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HSP's technical services archivist since 2007.

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The ups and (mostly) downs of dealing with mold on paper via the Cope family papers

The Cope family papers (Collection 1486) is a remarkable and almost complete collection of record documenting the family’s shipping business and related interests.  The largest portion of the papers is dedicated to the ships and the freight and passengers they carried.  Cope’s Line of Packets, which was started by Thomas Pim Cope and then handed down to subsequent generations, made over 500 voyages between the United States and England (and a few other destinations) from the 1

Fondly, Pennsylvania
8/24/11
19th century, archives preservation issues, Business, Cope family of Philadelphia, Cope's Line of Packets, early Philadelphia trade and commerce, Economics, mold on paper, Philadelphia, Philadelphia business history, ships and shipping, trade between England and Pennsylvania
Comments: 4
What Philadelphia architect designed City Hall?

Question of the Week
8/21/11
Architecture, Arts and Culture, City Hall, John McArthur, Pennsylvania
On August 19, 1812, the USS Constitution defeated the HMS Guerriere and subsequently earned a nickname that it has held to this day. What is that nickname?

Question of the Week
8/14/11
Old Ironsides, USS Constitution, War of 1812
Who is known as the "financier of the Civil War," raising as much as one billion dollars for Union war efforts?

Question of the Week
8/7/11
Civil War, Economics, Industry, Jay Cooke
The Conventional and Unconventional Values of the Jasper Yeates Papers

 

I'm posting this on behalf of Michael Fiorelli.  Last week he completed a summer archival internship at HSP, and we thank him for all his hard work.  Cary.

Fondly, Pennsylvania
8/2/11
archival processing, internships, Jasper Yeates, Yeates family
On July 31, 1777, a wealthy Frenchman was named a major general in the Continental army at age 19. Can you name him?

Question of the Week
7/31/11
American Revolution, Colonial period, Marquis de Lafayette
Founded in 1800, the Magdalen Society of Philadelphia provided aid to wayward women. What is the organization now called?

Question of the Week
7/24/11
Community and Public Service, White-Williams Scholars
Another connection: the Magdalen Society of Philadelphia and White-Williams Scholars

 

The Magdalen Society of Philadelphia was founded in 1800 to help reform “fallen” women.  White-Williams Scholars is a funding organization in Philadelphia provides scholarships to select high school students in need.  What could these seeming unrelated institutions possibly have in common?  Read on to find out.

Fondly, Pennsylvania
7/20/11
Magdalen Society of Philadelphia, religious educational institutions, Social reform organizations in Philadelphia, White-Williams Foundation, White-Williams Foundation for Girls, White-Williams Scholars, Women
Wealthy Philadelphian and Georgia plantation owner Pierce (Mease) Bulter married a famous British actress in 1834. What was her name?

Question of the Week
7/17/11
Abolition, Fanny Kemble, Slavery
From 1790 to 1800, where did the U.S. Congress convene?

Question of the Week
7/10/11
Congress Hall, Pennsylvania, Politics