The 2019 annual conference of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries reminded librarians and archivists that collections hold information and data that can assist current climate researchers. Inspired by that, we extend an invitation to use our collections to conduct research of your own.
Samuel Copeland Palmer was a Quaker and a Professor of Botany at Swarthmore College from 1909 to 1942. He traveled as the botanist in the 1929 Bowdoin-Baffin Land expedition, when he was assigned to study birds and plant life. Later he worked on a project to illustrate all plant species in Delaware County. Palmer’s papers present an opportunity for researchers to see how Palmer observed his environment and to look at differences in our present day. His writing and observations are available in the Samuel C. Palmer Papers.
The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, originally called the Arthur Hoyt Scott Horticultural Foundation, was established in 1929. The papers of the Scott Arboretum include its administrative records, detailed plant records and landscape plans, publications, clippings and press releases and papers of John C. Wister, horticulturalist and first director.
The Painter Family was an early Pennsylvania Quaker family in Delaware County. The Painter Family papers hold information about the origins of the John J. Tyler Arboretum, as well as on agriculture, trees, and nineteenth century Quaker concerns through day books, account books, financial records, correspondence, and other documents.