright's Institute, and the Dime Savings Fund of Frankford.
The collection consists of financial records, administrative records, property documents and volumes from the Wright's Industrial and Beneficial Institute, as well as a few of the organizations it supported.
The collection includes an 1897 amended charter of the Wright's Industrial and Beneficial Institute of Frankford, tickets to lectures, member lists of the Institution, treasurer and secretary reports (1880s-1890s), and property documents. There are also documents providing permission for other organizations to use the space at Wright's Institute, including the Frankford Camera Club, and the Drawing School of Wright's Institute. There are also documents from some of these organizations, including a financial account of the Drawing School, 1881-1885, and rules and regulation books and account booklets from the Dimes Saving Fund. There are several volumes in the collection. An inventory of the volumes is available below:
Board of Managers of the Industrial and Beneficial Institute minute book, 1868-1888 Dimes Savings Fund of Frankford check stubs, 1857-1861 Industrial and Beneficial Institute membership certificate book [blank certificates], circa 1862 Stockholders of the Library and Reading Room of the 23rd Ward annual meeting minute book, 1857 (used space in the Wright's Institute) Wright Industrial and Beneficial Institute of Frankford cash book, 1928-1946 Wright's Institute miscellaneous receipts, 1880s Wright's Institute, Frankford account book, 1885-1909
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2014-2016 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Historical Society of Frankford directly for more information.
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Historical Society of Frankford
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Sarah Leu and Anastasia Matijkiw through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Historical Society of Frankford for information about accessing this collection.