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John Greenleaf Whittier Manuscript Collection
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Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 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
John Greenleaf Whittier was born December 17, 1807, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was the son of John Whittier and Abigail Hussey Whittier, Quaker farmers, and began to write poetry at the age of fourteen. William Lloyd Garrison published Whittier's first poem in 1826 and persuaded his parents to send him to Haverhill Academy for two terms. His poetry, influenced by Byron, Burns, and Wadsworth, was well-received, and he also edited several New England newspapers and served one term in the Massachusetts legislature.
In 1833, Whittier published a tract proposing immediate and unconditional emancipation of enslaved people. He became a leading abolitionist, writing poems and essays supporting anti-slavery, lecturing, and editing newspapers. Believing that the anti-slavery movement needed a political vehicle, he helped found the Liberty Party in 1839 and supported the efforts of Massachusetts legislators to influence decisions in Washington, D.C.
Poor health forced his retirement after 1840 to a house in Amesbury, Mass., where his poetry focused on New England rural life and traditions. In particular, his poems "Snow Bound" and "Tent on the Beach" were critical and financial successes, and he was widely accepted as a major American poet. His poetry focused on religious and moral themes, but was not encumbered by theological issues; he appealed to both Orthodox and Hicksite Quakers, combining Quaker quietism with a respect for the Bible. In 1881, he was awarded an LL.D. from Harvard, and he died September 7, 1892.
John Greenleaf Whittier was a Quaker poet, journalist, and abolitionist. A major figure in the anti-slavery cause, his correspondents include William Lloyd Garrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Julia Ward Howe, and Lydia Maria Child. The bulk of the collection is correspondence. A closely related collection in Friends Historical Library, the John Greenleaf Whittier Research Papers compiled by C. Marshall Taylor, contains copies and transcripts of Whittier papers not held by Friends Historical Library.
Organized in five series:
- Correspondence, arranged chronologically
- Letters to Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward
- Poetry
- Miscellaneous
- Freitchie Album
This artificial collection of Whittier papers was built upon a gift of Whittier letters and books presented to Friends Historical Library by Charles F. Jenkins before 1930. Additional items and gifts were added to the collection, particularly by C. Marshall Taylor, a New Jersey Quaker collector of Whittier books and related materials.
Microfilm available:
Donor: Charles F. Jenkins, Before 1940
Donor: C. Marshall Taylor, 1954, 1958
Donor: Helen Downing, 1963
Donor: Purchase, 1940-1958
The Whittier papers from various sources were integrated into a single manuscript collection in 1957-58 by FHL staff and an item level inventory prepared. In 1963, photocopies and secondary materials given by C. Marshall Taylor were removed to become a separate manuscript collection, the John Greenleaf Whittier Research Papers, stored in Record Group 5. The original manuscripts were grouped into two large sections: correspondence, arranged chronologically, and other papers, which includes poems, miscellaneous material, and special bound volumes which include additional correspondence. In addition, there is an inventory of pictures and additional letters attached to Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier by Samuel T. Pickard. Since 1967, the collection has been housed in the Whittier Alcove of the Reading Room of Friends Historical Library.
Collection originally included a volume of papers attached to Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier, by Samuel T. Pickard. This is now stored with the Whittier book collection, PS3281.P5 1894d.
People
- Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879
- Child, Lydia Maria Francis, 1802-1880
- Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910
- Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882
- Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892
- Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 1844-1911
Subject
- Quakers -- Poetry
- Quakers -- Massachusetts
- Slavery -- United States -- History -- 19th century
- Antislavery movements -- United States -- History
- Slavery -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States
- Abolitionists -- United States
- Society of Friends -- Antislavery movement
- American Literature -- Quaker Authors
- Quakers -- Fiction
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- FHL staff
- Finding Aid Date
- 2007
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Friends Historical Library believes all of the items in this collection to be in the Public Domain in the United States, and is not aware of any restrictions on their use. However, the user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status before reproducing. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/.
Collection Inventory
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Receipts
Physical Description5 manuscripts
1 manuscript
1 typescript
Notes on Whittier and his work, probably made by C.F. Jenkins.
Physical Description1 folder
27 photographs in 2 folders
2 folders
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Probably kept by C.F. Jenkins
Physical Description1 volume
Cotton bag with image of female slave in chains on one side, verse on reverse. Includes note from Mary Rawley to Mrs. Aaron M. Powell, 1898, conveying the bag, from among my mother's stores.
Physical Description1 folder
Red leather-bound album, given to the Library by C. Marshall Taylor in 1954. The clippings from the delaer's catalogue at the start of each page are from John Anderson Jr.'s sale #152, 1903. Box 11 also include a typescript volume with copies of Whittier letters,CFJ Collection.
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Removed from volume, probably before it was given to FHL.
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