Friends Historical Library Collection of miscellaneous manuscripts
Scope and Contents
Friends Historical Library Miscellaneous Manuscripts is an on-going collection. Before the era of digital surrogates, it included primary and some secondary documents, original manuscripts and photocopies, by and about Quakers and of the Society of Friends and its testimonies. The collection includes significant holdings relevant to antislavery, peace, temperance, women's rights, penal reform, and other social concerns of Quakers in the United States and in England. More recently, "Miscellaneous Manuscripts" has become more selective in regard to secondary materials and photocopies. For example, genealogical and reference articles are now sorted by reference categories for better access.
Dates
- Creation: 1547 - 1994
Conditions Governing Access
Access to the collection is unrestricted.
Conditions Governing Use
Some of the items in this collection may be protected by copyright. The user is solely responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns to reuse, publish, or reproduce relevant items beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to the law. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/.
Biographical / Historical
The Society of Friends or Quakers (the terms are synonymous) was founded in the middle of the seventeenth century in England by George Fox and others. American Quaker activity has been documented in Massachusetts and Virginia as early as 1656. By the time William Penn's colony, Pennsylvania (whose lower counties became Delaware) was founded in 1681, Quakerism was well established in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Long Island, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. In 1827-1828, there was a major split among Quakers which resulted in two factions known as Hicksite and Orthodox. Further fragmentation occurred later in the 19th century, particularly in the Midwest. Many of the branches of Quakerism have reunited.
Extent
40 linear ft.
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Society of Friends or Quakers (today the terms are synonymous) was founded in the middle of the seventeenth century in England by George Fox and others. The Friends Historical Library Miscellaneous Manuscripts is an artificial collection, established in the middle of the 20th century to store single and very small groups of manuscripts and documents, both originals and copies. The collection includes holdings relevant to antislavery, temperance, women's rights, penal reform, and other social concerns of Quakers in the United States and in England.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into two series: Dated Manuscripts in chronological order and Undated Manuscripts in alphabetical order.
Processing Information
This finding aid was coded from the original typed catalogue cards, and the terminology of form is not always precise. This is particularly true when describing copies of the original material; for example, the terms facsimile and photocopy are sometimes used interchangeably, as well as photostat and other early copying formats. Description of originals is much more consistent.
Note that the location given in the title is location of origin of the document, and not, in the case of correspondence, the address of the recipient.
Genre / Form
Topical
- Title
- Friends Historical Library Collection of Miscellaneous Manuscripts
- Date
- 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2020: Updated outdated, harmful terminology related to enslavement, except where it appears in a title, quotation, or subject heading.
- 2024: This finding aid was reviewed in order to change or contextualize any outdated, harmful terminology related to Indigenous Peoples, except where it appears in a title, quotation, or subject heading.
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 Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College Library
