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Swarthmore College Corporation 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

Swarthmore College was founded on April 1, 1864, by the Religious Society of Friends (Hicksite), by Act of Incorporation of the Pennsylvania State Legislature.

In 1850 Martha Ellicott Tyson of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting hosted the first meeting of Friends of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting to discuss the need for the establishment of a preparatory school and college for the education of Quaker children and teachers. In 1854 that group circulated a report on this topic among other Hicksite Friends at their Yearly Meetings to create further interest in the project. On October 28, 1860, Martha Tyson hosted a meeting of Friends from the Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia Yearly Meetings, which resulted in the appointment of a joint committee for the project.

In 1861 this committee established the Friends Union Boarding School Association to plan and raise funds for a preparatory school. The project grew to include a college-level program to train teachers for Friends schools. In 1862, the Friends Boarding School Association changed its name to the Friends Educational Association. It was this body that on April 1, 1864, obtained a charter from the Pennsylvania State Legislature for an educational institution to be called Swarthmore College. At its annual meeting in Philadelphia on December 6, 1864, the Friends Educational Association, its work now completed, merged with the newly established Swarthmore College Corporation.

The College Charter authorized the Board of Managers to raise capital funds through the sale of shares of stock in the Corporation, with each stockholder entitled to one vote at its annual meeting. Once $50,000 was raised, land was purchased in the Westdale section of Springfield Township (now Swarthmore), Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The College building was completed in time for classes to begin in the fall of 1869, with a co-educational program at both preparatory and college levels. The first college class graduated in 1873 with six women and one man receiving degrees. The preparatory division was phased out during the 1880s.

On December 1st, 1908, in order to qualify for participation in the Carnegie Foundation program for faculty pensions, the College secured a revision of its charter, eliminating the requirement that the Board of Managers be members of the Religious Society of Friends. This action eliminated the only formal link to Quakerism. At the same time, with permission from the stockholders, the Board of Managers reorganized the structure of the Corporation. A revision of the charter to eliminate stockholders was approved by the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1910. In addition to assuming the fiduciary responsibility for the College, the Board of Managers then elected its successors, appointed the President, Secretary, Treasurer and other officers of the College and adopted by-laws as necessary for the management of the College. Auxiliary groups of stockholders, such as the Swarthmore Stock Trust Association (also known as the Swarthmore College Trust Association) and the Swarthmore Stock Association were also disbanded, but still supported the work of the College until 1924, although with no official financial status.

The Swarthmore College Corporation Records contain records relating to the establishment of Swarthmore College as a corporation, including the Charter and its amendments, the records of the founding bodies, and the records of the stockholders as the source of authority for the Board of Managers.

Organized into five series:

  1. Charter and related documents, 1864-1964
  2. Founding committees and predecessor bodies to the Corporation, 1854-1868
  3. Stockholders of Swarthmore College, 1862-1910
  4. Swarthmore Stock Trust Association, 1887-1954

Also available on microfilm:

  1. Minutes of the Stockholders, 1864-1905: R-SW10
  2. Minutes of the Stockholders, 1906-1910: R-SW6
  3. Minutes of the Stockholders, 1906-1910: R-SW7 (negative)
  4. Swarthmore Stock Association, Cash book, 1904-1910: R-SW6

Deposited by Swarthmore College Corporation

The bulk of the material was received circa 1972 and processed as part of Swarthmore College Archives, Series 2, Official Records of the College. As part of the reorganization of the College Archives that began in 1997, materials were reorganized, and a new inventory and finding aid produced.

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Author
FHL staff
Finding Aid Date
2007
Access Restrictions

Permission to this material is restricted and requires the permission of the President of Swarthmore College or the Chairman of the Board of Managers of the College. Contact the repository for details. Where available, access is through microfilm.

Use Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to Friends Historical Library All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in to the Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf Friends Historical Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.

Collection Inventory

Biographical / Historical

On April 1, 1864, Swarthmore College was chartered as a corporation by action of the Pennsylvania State Legislature, with authority to establish an educational institution. To accomplish this goal, the Act of Incorporation authorized the College governing body, the Board of Managers, to raise funds ($50,000 and up to $300,000) for the College through the sale of shares of stock in the Corporation. Once $50,000 was subscribed, the College was authorized to begin the process of land purchase, building construction, and hiring faculty. Swarthmore College opened to students in October 1869.

On April 14th, 1870, the Pennsylvania State Legislature approved A Supplement to the Act of Incorporation of Swarthmore College, which authorized further sale of capital stock in the Corporation, to the limit of $500,000 (an increase of $200,000). The amendment also included a requirement that 16 of the 32 members of the Board of Managers were to be women, a formalization of the de-facto Board membership. Other amendments in 1889, 1893, and 1894 increased the maximum capitalization of the Corporation and the maximum value of real estate holdings. In 1908, in order to qualify for funds under the Carnegie Corporation plan for faculty pensions, the College secured a Charter revision, which eliminated the requirement that members of the Board of Managers be members of the Religious Society of Friends.

In 1910 application was made to the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County for a revision of the Charter to annul stock support of the Corporation. On October 22, 1910, the decision of the Court to this effect was issued thus changing the character of the Corporation. This Charter amendment eliminated the Swarthmore Stockholders Association and the Stockholders of Swarthmore College, required the return of stocks held by those groups to the Swarthmore College Corporation, and declared the College as an Educational Corporation under full control of a self-perpetuating Board of Managers, numbering thirty-two members.

Scope and Contents

Includes: the Act of Incorporation (i.e. the Charter) and its various amendments and by-laws in printed and typed copies, and miscellaneous correspondence and legal documents relating to the Charter and its amendments.

Archival Resource Key. Act of Incorporation, 1864.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Original manuscript copy of the Act with Seal

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Act of Incorporation, 1864.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Includes: Official printed copy of the Act from the Pennsylvania Secretary of State, 5/4/1864; Signatures of Incorporators, 5/20/1864; Published copy of Act from Laws of Pennsylvania; and Printed copies.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Amendments and supplements: official decisions from Court of Common Pleas, 1907-1910.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Includes December 1907, December 1908, and June 1910.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Amendments and supplements, 1870-1931.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Includes: Supplement to Act of Incorporation, copy from Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1870; Amendment slip, 1889; (2) Amendment resolutions (draft, carbon), 1893 and 1894; Draft minutes for Stockholders meeting, December 1, 1908; Court approval of amendment of 1908(?), carbon of typescript, n.d.; Amendment of 1910 (Official copy from Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County); Carbon of official copy, with typed signatures; Certification of implementation (carbon), December 1910; Amendment, July, 1931 (Typescript copy of petition and official decree, with typed signatures)

Physical Description

1 folder

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Manuscript Act of Incorporation, 1864.
Archival Resource Key. Supplement of 1870, with 1964 correspondence, 1870, 1964.
Scope and Contents

1 positive, 1 negative each.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Manuscript Act to incorporate, 1864.
Archival Resource Key. Printed Act to incorporate, 1864.
Archival Resource Key. Supplement, 1870.
Archival Resource Key. Manuscript Supplement, 1870.
Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous correspondence re amendments, 1889-1920.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. By-laws, n.d.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Typescript copy.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Printed copies, Charter supplement, Constitution By-laws, 1870-1965.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Printed copies.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. By-laws, officers, and committees of Corporation of Swarthmore College, 1867.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Imprint of embossing stamp of College Seal.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

See: Museum relic #289 for press from which imprint was made.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Article III: Miscellaneous records concerning election of Alumni to the Board.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Opinion of Eli K. Price on Article III, 1879.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous minutes of the Board of Corporators, 1892-1894.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Biographical / Historical

At the time of the 1827/28 Hicksite-Orthodox Separation in American Quakerism, the Orthodox branch retained control of many educational institutions, including the college preparatory schools Westtown School in Westtown, Pennsylvania, and Nine Partners Boarding School in Duchess County, New York. Haverford College was founded in Haverford, Pennsylvania, by Orthodox Friends in 1833. For a decade, members of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Hicksite Friends had discussed the need for a boarding school to educate their children. On October 28, 1860 the first of several informal meetings to renew the discussion was held at the Baltimore home of Martha Ellicott Tyson. At this meeting, a committee was formed to support the project.

By 1861, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore Yearly Meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (Hicksite) appointed members to undertake formal planning for a joint institution of higher education. The group that first met wrote a constitution to establish the Friends' Union Boarding School Association which would plan and raise funds from the three Yearly Meetings for a school. In 1862, as the project grew to include a college-level program to train teachers for Friends schools, the Boarding School Association changed its name to, the Friends Educational Association. Current members of the Friends' Union Boarding School Association became automatic stockholders in the Friends Educational Association. Friends from each of the three founding yearly meetings formed an Executive Committee to solicit subscriptions to the Friends Educational Association and elected a Board of Managers. Finally, on April 1, 1864, with the Act of Incorporation, by the Pennsylvania State Legislature to establish Swarthmore College, a new corporation was established. The Friends Educational Association was merged into Swarthmore College Corporation by resolution approved at the Yearly Meeting held in Philadelphia on December 6, 1864.

Scope and Contents

Contains records of the bodies established prior to incorporation of the Swarthmore College, the informal meetings of Friends on the subject of education and establishment of a Boarding School, the establishment of the Friends Union Boarding School Association to plan and raise funds to accomplish the founding of the School and its successor, the Friends Educational Association, when the project expanded to include college-level education, and a listing of the first stockholders/subscribers to the Friends Educational Association. Also included is a time-line of the meetings of the Committees from the Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York Yearly Meetings (Hicksite) to the establishment of Swarthmore College as well as a listing of the Board of Incorporators and the first Board of Managers.

Archival Resource Key. Meeting of Friends on the subject of education and establishment of a Boarding School: Minutes, 1860-1862.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. Report of the Committee on Education of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, 1854.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

2 copies

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Address of some members of the Society of Friends ... on ... education, 1861.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Draft address on the need for a Friends' Boarding School, n.d.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Friends' Union Boarding School (Association) Records, 1861-1862.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Includes: Constitution and solicitation letter, Philadelphia, 6/13/1862; Friends' Boarding School (Association) subscription form, 6/13/1862; Subscription list Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Subscribers, 1861.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Friends Educational Association: Proposed Constitution, 1862.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Constitution and List of Officers, 1862.
Archival Resource Key. Constitution and solicitation letter, 12/31/1862.
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Address ... by the ... Managers of Friends' Educational Association, 1863.
Archival Resource Key. Call for payments, 11/21/1863.
Archival Resource Key. Receipt for stock payment, 1863.
Archival Resource Key. Call for annual meeting, 1863.
Scope and Contents

With discussion of location choices.

Archival Resource Key. Minutes, 12/1/1863.
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Call for payments, 4/11/1864.
Archival Resource Key. Minutes, 12/6/1864.
Archival Resource Key. Executive Committee of Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, call for meeting, 186?.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Biographical / Historical

Under the terms written by the Incorporators in the Swarthmore College Charter, all current members of the Friends Educational Association automatically became stockholders of the new Swarthmore College Corporation. At its last annual meeting on December 6, 1864, the Friends Educational Association approved a formal resolution to confirm this merger. Other individuals could become new stockholders of Swarthmore College by a subscription of $5.00 towards the capital of the Corporation. Each stockholder was entitled to one vote at the annual meeting of the Corporation. The Stockholders of Swarthmore College met annually, following the annual meeting of the Board of Managers of the Swarthmore College Corporation. The primary function of the Stockholders was to elect members of the Board of Managers.

On April 14th, 1870, the Pennsylvania State Legislature approved an amendment to the Act of Incorporation of Swarthmore College in which the College was authorized to increase capital stock to $500,000 and allow the Board of Managers to borrow up to $100,000 for the purposes of the College. The amendment also included a requirement that 16 of the 32 members of the Board of Managers were to be women, a formalization of the de-facto Board membership.

On December 1, 1908, in order to qualify for funds under the Carnegie Foundation program for faculty pensions, the College secured a revision of its Charter eliminating the requirement that members of the Board of Managers be members of the Religious Society of Friends. This action eliminated the only official link to Quakerism.

In 1910 application was made to the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County for a revision of the Charter, to annul stock support of the Swarthmore College Corporation. On October 22, 1910, the decision of the Court to this effect was issued, thus changing the character of the Corporation. This revision required the return of stocks held by the Stockholders of Swarthmore College to the Swarthmore College Corporation and declared the College as an Educational Corporation under full control of a self-perpetuating Board of Managers, numbering thirty-two members. The last meeting of the Stockholders of Swarthmore College took place on December 6th, 1910, at which time the stockholders' association was dissolved. All shares of stock were then surrendered to the Swarthmore College Corporation.

Scope and Contents

Includes the records which document the preliminary fund-raising for the establishment of Swarthmore College by the Friends Educational Association in 1864, and continue until 1911, with the Stockholders of Swarthmore College, and the issuing of stock subscriptions and later, the surrender of stock certificates to the College, as a result of the elimination of the stockholders' provision of Swarthmore College by amendment to the College Charter in 1910 . The records include the Minutes of the Board of Managers of the Friends Educational Association, the Minutes of the Stockholders of Swarthmore College, listings of stockholders, stock certificates, and notices of stockholders' annual meetings.

Archival Resource Key. Minutes, 1864-1910.
Volume 1-4
Scope and Contents

Vol. 1: 1864-1884; Vol. 2: 1885-1902; Vol. 3: 1903-1908; Vol. 4: 1909-1910.

General

Also available on microfilm.

Physical Description

4 vols.

Archival Resource Key. Stock subscription accounts, 1862-1870.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

3 volumes

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Mss list of original subscribers to the Association, n.d.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. List of stock subscribers, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, n.d.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Notebook of stock subscribers, New York Yearly Meeting, n.d.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

1 volume

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Notebooks of stock subscribers, Philadelphia, 1865-1869.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

2 volumes

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Lists of stock subscribers, 1869 and 1879.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Subscription accounts of Clement M. Biddle, 1869-1870.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Subscription accounts of Samuel Willets, 1863-1874.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Lists of stockholders, 1910.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Lists of stockholders A-N, P-Z, ca. 1895-1896.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Stock ledger, 1865-1910.
Box 3 OE
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. Index to regular shareholders A-Z, 1903.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. Lists of installments paid, 1863-1868.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Includes Friends Educational Association, Stockholders Association, Stock certificates surrendered

Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. no. 1-694 Stock certificates.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. no. 698-1387 Stock certificates.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. no. 1402-2052 Stock certificates.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. no. 2053-2578 Stock certificates.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. no. 2654-3212 Stock certificates.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. no. 10,000-10,261, 1909-1910.
Box 6
Scope and Contents

Includes: transfers for 1909-1910 Stock certificates.

Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. no. 10,262-10,480 Stock certificates.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. no. 469-3045 Stock certificates.
Box 7
Scope and Contents

Misc. certificates surrendered late.

Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous Stock certificates and stock releases.
Box 7
Scope and Contents

Not arranged.

Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. No. 1-500 Stock certificates(only 1-99 used).
Box 8 OE
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. No. 501-1000 Stock certificates (only 501-585 used).
Box 8 OE
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. Stock donation certificates, 1910.
Box 9
Scope and Contents

Unsorted.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Card file index of stock transfers, ca. 1910.
Box 10
Physical Description

1 card file

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Guide to clerk for stockholders' meetings.
Archival Resource Key. Minutes (rough), 1/1868.
Archival Resource Key. Printed call for additional subscriptions from stockholders, 12/1868.
Archival Resource Key. Notice of annual meeting, 1888.
Archival Resource Key. ALS Isaac H. Clothier to William J. Hall, re meeting for 3/1894, 3/3/1894.
Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous clippings and notices.
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. List of members, 1867-1868.
Archival Resource Key. Minutes, 1867-1869.
Archival Resource Key. Executive Committee of Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for Promoting Subscriptions Records, 1864-1865, 1868.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

See also Ser. B2, Folder 10: Executive Committee of Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

Physical Description

1 folder

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Partial list of members, 189_.
Archival Resource Key. List of Certificates, delivered, n.d.

Biographical / Historical

The Swarthmore Stock Association, also known as the Swarthmore Stock Trust Association, was established in 1887 with the purpose of keeping Swarthmore College under the control and management of members of the Religious Society of Friends in sympathy with the objectives of its founders, and promoting the educational interests of the Society of Friends. All members of this Association were required to be members of the Religious Society Friends, to sign its Constitution, and to contribute to the Association at least twenty shares of the capital stock of Swarthmore College. The Board of Managers were pleased with the establishment of this body and recommended to the stockholders that they donate their stock to this newly established body.

In 1892 at the stated meeting of the Swarthmore Stock Trust Association it was resolved that a committee of three be appointed to co-operate with similar committees from the Board of Managers and the Corporators to propose a plan to amalgamate the Stock Trust Association with the Board of Corporators. At the same time, a similar resolution was passed by the Board of Corporators and a joint committee was formed.

In 1893 at a meeting of the Swarthmore College Stock Trust Association, a report from this newly appointed joint committee recommended that the Stock Trust Association transfer all stock held by them to the Board of Corporators. The Constitution for the Swarthmore College Stock Trust Association was hence amended on March 10, 1896 adopting a new name for the group: The Swarthmore College Trust Association. The old name, however, Swarthmore Stock Trust Association, continues to predominate in the minutes of the group. This group met before meetings of the Stockholders of Swarthmore College to nominate a slate of Quaker candidates to the Board of Managers. As majority holder of the shares of stock in Swarthmore College, this group was able to dominate the nominations of members to the Board of Managers.

On December 22, 1903, the Swarthmore Stock Association was incorporated by the Court of Common Pleas, No. 5, for the County of Philadelphia. The purpose of this group was to receive, hold and execute trusts of property of and for The Swarthmore Stock Trust Association. The surviving Trustees of the property of the Stock Trust Association were directed to assign, transfer and set unto the Corporation all of the stock certificates of the College for the same uses and purposes that were in their names at the time, as Trustees. After 1910, when a change in the College Charter eliminated the stockholders and the stockholders provision and transferred fiduciary responsibilities to the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College, and until its demise in 1924, this body was essentially a fund-raising support group with no governing powers.

Scope and Contents

Includes the records which document the founding of the Swarthmore Stock Trust Association in 1887 until 1911, when the stockholders provision of Swarthmore College was eliminated by amendment to the Charter of the College in 1910. The records include the minutes, by-laws, and, in 1896 the adopting of a new name: The Swarthmore College Trust Association. The old name, however, continues to predominate in the group's minutes.

Archival Resource Key. Constitution and by-laws, Swarthmore Stock Trust Association, 1888.
Box 11
Scope and Contents

Includes: Correspondence and minutes of meetings, Swarthmore Stock Trust Association, 1888-1896

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Minutes, 1887-1911.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. Minutes (rough), 12/5/1887, 12/23/1887.
Box 11
Scope and Contents

vol.1

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Record of stockholders, 1888-1910.
Volume 2
Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. Minutes, 1904-1924.
Box 11
Scope and Contents

vol.3

Physical Description

1 volume

Archival Resource Key. Treasurer's accounts and related papers, 1904-1912.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Stock certificates, 1869-1910.
Box 11
Scope and Contents

Includes: Donation stock certificates to Swarthmore College Stock Trust Association, 1910-1946.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence/Pres. Office re: donation of stock certificates to Swarthmore College by Swarthmore Stock Association, 1922-1954.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Cash book, Swarthmore Stock Association., 1904-1910.
Box 11
Scope and Contents

vol.4

Physical Description

1 volume

Print, Suggest