Skip to main content

SFHL/FHL/RG5. Family and Personal Papers

 Record Group Term
Identifier: SFHL/FHL/RG5
The largest category of collections in Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College is that of Personal and Family Papers. These materials include correspondence, journals and diaries, and property records of Quaker individuals and family groups they date from the mid 17th century to the present.

Found in 29 Collections and/or Records:

Paul M. Pearson (Paul Martin) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-121
Overview Paul M. Pearson (1871-1938) was a noted Quaker educator, editor, and speaker, a professor of Public Speaking at Swarthmore College, the first civilian governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, an assistant director of the U.S. Housing Authority, and a leading founder and executive in the Chautauqua movement. The collection contains biographical and genealogical materials, personal correspondence (1894-1938), writings (published and manuscript), extensive material on the Swarthmore Chautauqua as...
Dates: 1890-2011 (bulk 1890-1938)

Edna Postlethwaite Family papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-125
Overview Edna Postlethwaite (1892-1972) graduated from Swarthmore College in 1914 and earned a masters degree from Columbia University. A Quaker and a member of New York Monthly Meeting of Friends, she was a teacher and involved in many social concerns. The collection contains the letters and diaries of Edna Postlethwaite and photocopies of the letters of G. Edmund Stratton, her uncle, and also a Swarthmore College graduate. Of particular interest is the correspondence of the former with her parents,...
Dates: 1894-1962

Russell-Pownall-Walton Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-280
Overview

Journals, correspondence, and miscellaneous papers of the Russell, Pownall and Walton families of Pennsylvania. Of particular interest is material relating to the Swarthmore Chatauqua and to Swarthmore College.

Dates: 1839-1983

David Hutchinson Scull Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-135
Overview David Hutchinson Scull (1914-1983) was a Quaker businessman and civil rights activist in Virginia. He graduated from Swarthmore College in 1936, joined the Society of Friends while a student, and served on the Swarthmore College Board of Managers from 1974-1977. He was president of Turnpike Press, a family publishing company, and an insurance executive. He also was clerk of Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and a founder of Partnership for Productivity, a Quaker...
Dates: 1931-1936

Benjamin Sharp Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-136
Overview Benjamin Sharp (1858-1915), a zoologist who was primarily affiliated with the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, attended Swarthmore College (1876) and earned a M.D. and Ph. D. from the University of Pennsylvania. A birthright member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), Dr. Sharp was the son of Benjamin and Hannah B. (Leedom) Sharp of the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pa. He was married to Virginia May of Ridley, Mass. The family moved to Massachusetts in the early 20th...
Dates: 1809-1915

William Macy Stanton Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-242
Overview Contains the papers of William Macy and Lois V. Stanton, compiled by Lois V. Stanton. The Stantons were active Quakers, and William Macy Stanton, Jr., was a conscientious objector in WWII. Both Stantons served in the American Friends Service Committee reconstruction efforts in Europe after the war as well as other Quaker activities and organizations. William Stanton worked for Swarthmore College for over twenty-five years, serving as director of physical plant. Of particular interest are the...
Dates: 1937-1995

Norman Walton Swayne Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-144
Overview The Swayne family were Quakers of southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. Caleb Swayne was a farmer and tanner, and his son, Benjamin, also operated a tan yard and conducted a school for boys, the London Grove Boarding School. Evan Thomas Swayne also taught at London Grove, but moved to the Eaton Institute, a boarding school for girls in Kennett, after 1865. His son, Edward Swayne, had a greenhouse business and wrote poetry. Edward's sister, Anna Belle, was a photographer before her marriage...
Dates: 1733-1987

Walton Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-160
Overview The Waltons were a Quaker family from Byberry, Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia area, including Swarthmore. The lines represented in this collection were descended from Benjamin Walton (1701-1753) and Rebecca Homer Walton (d. 1783), of Abington Monthly Meeting and Byberry. The collection includes business and estate papers, mostly of Israel Walton (1789-1863), a diary of Mary D. Walton (1832-1915) which includes a roll book of Fallowfield Monthly Meeting First Day School, albums and verse...
Dates: 1725-1930

Joseph Wharton Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-162
Overview Joseph Wharton (1826-1909) was a prominent Philadelphia Quaker merchant, industrialist, scientist, and philanthropist who was active in 19th century Delaware Valley manufacturing, business, and education development. The papers cover in depth his business activities as well as his career as Manager of Swarthmore College for over 35 years and as founder of the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. The collection includes business correspondence, 1855-1908,...
Dates: 1691-1955