Students in a writing class study books in Special Collections. Photo: Claire Chenyu Wang '20.
Quaker & Special Collections
Quaker & Special Collections contains Haverford College’s rare books, manuscripts, and the college archives. We seek to collect, preserve, and make available materials which serve the research and teaching needs of the Haverford community as well as the wider scholarly community.
Our world-renowned Quaker collections, which illuminate Quaker life, faith, and practice from the earliest days of the Society of Friends to the present is the highlight of the collection, while our varied collecting foci provide many opportunities for researchers. You can learn about the different locations where we record information about our collections, or choose a database to search from the drop-down menu on this page.
Campus Location
Lutnick Library, View Map
Contact
hc-special [at] haverford.edu
(610) 896-1161
Current Exhibits
Special Collections materials are often featured in library exhibits.
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A travelling exhibition of photographs by Jonathan Moller
Curated by Lucy Corrie-Tannen '26, Thaiana Zandona '26, and Jorge Paz Reyes '24
Lutnick Library Level 2 wall galleries
Our Culture is Our Resistance focuses on the impact of Guatemala’s dirty war on the life of Guatemala’s peasant populations in the Quiche region of Guatemala.
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Curated by Maia Roark ‘25 & Morgan Soutos ‘24
Entrance Ramp Gallery, Level 1
This exhibit examines different aspects of the Asylum’s first hundred years, from patient admissions to entertainment to its built environment.
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Curated by Maxwell Champlin ‘25
Magill Wing cases, Level 2
Over the last nearly 200 years, Haverford students, staff, and faculty have been on the move. In the early days of the College, the railroads and their various alignments were an integral part of daily life for all members of the community. As the iron roads declined, the car took off as the preferred way for people to get around, and with it came large-scale changes to the campus to accommodate the space needed for parking.
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Curated by Mike Moses and Stephanie Strother, with an accompanying essay by Emma Scharff '25
Rebecca and Rick White Gallery, Lutnick Library, Level 1
Paul Bell Moses (1929–1966) was an art historian and critic whose remarkable life was defined by barriers overcome. Moses grew up in Ardmore, majored in foreign languages at Haverford, and graduated magna cum laude. As one of the first Black students to attend Haverford College, Moses encountered significant racism. However, the College’s relationship with the Barnes Foundation nourished his passions for art history and art making, and he went on to become a significan art historian.