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Alice H. Ambler family papers

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Held at: Plymouth Meeting Historical Society [Contact Us]2130 Sierra Road, P.O. Box 167, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19428

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Plymouth Meeting Historical Society. 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

Alice H. Ambler was born on March 14, 1889, in Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. She attended Plymouth Meeting Friends School, Friends Central High (Philadelphia), the University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell University before earning bachelor's and master's degrees from Columbia University. Alice worked as a teacher at Byberry Friends School, was the county home economics director in Binghamton, N.Y., executive secretary for the social department of the Main Line Federation of Churches in Bryn Mawr, Pa., and owner of a country store in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. After settling in Plymouth Meeting Alice became very active in the local historical society, and was instrumental in the Plymouth Meeting Historical Society's efforts to protect the community from the construction of Blue Route (Interstate 476). She was involved with many other charities and community organizations, including the United Fund, Cancer Society, Polio Drive, American Friends Service Committee, League of Women Voters, and Norristown Garden Club. She died in 1981.

Alice H. Ambler's mother was Annie Foulke Webster, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Jones) Webster. Annie married Edwin Moore Ambler in 1883, with whom she three children: William W. (b. 1884), Alice H., and Eliza Moore (1893-1987). After Edwin died suddenly in 1896, Annie F.W. Ambler took in boarders to help support her family.

Edwin Moore Ambler was the only son of Eliza Moore Ambler and Isaac Ambler, who lived on Bethlehem Pike in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Isaac Ambler was the son of Mary Ambler, for whom the town was named. She was so honored because she organized relief efforts in the wake of an 1856 train crash that killed 59 people.

Bibliography:

Johns, Cathy. "Miss Alice H. Ambler Honored With Golden Deeds Award." The Times Herald. April 28, 1977.

Roberts, Ellwood. Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania volume 2. New York: T. S. Benham & Company, 1904. Page 315.

This collection consists of correspondence, essays and writings, ephemera, photographs, some published works, ledgers, a diary, an autograph book, and other family papers. The correspondence, which makes up the bulk of the collection, mostly relates to: Alice H. Ambler; her mother, Annie F. Webster Ambler; and her grandmother, Eliza Moore Ambler. There are a large number of greeting cards and invitations amongst the correspondence, as well as a group of postcards collected by Alice H. Ambler. Most of the letters are routine and discuss daily events; many relate to Alice's education or were written while she was at school. The family were members of the Religious Society of Friends, and some materials discuss local Meetings and other Quakers.

There are item-level inventories in each of the boxes (except the postcard box).

Gift of Alice H. Ambler, circa 1981.

Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 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 Plymouth Meeting Historical Society directly for more information.

Publisher
Plymouth Meeting Historical Society
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Faith Charlton 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.
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