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Friends Historical Library collection of three-dimensional objects
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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
This collection consists of various three-dimensional objects associated with Quakers. It includes items that are distinctively Quaker, such as bonnets, representing Quaker plain dress; and items associated with specific Quakers, including significant figures like William Penn and everyday people who are less known to history.
A large portion of the collection is clothing items for both men and women, including dresses, fichus, handkerchiefs, shirts, and stockings; as well as bonnets and hats, spectacles, and shoes. There are household items like dishware and sewing materials; dolls, toys, and games; and commemorative items, including plates, coins, and busts.
Items related to significant Quaker historical figures, include: a hairbrush and cane reported to have belonged to George Fox; a piece of velvet said to have come from Margaret Fell's cloak; fragments of Swarthmoor Hall; a scrap of wood from William Penn's oak chest; Isaac Pennington's neckcloth; a cane that belonged to Rebecca Jones; Benjamin West household items; and Joseph John Gurney's neck cloth.
Highlights of the collection include: George Washington lock of hair and coffin fragment; a Free Produce (anti-slavery) sugar bowl; silk square spun by Lydia Maria Child from silkworms she grew; a scrapbook of fabric samples, including patches of "slave cloth" and Benjamin Lay's tablecloth; and a model of a spinning jenny, made out of bones by French prisoners of war and given to Stephen Grellet/
Significant donors include: William G. & Mary Jane Wise, Caroline & Josephine H. Tilton, Mary H. Cawston, Mrs. William Dudley Foulke, Elizabeth H. Cocks Thayer, and D. Watson Atkinson.
Friends Historical Library sometimes receives three-dimensional objects along with archival/manuscript collections. Prior to the 2020s, objects were usually removed from document storage and placed with the "Relics" collection. In a few cases prior to the 2020s, and in most cases after the 2020s, objects remain stored with the source archival collection. Three-dimensional objects received individually have been, and continue to be, processed and stored as part of the "Relics" collection.
In 2019, the "Relics" collection was re-inventoried, with an update to descriptive information and photographs taken of most objects. In 2025, collection data was migrated to the TriCollege Art & Artifact database (TriArte, https://triarte.brynmawr.edu/).
Subject
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- Celia Caust-Ellenbogen
- Finding Aid Date
- 2025
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research. Access to some materials may be restricted due to condition.
- Use Restrictions
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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/.