Skip to main content

Henry J. Cadbury papers

 Collection
Identifier: HC.MC-1121

Scope and Contents

Papers consist of articles, published and unpublished; books; book reviews; contributions to books, including forewords, introductions, and chapters; bible course notes; correspondence; lectures; miscellaneous; and papers.

Principal correspondents include: Lewis Benson, Catherine Drinker Bowen, Howard Brinton, William Wistar Comfort, Elfrida Vipont Foulds, Olive Goodbody, Isabel Grubb, Muriel Hicks, Rufus M. Jones, Arnold Lloyd, Edward Milligan, Russell Mortimer, Phillips Moulton, John L. Nickalls, Geoffrey Nuttall, Norman Penney, Clarence Pickett, Isabel Ross, Charles Coleman Sellers, Rabindranath Tagore, and Gilbert White.

Printed materials have been removed from this collection and may now be found in the pamphlet and book collections. Removed also were microfilms and glass lantern slides, now in the microfilms room and photo collection respectively.

There is an in-house Henry Cadbury bibliography, which is referred to within the finding aid.

Henry Cadbury gave some of his papers to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection because they were, in his opinion, related to peace. Many of his other papers are housed at Haverford College and some are at Guilford College. The bulk of the Swarthmore holdings are manuscripts (1917-1967) for articles, and notes (1917-1963) written for talks or taken at conferences that deal with the subjects of war and religion, particularly Quakerism, civil liberties, and pacifism. There is a small amount of correspondence (1918-1974) in Series III. In Series IV, a significant amount of correspondence and reference material pertains to teacher loyalty oaths, especially in Massachusetts (1935-1936, 1953). Other subjects include conscientious objectors and war tax refusal. Cadbury's obituary, biographical news clippings, his draft card from World War I, and several printed articles written by him are also in this collection.

Dates

  • Creation: 1910-1974

Creator

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Henry Joel Cadbury (1883-1974) was a biblical scholar and Quaker historian. He was born on December 1, 1883, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Joel Cadbury Jr., and Anna Kaighn Lowry. Henry Cadbury was educated in Quaker schools, graduating in 1899 from William Penn Charter School. He attended Haverford College, where he wrote for the college newspaper, the Haverfordian, eventually working his way up to editor-in-chief during his senior year. He was also a part of the Campus Club, a club dedicated to the planting and maintenance of Haverford’s grounds. He became secretary of the Classics Club, treasurer of the Tennis Club, and a member of the gymnastics team. He also earned honors in Greek and philosophy, a prize for systematic reading and mathematics, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and became class president and class poet. Cadbury earned his master's degree from Harvard University in 1904 and his Ph.D., also from Harvard, in 1914. He taught at the University Latin School in Chicago, Westtown School, Haverford College, Harvard University, and Bryn Mawr College.

Cadbury married Lydia Brown on June 17, 1916, and the couple had four children: Elizabeth (b. 1917), Christopher Joel (b. 1921), Warder Henry (b. 1925), and Winifred (b. 1926). Cadbury was a founder and early member of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). During World War I, in addition to his work with the AFSC, Cadbury wrote letters to various press sources. Cadbury became a volunteer publicist for the AFSC, and traveled to France and Germany to provide aid to children in Europe.

He was the director of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), 1928-1934 and 1944-1960. He delivered the Nobel Prize lecture in 1947, on behalf of the AFSC and the British Friends Service Council, when the organizations accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Religious Society of Friends.

In March of 1954, Cadbury retired from teaching. He moved to Pendle Hill, a Quaker retreat in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, and lectured there. The remainder of Cadbury’s life was spent teaching, traveling, and supporting the American Friends Service Committee. He finished writing three books in 1972, including Narrative Papers of George Fox, the work he had started when on sabbatical in Woodbrooke almost 30 years earlier. Henry Cadbury died on October 9, 1974.

Extent

30 linear ft. (60 boxes, 15,000 items)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Papers of Quaker Biblical scholar Henry J. Cadbury (1883-1974), a founder of the American Friends Service Committee and Nobel Prize winner on behalf of the American Friends Service Committee. Cadbury taught at Haverford (1910-1919 and 1954-1963) and Bryn Mawr Colleges as well as Harvard Divinity School as Hollis Professor of Divinity.

Arrangement

Printed articles, manuscripts, and notes written by Cadbury were placed together in Series I by type of document, in chronological order. The titles of these documents can be found in the checklist. Cadbury's original files were preserved and often contain correspondence, reference material, and his own writing. Most of these are in the subject file series, but some are in other series, depending on the predominant kind of material within the file. There were many printed documents from the American Friends Service Committee and from other groups for whom Swarthmore College Peace Collection maintains collections. They were moved from the Cadbury papers to these collections, with removal sheets to document the transaction. A large collection of pamphlets was similarly placed in the Peace Collection pamphlet file. Newsclippings were saved only if Cadbury's name appeared in them. Other collections of newsclippings about particular subjects were noted on removal sheets and discarded.

Articles, books, book reviews, contributions to books, including forewords, introductions, chapters, etc. are in boxes 1-18 and box 59; Bible course notes are in boxes 19-28; correspondence is in boxes 29-35 and 59-60; lectures are in boxes 36-43; miscellaneous is in boxes 45 and 59-60; and papers are in boxes 45-59.

Acquisition

The Henry J. Cadbury papers were donated to Special Collections, Haverford College in 1973 and 1974 by Henry J. Cadbury. Additional gifts were received in 1974-1975, 1977-1979, and 1984.

Related Materials

  • HC.MC.1121-addition, Addition to Henry J. Cadbury papers
  • HC.MC.1172, Jones-Cadbury papers
  • SCPC-DG-081, Henry Joel Cadbury papers, Peace Collection, Swarthmore College

Separated Materials

  • Printed materials have been removed from this collection and may now be found in the pamphlet and book collections. Removed also were microfilms and glass lantern slides, now in the microfilms room and photo collection respectively.
  • Reconsidering Quakerism and Quaker Education in Microforms Room.
  • Henry Cadbury's Haverford College senior thesis, written in 1903, entitled "The Philosophy of Faith" is available in the Haverford College archives.
  • "A map of Barbados for Motorists ..." to 812
  • Letters of Norwegian Quakers. To 950
  • "H.D. Thoreau - Quaker" / by Theron Coffin. To 950
  • Diary of Elizabeth Sandwith Drinker. Typed copy of manuscript. To 975 A
  • "Det Norske Kvekersamfunus historie ..." / by Anne E.M. Jansen. Typescript. To 975 A
  • "John Bowne: Pioneer of Freedom" / John Cox Jr. Typed manuscript, copy. to 975 A
  • Plates depicting meetinghouses: East Nottingham, Calvert Md. and Springfield Friends Meeting, Springfield, PA. To 989 B
  • "Map of the English Counties and Principal Towns visited by George Fox." To 995
  • "Quaker History for Non-Quakers" / by Rhicard R. Wood. Typed, 40 p. To PG4
  • "Quakers in Colonial Connecticut" / by Cynthia Reak. Typed manuscript, 1962. To PG4A
  • Microfilm: Portion of Swarthmore Manuscripts and "2, continued from 1." To Microfilm Room, Quaker Collection
  • Microfilm: "The True Protestant Mercury : or Occurrences Foreign and Domestick." No. 1, Wed., April 27, 1681 - No. 38, Sept. 2, 1681 (a newspaper). To Microfilm Room, Quaker Collection
  • Microfilm: "Giles Calvert ... An account of his publishing career, with a checklist of his imprints" / by Altha E. Terry. 1937 (M.S. Thesis). To Microfilm Room, Quaker Collection
  • Microfilm: Italian manuscript, 1658 [of Andrea Molino?]. To Microfilm Room, Quaker Collection
  • Microfilm: Selected papers of George Fox. To Microfilm Room, Quaker Collection
  • Microfilm: "The Quakers Jesus or the Unswaddling of that Child ... / by William Grigge. London, 1656. To Microfilm Room, Quaker Collection

General

The number of items given for a container of any type is approximate.

Henry Cadbury collected some materials which may have been used in his research. These may be found in box 54 with other miscellaneous materials.

Processing Information

Original processing information unknown. Revised by Diana Franzusoff Peterson; date unknown. Revised by Allison Hall; completed June, 2020.

Subject

Title
Henry J. Cadbury papers, 1910-1974
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

  • June, 2020: Revised by Allison Hall

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 repoductions from Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections Library

Contact:
370 Lancaster Ave
Haverford PA 19041 USA US