The Special Collections Departments of the Bryn Mawr and Haverford College Libraries hold extensive collections of historical manuscripts, printed works, and artifacts relating to a wide range of topics. Bryn Mawr's collections are especially strong on topics relating to women's rights and European encounters with Africa, Asia and the Americas, and Haverford is one of the major repositories on the history of Quakers in America and early Philadelphia history.
Bryn Mawr College’s Special Collections Department has extensive collections archives, rare books, pamphlets, manuscripts, photographs, art, and artifacts from many time periods and most parts of the world.
For the rare book collections, there are individual guides to Emblem Books, 15th Century Printed Books, European Travel Accounts before 1850, Botanical Books, and Medicine, Epidemics, and Public Health. The rare book collection also houses a large number of children's books, and collections on British colonialism in Africa and India, the history of cooking and domestic management, and European cities, especially Paris.
The art and artifact collections cover a wide range of cultures and time periods, as well as a large mineral collection. The collection can be searched through the online catalogue, Triarte.
One of the Special Collections Department's major strengths is women’s history and the history of the women’s rights movements. Collections include the photograph albums compiled by suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt, and long runs of several major women’s rights publications, including The Woman’s Column (New York: 1892-1904), International Woman Suffrage News (London, 1914-1916), the publications of Alice Paul’s National Woman’s Party, The Suffragist (Washington, 1916-1919) and Equal Rights (1924-1952), and from the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s, Off Our Backs, Women: A Journal of Liberation, and Heresies.
The College Archives documents the history of the college. Archival collections include material donated by Bryn Mawr graduates, faculty, and administrative staff, as well as college records and a large collection of student publications. Recent additions to the archives also include oral histories conducted by student researchers, and the 2020 Strike Collective.
Special Collections at Bryn Mawr actively supports exhibitions on campus, including a number of College History projects, like Who Built Bryn Mawr? To see a current exhibition calendar, check here.
The Quaker and Special Collections at Haverford have extensive holdings in the records of Quaker meetings and organizations on the East Coast and papers of Quaker families in the Philadelphia region, making it a major center for the study of colonial and early American history. Additional information about its collections can be found at its website. There are also more detailed guides available on the following topics:
Native American History: Quakers had extensive connections with Native Americans beginning in the late 17th century in Pennsylvania and New York, and including a leadership role in the federal government’s relationships with Native Americans in the West after the Civil War. The collections include both organizational records relating to Native American relations and papers of individuals active in the work.
Abolition and Slavery Materials: Quakers were active in the Abolitionist Movement from the 18th century. Their abolitionist work is documented in numerous collections of family papers, and pamphlets, broadsides, and other printed material related to slavery and the Abolitionist Movement.
Asian History and Culture: Quakers were active in missionary and educational work throughout Asia, particularly in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The collections include large numbers of letters, diaries, and organizational records relating to the work of Quakers in Japan, China, India, and the Middle East.