Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography/Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Additional collection guides
Descriptive Summary
Title: John Greenleaf Whittier Collection
Dates: 1790-2005
Collection Number: Whittier Collection
Creator/Collector:
Whittier College
Extent: 15 boxes (337.5 linear feet)
Repository:
Whittier College - Wardman Library
Whittier, California 90602
Abstract: Whittier was generally regarded as the most well-known Quaker in America, prompting the founders of Whittier city to select
him as the namesake of their new town. The Collection emphasizes the poet’s life as a demonstration of one particularly well-known
Quaker mode of living and how it may have influenced the aspirations of the founders of Whittier city and Whittier College.
Language of Material: English
Access
The collection is open for research use.
Publication Rights
Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce must be obtained from Wardman Library, Whittier College.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. John Greenleaf Whittier Collection. Collection Number: Whittier Collection. Whittier College - Wardman
Library
Biography/Administrative History
John Greenleaf Whittier was born to a Quaker family in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1807, and as a young man became a moderately
well-known poet who primarily published in newspapers and periodicals. Although he held some political aspiration, he published
abolitionist pamphlets and founded the American Anti-Slavery Society, acts that made him unlikely to garner the support needed
to be elected to office. Instead, he operated as a political lobbyist and poet. Past 1838, the majority of his poems addressed
themes of slavery, freedom, and human dignity.
Whittier’s poetry increased in popularity during the Civil War, and by 1887, Whittier was generally regarded as the most well-known
Quaker in America, prompting the founders of Whittier city to select him as the namesake of their new town. Whittier was reportedly
pleased by the naming, and corresponded with the planners of what would become Whittier College during its construction, although
he never visited the city. This finding aid was created by Paige Harris in 2023.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Whittier Collection is composed of books written by J.G. Whittier, those from his personal library, biographies about
him and literary compilations that include his work, family manuscripts, artifacts, and art, general abolitionist literature,
historic periodicals, and newspaper clippings. The Collection emphasizes primary sources and artifacts from the poet’s life
as a demonstration of one particularly well-known Quaker mode of living and how that example may have influenced the aspirations
of the Whittier city and Whittier College founders.
Additional collection guides
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