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The TriCollege Libraries Digital Collections include unique and rare archival collections, manuscripts, publications, ephemera, maps, photographs, and audiovisual content, including oral histories, from Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore Colleges. The materials available reflect the strengths and collecting priorities of each institution. To browse the collections of an individual institution, use the "All Institutions" drop down menu below.
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The Sharpless Family papers consist of letters, diaries, journals, narratives, and notes, by, concerning, or attributed to members of the Sharpless and Kite families. They include the papers of Joshua Sharpless, with letters to Ann Trimble Sharpless, his wife, and his children; notes on his physical condition; narratives of Edith Yarnall Sharpless, his first wife; correspondence among the children of Joshua Sharpless, including letters of Rachel Sharpless Cope, Edith (Sharpless) Kite, Isaac Sharpless, and other family members; letters of Benjamin Kite to his children, Thomas, John, Mary, and others; journals, diaries, and accounts of Mary Kite, daughter of Benjamin, and letters to family and friends describing religious travels, spiritual affairs, and conditions in the Society; correspondence among other members of the Kite family, including James, Joseph, Nathan, Abi, nieces, nephews, and others; accounts by Thomas Kite of Edith Sharpless Kite, his wife; letters from Susanna Kite Sharpless, daughter of Thomas, and an account of a trip through New York; and letters and accounts from Aaron Sharpless, husband of Susanna.

Haverford

573 items

Sharpless Family Papers

The Single Leaf Manuscripts Collection features several dozen medieval manuscripts donated by Sigmund Harrison. Most of these are religious texts and written in Latin. Additional highlights of this collection, gifts of Felix Usis, include six papal bulls, a document sealed by Queen Elizabeth I, a legal document signed by Louis XV, a letter signed by Philip II of Spain to the man in charge of supplies for his armada, and a few Arabic manuscripts, including one with an extraordinary illustration of a medieval battle scene.

Bryn Mawr College logo

199 items

Single Leaf Manuscripts

The Sons of Africa were founded by a group of Haverford College students during the 1989-1990 academic year with the goal of promoting community among Black male underclassmen with a focus on social and academic support. The born digital materials in this collection were transferred to the College Archives by Sons of Africa members in 2015. During the 2019-2020 academic year, the Sons of Africa became known as Black x Brown, whose mission is to "provide academic, social, and emotional support to masculine-identifying people of color in the hopes of fostering a strong drive for achieving personal and academic excellence."

The finding aid for additional physical materials pertaining to the Sons of Africa is available here.

 

Haverford

38 items

Sons of Africa collection

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection has over 150 propaganda posters from the early years of the Soviet Union (1920s-1930s). These posters have been digitized and the images placed in a database with information about each poster. The text included in some of the posters has been translated into English.

160 items

Poster depicting women and their families walking towards some tables with the text "free the women" in Russian

There are more than 1,400 stamps, seals, stickers, and imprinted envelopes in this collection. The majority of these contain images and/or messages that propagate peace and social justice. A smaller portion promote war or recommend neutrality during times of war. Of particular note are rare nineteenth century anti-slavery stickers and the dozens of stamps created from peace posters drawn or painted by high school students, 1939–1940.

1313 items

Stamp with the U.N. logo and the title "Reform and Promote the U.N. for the Planethood Age!"

Street Outreach is a service club at Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College oriented towards facilitating food access for Philadelphians experiencing homeless and/or food insecurity. Historically, the club has met once a week to prepare and deliver soups and sandwiches to meal patrons in Philadelphia. Street Outreach also strives to cultivate community and good times among Bi-Co students who are interested in community service.

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections also has a physical collection of Street Outreach materials.

Haverford

27 items

Street Outreach Collection

The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry, which ran from 1921 to 1938, was a residential summer school program that brought approximately 100 young working women—mostly factory workers with minimal education—to the Bryn Mawr College campus for eight weeks of liberal arts study. Conceived as part of the workers' education movement in the 1920s and 30s, the program was the first of its kind aimed at women in the United States. The School is also notable because in 1926, at the suggestion of students and against former College President and SSWWI founder M. Carey Thomas's wishes, Hilda Worthington Smith admitted five African-American students to the summer school at a time when Bryn Mawr College had no Black graduates. This collection includes photographs, mostly donated by SSWWI alumnae/i.

Bryn Mawr College logo

210 items

Summer School for Women Workers in Industry

Susan FitzGerald (1908- 2013) was the daughter of noted suffragist and founder of Bryn Mawr’s Self-Government Association, Susan Walker FitzGerald, and a graduate of Bryn Mawr College class of 1929. Following graduation, she taught Spanish and German from 1930 to 1945 before becoming the director of English language programs at the United States Information Agency. This collection contains letters from FitzGerald to her family during her sophomore and junior years at Bryn Mawr College.

Bryn Mawr College logo

60 items

Susan FitzGerald Papers

Susan Walker FitzGerald (1871-1943) was a graduate of Bryn Mawr College class of 1893. During her time at Bryn Mawr, she founded the Self-Government Association (the first student government organization in the nation, which survives today) and served as class president. Following graduation, she worked as secretary to the dean of the College, M. Carey Thomas, from 1893 to 1894; she continued in this role after Thomas became Bryn Mawr's president, from 1894 to 1895. FitzGerald is best known for her long commitment to the struggle for women's suffrage and her involvement in progressive political organizations, including the Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government, the Massachusetts Woman's Suffrage Association, and the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). She was elected in 1922 as the first female Democrat to enter the Massachusetts House of Representatives. This collection primarily contains letters from FitzGerald to her parents while she was a student at Bryn Mawr College and letters from fellow students to FitzGerald regarding the formation of the Student Government Association.

Bryn Mawr College logo

47 items

Susan Walker FitzGerald Papers

The Swarthmore College Bulletin is the official alumni magazine of the college. It evolved from the Garnet Letter, a newsletter published by the Alumni Association beginning in 1935. After World War II, college staff assumed responsibility for the periodical, and in 1952 it was renamed the Swarthmore College Bulletin. (The renaming apparently had more to do with postal regulations than an editorial decision. Since 1902, the College had been calling all of its mailed periodicals the Swarthmore College Bulletin, with each volume spanning an academic year and typically including a course catalog issue and an annual report issue, with a varying number of other special issues.)


The first editor of the Swarthmore College Bulletin alumni issue was Kathryn “Kay” Bassett ’35. After a few years, Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49 was appointed editor and held the position for 36 years, during which she reshaped the mission of the magazine from focusing narrowly on Swarthmore College to reporting broadly on the college's impact on the world at large. Gillespie currently appears on the masthead as Editor Emerita.


Today, the quarterly Swarthmore College Bulletin is an award-winning alumni magazine sent to all alumni, parents, faculty, staff, friends of the College, and members of the senior class.

359 items

Cover of Swarthmore College Bulletin Alumni Issue, December 1953, with a photograph of some football players

The Swarthmore College Archives include records of the College as a corporation, of its Board of Managers, key administrative offices and academic units, including charters, minutes, correspondence, financial records, etc. It also includes student records and records of student organizations, classes and alumni groups. Includes collections of personal papers of Managers, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as reference files on college history, campus, faculty, staff and deceased alumni.

4780 items

Historical stock certificate granting one share in Swarthmore College

The Swarthmore College Catalogue is annual publication of Swarthmore College which contains information about the college faculty and staff, college resources and processes, degrees conferred, degree requirements, and course offerings. This collection includes published Catalogues which span from 1871 to the present.

144 items

Cover of the Swarthmore College Bulletin 1985-86, featuring a large photograph of Parrish Hall

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