Fellowship House (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records

Fellowship House grew out of the Philadelphia Friends' Young People's Interracial Fellowship of Philadelphia which Marjorie Penney Paschkis (1908-1983), had been directing since 1932. Fellowship House was not a Quaker organization, although it had Quaker roots and stood for non-violent solutions to social problems. Its efforts were directed toward inclusiveness and it reached out especially to groups abused by society as a whole.

Paschkis opened the first Fellowship House at 1431 Brown Street in 1941, to provide an everyday life setting where people of all colors and creeds could meet, cook and eat, play, pray and study together. Working with extremely modest means, and almost entirely on a volunteer basis, Paschkis and the people of Fellowship House published newsletters, coordinated regular inter-faith meetings and social gatherings, and created and conducted numerous lecture series and courses which emphasized learning about and understanding differences, and which encouraged cooperation and inclusiveness. Many of these programs were directed toward school-age children and were given at local schools. Fellowship House also acted in the larger city, state, and national communities on such concerns as a federal anti-lynching law, anti-Semitism, integrated recreational facilities and open housing.

Fellowship House was one of the earliest non-profit education centers in human relations and social change, and it continues today as Fellowship Farm, situated on a 120-acre farm five miles from Pottstown, PA. During its more than fifty years, its scope of activities and interests steadily widened to encompass all areas of social concerns, especially as these emerged with increased urgency during and after the late 1960s. Paschkis remained Director until 1968, and was succeed by the Rev. Amos Johnson (tenure 1969-1973), Helen Slater Tomkins (1973-1979) and David P. Tulin (1979-1988).

The first House on Brown Street was sold in 1956 and the operations moved to 1521 W. Girard Avenue. In 1963, Little Fellowship House was opened at 1710 N. 27 Street. In 1951, the Farm was purchased; all other buildings were divested and it became Headquarters in 1973.

This collection contains correspondence, administrative records, Board of Directors' minutes, agenda, reports, committee records, staff and personnel records, records related to activities and projects, financial records, scrapbooks, memorabilia, and case records. Also included are day books, correspondence, notebooks, and some sketches and illustrated works of Marjorie Penney Paschkis, as well as some papers of Elizabeth Penny, Marjorie's aunt.

The collection is arranged into 3 series as follows:

• Series 1: Accession 723, 1921-1989
• Subseries 1.1: Administration and Organization, 1931-1986
• Subseries 1.2: Individuals, 1921-1988
• Subseries 1.3: Correspondence, 1935-1985
• Subseries 1.4: Activities, 1937-1989, undated
• Subseries 1.5: Financial, between 1921-1989
• Subseries 1.6: Publications, between 1921-1989
• Subseries 1.7: Branch Offices, 1943-1967
• Subseries 1.8: Other Organizations, 1949-1986
• Subseries 1.9: Miscellaneous, between 1921-1989
• Subseries 1.10: Scrapbooks, between 1921-1989
• Subseries 1.12: Memorabilia, between 1921-1989
• Subseries 1.13: Case Records (RESTRICTED), between 1921-1989
• Series 2: Accession 1026, circa 1952-1994
• Series 3: Accession 2016-45, Fellowship Farm records, circa 1940-2010

Accession 723 received on February 7, 1991 from Esther R. Miller, Assistant Director, Fellowship Farm. Accession 1026 received August 11, 2005 from Fellowship Farm. Accession 2016-45 donated by Fellowship Farm, a division of Child Guidance Resource Centers, via Colleen McNichol, CEO, October 5, 2016.

Accession 723 received on February 7, 1991 from Esther R. Miller, Assistant Director, Fellowship Farm. Accession 1026 received August 11, 2005 from Fellowship Farm. Accession 2016-45 donated by Fellowship Farm, a division of Child Guidance Resource Centers, via Colleen McNichol, CEO, October 5, 2016.

Finding aid revised according to contemporary archival standards in June 2015. Finding aid revised to include Accession 1026 in June 2017 by Katy Rawdon, Coordinator of Technical Services.

Photographs from Accession 723 have been removed to the Miscellaneous Photograph Collection, PC-49, Box 7.

Originally part of this accession was the Keystone View Company Stereopticon Views Photograph Collection (PC-14).

Use

The Fellowship House (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Fellowship House (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records, SCRC 281, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Publisher

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Finding aids author

Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.

Date

March 2025

Creator

Fellowship House (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Subject

Housing -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Integration -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Civil rights movements -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Community life -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Community activists -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Education -- Social aspects -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Labor -- Social aspects -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Race relations -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

People

Paschkis, Marjorie Penney, 1908-1983

Organization

Fellowship Farm (Pottstown, Pa.)

Place

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Language

English

Form

Administrative records

Articles of Incorporation

Bylaws (administrative records)

Case files

Clippings

Correspondence

Ephemera

Financial records

Manuscripts

Minutes (administrative records)

Newsletters

Publications (documents)

Reports

Sheet music