Report of the Curator

REPORT OF THE CURATOR GIFTS TO The Friends Historical Association have accumulated to such an extent that a partial list of them should prove interesting. Through the interest of Dr. William Wistar Comfort, President of the Association, in 1937 Mr. Horace T. Carpenter, Curator of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, gave the Association permission to exhibit some of its possessions in that building. In the "Mayor's Room," on the first floor of Old City Hall, at Fifth and Chestnut Streets, over 300 exhibits are displayed . In a standing case three figures show a woman's costume of 1677 (copy), a man's costume of 1830 and a woman's costume of 1840 (originals). A number of cases contain articles of wearing apparel, daguerreotypes, valuable manuscripts, and many historical pieces. Pictures decorate the walls. The historical Franklin Institute building at 15 South Seventh Street was purchased by Mr. A. Atwater Kent and converted into a Philadelphia Museum, now seven years old. The exhibition cases there are exceptionally beautiful. Mr. M. Joseph McCosker, the Director of the Museum, asked the Friends Historical Association to exhibit some of the material belonging to it. From a mass of articles from many localities a careful selection of material directly associated with Philadelphia was made under Mr. McCosker's supervision, and this material now fills nine cases in the Museum. On behalf of the Association the Curator wishes to thank Mr. Carpenter, the officers of the Atwater Kent Museum and their staffs for their generous cooperation, which has enabled us to place so much of our valuable material on exhibition at these two places. A partial list of articles which are not on exhibition follows : Wedding Certificates: 1692, 1698, 1718, 1731, 1746, and others Indenture, Samuel Richardson, 1693 (valuable signatures) Indenture and bond for an apprentice in England, 1702 Transfer of property in Philadelphia, 1681 Cadbury sketch book Letter to Stephen Grellet from Elizabeth Fry, 1840 John Hooton's Book of Discipline, 1761-2 29 30 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Papers concerning the building of the second Philadelphia meeting house in 1755; account of costs and names of the members of the committee in charge List of public Friends who visited Pennsylvania from England from 1656 to 1782 Letter from Thomas Durbott to Thomas Lloyd Two letters from Lindley Murray to D. B. Smith on "Instruction," 1789 Letter from Anna Braithwaite about "Anti-Christian" doctrines presented by Elias Hicks Letter from Joshua Cresson about yellow fever, 1793 Mary Clark's book, 1802 Letters about the Yarnall Family by Charles Yarnall Letter to Alice Needham, Salem, Massachusetts, from Thomas Say Names of members of 12th Street Meeting at time of its establishment, 1812 List of names of members of the Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia for the Western District (i.e. 12th Street), 1820, and account of members received Autograph book of Phoebe Clapp, Jr., afterwards Phoebe C. Thomas Map used by Rebecca Jones, showing meeting houses visited by her during her trip in 1785 in the British Isles Copy of William Bradford's letter to the Half-Year's Meeting of Friends held at Burlington, N. J., 1687-8 Umbrella belonging to Stephen Grellet Original of appeal to England on behalf of Africans, poem by T. Wilkinson , 1789 Book, "The House that Jack Built," illustrated by Cruikshank, 1853 Lucretia Mott letter, 1840 Poor Will's Almanac, 1792, 1794, 1795 ; Poor Will's Pocket Almanac, 1827 Indian Records Christian Frederick Post's Diary, 1760 John Pierce and Joshua Sharpless Diary, 1798 Original Cornplanter letter, 1791 Papers relating to the Easton meeting with Governor Johnson in June, 1762; Tedyuscung's mark Letter about gifts to Indians, signed by Tobias Lear, Washington's secretary. Lydia Flagg Gummere, Curator. H1T1HK Friends Come to Oregon. III. Washington Work" is a third instalment of H. S. Nedry's comprehensive history of Oregon Quakerism (see this Bulletin, vol. 34 (1945), p. 46) and deals with their extension northward, including Vancouver. It appears in Oregon Historical Quarterly, vol. 46 (1945), pp. 36-43. Vol. 35, Spring 1946 ...