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Bacon family papers

 Collection
Identifier: HC.MC-1226

Scope and Contents

The collection primarily focuses on Margaret H. Bacon and S. Allen Bacon and is led through letters and papers beginning in 1934 and continuing until 1993 to understand the family life, convictions and work of the Bacons, their children, his father (Francis R. Bacon) and their friends. While the main thrust is provided through letters, diaries and other attending materials lend further understanding of the Bacons. Both Margaret and Allen Bacon wrote frequently to their parents and extended families offering up a view of daily life, particularly of the activities of their children and also their own productive lives. In Margaret Bacon's letters, she tells of the books she is writing. In Allen Bacon's letters, he reports of the jobs he seeks and those he gets with some description of his duties. There is also reporting on friends with whom they visited and especially on their summer home on the Rancocas River in N.J.

Margaret and Allen Bacon were world travelers and by invitation traveled to Mexico and Central America, to England and South Africa, and one can get others' impressions of them through the letters of welcome and thanks they received, as well as through the journals they kept.

Dates

  • 1725-1993

Creator

Limitations on Accessing the Collection

This collection is open for research use.

Copyright and Rights Information

Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Archives with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.

Biographical / Historical

S. Allen Bacon, son of Francis R. Bacon and a graduate of Antioch College, was one of thirty-two men who contributed to the book Men of Peace who refused to become members of the U.S. armed forces during World War II. They tell what led them to refuse induction and choose to labor for no pay or go to federal prison during the conflict. He was Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements from 1968-1974 and was Special Projects Director for the William Penn Foundation at least for the year 1975.

Margaret Bacon (1922-2011) was the daughter of artist Norman Borchardt and a graduate of Antioch College. After marriage to S. Allen Bacon she became a Quaker and author of more than a dozen books relating to Quakers and Quakerism -- among the most prized was Mothers of Feminism, but also biographies of Henry J. Cadbury, Lucretia Mott and others. As well, she served as assistant director of information for the American Friends Service Committee from 1962-1984. She was a T. Wistar Brown Fellow in Quaker Studies at Haverford College and a Friend in Residence at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham, England

Extent

4 Linear Feet

Language

English

Overview

Included are letters to the Bacons from family and friends; biographical and genealogical materials; travel letters; Margaret Hope Bacon's diaries of her trip to China under the auspices of the American Friends Service Committee, 1972; to Australia, 1989 and Galapagos, 1992; to Costa Rica and Friends World Committee for Consultation, 1988; and Egypt, 1990; Margaret Hope Bacon's letters; Allen Bacon's letters; stories by Norman Borchardt (M.H. Bacon's father); Francis Bacon in Germany.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Margaret Hope Bacon and S. Allen Bacon, February 2011.

General

In the description of any letters or papers, an estimated number is given so that researchers can have an idea of quantity. However, actual descriptions of content are limited to more substantive information, while an overall note for any group of letters or papers attempts to describe general content.

Title
Bacon Family Papers, 1725-1993
Status
Completed
Author
Diana Franzusoff Peterson
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Revision Statements

  • March 2022: by Nathaniel Rehm-Daly

Find It at the Library

Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting reproductions from Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections Library

Contact:
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Haverford PA 19041 USA US