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Somerville Literary Society Records

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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:
RG6.Q001
Repository:
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Extent:
5.25 linear ft. (11 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item or series here], Swarthmore College Archives, Somerville Literary Society Records, RG6/Q001, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Date:
1871-1978 (inclusive)
Creator:
Somerville Literary Society
Abstract:
The Somerville Literary Society was a women students' literary organization founded at Swarthmore College in 1871. The purposes of the organization were to discuss literature, strengthen the friendship between its members, and prepare them for the wider field of action and influence opening to women, according to the group's constitution. The collection contains the records of the Somerville Literary Society, including constitution, minutes, financial papers, writing, correspondence and material concerning the Lucretia Mott and Martha F. Tyson Scholarships

The Somerville Literary Society was a women students' literary organization founded at Swarthmore College in 1871. The purposes of the organization were to discuss literature, to strengthen the friendship between its members, and to prepare them for the wider field of action and influence opening to women, according to the group's constitution. The society was named after Mary Somerville (1780 -1872), a 19th century Scottish mathematician and scientist.

The Society organized an annual celebration, Somerville Day, which featured plays, songs, and lectures on literary topics and was held through 1964. The group produced a literary journal and was active on campus through the 1940s. However, by the mid 20th century, it had become primarily an organization for Somerville alumnae and concentrated its efforts on managing the Lucretia Mott and Martha F. Tyson Scholarships.

Contains the records of the Somerville Literary Society including constitution, minutes, financial papers, writing, correspondence and material concerning the Lucretia Mott and Martha F. Tyson Scholarships.

Organized into seven series:

  1. Constitution and Bylaws, Published Proceedings and Membership
  2. Minutes
  3. Lucretia Mott and Martha F. Tyson Scholarships
  4. Financial Papers
  5. Writings
  6. Correspondence
  7. Miscellaneous

Donor: Somerville Literary Society

Rehoused and a new finding aid produced in 2003. Autographs transferred to Small Collections, 2011.

Autographs donated to the Somerville Literary Society by Charles Jenkins have been transferred to the Charles Jenkins Autograph Collection. Photocopies are filed in Series 6, Miscellaneous, Somerville Literary Society.

Autographs and Letters (in original order):

  1. Williamina Palton Fleming
  2. Lillie Devereux Blake
  3. Mary S. Sogar
  4. Octavia Walton LeVert
  5. Florence Earle Coates
  6. Caroline Atwater Mason
  7. Jeannette L. Gilder
  8. Carter Goodloe
  9. Ruth Hall
  10. Frances Aymar Mathews
  11. Amelia Küssner
  12. Caroline Chesebro
  13. Emily Sartain
  14. May Wright Sewall
  15. Gwendolen Overton
  16. Mrs. James K. Polk
  17. Bessie C. Parker
  18. Alice Morse Earle
  19. Kate Sanborn
  20. Mrs. Potter Palmer
  21. Dorothea Dix
  22. Anna Dickinson
  23. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
  24. Evelyn Noble Armitage
  25. Grace Greenwood
  26. Wendell Phillips
  27. Rachel G. Foster
  28. Elizabeth Cady Stanton (#2)
  29. Belva A. Lockwood

Organization
Subject

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Author
Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff
Finding Aid Date
2007
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 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

Handwritten constitution and by-laws, n.d.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Constitution and by-laws, published irregularly, 1879-1912.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Published Proceedings of Annual Meetings, 1884.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Published Proceedings of Annual Meetings, 1885-1892.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Published Proceedings of Annual Meetings, 1893-1907.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Published Proceedings of Annual Meetings, 1908.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Lifetime Membership Records, ca. 1888.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Lifetime Membership Records, ca. 1896.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Lifetime Membership Records, ca. 1902.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Lifetime Membership Records, ca. 1914.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of Regular Meetings, 4/27/1880- 9/18/1888.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of Regular Meetings, 9/18/1888- 4/8/1899.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of Regular Meetings, 2/26/1897- 5/31/1907.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of Regular Meetings, 9/20/1907- 4/14/1934.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of Annual Somerville Day Meeting, and Correspondence relating to Lucretia Mott and Martha F. Tyson Scholarships, 4/12/1935- 5/22/1982.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Loose Minutes and Somerville Day Committee Reports, 4/15/1941- 4/23/1947.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Loose Minutes and Somerville Day Com. Reports, includes 1/9/65 letter on ending of Somerville Day, 4/7/1951- 1/9/1965.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of Sigma Chapter, 10/2/1888- 9/24/1904.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of Omicron Chapter, 10/5/1888- 2/11/1905.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of Literary Department, 9/26/1912- 10/16/1914.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of regular meetings of fellowship committees, 4/24/1914- 4/14/1922.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of fellowship committee's annual meetings on Somerville Day, 4/13/1912- 4/12/1930.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Miscellaneous papers, including financial reports and eligibility requirements (chron. ordered)., 1904-1930.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

List of recipients of Mott Scholarship (1895-1973) and recipients of Tyson Scholarship (1915-1973), 1895-1973.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

List of supporters of the fellowship, 1915-1928, n.d.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence with fellowship recipients, financial records, and other documents, 1970-1990.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Treasurer's Accounts, 9/24/1897- 3/25/1909.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Treasurer's Accounts, includes 1992 letter formally acknowledging receipt of Somerville's accounts by Swarthmore., 5/1/1917- 12/9/1959.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Treasurer's Accounts, 4/1/1960- 7/22/1992.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Corresponding Secretaries Reports, includes accounts of which members paid dues., 1912-1917.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Corresponding Secretary's Reports, and accounts of who paid dues., 1918-1922.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Miscellaneous Financial Papers, ca. 1891-1920.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

The Phreneskeia , 11/29/1881- 1/2/1886.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

The Phreneskeia (book missing front and back covers), 11/30/1886- 11/24/1891.
Box 9
Physical Description

1 folder

Loose writings taken from book titled The Phreneskeia S.L.S. (Part A) (these papers appear here in the order they were found)., n.d.
Box 9
Physical Description

1 folder

Loose writings taken from book titled The Phreneskeia S.L.S. (Part B), ca. 1905.
Box 9
Physical Description

1 folder

Loose writings taken from book titled The Phreneskeia S.L.S. (Part C), ca. 1894.
Box 9
Physical Description

1 folder

The Phreneskeia, scattered editions, each edition in own folder., 1891-1909.
Box 10
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence, includes 3-4 autograph letters from Charles Jenkins, 1872-1922.
Box 10
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence, includes letters relating to dues and names proposed for lifetime membership, 1917-1918.
Box 10
Physical Description

1 folder

Autograph letters of famous women, donated to the Society by Charles Jenkins; includes autographs of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Dorothea Dix and Mrs. James K. Polk (Photocopies: originals transferred to Small Collections.), 1888-1907, scattered.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 folder

Reunions, Meetings, Entertainments (chron. ), 1882-1926, n.d.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 folder

Reunions, Meetings, Entertainments (chron.), 1943-1981, n.d.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 folder

Programs of Joint Meetings with Delphic Literary Society and Eunomians, 1883, 1887, 1888.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 folder

Somerville Songs.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 folder

Miscellaneous Papers, includes article about Mary Somerville., 1912-1978.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 folder

Phoenix articles about Somerville. (5/1908, 5/1909, 4/1910 articles removed to college archives.), 1908-1939, scattered.
Box 11
Physical Description

1 folder

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