But One Race: The Life of Robert Purvis

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments  The origins of this book date back to 1997 when I published an article on Robert Purvis in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, entitled “The Double Curse of Sex and Race: Robert Purvis and Human Rights.” I found the research for this essay difficult because of the absence of family correspondence, on which I had relied in all my previous biographies . Intriguing as I discovered Purvis to be, I could not believe it would be possible to write a full-length biography under the circumstances. At this point, I met Dr. Julie Winch, author of the prizewinning A Gentleman of Color: The Life of James Forten. Julie Winch was still at work on James Forten; she collected a considerable amount of material on Robert Purvis. This she generously shared with me, encouraging me to undertake further study of Purvis. To read my footnotes is to discover how deeply indebted I am to her continuing generosity in sharing data. In addition, she read drafts of my manuscript and made many corrections. Julie Winch also introduced me to Reginald Pitts, a professional genealogical researcher, specializing in black families. He was an important helpmate. The footnotes at the end of the text make clear how much he has helped. I must also acknowledge continuing help from John Purvis of Scotland , who has collected information on the worldwide Purvis family and shared all his work on the Robert Purvis branch. Another source of unfailing help throughout this long project has been Beatrice Walton, librarian of the Byberry Friends Meeting, who has supplied much material on Byberry Hall, Byberry School, and the community of Byberry, where Robert Purvis spent many years. Dr. Joseph Borome, who has written a number scholarly articles on Robert Purvis, was encouraging and helpful. ix I would especially like to thank the Friends Historical Library, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Dr. Theo Fair, president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, and James Livingston, for their permission to use materials found in their collections throughout this book. Much of the work on this book I conducted at the Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College. I am indebted to the former curator, Mary Ellen Chijioke, as well as the present curator, Christopher Densmore , and archivists Susanna K. Morikawa and Patricia C. O’Donnell. Patricia also helped with developing the genealogical chart. The Swarthmore College Library’s Department of Interlibrary Loan was helpful in obtaining many books and tapes for me. Phillip Lapsansky, Charlene Peacock, and Linda August of the Library Company of Philadelphia; Rachel Onfu, and Linda Stanley of the Manuscript Division of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; John Pollack of the Rare Books Collection, University of Pennsylvania; and Emma Lapsansky–Werner, Curator of Special Collections at Haverford College, were helpful in the project. At Special Collections in addition I would like to thank Ann W. Upton, Joelle Bertolet, and Diana Franzusoff Petersen. I must also thank Dr. Roger Lane of Haverford who generously lent me the microfilm tapes of William Dorsey’s scrapbooks of Philadelphia. This book would have been impossible to write without the generous support of the staff of various research libraries, who made photocopies of letters pertaining to Robert Purvis and granted me permission to quote from them. These include: Marianne Cawley of the South Carolina Room, Charleston County Public Library; the staff of the South Carolina State Department of History and Archives, and of the South Carolinian Library in Columbia, South Carolina; the Sophia Smith Collection , Smith College; the Anti-Slavery Papers, Boston Public Library; Sydney Gay Collection, Columbia University Library; Wendell Phillips Papers, Harvard University Library; Moorland–Springarn Research Center , Howard University; George Arents Research Library, Syracuse University ; the Jones Library, Amherst, MA; the Library of Congress; Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Rare Books, University of Pennsylvania ; and the American Antiquarian Society. Dr. Ira Brown supplied a great deal of material from his own researches on Pennsylvania black history; Dr. Marie Agnew–Marcelli gave me invaluable assistance in tracing Ann Hathaway Purvis; Jean Yellin Fagan helped me understand the connection between Robert Purvis and Harriet Jacobs; Mary Sewell–Smith of St. Thomas Episcopal Church x Acknowledgments aided me in searching church records; Helen Ganay Toppins helped me with research in New York City; Marcus Huey, and Barbara Graf aided with pictures of artifacts passed down in the Purvis family; and Bill Pepper assisted me in scanning pictures. Teresa Engeman proofread the manuscript . Judith Block handled...