Richard Tapper Cadbury Papers
Scope and Contents
The collection contains correspondence and memorabilia of the Cadbury, Comfort, Haines, and Shinn families. The correspondence provides a detailed picture of life in Philadelphia Quaker families of the mid 19th century, and of the hardships of those who participated in the California gold rush. Also includes the journal of Richard Tapper Cadbury while he was a student at Haverford College, and the correspondence of Cadbury's uncle, Earl Shinn Jr., who often used pseudonym “Edward Strahan” and was an art critic for the Nation with artists with well-known artists of his day.
Earl Shinn Jr. corresponded with the following artists: Thomas Eakins, Howard Roberts, William Chase, John Sartain, Carroll Backwith, B.C.Champney, and William T. Richards, Howard Nelmick, A.Quartley. Possible correspondents: R. Swain Gifford, Edward L. Scull, F.A.Bridgman, William Walton, R. Sturgis, P.F.Rothermel, G.W.H.Boughton, Henry Bacon, Jas. Hamilton, and R. Wylie.
Artists with whom Shinn was acquainted in the Tile Club (or otherwise) include: Hopkinson Smith, Abbey, Reinhart, Walter Paris, O'Donovan, Laffan, Baird, Harry Bispham, Weber, Winslow Homer, Kenyon Cox, Roger Haydock, S.J.Ferris, John Yaber, Bradford, Heaton, T.B.Read, D.R.Knight, Humphrey Moore, and George Wood.
Dates
- Creation: 1799-1924
Creator
- Cadbury, Richard Tapper, 1853-1929 (Person)
- Haverford College (Contributor, Organization)
- Richards, William Trost, 1833-1905. (Contributor, Person)
- Shinn, Earl, 1838-1886 (Contributor, Person)
- Eakins, Thomas, 1844-1916. (Contributor, Person)
- Sartain, John, 1808-1897. (Contributor, Person)
- Chase, William Merritt, 1848-1916 (Contributor, Person)
- Champney, Benjamin, 1817-1907. (Contributor, Person)
- Cadbury, Richard Tapper, 1853-1929 (Contributor, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Access to Earl Shinn correspondence is through microfilm. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
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
Richard Tapper Cadbury was born on October 11, 1853, in Philadelphia, the son of Richard and Lydia Shinn Cadbury. He graduated from Haverford College in 1868 and received an M.A. from Harvard in 1878. Cadbury was a teacher, writer, businessman, and art connoisseur; as a child, he was very much influenced by his uncle (his mother's brother), Earl Shinn, Jr., art critic for The Nation. Among his various employments were serving as superintendent for the Deaf and Dumb Institute of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and as a trust officer at Provident Life and Trust Company. He also lectured on art topics.
Richard Tapper Cadbury was married to Helen Nathans on August 28, 1884, and the couple lived in Haverford, PA, where Helen ran a school for small children. The couple had four children: Richard Cadbury (1885-1926) who donated the papers; Helen (1886-1974); Earl Shinn (1888-1970); and Leah Tapper (1892-). Richard Tapper Cadbury died October 29, 1929.
Extent
3 linear ft. (6 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Richard Tapper Cadbury (1853-1929) was a Quaker businessman, teacher, writer, and art connoisseur. His mother's brother, Earl Shinn, Jr., (1838-1886) was a well-known art critic. The collection contains correspondence and memorabilia of the Cadbury, Comfort, Haines, and Shinn families. The letters give a detailed picture of life in Philadelphia Quaker families of the mid 19th century, and of the hardships of those who participated in the California gold rush.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into three series:
- Genealogical and biographical
- Writing by Richard T. Cadbury and others
- Correspondence
Physical Location
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donor: Richard Cadbury, 1951
Gift of Richard Cadbury, the son of Richard Tapper Cadbury.
Separated Materials
The following material has been removed from the collection and recatalogued:
- Marriage certificate of David Comfort and Beulah Walton, great- grandparents of Richard T. Cadbury, dated 3-13-1799. See marriage certificate files, FHL
- Nero, A Tragedy, by Richard Tapper Cadbury, pub. Phila. 1880, under pseud. “Richard Comfort”. See printed copy in F.H.L. BX7617.C18N4
- Writ, By Richard Tapper Cadbury, pub. Haverford, 1923. See printed copy in F.H.L. BX7617.C18W9
- The Earl Shinn correspondence (Series 3, folders 15, 15a-16) was microfilmed in 1985 by the Smithsonian Institution (Archives of American Art, Philadelphia Project).
- Copy of microfilm received January, 1987: FHL microfilm MS-C2
Subject
- Cadbury family (Family)
- Comfort family (Family)
- Haines family (Family)
- Shinn family (Family)
- Title
- An Inventory of the Richard Tapper Cadbury Papers, 1799-1924
- Author
- FHL staff
- Date
- Before 1967
- 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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