Main content
Swarthmore College property 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. Once $50,000 was raised, land was purchased in the Westdale section of Springfield Township (now Swarthmore), Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The first building constructed by the college, now known as Parrish Hall, was completed in time for classes to begin in the fall of 1869. The oldest building on campus, however, is the Benjamin West House, built in 1724, the birthplace of influential early American painter Benjamin West (1738-1820). As of 2015, the Swarthmore College campus includes over 50 buildings.
The Swarthmore College property records, 1687-1993, include real estate and building appraisals; deeds, mortgages, and leases; blueprints, maps, and plans; reports by Swarthmore committees and external consultants; administrative documents such as budgets and correspondence; and other records pertaining to college buildings and grounds, construction and maintenance, and utilities and resource use. There is a large amount of material pertaining to the College's opposition to the "Blue Route" (Mid-County Expressway, I-476).
Deposit, 1972 and on-going
A large portion of this material was received circa 1972 and processed as part of Swarthmore College Archives, Series 2, Official Records of the College.
In 2018, when the Service Building was renovated, the Facilities Department scanned all of their blueprints and then sent the paper copies to FHL. In 2018-2019, FHL staff processed the blueprints, reorganizing by building ID number, and consolidating the blueprints from 8 flat file cases into 4.
Organization
Subject
- Society of Friends -- Education
- Real property -- Pennsylvania -- Swarthmore
- Environmental impact analysis
- Real property -- Valuation -- Pennsylvania -- Swarthmore
Place
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- FHL staff
- Finding Aid Date
- 2018
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- 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 of 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
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 volume
1 volume
1 folder
2 folders
2 folders
1 folder
2 folders
1 box
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 volume
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 volume
1 volume
1 box
1 box
1 box
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 volume
1 folder
1 folder
An item-level inventory with more detail, including date recorded, county, and deed book (with number and page) is available on-site.
An item-level inventory with more detail, including date recorded, county, and deed book (with number and page) is available on-site.
The subseries "Blue Route files" was compiled as College litigation concerning the Blue Route was unfolding. These documents are the products of legal opposition to the proposed Blue Route construction, as well as of College coordination with other opponents to the project. The majority of these documents come from a period spanning 1975 to 1986, the period during which the College most actively opposed the construction.
Topics range from the overseeing of legal proceedings to the gathering of environmental research. Another common topic is the administration's response to alumni, donors, and community members who voiced concerns about the College's actions in this matter.
Documents include correspondence, background/reference material, bills, litigation and drafts of reports. The first subseries, Blue Route files, mostly contains information about the administration's research and decision-making regarding their opposition to the Blue Route. The second subseries, Reports, contains both drafted and finalized research reports, as well as documents arising from legal proceedings pertaining to the College's Blue Route litigation. The final subseries of clippings comes from a variety of sources and covers economic, environmental, political, and related topics on Blue Route proposals and progress.
See also file on Parrish Renovation (also drawer 1)
3 folders
2 folders
2 folders
2 folders
2 folders
3 folders