Contents
Descriptive Summary
BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL NOTE
SCOPE AND CONTENT OF THE RECORDS
SELECTED SEARCH TERMS
Materials catalogued separately
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS
Ser. 1. Historical material
Ser. 2. Minutes
Ser. 3. Membership
Ser. 4. Financial Records
Ser. 5. Correspondence
Ser. 6. Annual Reports
Ser. 7. Newsletters and other printed material
Ser. 8. Miscellaneous
Ser. 9. Friendly Settlement Association
Ser. 10. Spring Street Settlement
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An Inventory of the Friends Neighborhood Guild Records, 1880-1962
Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff
Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
2000
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Creator
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Friends Neighborhood Guild |
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Title
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Records, |
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Dates:
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1880-1962 |
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Abstract:
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Friends Neighborhood Guild is a social welfare agency established by Hicksite Quakers in 1879 to serve the Poplar section of North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It began as a volunteer organization for immigrant children and evolved into a settlement house and community center. This collection primarily contains early records of Friends Neighborhood Guild, and also the records of two related Quaker societies, the Friendly Settlement Association and the Spring Street Mission.
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Extent:
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8 boxes ; 4 linear feet |
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Identification:
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RG 4/035 |
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Location:
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For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. |
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Location:
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Friends Neighborhood Guild was organized in 1879 as Friends Mission #1 under the supervision of Philadelphia First Day School Union, an organization of Hicksite Friends. Its first mission building opened in 1880 at the corner of Beach Street and Fairmount Avenues in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. Its initial aims were to provide religious and moral uplift, “a refining influence” for poor European immigrants living along the North Philadelphia waterfront. Early activities included worship services, youth meetings, a sewing school, and temperance meetings.
In 1898 it came under the care of the Philanthropic Committee of Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting (Hicksite). The following year, it moved to a new location at 151 Fairmont Avenue and was renamed Friends Neighborhood Guild. Its programs were aimed at families, especially children, and were expanded to include recreation, woodworking, a savings fund, a flower and fruit mission, assistance in obtaining fuel, and a probation officer. The work was carried out by volunteers until 1903, when Emily Wilbur, the first full-time staff member, was hired as General Superintendent.
In 1913 Friends Neighborhood Guild expanded with the purchase of Green Street Meeting House at Fourth and Green Streets. This important Hicksite meeting house was built in 1814, but by 1913 attendance had declined so dramatically that the Meeting decided to sell the building. Early in the twentieth century, under the influence of the social work philosophy, Friends Neighborhood Guild gradually changed from a mission to a settlement house. The ethnic mix of community residents gradually changed in the 1920s from mostly Central and Eastern Europeans (Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic) to largely black. In 1921 Friends Neighborhood Guild was one of the founders of the Welfare Federation of Philadelphia, and it is currently a United Way agency. Since 1950, with the formation of Friends' Self Help Cooperative, the Guild has been involved in efforts to improve housing in the East Poplar section of Philadelphia. In 1954 Friends Neighborhood Guild became incorporated, managed by a Board of Directors. In 1956 the Guild moved to its present location at 703 North Eighth Street.
While having no official connection to Friends Neighborhood Guild, Spring Street Settlement, located at 1223-1225 Spring Street, was established in 1906 to help improve economic and social conditions in a black neighborhood east of Broad Street in Philadelphia, close to the area served by Friends Neighborhood Guild. Its programs included recreation, instruction in shoemaking and sewing and other “useful arts,” material assistance, a probation officer, and a visiting nurse. It was particularly concerned with the housing conditions in the area and became inactive after 1925.
The collection also contains a small amount of material (1905) relating to the Friendly Settlement Association, another Quaker society involved in settlement work in Philadelphia.
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Correspondence, minutes, annual reports, financial papers, scrapbooks, historical, publicity, and membership materials, newsletters, pictures, and other records, relating to the organization's early activities as a mission and settlement house providing assistance to the poor, particularly immigrants and blacks, and its subsequent change of focus to community center. Includes minutes and reports (1905) of Friendly Settlement Association, another Quaker society involved in settlement work, and records (1907-1925) relating to Spring Street Settlement (founded 1906 as Spring Street Mission), including correspondence, minutes, scrapbook, and pictures.
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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Friends Historical Library (TRIPOD). Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings:
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The collection is organized into ten series. The series are:
For current information on the location of materials,
please consult the Library's online catalog.
Return to the Table of Contents
Ser. 1. Historical material
Box
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Historical articles and letters about early history.
1879-1950
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Excerpts from minutes, and excerpts from other sources such as annual reports.
1880-1882, 1901-1940
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Other historical information about Friends Neighborhood Guild and the Quaker committees which directed its work.
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Friends Neighborhood Guild: 70th Anniversary [booklet]
1950
Also includes historical information collected about Friends Neighborhood Guild for booklet listed above; letters asking for historical information for the booklet; letters providing historical information for the booklet; records pertaining to the 70th anniversary dinner (3/11/1950); news releases and clippings about the dinner; communications with speakers (Eleanor Roosevelt presented the main address); Invitations and guest list; other papers concerning dinner arrangements.
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Inventory of the records of the Guild at Temple University Urban Archives
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Ser. 2. Minutes
Box
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[Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting. Friends First Day School] Union Executive Committee Minutes ()
1880-1882 With 2 typed copies
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House Committee of Friends Neighborhood Guild Minutes
1913-1921
Became Guild Committee in 1916
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Friends Neighborhood Guild Committee Minutes
1921-1927
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Friends Neighborhood Guild Committee Minutes
1928-1950 11 folders
1935-1937 minutes incomplete
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Box
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| 3 |
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Friends Neighborhood Guild Committee Minutes
1951-1954 4 folders
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Friends Neighborhood Guild, Board of Directors Minutes
1954-1962 8 folders
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Ser. 3. Membership
Box
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| 4 |
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Membership applications
1905-1907
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List of Guild Committee members and chairmen
n.d.
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Card file, listing Board members with dates of service
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Guild members pledge
1945
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Membership participation and staff statistics
1946-1947
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Ser. 4. Financial Records
Box
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Account book
1898-1908
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Receipts for purchase of coal
1920, 1923
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Contract with Alice Mary Doane Leach, Headworker
1921
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Financial report
1946-1947
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Ser. 5. Correspondence
Box
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Letters about purchase of Green St. building
1911-1914
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Contributions to Building Fund from meetings and related organizations
1911-1926
Arranged alphabetically by meeting
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Contributions to Building Fund from individuals
1911-1926
Arranged alphabetically by donor
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Contributions to Repair Fund for Green St. building
1912-1914
Arranged alphabetically by donor
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Contributions to Friends Neighborhood Guild
1912-1921
Arranged alphabetically by donor
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Financial correspondence
1914-1924
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Appeals for contributions
1934-1945, n.d.
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Miscellaneous correspondence
1911-1950, n.d.
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Ser. 6. Annual Reports
Box
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Annual reports
1880-[ongoing] gaps
The following annual reports were placed in SG 3: 1880-1883, 1901, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1914-1919 and 1932
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Excerpts from annual reports
1912-1946 typed
Including excerpts from newspaper articles about Guild activities
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Ser. 7. Newsletters and other printed material
Box
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The Guild News
1933-1947 4 folders
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The Guild Men
1933 2 issues
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The Guild Gazette
1944-1946 4 issues only
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Leaflets describing Friends Neighborhood Guild
1905-1945, n.d.
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Articles about Friends Neighborhood Guild
1906-1958
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Announcements of events
1935-1946
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Radio programs re: Friends Neighborhood Guild
1937-1945
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Listings from other Philadelphia social agencies mentioning Friends Neighborhood Guild
1944, 1946
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Ser. 8. Miscellaneous
Box
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Scrapbook #1
1901-1941
Contains newspaper clippings, annual reports, correspondence, newsletters, programs of events, and pictures
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Box
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Scrapbook #4
1945-1947
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Pictures of groups of children
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First Day School Teacher's Class Book
1899-1901
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Ser. 9. Friendly Settlement Association
Box
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Minutes and reports
1905
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Ser. 10. Spring Street Settlement
Box
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Board of Directors and Annual Mtg. minutes
1910-1925
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Printed histories and descriptions of activities
1909-1923
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Journal
1906-1908
Includes minutes of Advisory Board and of some committees, newspaper clippings, reports and pictures
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Scrapbook
1913-1914
Mostly newspaper clippings describing accomplishments of blacks in Philadelphia
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Articles on Spring St. Settlement and Ellwood Heacock
1915-1921
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