John Greenleaf Whittier Collection

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

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

The collection is open for research use.

Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce must be obtained from Wardman Library, Whittier College.

[Identification of item]. John Greenleaf Whittier Collection. Collection Number: Whittier Collection. Whittier College - Wardman Library

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.

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.