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Friends Central School Records

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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

Friends' Central School was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a Quaker secondary school by a Joint Committee of three Hicksite monthly meetings (Society of Friends). It was first located at 4th and Cherry Sts. In 1857, it was moved to 15th and Race Sts., and in 1925, it was moved to its present location in Overbrook, Pa. The current academic program includes grades K-12.

The majority of this collection contains the minutes for Friends' Central School, including the Joint Committee, 1844-1921; Executive Committee, 1921-1944; Visiting Committee, 1851-1904; and Board of Trustees, 1926-1951. Also in the collection are the minutes, 1891-1899, of the Executive Committee for Friends' Central School System, an association organized to coordinate the curriculum of Friends' schools in the Philadelphia area as well as some miscellaneous papers including letters from William Wharton, Jr., and published materials.

The collection is organized into four series. The series are:

  1. Friends' Central School
  2. Friends' Central School System
  3. Miscellaneous papers
  4. Publications
  5. Financial records

For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Gift of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting; Spruce Street Monthly Meeting, Friends Central School; Hannah Hull; Clayton L. Farraday, 1945-1985

Early minutes originally placed with Spruce Street Monthly Meeting and Philadelphia Monthly Meeting Miscellaneous Papers in a Small Collection. With the deposit in 1985 of minutes 1918-1951, all material was consolidated and catalogued; stored in RG 4. In 11/1999, published material pre 1965 was transferred from PG 2, added as a separate series, and checklist revised.

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Author
FHL staff
Finding Aid Date
2000
Sponsor
Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

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

Scope and Contents

At first called Joint Committee on the subject of Education. Included representatives from Cherry Street (later Philadelphia), Green Street and Spruce Street Monthly Meetings.

Minutes, 1844-1887.
Box 1
Minutes, 1887-1917.
Box 1
Minutes, 1918-1921.
Box 2
Minutes, 1921-1926.
Box 2
Minutes, 1926-1944.
Box 2
Minutes, 1851-1893.
Box 3
Minutes, 1894-1904.
Box 3
Minutes (rough), 1854-1861.
Box 3
Minutes (rough), 1894-1904.
Box 3
Minutes, 1926-1941.
Box 4
Minutes, 1941-1951.
Box 4

Scope and Contents

This system is distinct from Friends Central School

- Executive Committee Minutes, 1891-1899.
Box 5

Letters of William Wharton, Jr. to Banjamin Hallowell, 1845-1846.
Box 5
Physical Description

6 ALsS

Anna Walters' Papers.
Box 5
Physical Description

2 reports, 2 compositions

Miscellaneous papers, 1850, 1857.
Box 5
Physical Description

3

Loose papers from Visiting Committee minutes.
Box 5
Physical Description

3 folders

Publications.
Box 5

Physical Description

1 folder

Vouchers, 1887-1888.
Vouchers, 1884-1885.
Vouchers, 1885-1886.
Deeds of Trust, Reports, and Other Documents, 1853-1861.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

Physical Description

1 folder

Reports, 1864-1876.
Physical Description

copy

Reports, 1876-1886.
Physical Description

copy

Reports, 1886-1887.
Physical Description

copy

Treasurers' Account Books, 1835-1864 & 1874-1878.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

Fire Escapes, 1883-1886.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Spruce Street Property, 1889-1903.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Release of Liens, 1900.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Due bills, 1876-1889.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Financial Correspondence and Miscellaneous Property Records, 1925-1928.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Physical Description

1 folder

Bank Book, 1877-1882.
Physical Description

1 volume

Bank Book, 1911-1916.
Physical Description

1 volume

Bank Book, 1907-1911.
Physical Description

1 volume

Bank Book, 1892-1901.
Physical Description

1 volume

Leases, Agreement, etc., 1872-1896.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Print, Suggest