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Benjamin Sharp Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-136

Scope and Contents

The collection consists primarily of correspondence from friends and colleagues, memorabilia from Swarthmore College, and family materials, including the diary of Rebecca Sharp.

Dates

  • 1809-1915

Creator

Limitations on Accessing the Collection

Collection is open for research.

Copyright and Rights Information

Friends Historical Library believes all of the items in this collection to be in the Public Domain in the United States, and is not aware of any restrictions on their use. However, the user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status before reproducing. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/.

Biographical / Historical

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. Travelling and studying in Europe, he received a second Ph.D. from the University of Wurzburg, Bavaria in 1883.

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 worked as a professor of zoology at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and later at the University of Pennsylvania, and also traveled extensively, to Europe, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and the Arctic circle. He served as Corresponding Secretary of the Academy of Natural Sciences for eleven years.

Sharp was married in 1881 to Virginia May of Ridley, Massachusetts, and had three children, two sons, Karl and Harold, and a daughter, Dorothy. Sharp was a member of the Green Street Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia. Sharp and his family moved to Massachusetts (Brookline and Nantucket) in his last ten years. There he was elected as representative for Nantucket to the Massachusetts Legislature and served as vice-president of the Nantucket Historical Association. He died in 1915.

Extent

1 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language

English

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 century, and Dr. Sharp served as Representative for Nantucket to the Massachusetts Legislature. The collection consists primarily of correspondence from friends and colleagues, memorabilia from Swarthmore College, and family materials, including the diary of Rebecca Sharp.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into five series:

  1. Biographical and genealogical
  2. Benjamin Sharp correspondence
  3. Swarthmore College, 1875-1879
  4. Family papers, including the diary of Rebecca Sharp
  5. Miscellaneous

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donor: Virginia S. Richmond, 1989

Separated Materials

A group of books originally included in the collection were noted and recatalogued.

Title
An Inventory of the Benjamin Sharp Family Papers, 1809-1915.
Author
FHL staff
Date
1989
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

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 Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College Library

Contact:
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore Pennsylvania 19081 USA