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Richard Humphreys Foundation 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
Richard Humphreys was a Quaker who was born on the Island of Tortola in 1750. As young men he and his brother, Thomas, were sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as apprentices, Richard as a goldsmith and silversmith, Thomas as a tanner.
Richard Humphreys became a well-known and successful silversmith whose shop was at 54 High Street, Philadelphia. At his death in 1832, he left an estate of over $90,000, $10,000 of which he bequeathed to 13 members of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends for the purpose of establishing a school for "...instructing the descendants of the African Race in school learning, in the various branches of the mechanical arts and trades and in Agriculture...in order to prepare and fit and qualify them to act as teachers in such of those branches of useful business as in the Judgment of the said society they may appear best qualified for..." In 1922, the State of Pennsylvania assumed control of the School, and the corporation changed its name to Richard Humphreys Foundation, with funds from the endowment to be used for promoting education of African-Americans to become teachers.
The collection contains charters and bylaws, minutes of the Corporation and Board of Managers, annual reports, financial records, correspondence, and other papers.
Deposited by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1975. Additional material from Richard Humphreys Foundation and Charlotte Tinker, 1978, 1983.
Parts of the collection have been microfilmed and are available in the repository:
- Film Org.-R1
- Board of Managers Minutes, 1922-77; Corporation Minutes, 1923-65; Annual Reports (bound), 1856-1900
- Film Org.-R2
- Board of Managers Minutes, 1866-1914
- Film Org.-R3
- Trustees Minutes, 1823-1838; Board of Managers Minutes, 1914-1922
- Film Org.-R4
- Corporation Minutes, 1837-59; Apprenticing Committee Minutes, 1848-1851; Corporation Minutes, 1860-1922; Discipline and Instruction Committee Minutes, 1871-1884; Board of Managers Minutes 1837-66
Deposited by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1978, 1983;
Gift of Richard Humphreys Foundation, 1978, 1983
People
Organization
- Institute for Colored Youth at Cheyney
- Institute for Colored Youth (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Cheyney Training School for Teachers
- Richard Humphreys Foundation
Subject
- African Americans -- Pennsylvania
- Philanthropists -- United States
- African Americans -- Education -- Pennsylvania
- Education -- Pennsylvania
- Society of Friends -- Charities -- Pennsylvania
- Quakers -- Pennsylvania
- Society of Friends -- Charities
- Endowments -- Pennsylvania
- Society of Friends -- Education
- Teachers colleges -- Pennsylvania
- Nonprofit Organizations -- Pennsylvania
- Quakers -- Social service
- Children -- Institutional care -- Pennsylvania
- Charities -- Pennsylvania
- Social service -- Pennsylvania
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- FHL staff
- Finding Aid Date
- 2001
- Sponsor
- Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
- Access Restrictions
-
Access is through microfilm when available. 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
3 vols.
2 vols.
2 bound vols.
3 pkg.
8 fols.
9 folders
Includes: Commencement programs, report cards, address book of those to whom The African's Friend was sent.