About the Triptych Collections

Triptych, a digital initiative of the Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore College Libraries, builds on the cooperative model set by TRIPOD, the online catalog that merges the collections of three colleges founded on the Quaker traditions of social conscience and thoughtful citizenship. Originating with a generous grant from the SNAVE Foundation, the collections continue to grow, with new items added on a regular basis. Triptych draws from four repositories — Bryn Mawr College Library Special Collections; the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, which focuses on social reform and issues of peace; and the Haverford College Library Special Collections, which shares with the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College the stewardship of the records of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends. The four have joined in this project with materials that illustrate not only a tiny window into the richness and eclecticism of their collections, but also demonstrate, in various ways, how the textual and graphic images of the past help shape the ideas and ideals of coming generations.

sproul expedition paintingAstronomy Department Records
Swarthmore College

Photographs, documents, and letters detail the Sproul Observatory Eclipse Expedition to Yerbanis, Mexico, to record the solar eclipse on September 10, 1923. Astronomers from Swarthmore College, the University of Kansas, Marshall College, and Allegheny Observatory collaborated on the project.

war we say no!Button/Pin/Ribbon Collection
Swarthmore College Peace Collection

The button, pin and ribbon collection contains over 1,400 items, dating from the late nineteenth century to the present, documenting movements for peace and social justice around the world.

carrie chapman cattCatt Collection Suffrage Photographs
Bryn Mawr College

Carrie Lane Chapman Catt (1859-1947) was an internationally recognized suffragist, feminist and political activist. The Catt photograph collection consists of over 800 photographs of suffrage leaders and events, dating primarily from the last years of the nineteenth century through the first two decades of the twentieth century.

haverford studentsCope-Evans Family Papers
Haverford College

One of the many large collections of family, personal, and institutional papers housed in Haverford College Library's Special Collections Department, the Cope-Evans collection contains correspondence of several prominent Philadelphia Quaker families, including Cope, Evans, Hartshorne, Haines, Drinker, Rhoads, and Biddle.

quaker photoFriends Historical Library
Swarthmore College

The Friends Historical Library digital collection consists of a selection of the approximately 60,000 photographs and other visual resources that document the history of the Society of Friends and its concerns.

flower paintingPalmer Collection
Swarthmore College

Samuel C. Palmer, Swarthmore College Botany professor from 1909 to 1942, documented the flora of Delaware County in Pennsylvania.

Jones diary pageRufus Jones Diary
Haverford College

This diary is a remarkable document of a 1926 trip to China, Japan, India and other parts of East Asia, taken at the invitation of the YMCA Foreign Committee.

hammer and sickleSoviet Poster Collection
Swarthmore College Peace Collection

This collection contains over one hundred rare propaganda posters from the first decades of the Soviet Union (1920s-1930s) covering health, women, alcoholism, collectivization, and industrialization.

peace sign stampStamp/Sticker/Seal/Envelope Collection
Swarthmore College Peace Collection

There are more than eight hundred stamps, seals, stickers, and imprinted envelopes in this collection. The majority of these contain images and/or messages that propagate peace and social justice. A smaller portion promote war or recommend neutrality during times of war. Of particular note are rare nineteenth century anti-slavery stickers and the dozens of stamps created from peace posters drawn or painted by high school students, 1939–1940.