Main content
Anna Wharton Morris family photographs
Notifications
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
Anna Wharton was born in Philadelphia on July 15, 1868. Her father, Joseph Wharton (1826-1909), was a wealthy industrialist. He married Anna Corbit Lovering (1830-1914) in 1854 at the Cherry Street Meeting House in Philadelphia. Two children preceeded Anna: Joanna (1858-1938), who married Joshua Bertram Lippincott in 1885, and Mary Lovering (1862-1923), who never married. The Whartons moved to Ontalauna near Old York Road, Philadelphia, in 1881. Their summer residence, Marbella, was at Conanicut, west of Newport, Rhode Island.
Harrison S. Morris was born in Philadelphia on October 4, 1856. He had two younger sisters, Matilda Harris Morris and Jane Walters Morris, who never married. At the age of sixteen he went to work for the Reading Coal and Iron Company to help support his parents, who were in ill health. In 1893 he became the managing director of the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts, a position which he held until 1905. Morris also served as editor of Lippincott's Magazine, art editor of the Ladies Home Journal, and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the National Academy of Design. From 1909-1917 he was president of the Wharton Steel Company. His activities brought him in contact with leaders in the artistic and literary world. He also wrote and published his own works, in both English and Italian, on Roman history, literature, and culture, as well as at least 17 volumes of poetry, fiction, and essays.
Anna and Harrison's only child, Catharine Wharton Morris, nicknamed "Kit," was born on Jan. 26, 1899. In April 1905, Anna underwent a hysterectomy, the first of a number of surgeries and hospital stays that are documented in the Journals. The Morris family traveled to Europe in 1906, 1910, 1911 (when Harrison was appointed as United States Commissioner for the International Exhibition of Art and History in Rome), and 1914 (when they witnessed the beginning of World War I in France). These trips and the visit to California in 1917 are described in separate travel journals. At home, Anna wrote numerous essays, short stories, and poetry, and participated in Philadelphia's rich social and cultural life. Home was at the "Annex" on the Wharton property near Old York Road until 1926 and then "Pear Hill."
In 1913, Anna Wharton Morris became deeply interested in prison reform. This concern probably stemmed from her horror over newspaper reports of cruelty to the young inmates at Glen Mills. In 1914, she met Thomas Mott Osborne, the famous prison reform advocate; the two formed a close friendship which lasted until his sudden death in 1926. Anna's reports of conditions in prisons throughout the country and, particularly, in the Philadelphia region, are preserved in her journals.
In 1925, "Kit" married Sydney Longstreth Wright, Jr., the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Redwood Wright of "Waldheim" in Germantown. Harrison Smith Morris died on April 12, 1948. Anna Wharton Morris died on June 21, 1957, at the age of eighty-eight. Catharine "Kit" Morris Wright died in 1988.
The photographs in this collection are related to the Anna Wharton Morris Papers, RG5/106. The photographs date from as early as 1823 but are mostly from the 1860s and onwards. The photographs are either bound in leather albums or loose. They depict the Wharton Morris family and friends. They include silhouettes, tintypes, and paper prints.
The collection is physically arranged in the order received. The collection is listed in the inventory as divided into two series, People and Places, with further subseries.
Gift of the grandchildren of Anna Wharton Morris: Harrison Morris Wright, Anna W. Templeton-Cotill, W. Redwood Wright, and Ellicott Wright in memory of their parents, Sydney L. and Catharine Morris Wright 1991-1997, 2012
Date: 1991-1997
Accession number(s): 91.24; 92.28; 94.011, 048; 95.004, 97.012, 97.014
People
- Morris, Anna Wharton, 1868-1957
- Wharton family
- Morris, Harrison S. (Harrison Smith), 1856-1948
- Wharton, Joseph, 1826-1909
- Lippincott family
- Lovering family
Subject
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- Alison Sielaff
- Finding Aid Date
- 2018
- Access Restrictions
-
This collection is available for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Some of the items in this collection may be protected by copyright. The user is solely responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns to reuse, publish, or reproduce relevant items beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to the law. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/.
Collection Inventory
Approximately 9.5 x 11.5 inches. First page says " Album" in gold lettering. Photographs may contain additional text written on the backs.
"Born tenth month, 24th, 1796"
"Mrs. Joseph"
"Aunt Polly"
"Cousin Willie"
"Auntie Jean"
Two photographs
"Anna Wharton Morris's best friend"
Includes original, negative, and print copy
Includes original and negative
Includes original and negative
"Had school"
"Aunt Mary's"
Possibly the maid
"Grandpa L's wig on butler"
"Cousin Anne"
Includes original and negative
5x6 inches. Notation on the inside of the first page reads "attributions in hand of Catherine Morris Wright. They seem accurate so far as I can tell. See some changes by me." Signed H (A?) Wright 1/97
Two photographs
"After the war"
Caption says "William", inscription on back of photograph says "Charles"
Five photographs
Two photographs
"Bubsy"
Two photographs
"Wife of William"
Tintype
"I think. Cousin Lovering"
Two photographs
Two photographs
Three photographs
5x6 inches. Spine has "Elisabeth C. Jenkins" inscribed. Notation on the inside page reads "attributions in the hand of Catharine M. Wright. Seem largely accurate to me." Signed H.M. Wright 1/97
Three photographs
Three photographs
"Age 9 months"
Two photographs
Two photographs. One of them was possibly named Jennie. "French name"
9x6 inches. Titled Photographs in gold lettering on cover and spine. Notation on inside page reads"pages 1-13, 16-22. 29-30 attributions in the hand of Anna Wharton Morris the remaining attributions in the hand of Catharine Morris Wright." Signed H.M. Wright 1/97.
Two photographs
"Mattie is missing"
Tintype. Includes Nanny Barker, Mary Wharton, Hannah Wharton, Joanna Wharton, and Lizzie Wharton
Tintype. Includes Nannie Wharton and Mary Wharton
Tintype. Includes Esther W. Smith, Joanna Wharton, and Anna Smith
Tintype. Includes Nanny Barber, Joanna Wharton, and Bill Smith
Tintype
Two photographs
Approximately 9x11.5 inches. Notation of floral pattern page reads "Anna Wharton from Joey Bertram Xmas 1886"
"Aunt Hetty"
"Joseph Wharton lived as a young man and worked on the Walton's farm. See DW's letters...the farm"
Photocopy
Includes Leah Goff, Sophie Weizgandt (?), Harriet F. Head, and Jennie G. Mason
"Sewed"
Possibly the maid
Mrs. Strawbridge's sister
Penny Oakes's mother
Two photographs
Two photographs
Approximately 9x11.5 inches. Inscription on first page says "This album belonged to my great-grandmother Anna Corbit Lovering of Oak Hill and to my mother (whose handwriting is inside in pencil) Anna Wharton Morris." Signed Catharine Wharton Morris Right 1977
Two photographs
Caption says "Elizabeth Davis Hallowell"
Two photographs
Two photographs
Three photographs
Four photographs
Two photographs
Two photographs
Two photographs
Three photographs
Four photographs
"Eddie not born"
Mrs. Joseph Hill, Mrs. Grubb's Mother
Two photographs
Possibly mother of Joseph Turnpenny
Two photographs
Two photographs
Two photographs
Two photographs
Mrs. Edward N. Davis
Includes Deborah Wharton Mellor, Wharton Barker, and Nannie Barker Scott
Joseph Wharton included in procession
Silhouette
Four photographs
Silhouette of possibly Joseph Grubb
Includes Sally Hallowell, Jennie Picot Hallowell, J.R.W. Hallowell, Robert Haydock, Hannah Willis, and Nina Willis
Includes Bertram Lippincott, Joseph Lippincott, Elizabeth Lippincott, and Marianna Lippincott
Three photographs
Larger photographs, includes Anne C. Lovering, Mary Lovering, and Joseph Lovering
Two photographs
Includes Susan Lovering Pemberton, Mary Lovering, Edgar Lovering, Corbit Lovering, Carrie Pemberton, Gilpin Lovering, Annie Perot, Joseph S. Lovering III, Elizabeth Corbit, and Ida Lovering
Includes newspaper clippings as well as larger portraits
Majority individual photographs, some group shots with family and friends
Larger photographs, includes Catharine Morris Wright and Anna Lovering Wharton
Includes Catharine Harris Morris, Matilda Morris, Jennie Morris, and Amos Harris
Includes Harrison Smith Morris, Anna Wharton Morris, and Catharine Wharton Morris
Includes Lydia Nistar Rhoads, Russell Smith, Lizette Woodworth Reese, William H. Fox, Joseph Jefferson, Belle Brown, John Van Pelt, Florence Dudley, Anna Strawbridge, Robert Underwood Johnson, Maymie Etheridge, Martha Johnson, Joseph Leidy, Thomas Mott Osborne, Tom Brown, Agnes Pepplier, Harriet F. Head, Emma Beldan, Thomas Whitney Sirello, and Leah Goff
Carrie, Henry, and Robbie Pemberton
Includes Esther Wood, Dorothy A. Smith, Catharine Wharton Morris, Sarah Green Smith, William W. Smith, Elizabeth Burckes, Esther Bates, Edward Wanton Smith, and Mary L. Wharton
Includes a letter from Lois Thurston to Kit Wharton. Also contains photographs of William Wharton, Joseph Thurston, Lois Thurston, and Coppee Thurston
Includes Deborah Fisher Wharton, William Wharton, Charles Wharton, Anna Wharton, Sarah Wharton, Esther Wharton, Hannah Wharton, and Mary Wharton
Various photographs of Anna Lovering Wharton from several periods of her life. Includes individual protraits as well as group shots with family.
Includes Rosalie Wharton, Theophilus B. Stork, and Hannah Wharton
Two folders. Various photographs of Joseph Wharton from several periods of his life. Includes individual portraits as well as group shots with family and friends. Also larger photographs, including group shot with family
Includes Anna Wharton Morris, Joseph S. Lovering, Catharine Wharton Morris, and Carrie Perot
Includes Susanna D. Wharton
Includes photographs from "Cousin Willie's wedding" and "Cousin Florence and children"
Includes children and Sidney L. Wright
Friends and possible acquaintances include Lucretia Mott, Thomas Wallace Swann, Thomas Mott Osborne, Walter Johnson, J.B. Haines, Letitia Adams, Ada Johnson, Belle Brown, and Bertha Strawbridge
Includes George Wharton Edwards and Robert Curtis Ogden
Home of Anna Wharton Morris and Harrison S. Morris
Etchings
Includes oversized. Homes of Joseph Wharton, Deborah Fisher Wharton, Anna Wharton Morris, and Abraham Redwood
Includes one sleeve of photographs that were loose in the album. Only labeled photographs are listed
Early May
Early May. Includes photographs of Mill on Sullivan's Trail
Horsehead (?)
Left to right: Enterprise, Stramrock, Enterprise, and Erica
Includes Captain Rosenquist
"Delaware and Raratou Canal near Princeton" and "House on Canal"
Includes photograph of a boat belonging to a Mr. Lisle
Includes photograph of Captain Rosenquest's children Helen and Esther
Includes photograph of Stellala Magnolia
Includes church, Free Love Valley, and Stubelbne's (?) house
Includes Anna's birthday party
"With Brumbaugh and Watts"
"With Franklin Inn (?)"
Picnic and Spring Cruise
"Broom in Bloom"
"Where Walt Whitman stayed"
Taken by "George"
Winter
Winter and Spring
Includes ships Vanitee and Endeavor, and Fred and Mabee Ohl with Anna
"Trip with Brumbaugh"
Trip on boat the Annas
"Trip with Brumbaughs"
Blossoms
Silver Bell and Quince trees
Interior and exterior winter and spring scenes
Two folders. Includes map of sites and photographs of mining sites, miners, and scenery around mines.
Includes photographs of Nickel Furnaces and group shot with HIH Prince Fushimi at the Bethlehem Steel Company
Port Oram, New Jersey
Includes photographs of ships after what appears to be a storm, as well as a passenger train and lifting dock
Taken by Joseph Wharton