Frederick Barnes Tolles Papers

Frederick Barnes Tolles was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, in 1915, son of James and Josie (Barnes) Tolles. He graduated from Harvard in 1936, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and took Honors in English with his thesis on Emerson and Quakerism. He received his Masters degree from Harvard in 1937 and taught in the English Department at Harvard University until 1941. He came to Swarthmore College as Librarian of Friends Historical Library in 1941 and was named Director of the Library in 1951. He also was a member of the Department of History. He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1947, with his dissertation submitted in the History of American Civilization. This manuscript was published as Meeting House and Counting House in 1948.

As a conscientious objector, Tolles served in Civilian Public Service camps from 1943-1946. In 1950-1954 he was a Fellow and member of the research staff of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, and also taught history at the California Institute of Technology. On his return to Swarthmore College in 1954, he was appointed to the Howard M. and Charles F. Jenkins Chair of Quaker History and Research. Professor Tolles received an Honorary Doctor of Literature from Haverford College in 1959.

He served as president of Friends Historical Association, 1969-1970, and editor of its Bulletin (called Quaker History after 1955) from 1949-1967 Tolles published seven books and nearly 50 articles and prefaces to books and also wrote many book reviews. Ill health forced him into early retirement in 1970, and he died on his 60th birthday, Apr. 18, 1975. Dean Emeritus Everett L. Hunt said of Fred Tolles, “His life has been a symbol of Quaker activity and scholarship that has won national recognition.”