Main content
Central Soup Society
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 Central Soup Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was incorporated on March 6, 1861, with the charitable purpose of distributing soup and other food to the poor and needy during the inclement seasons. The organization was founded by Hicksite Quakers and continued to serve the people of Philadelphia throughout the 20th century. It survives at the turn of the 21st century as a foundation.
The organization operated under a set of by-laws and was funded by donations. The positions of president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer constituted the administration of the organization, as well as an executive committee (composed of three elected members, the president and the secretary) which was later amended to a five-person board of directors (in 1945). While the president provided general supervision over the organization, the executive committee (and later the board of directors) provided the general management and direction of the firm, as well as supervisory and investment powers. Officers were elected by ballot at the annual meeting.
Administration and members convened at an annual meeting, held the second month of the year. If deemed necessary, the president could call special meetings at any time.
Prominent early members include Charles Evans, Charles W. Pierce, George Robins, and Clement M. Biddle (treasurer from 1860-1900). Some contributing members to note include Robert Biddle, who served as treasurer from 1919-1935; Stanley B. Cooper, who served as president, secretary, and treasurer during his membership; and Howard Cooper Johnson, who served as president of the organization for a long period during the 20th century. Other noteworthy members include, William C. Biddle, T. Morris Perot, Edward Parrish, Dillwyn Parrish, Joseph Jeanes, Samuel Jeanes, Joseph Leidy, Joshua Lippincott, Robert K.McInnes, and William S. Ingram.
The Central Soup Society was located on North Street, below 6th street, in Philadelphia, Pa.
Records of the Central Soup Society; includes financial records, minutes, and miscellaneous historical documents concerning the organization. More than half of the records pertain to some financial aspect of the organization. Though the time scope of the file encompasses the organization's inception (1861) through the late 1960's, the majority of the materials are from the beginning to the middle part of the 20th century.
The collection is divided into three series:
- Minutes
- Financial records
- Miscellaneous
Donor: Elizabeth Cooper Cochrane, 05/18/2000. Accession number: 2000-026
The collection was given by Elizabeth Cooper Cochrane, the daughter of Stanley B. Cooper.
Subject
- Charities -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Quakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Society of Friends -- Charities
- Quakers -- Poor -- Services for
- Food relief -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Poor -- Services for -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Soup kitchens -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Nonprofit Organizations -- Pennsylvania
- Church work with the Poor -- Society of Friends
Place
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- POD assisted by ECM
- 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
-
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
Includes financial reports.
Includes by-laws and constitution.
Includes minutes from annual meetings from corresponding year and a few audit reports (incomplete)
Includes documents concerning the transfer of funds
copy