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Pennsylvania Hall Association Records
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
The Pennsylvania Hall Association was a stockholders association formed in 1837 to erect a building in Philadelphia dedicated "to Liberty and the Rights of Man." The Hall was erected on 6th Street, between Cherry and Race Streets. Many of the primary movers behind the Association were Quakers involved in the anti-slavery movement. The building was opened in May 14, 1838, and was destroyed by fire on May 17, 1838, by an angry mob apparently incensed by the attendance of blacks and whites, men and women, at series of meetings, which included many prominent abolitionists at the opening day and a convention of the Female Anti-Slavery Society.
The president of the Board of Managers at the time of the destruction was Daniel Neall (1784-1846), a Philadelphia Quaker dentist, reformer, and abolitionist. The controversy over responsibility for the loss, the response from the City government, and financial claims dragged on for years. The destruction of Pennsylvania Hall marked the extreme of anti-abolition violence in the City of Philadelphia, resulting in a reaction which strengthened the cause of anti-slavery. Individuals active in the Association included Daniel Neall, Samuel Webb, and Joseph M. Truman.
This collection contains minutes of the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Hall Association, 1838-1847, financial and legal papers, and other related materials concerning the financing and opening of the Hall and the events and litigation which followed. The destruction of Pennsylvania Hall marked the extreme of anti-abolition violence in the City of Philadelphia. Individuals active in the Association included Daniel Neall, Thomas Mott,
The collection is divided into three series:
- Minutes of the Board of Managers
- Financial and legal papers
- Memorabilia
Donor: Gift of Emily N. Bartlett, 1976
Subject
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- SKM
- Finding Aid Date
- 1999
- Sponsor
- Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
- 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
Includes a photocopy of a letter from Daniel Neall to John Priestley (5/21/1838) concerning the destruction of Pennsylvania Hall. The original manuscript is contained in SC NEALL MSS: correspondence