Series 1 Charles J. Darlington

Charles Darlington was born in 1894 on a dairy farm in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, to a family with deep Quaker roots. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College in 1915 with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and in 1916 with a Master’s degree in Chemistry. In 1918 he married Marie Safford Bender, Swarthmore College, Class of 1914. After her graduation she worked at the Sproul Observatory as an assistant to Professor John A. Miller and continued her education at the University of Chicago. She and Charles Darlington had three children: C. LeRoy, Robert P., and Catharine Bender Darlington. The sons both attended Swarthmore College. Catharine died at the age of 11 months, and Marie died May 12, 1929, after a short illness, two years after the death of their daughter.

In 1932 Charles married Eleanor Collins, a daughter of Benjamin and Esther C. Collins. Charles and Eleanor had three children: Jared, Esther C., and Richard B. Darlington. Jared, Esther, and Richard also graduated from Swarthmore College. Charles and Eleanor lived in Woodstown, NJ, and were active members of Woodstown Monthly Meeting. Charles worked for the Dupont Corporation for 43 years and retired in 1959 after having been Superintendent of the Semi-Works at the Chamber Works in Deepwater, New Jersey. In the early 1960s, he began to write his memoirs and researched family history, an interest he shared with his daughter Esther. Charles died on February 21, 1966.

Eleanor Collins Darlington graduated from Bryn Mawr College and worked with Quaker relief organizations in the 1920s and 1930s. She was an active Quaker, and her husband credited her with his becomeing more active in the Society of Friends. In 1974 in declining health, she moved to live with her daughter and family in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where she died on August 5, 1982. Both Charles and Eleanor Darlington were deeply involved with Quaker activities and dedicated to social service through a variety of organizations. Eleanor served on multiple Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Committees and the AFSC materials relief committee. Charles served as National Chairman of the Friends Committee on National Legislation and was a member of the Board of the American Friends Service Committee, serving on a number of its committees including Peace Education, Finance, and Community Relations. From 1955 to 1960 he was Presiding Clerk of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, serving at the time of the merger of the two branches in 1955. For fifteen years, he served the chairman of its Committee on Education. He was also a Director of Farmers and World Affairs and served as President of the Friends Social Union.