Haverford College | TriCollege Libraries Digital Collections

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Quaker Meeting Records

The Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College and the Haverford College Quaker Collection serve as official depositories for the records of a number of North American yearly meetings of the Society of Friends. Joint holdings include over 5000 linear feet of paper-based archives. In 2011 the two Libraries began to accept digital records as well. Quaker meetings that are interested in more information about digital records should contact their depository.

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Engraving showing quakers riding carriages, walking, and riding horses along a path to a meetinghouse in the summer

Quakers and Slavery

The Religious Society of Friends was the first corporate body in Britain and North America to fully condemn slavery as both ethically and religiously wrong in all circumstances. It is in Quaker records that we have some of the earliest manifestations of anti-slavery sentiment, dating from the 1600s. After the 1750s, some Quakers actively engaged in attempting to sway public opinion in Britain and America against the slave trade and slavery in general. At the same time, some Quakers became actively involved in the economic, educational and political well being of the formerly enslaved.

Quakers and Slavery was a consortial project of Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Funding was provided by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, through a program stipulated by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). This program is administered in Pennsylvania through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries for assisting libraries in providing all users access to information, developing partnerships, and increasing information access for persons who have difficulty gaining it.

1149 items

Newspaper engraving of emancipated slaves and their fair skinned children in an attempt to depict former slaves sympathetically as white

Rainbow Fords Collection

Rainbow Fords is a new name and iteration of a group that has existed on Haverford College’s campus for a number of years called the Queer Discussion Group (QDG). The Queer Discussion Group was created as a safe, confidential space for queer students to meet up and discuss topics related to gender, sexuality, community, and life. In fall 2019, QDG surveyed the community and found that people wanted the group to shift towards being more involved on campus. As part of this, QDG decided to change their name to Rainbow Fords after input and a vote from the community. Rainbow Fords now exists a safe space for questioning, gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans* and other queer Haverford students. The membership and meetings are kept confidential to maintain a supportive environment and open conversation.

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Rebecca Singer Collins Papers

Rebecca Singer Collins (1804–1892) was the daughter of German Lutherans John and Anna Maria Singer, but became a Quaker as a young woman. She was the second wife of Isaac Collins, Jr. (1787-1863), who served on the Board of Managers of Haverford College from 1830 to 1842. Rebecca and Isaac had three children together, Anna (1835), Stephen Grellet (1836), and Mary Forster (1843). Rebecca was a minister of Twelfth Street Meeting in Philadelphia, and author of Parent’s Gift; or, reading book for little children, as well as editor of a book of quotations entitled Treasured Gems. She traveled extensively to speak to Friends’ Meetings in Europe, and late in life was well known for her philanthropic work in New York City.

The collection contains many letters between Rebecca and Isaac Collins during his extended business trip to London in 1845. Rebecca passes along news from friends and family, and from the Philadelphia Quakers. Isaac writes about the English Quakers, news from friends, and describes the gifts he is sending to Rebecca and the children. There are also many letters to Rebecca from Mary Anna Longstreth, during Rebecca’s visit to English and Irish Meetings in 1842-1843. There are also letters of John Pease to Rebecca and Isaac Collins. Rebecca’s diaries in the form of booklets and individual pages are dated 1824-1847. Most entries concern Rebecca’s religious feelings and her often-repeated desire to dedicate herself more and more fully to her faith. Some later entries describe her charitable visits to prisoners, the poor, the sick, and the patients of an insane asylum. The collection also includes Quaker documents, paper currency, and genealogical materials.

172 items

Rebecca White papers

This collection is comprised of the papers of Rebecca White and relate primarily to religious and community affairs. Several of the included letters were written by Sarah Mapps Douglass (1806-1882) to White. Douglass was an American educator and abolitionist who founded a school for African-American girls in Philadelphia and helped to found the Female Literary Association in the 1830s. The letters are part of HC.MC-1166, Josiah White papers. Josiah White (1781-1850) was Rebecca White's father.

225 items

Robert Louis Stevenson geometry notebook and book of verses

Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) created this book of geometry exercises and poetic verses. The front section of the notebook contains geometry and other mathematical exercises. Turning the book the other way around reveals poetry and poetic compositions, along with some mathematical exercises. These are drafts, with many cross-outs and changes. The notebook has been digitized in both directions to capture both the mathematical exercises and poetic compositions.