Bliss Forbush Papers
Scope and Contents
The Bliss Forbush Papers contain the papers of Bliss Forbush (1896-1987), Quaker educator, administrator and author, and reveal a detailed picture of Quaker life in Baltimore, Maryland for most of the 20th century.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1915-1945
Creator
- Forbush, Bliss, 1896-1990 (Person)
- Forbush, La Verne, 1894-1990 (Contributor, Person)
- Forbush, Bliss, 1896-1990 (Contributor, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.
Biographical / Historical
Bliss Forbush (1896-1987), Quaker educator, administrator, and author, served as the Headmaster of Baltimore Friends School, Chairman of Friends General Conference, and Executive Secretary of Baltimore Monthly Meeting. He was born in 1896, the son of William B. and Maud Forbush. He married E. La Verne Hill (1894-1990) in 1915.
Most of the material in this collection is in the form of scrapbooks kept by Bliss Forbush. They record his work as Executive Secretary of Baltimore Monthly Meeting, 1921-1943, as Secretary of the Advancement Committee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, 1928-1943, and as Instructor in Bible, 1923-1960 and later Headmaster of Friends School, Baltimore, 1943-1960.
He was Chairman of Friends General Conference 1941-1949. He also served as a member of the American Section of the World Council of Churches, 1941-1950, and as a delegate to the first Assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1948. He was President of the Board of Trustees of The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital from 1961-1971. For complete biographical information see Who's Who in America v.33, 1964-65.
Extent
11.5 linear ft. (8 boxes (and 49 volumes))
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Bliss Forbush (1896-1987), Quaker educator, administrator, and author, served as the Headmaster of Baltimore Friends School, Chairman of Friends General Conference, and Executive Secretary of Baltimore Monthly Meeting. The collection contains many of his scrapbooks, including “A Forbush Chronicle” is the three volume manuscript 1896-1976, with additions to 1979, of his autobiography. Also in this collection are the manuscripts of Elias Hicks, Quaker Liberal, and A History of Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends, and notes for Moses Sheppard, Quaker Philanthropist of Baltimore. Also includes a small collection of correspondence and papers of his wife, La Verne Hill Forbush.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into four series:
- Bliss Forbush
- LaVerne Forbush
- William Byron Forbush
- Forbush Family
Series I is majority of the collection, and within this Series, the material is divided into subseries:
- “A Forbush Chronicle” (autobiography of Bliss Forbush)
- “The Treasure Chest,” 1915-1978
- “My Baltimore Book,” 1921-1943
- “Baltimore Yearly Meeting Advancement Committee,” 1928-1943
- World Council of Churches, Amsterdam, 1948
- Album. (mostly correspondence)
- Books and articles
- Miscellaneous correspondence and paper
- Memorabilia
Physical Location
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donor: Bliss Forbush, 1960-1985
Separated Materials
The following materials were removed from the collection and recatalogued:
- Baltimore Yearly Meeting material was added to reference files on individual meetings in PG 1 or to RG 2/ Meeting Records
- Correspondence and reports of the Standing Committee on the Indian Concerns placed with that Committee in RG 2
- Early history of Swarthmore College placed in RG 6
- Some of the Elias Hicks material added to Hicks MSS
- Most printed material was catalogued separately
- Casette tapes and CDs, Acc. 2019.028 to AV processing
Processing Information
Originally catalogued as MSS collection. Transferred to RG5 and additions incorporated in 1986. At that time, additional reference material collected by Bliss Forbush as background for his writings was transferred to more appropriate collections. Baltimore Yearly Meeting material was added to reference files on individual meetings in PG 1 or to RG 2/ Meeting Records. Correspondence and reports of the Standing Committee on the Indian Concerns placed with that Committee in RG 2. Early history of Swarthmore College placed in RG 6. Some of the Elias Hicks material added to Hicks MSS. Most printed material was catalogued separately.
Added a completed, final version of "The Forbush Chronicles" epilogues II and III, 1977-1982 to series 1.1.
Subject
- Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite: 1828-1968) (Organization)
- Baltimore Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends : Hicksite : 1864-1950 : Baltimore, Md.) (Organization)
- Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital (Organization)
- Friends School (Baltimore, Md.) (Organization)
- Friends General Conference (U.S.) (Organization)
- Title
- An Inventory of the Bliss Forbush Papers, circa 1915-1945
- Author
- FHL staff
- Date
- 1986
- 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
Revision Statements
- 2016: This electronic finding aid was updated in Summer 2016 by Abdulrezak Kemal in preparation for importing into ArchivesSpace, to conform to current markup standards and the ArchivesSpace data model.
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
