Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Records: Quaker Fund for Indigenous Communities and its predecessors (Indian Committee, Friendly Association) (1795- )
Scope and Contents
The records of the Indian Committee include minutes, financial materials, correspondence, reports, journals, scrapbooks, papers, maps, lists, transcripts, miscellaneous projects, published items, film, video and other material. Major topics discussed in the records include Friends' 18th and 19th century visits to various First Nations peoples (Oneida people, Genesanguhta people, Stockbridge people, for example), the settlement at Tunesassa and later boarding school (Friends Indian School), the Ogden Land Company, Buffalo Treaty fraud of 1838 and resulting land problems, legislation impacting First Nations peoples, the "Salamanca mission" (Joseph Scattergood), the construction of Kinzua Dam and efforts to stop it, and the 1972 shooting by police of Leroy Shenandoah in Philadelphia.
Dates
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1795-2007
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Access may be provided via digital or microfilm copy, per repository policy.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright has not been assigned to the Repositories. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the individual Meeting or its successor. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Repositories as the holder(s) of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.
Biographical / Historical
The Indian Committee of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) began in 1795 and continues at the present time. Previous to this, Philadelphia area Friends formed the Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures. The "Friendly Association" grew out of the violence of the French-Indian War of the mid-1700s and was active as a formal organization from around 1755 to 1764.
Work of the Indian Committee included teaching Native American people and their children, monitoring legislation affecting First Nations, and helping them combat frauds and abuses. The Committee worked primarily with the Seneca Nation on the Allegany and Cattaraugus Reservations in New York. Earliest work was with Cornplanter on both sides of the border in Pennsylvania and New York. Work was centered at Quaker Bridge ("Tunesassa"), New York, where Friends established a boarding school in 1852 adjacent to the Allegany Reservation. Friends Indian School operated as a boarding school for Native American children until 1938. The completion of the Kinzua Dam (Allegheny Reservoir) led to the flooding of much of the Allegany Reservation and the evacuation of Seneca families. Philadelphia Friends were active in helping the Seneca Nation fight the construction of the Kinzua Dam.
In 2022, the Committee's name was changed to the Quaker Fund for Indigenous Communities Granting Group.
Extent
24 linear ft.
Language of Materials
English
Physical Location
This collection is stored at the Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Deposit
Existence and Location of Copies
Items are available on Microfilm, Collection #824, where designated.
Subject
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Friendly Association to Regain and Preserve Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures. (Organization)
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Indian Committee (Organization)
- Associated Executive Committee of Friends on Indian Affairs (Organization)
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Organization)
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (Orthodox : 1827-1955) (Organization)
- Title
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Records: Quaker Fund for Indigenous Communities and its predecessors (Indian Committee, Friendly Association) (1795- )
- Author
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Society of Friends: 1676- : Delaware County, Pa.).
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
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 Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College Library
