Nancy P. (Nancy Peel) Speers Genealogical Papers
Scope and Contents
The Speers' Genealogical Research Papers consist of personal research on the Peel, Speers, and Olmsted families, research on Quaker families, including extensive work done on Cox, Kester, Griffith, and Lloyd families, and miscellaneous Quaker genealogical research.
Dates
- Creation: 1906-1995 [bulk 1972-1995]
Creator
Limitations on Accessing the Collection
Collection is open for research.
Copyright and Rights Information
Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.
Biographical / Historical
Nancy Peel Speers (1925-1995) was a leading expert on Quaker genealogy. She was employed by Friends Historical Library as an archivist and staff genealogist, and she also worked as a private genealogist during her employment and after retirement from the Library.
She was the daughter of H. Lindley and Edna L. Peel and raised in the Borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Nancy Speers entered the College of Wooster in Ohio at the end of her junior year at Swarthmore High School, returning to graduate from Swarthmore High School with the class of 1943. She then transferred to Middlebury College in Vermont where she spent her sophomore and junior years. In August 1945 she married David Speers (Adam David McKinstry Speers) of Indianapolis, a Swarthmore College alumnus. They settled in Swarthmore. David Speers (1919-1968) was a partner in the law firm of Duane, Morris, and Heckscher in Philadelphia.
After her husband's death, Nancy Speers began to work at Friends Historical Library as an archivist and staff genealogist. She retired in 1992, and her genealogical papers were donated to the Library after her death by her three children.
Extent
4 Linear Feet (8 boxes) : Stored in Hinshaw Cabinet, FHL Reading Room. Added to PG 7 list
Language
English
Overview
Nancy Peel Speers (1925-1995) was a leading expert on Quaker genealogy. Married to David Speers (1919-1968), she was a lifelong resident of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. She was employed as an archivist and staff genealogist at Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. The Speers' Genealogical Research Papers consist of personal research on the Peel, Speers, and Olmsted families, research on Quaker families, including extensive work done on Cox, Kester, Griffith, and Lloyd families, and miscellaneous Quaker genealogical research.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into two series:
- Research on Nancy Peel Speers's family genealogy
- Quaker family files, with an alphabetized checklist of names
Physical Location
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession information
Donor: David M. Speers, Jonathan O. Speers, Lindley B. Speers, 1996; Accession number 96.016 & 96.028
The collection was given by the children of Nancy Speers.
Separated Materials
Miscellaneous Quaker research has been added to FHL PG 7, Biographical and genealogical reference, for ease of access.
Processing Information
Ten cartons of genealogical research papers and publications were given to FHL by Nancy Speers's children. A preliminary sort was done as the material was received, with personal letters and photographs returned to the family and books and other publications added to FHL duplicates.
The papers were sorted into three groups: Nancy Peel Speers genealogical research on her family lines; Quaker family genealogical files; and miscellaneous Quaker research. The materials within the groups were arranged alphabetically and stored temporarily in eight document boxes and three large cartons. Series 1 contains personal genealogical research on the Peel and Speers families; Series 2, containing Quaker family files, is stored in the FHL Reading Room for ease of access; and the third group, containing three cartons of miscellaneous Quaker research, has been checked for duplication and added to the Library's PG 7 files (genealogical/ biographical reference.)
Subject
- Peel family (Family)
- Speers family (Family)
- Olmsted family (Family)
- Cox family (Family)
- Kester family (Family)
- Lloyd family (Family)
- Griffith family (Family)
- Title
- Nancy P. (Nancy Peel) Speers Genealogical Papers, 1906-1995 [bulk 1972-1995]
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- SKM
- Date
- 1997
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Find It at the Library
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