Penn Sewing School records
Scope and Contents
The collection contains minute books (1876-1906), charter, history, printed report, and other papers.
Dates
- Creation: 1868 - 1906
Creator
- Penn Sewing School (Philadelphia, Pa.) (Organization)
- Friends Sewing School (Philadelphia, Pa.) (Contributor, Organization)
- Friends Instruction Association (Philadelphia, Pa.) (Contributor, Organization)
- Penn Sewing School (Philadelphia, Pa.) (Contributor, Organization)
Limitations on Accessing the Collection
Collection is open for research.
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Copyright and Rights Information
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Biographical / Historical
Penn Sewing School was founded in 1868 as the Friends Sewing School. The name was changed in 1871 and classes suspended in 1899.
Known first as the “Friends Sewing School,” Penn Sewing School was organized with the help of Dillwyn Parrish and William C. Biddle by two young Quaker women, Annie Caley and Augusta Taber. Friends of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) held at Fifteenth and Race Streets granted the use of a room, and the children were gathered from the neighborhood. The first four teachers were Augusta Taber, Mary Biddle (later Wood), Sallie Cooper, and Annie Caley (later Dorland). The first class was held February 29, 1868. Seventy-nine girls attend the School in the first year, including both black and white children. In the season 1874-1875, 260 children were enrolled. In 1871 the name “Penn Sewing School” was adopted, and the institution was incorporated. In 1873 a meeting for mothers was started. This grew and was incorporated in 1877 as the “Friends Instruction Association.” Penn Sewing School continued until 1898 and Friends Instruction Association until 1881.
Extent
0.5 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language
English
Overview
Penn Sewing School was founded in 1868 as the Friends Sewing School. The name was changed in 1871 and classes suspended in 1899. The collection contains minute books (1876-1906), charter, history, printed report, and other papers.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into five series:
- History
- Charters and trusts
- Reports
- Minutes
- Miscellaneous
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donor: Unknown, before 1957
Found in FHL manuscript room in 1957.
Topical
- Charities -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Nonprofit Organizations -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Quaker women -- Charities
- Quakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Quakers -- Social life and customs
- Schools -- Pennsylvania
- Schools -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Sewing schools -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Society of Friends -- Charities -- Records and correspondence
- Title
- An Inventory of the Penn Sewing School Records, 1868-1906
- Author
- FHL staff
- Date
- 1957
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
- Sponsor
- Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
Find It at the Library
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