Special Collections and Archives

The creation of this digital exhibition was made possible by a generous donation from the Wesley Family and was a collaborative project between Earlham's librarians and archivists and archive's student workers. Using original documents from the Earlham Friends Collection and College Archives, it covers Earlham's role in welcoming twenty-four Japanese American students during World War II and the Richmond and Earlham Community's response.

In 2014, we celebrate the 60^th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, the 50^th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, and the 50^th anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer. To commemorate these events the students of African and African American Studies and History 369: African American History Since Emancipation gathered numerous documents from the Earlham College Archives to compile this exhibit. The exhibit is multi-purposed: to explore Earlham's activity during the Civil Rights Movement, to make connections between Earlham and the larger Civil Rights Movement, and to familiarize students with archival research, the digital turn in historical research, and to share their findings with the public.

Marcus Mote (1817-1898) was what many considered an oxymoron in the nineteenth century: A Quaker Artist. A native of the West Branch Quaker community in Miami County, Ohio, who located in Richmond, Indiana, in 1864, Mote was a lifelong Friend who did not consider an artistic career incompatible with his faith. This exhibit looks at Mote as both an artist and a Friend, drawing on analysis not only of his art--portraits, landscapes, biblical scenes, histories, and literary depictions--but also the extensive collection of Mote's diaries, correspondence, and notebooks in the Friends Collection as well as important documents from other archives and contemporary Quaker and secular periodicals.

Journalist, politician, Richmondite, Quaker, arts-advocate—these few words barely scrape the surface of Esther Griffin White’s rich life.  Notably, Esther was the first female in Indiana whose name appeared on an official election ballot. Additionally, she published The Little Paper, which was a newspaper entirely of her own production. Her opinionated writing style, along with her support for the rights of women, African Americans, and teachers led some to criticize Esther throughout her journalistic career. 

This exhibition was created as part of a collaborative research project (Ford-Knight Project) between Earlham faculty and students.

The Josiah Parker Papers digital exhibit was made possible by a Library Services Technology Act grant from the Indiana State Library. This collection consists of correspondence, account books, and business papers of Josiah Parker, a leading Quaker, farmer, and miller of the Rich Square community of Northampton County, North Carolina. It is rich in materials on Quaker life in North Carolina, the Quaker migration from North Carolina to Ohio and Indiana, the anti-slavery activities of North Carolina Friends, and the work of Friends in helping free people of color move from North Carolina and Virginia to Indiana.