Founded by Friends : the Quaker heritage of fifteen - Scarecrow Press

Haverford College 9
monographs, all of which are to be found in the Quaker Collection at
Haverford. In addition, in 1980, a vast collection of Rufus Jones’s manuscripts
was added. An inventory of the collection reveals the variety and
output of his mind.
Henry J. Cadbury (1883–1974) was another of Sharpless’s extraordinary
faculty choices. Cadbury graduated from Haverford in 1903, received his
MA from the college in 1904, and was hired to teach Greek, religion, and
biblical literature in 1910. In October 1918, already a well-known scholar,
he wrote a letter to the Public Ledger deploring the “orgy of hate” expressed
in the American press toward Germany, stating that the American
nation itself was the greatest obstacle to peace and least worthy of it, that
it lusted for vengeance and blood, while what was needed was moderation
and fair play. Responses from various constituent groups at Haverford
ranged from a request for Cadbury’s resignation to support for his
pacifism and for academic freedom of expression. Cadbury left the college
but some decades later renewed his ties. On his death in 1974, Haverford
received a collection of his papers consisting of a wealth of articles, books,
book reviews, Bible course notes, extensive correspondence, and lectures.
Isaac Sharpless also brought to campus the mathematician Frank Morley.
His three sons, Christopher, Felix, and Frank Vigor Morley, all graduated
from Haverford and were selected as Rhodes scholars. Christopher
Morley reached the pinnacle of his popularity as a writer in the 1930s and
1940s. Erudite, witty, and quintessentially versatile, he probed every literary
genre. By a series of gifts, Haverford has acquired one of the largest
collections (over 3,000 items) of Morley manuscript materials extant.
Through these materials, it is possible to glean not only the events of Morley’s
life and his lifelong interest in Haverford but also, quite evidently,
the way in which his mind worked. This is often most clear in the letters
he wrote—and he was a prolific letter writer.
Another famous Haverfordian from the Sharpless era was the artist Maxfield
Parrish, who matriculated at Haverford College in 1888 when art was
not a part of the curriculum. As a freshman, Parrish was a member of the
“Classical Section” of study (there was also a “Scientific Section” and an
“Engineering Section” as well as an undefined or “Special Section”). By his
junior year, Parrish was in the Special Section along with six other members
of the class of 1892. While a student, Parrish was already creating some of
the artwork for which he would become famous. Visitors who have seen
Parrish’s extraordinarily illustrated chemistry notebook from 1890 have
been awed by it. No less creative are the place cards he made for some classmates,
depicting them by their most striking characteristics, such as “historian”
or “banjo player.” Haverford has received this and other Parrish materials,
such as correspondence, drawings, and even a guitar decorated by
Parrish, primarily by gifts over the years.