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Samuel C. (Samuel Copeland) Palmer Papers

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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

Call Number:
RG5.114
Repository:
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Extent:
1.5 linear ft. (3 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item or series here], Samuel Copeland Palmer Papers, RG 5/114, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Date:
1895-1957 (inclusive)
Creator:
Palmer, Samuel Copeland, MacMillan, Donald Baxter, -1874, and Swarthmore College
Form:
drawings (visual works) and Account books
Abstract:
Samuel Copeland Palmer (1874-1961) was Professor of Botany at Swarthmore College, Pa., from 1909 to 1942 and a lifelong member of the Society of Friends. In 1929, he served as botanist in Bowdoin-Baffin Land expedition under the command of Donald B. MacMillan, and after his retirement from teaching, he worked on a project to illustrate all plant species in Delaware County, Pa. This collection contains biographical material, writings, correspondence, and Swarthmore College memorabilia. It is organized in four series: 1. Biographical, which includes a manuscript autobiography and a scrapbook and journal of his trip to Labrador and Baffin Land; 2. Writings; 3. Correspondence, 1894-1909; and 4. Miscellaneous, which includes personal scrapbooks with correspondence and Swarthmore College memorabilia such as photographs of Swarthmore College students of the 1890s, and fraternity and athletic programs.

Samuel Copeland Palmer (1874-1961), was Professor of Botany at Swarthmore College, Pa., from 1909 to 1942 and a lifelong member of the Society of Friends. He was the son of Lewis and Hannah (Pancoast) Palmer of Concord, Delaware County, and his father was a Quaker minister and active in the Delaware County Historical Society. Samuel Palmer graduated from Swarthmore College in 1895 and taught at the Swarthmore Preparatory School for 12 years. In 1902 he married Margaret Bancroft Swayne, and they had three children.

Palmer received a Master's and Ph.D. from Harvard, and in 1909 he joined the faculty of Swarthmore College. In the early 1920s, he and Arthur Hoyt Scott, a fraternity brother also in the Class of 1895 and an avid gardener, and others began to discuss the development of the Crum Valley as a public garden, and in 1925 Palmer submitted a plan to the Swarthmore College Board of Managers for the creation of an arboretum on campus. The following year, he took a sabbatical from his teaching to visit and survey gardens and arboretums of Europe and gather plant samples. While financing was not available at the time, in 1929 the arboretum became a reality with an endowment created as a memorial to Arthur Hoyt Scott. Palmer served on the Executive Committee to develop the Scott Arboretum.

In 1929, Samuel Palmer was invited to join Lieut. Commander Donald McMillan on an exploratory voyage to Baffin Land, a thousand miles north of Labrador on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Donald B. McMillan (1874-1970) was a friend of Samuel Palmer, having succeeded him as the coach of the athletic department of Swarthmore Preparative School in 1900. The small contingent traveled in McMillan's schooner, the Bowdoin which had made a number of voyages to the explore the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions. The expedition left harbor in Maine on June 22 and returned September 19. Samuel Palmer was assigned to study of birds and plant life. Due to atmospheric conditions, the ship was out of radio contact for days at a time. By August 15, 1929, that party had reached the summit of the Baffin Land ice cap. McMillan reported that the weather was the worst in all his summer travels, and the ship was trapped in ice for two weeks and threatened by icebergs on its return voyage.

In 1943 an island in Frobisher Bay was named Palmer by Commander McMillan to honor his friend.

A gifted athlete who lettered in track and football, Palmer remained an avid supporter of Swarthmore College his entire life. He was director of athletics at Swarthmore Preparative School 1895-1900 and served on the athletic committee of the College after he began teaching and as graduate manager of athletics until his retirement from teaching. Affectionately known as "Doc," in 1939-1941 he served as Acting Director of Athletics while still heading the Botany Department. He also served on the NCAA and was one of the founders of the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference.

A lifelong sketcher, Palmer began exhibiting his plant drawings in the 1930s. In retirement, he devoted himself to recording all the plants of Delaware County. When the plants were exhausted, he moved on to butterflies, moths, and mushrooms. Ever the ardent alumni, his drawings came to Swarthmore College partly as the 50th anniversary gift of his class and partly in dedication to the students of the College.

After his retirement from active teaching in 1942, the College named Palmer Hall, one of the buildings of the former Swarthmore Preparative School, in his honor. The nearby athletic field and what is now known as Crum Meadow were also named for him in recognition to his devotion and service to his alma mater.

This collection contains biographical material on Samuel Copeland Palmer, writings, correspondence, and Swarthmore College memorabilia. Of particular interest is the journal and scrapbook he kept of his voyage to Baffin Land in 1929 with Donald B. MacMillan.

The collection is divided into four series:

  1. Biographical
  2. Writings
  3. Correspondence
  4. Miscellaneous

  1. Fussell, Linnaeus. "List of Delaware County Plants," Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science, 1, no. 3 (April 1906)

Donor: Samuel Copeland Palmer, Jr., 1961-1964. The donor was the son of Samuel C. Palmer and also an alumni of Swarthmore College (Class of 1927).

Donor: Mary Lou Kay, a descendant of Samuel C. Palmer. Acc. 2004.019

Originally processed by FHL staff prior to 1967. Four boxes of colored slides of flowers and accompanying index transferred to Swarthmore College Biology Department. Three flower paintings (blue?; hibiscus; rhododendron) originally sent as Christmas greetings to Mary Sullivan Patterson, Class of 1928, gift of Mary Patterson, 1975, also forwarded to Biology Dept. [4-17-75] and added to a collection of Palmer's paintings. In 2004, a small collection of personal letters from Samuel and Margaret Palmer to his parents and a box of lantern slides were donated by Mary Lou McKee, a descendant. The correspondence was added to Series 3: Correspondence. The lantern slides, collected 1927-1928 during Samuel Palmer's sabbatical in which he visited gardens in Europe in the planning stage for the Scott Arboretum, are stored as PA with lantern slides. At the time that these items were added to RG5/114, a photograph album of primarily Swarthmore College classmates, 1890s, was transferred to a PA 10/13, Swarthmore College Picture Albums.

See also:

  1. Collection of Watercolor Drawings of Delaware County plants by Samuel Copeland Palmer deposited in Martin Laboratory, Swarthmore College, Pa. Available on-line.
  2. Samuel C. Palmer's college yearbook, The Halcyon 1895, which was added to College Archives, Publications.
  3. Palmer's proposal to create the Scott Arboretum, see Swarthmore College Archives, Presidential Papers, Frank Aydelotte, Scott Arboretum, 1925-1929.

Subject
Place

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Author
FHL staff
Finding Aid Date
ca. 1964
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

Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.

Collection Inventory

Ms. of autobiography, "The Life of a College Professor", 1953.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Chapter headings:

  1. Childhood (p. 1)
  2. High school days (p. 16)
  3. College days (p. 20)
  4. Athletic career (p. 29)
  5. Prep school days (p. 41)
  6. Camping (p. 60)
  7. College life (p. 72)
  8. Sabbatical leave (p. 81)
  9. Journey Southward (p. 94)
  10. Italy (p. 106)
  11. London (p. 120)
  12. Arctic expedition (p. 132)
  13. Botanical trips (p. 149)
  14. Letters (p. 156)
  15. [Untitled] (p. 171)
  16. Retirement (p. 186)
  17. Finals (p. 191)
Scrapbook of pictures, clippings, radiograms of Dr. Palmer's trip to Baffin Land with explorer MacMillan.
Box 1
Journal of trip with MacMillan to Labrador and Baffin's Land, June-Dec. 1929.
Box 1
Clipping, "Plant Life in Delaware County," containing biographical sketch of Dr. Samuel Copeland Palmer.
Box 1
Account book, containing personal accounts; Biology Department accounts for Spencer Trotter and Samuel Palmer; record of humorous errors in student Papers, 1843-1874.
Box 1

Ms., "Ice Hazards in the North", by [Samuel C. Palmer].
Box 1
"The Numerical Relations of the Histological Elements," by Samuel C. Palmer.
Box 1
Physical Description

printed

"Verses Dedicated to All Swarthmoreans".
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Typewritten verses include "Football" and "Whittier Field."

Physical Description

Ms. in notebook

Typewritten Verses, "Football", "Whittier field".
Box 1

Loose correspondence, 1894-1909.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Concerning College matters, several from Spencer Trotter in reference to Palmer's succeeding him

Letter from Samuel Palmer to his mother, 3, 11, 1894.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Concerning hazing incident at Swarthmore College

Samuel to his parents, from Swarthmore College, 1892, 1893.
Box 2
Samuel to his parents, from Atlantic City, NJ, 1893-1896.
Box 2
Samuel to his parents, 1895.
Box 2
Samuel to his parents, 1896.
Box 2
Samuel to his parents, 1898.
Box 2
Samuel to his parents, 1899.
Box 2
Margaret Palmer to Arletta Palmer, 1899.
Box 2
Samuel and Margaret to his parents, 1903.
Box 2
Margaret Palmer to Hannah Palmer (mother-in-law), 1904.
Box 2
Samuel to his mother from Maine, 1905.
Box 2
Samuel and Margaret to his parents, 1907.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Move to Harvard and mention of the Jeanes bequest to Swarthmore College

Samuel and Margaret to his parents, 1908.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

From Harvard

Margaret to Arleta Palmer, 1909(?).
Box 2

Photo album of Swarthmore students.
Box PA 10/13
Scope and Contents

Gift of the estate of Samuel Palmer, 1962. Photo is of students, friends and classmates, classes of 1890-1898, all identified

Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science, April 1906.
Box 2
Delta Upsilon Fraternity programs, etc., 1895-1900.
Box 2
Swarthmore college programs of various events, 1895.
Box 2
Phoenix Spring Athletic Number and Special Commencement Supplement, May and June, 1910.
Box 2
Swarthmore Preparatory School for Boys, athletic circular, 1913-1914.
Box 2
Notebook containing record of birds observed and a booklet of Birds of the State College Region.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Booklet published by The Pa. State College School of Agriculture.

Scrapbook, primarily containing his drawings, 1914, 1942-1950.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Also includes two letters from Don MacMillan (1914, 1943).

Three scrapbooks containing letters of recommendation, commendation; autographs; clippings; personal correspondence, 1895-1957.
Box 3
Scope and Contents

The correspondence and clippings document Palmer's wide range of interests and activities, especially in science, athletics, horticulture, and Swarthmore College. Among the autographs: L. Agiassiz, Peary, Wm. E. Gladstone, Gifford Pinchot, Helen Keller, Theodore Roosevelt, Donald B. MacMillan. Palmer and MacMillan were life-long friends.

Watercolors by Samuel C. Palmer, 1929-1943.
Box 3
Scope and Contents

4 watercolors of vases of flowers, one lakeside scene. Gift of granddaugher.

Print, Suggest