The collections listed below have been recently processed and now have detailed finding aids (click on the links to view).  Need a topic to research?  These collections may contain useful primary sources for a paper, thesis, or dissertation.  Please contact one of our archivists if you have any questions about a particular collection. 

Edith Madeira papers, 1900-1951, 0.4 linear feet (Collection 2053)

Edith Madeira (1865-1951) served as the chief nurse for the American Red Cross Commission to Palestine from June 1918 to January 1919.  Her papers include correspondence, memoirs of her travels to Palestine, and a scrapbook of photographs and other memorabilia.

Caroline Katzenstein papers, ca. 1850-1965, 2 linear feet (Am .8996)

Caroline Katzenstein (1888-1968) was a leader in the Pennsylvania suffrage movement who served with such organizations as the Equal Franchise Society of Philadelphia, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and the National Woman’s Party.  These papers document her participation in the suffrage movement from 1909 to 1921, her efforts to help women obtain equal pay for equal work in the 1920s, her tireless promotion of the Equal Rights Amendment from 1923 to 1965, and her career as an insurance agent (1909-ca. 1930).                    

Joseph Smith Harris correspondence, 1853-1907, 2007, 0.4 linear feet (Collection 3107)                     

Joseph Smith Harris (1836-1910) of Chester County and Philadelphia was a civil engineer, surveyor, and railroad administrator.  The collection consists of about 150 letters to and from Harris, and includes both professional and personal correspondence. Many of the letters have accompanying transcriptions, and there are also biographical excerpts and a few scans of photographs and maps.

Society Photograph collection, ca. 1850-1992, 48 linear feet (Collection V59)

The Society Photograph collection is a rich visual resource on a variety of topics, with an emphasis on Philadelphia and the surrounding region.  Subjects documented in the collection include local streets and residences, Fairmount Park, historic buildings and sites, bridges, churches, factories, fire engines and companies, hotels, schools, and the Centennial International Exposition. The collection spans from the mid 19th century to the late 20th century and contains examples of several different types of photographs, such as albumen prints, gelatin silver prints, and cyanotypes. 

Society Miscellaneous collection, 1676-1937, 14.1 linear feet (Collection 425)  

The Society Miscellaneous collection includes a wide variety of materials relating to Pennsylvania and spanning several centuries. The majority of the collection is comprised of documents from and relating to governing bodies, civil organizations, and societies in and around Pennsylvania. Examples range from official documents, such as petitions and surveys, to ephemera like tokens and tickets. Other items include watermarks, passports, sheet music, and poetry. While the collection spans from the 1670s to the 1930s, a significant portion of the papers date from the time of the Revolutionary War.

War posters collection, 1914-1945, 2.3 linear feet (Collection V95)        

This collection consists of more than 500 original World War I and World War II posters, some created by well-known artists like James Montgomery Flagg, Norman Rockwell, and David Stone Martin.  Included are posters from a variety of national and wartime organizations, such as the American National Red Cross, the Office of War Information, the War Production Board, and the Coast Guard Women's Reserve ("Spars").  Subjects include war bonds, rationing, enlistment, vigilance, and conservation of resources.

Society Prints: posters and broadsides collection, 1777-ca. 2005, 2.2 linear feet (Collection V94)

In this collection are broadsides, circulars, facsimiles, prints, blotters, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other material largely related to Philadelphia businesses and institutions.  Subjects are quite varied and include auctions, banks, insurance companies, museums, printing establishments, the Civil War, labor strikes, Washingtoniana, Lincolniana (mostly remembrances of Lincoln’s assassination), and transportation.

Lea & Febiger records, 1785-1982, 140 linear feet (Collection 227B)                              

The Lea & Febiger records span almost 200 years and document the history of the publishing company from its founding in 1785 by printer and bookseller Matthew Carey to the early 1980s.  The collection consists primarily of correspondence and business volumes such as letterbooks, daybooks, journals, ledgers, cost books, and warehouse books. 

Forges and Furnaces collection, 1727-1921, 271.2 linear feet (Collection 212)

This collection is comprised of original forge and furnace books that document the rise and fall of the charcoal iron industry of Pennsylvania from the 18th century to the early 20th century.  This diverse collection contains daybooks, journals, ledgers, and various other business books and papers from almost 70 different ironworks.

Robert E. Hoagland papers [additions], 1986-2006, 3 linear feet (GSP 063)

Robert Elwood Hoagland (1927-2007) of Philadelphia was a professional librarian and genealogist.  These papers consist of Hoagland’s research files on the Stilwell/Stillwell families of New Jersey and several client files, most of which contain photocopies of documents such as vital records, deeds, maps, and obituaries, as well as family group worksheets, family trees, and other genealogical data that Hoagland obtained and created during the course of his research.