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Collection
Archive of Alice P. Fordney
Title
Archive of Alice P. Fordney
Object ID
HC0001
Date Range
1905-1974
built Wheatland in 1828 and later sold the property to President James Buchanan. Colonel William Bush Fordney, her �230 North President Avenue • Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603-3125 717.392.4633 • www.LancasterHistory.org paternal grandfather, was a prominent lawyer in Lancaster. He served as district
  1 document  
Collection
Archive of Alice P. Fordney
Title
Archive of Alice P. Fordney
Description
This collection contains ephemera related to Alice Potter Fordney, antiques dealer and rugmaker. Items in the collection include business correspondence with Armstrong, F. Schumacher & Co., and the Montclair art museum; personal correspondence with friends and family; hooked rug patterns; and antiques sale flyers from the early 20th century. Also included in the collection are newspaper clippings, including the obituary of Fordney's sister Ellen Franklin; reference material for rug making and interior design (informational sheets, books and patterns); several items related to the Yeates School, which Fordney's brother William Bush Fordney attended; several photographs of unidentified persons; and a statement related to the will of William J. Fordney, her uncle.
Admin/Biographical History
Alice Potter Fordney was born June 21, 1887 in Lancaster, the daughter of Ida Cox and Thomas Potter Fordney. A prominent antique dealer from the late 1920s to her retirement in 1965, Fordney also made and sold hooked rugs.
Fordney's family features prominently in Lancaster County history. Her maternal great-grandfather was John Michael, who owned the historic Grape Hotel from 1805-1839. Fordney's paternal great-grandfather William Jenkins built Wheatland in 1828 and later sold the property to President James Buchanan. Colonel William Bush Fordney, her paternal grandfather, was a prominent lawyer in Lancaster. He served as district attorney from 1839-1845 and negotiated for the loan that enabled Lancaster city to build the "water works" in the 1830s. Sarah Cox, her maternal grandmother, was a known philanthropist and for years helped to manage the Home for Friendless Children in Lancaster. Her sister, Ellen Fordney Franklin, was a "pioneer" in the industry of women's knit suits, opening her first shop in 1929 in Philadelphia.
Fordney never married. She kept in contact with her nieces and nephews, as evidenced by letters in the collection. According to notes provided by Wendell Zercher, Sarah Ellmaker McIlvaine Muench, her niece and the donor of the collection, recalled her as "warm and artistic," and "a character." She died April 17, 1973, at the age of 85.
Works Cited:
"Mrs. Franklin, pioneer of women's knit suits, dies." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 10 May 1963, p. 2.
"Accident Fatal to Mrs. Sarah A. Cox." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], no date, page unknown.
"Miss Fordney, Antique Dealer, 85, Succumbs." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 18 April 1973, p. 2.
"One of Lancaster's Most Prominent and Venerable Citizens Passes Away." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 29 July 1889, p. 1.
Date Range
1905-1974
Year Range From
1905
Year Range To
1974
Date of Accumulation
1905-1974
Creator
Fordney, Alice Potter, 1887-1973
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Archives North
Storage Wall
Side 28
People
Appel, Charles Rengier
Bohlen, Sidney Franklin
Bowman, Mrs. Edward J.
Boyer, R. J.
Brenneman, Mary Rue Bard
Brown, Hazel Dell
Chiarell, Fred P.
Clark, George W.
Daugherty, Harvey P.
Demuth, Charles
Dodge, Arthur B.
Embsweiler, Ruth
Erb, Edna
Fordney, Alice Potter
Fordney, William Bush Jr.
Fordney, William Jenkins
Franklin, Ellen Julia Fordney
Gibbons, Alice McIlvaine
Gilbert, L. J.
Gingrich, Milton E.
Graybill, John M.
Griest, Charles J.
Higby, Everett
Hostetter, A. K.
Howe, John
Irvine, Blanche
Kent, William Winthrop
Knodle, Edward
Krone, Herbert B.
Lindenmuth, J. D.
Long, Yvonne
Maclay, Helen Hurley
Malone, Clarence
Morris, Charles R.
Morris, Grace M.
Nauman, Gertrude Colson
Orr, Barclay
Pennypacker, Charles A.
Pennypacker, James G.
Randall, Meda
Rannels, Paul
Stokes, Agnes M.
Strickler, Belle
Wolf, Emily
Other Creators
Muench, Sarah Ellmaker McIlvaine, d. 2006
Subjects
American newspapers--Sections, columns, etc.--Women
Antique dealers
Armstrong Cork Company
Armstrong World Industries
F. Schumacher & Co.
Farm Journal Media
House & Garden
Interior decoration
Letters
Montclair Art Museum
Patterns for crafts
Rugs
Rugs, Hooked
Student newspapers and periodicals
Woman's world magazine
Search Terms
Albert Steiger Company
Antique dealers
Antique sales
Armstrong Cork Company
Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
Berlinwork patterns
Blue and Brown (Yeates School)
Cheney Silks
Cheney Weaves
Christmas
Correspondence
Cricket Club
Dickinson Presbyterian Church
Estate sales
F. Schumacher and Company
Farm Journal Media
Fiber arts
Finding aids
Gilbert's store
Griest Homestead
Guernsey Sales Pavilion
Hager's Department Store
Hershey Fire Hall
Hooked rugs
House & Garden
Interior decoration
Kleinfelter's auction rooms
Letters
Manuscript groups
Montclair Art Museum
Odd Fellows Hall
Olson Rugs
Patterns for crafts
Rossmere Hotel
Rug patterns
Rugs
State Armory Hall
V-mail
Woman's World Magazine
Yeates School
Extent
3 boxes, 37 folders, 333 items, 1,015 pages to scan, 4.5 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
HC0001
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Associated Material
Sarah McIlvaine Muench Family Papers, MS 44 at Archives and Special Collections, Shadek-Fackenthal Library, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.
Related Item Notes
See photograph collection.
See curatorial collection for examples of rugs.
Fordney Family Diaries (MG0539)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Archive of Alice P. Fordney (HC0001), Box #, Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
The kraft paper patterns in Folders 33-37 are restricted. Please make an appointment with the Director of Archival Services to view these items.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org. Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Accession Number
G.04.23.52
Classification
HC0001
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
From the Heritage Center of Lancaster County collection, G04.23.52.
Processed and finding aid prepared by MJ, June 2018.
Documents
Less detail
Collection
Scrapbook Collection
Title
The Annexation of Greater Lancaster, Manheim Township, Book 1, 1947-1952
The Annexation of Greater Lancaster, Manheim Township, Book 2, 1947-1952
Object ID
MG0434_Box024and025
Date Range
1947-1952
Collection
Scrapbook Collection
Title
The Annexation of Greater Lancaster, Manheim Township, Book 1, 1947-1952
The Annexation of Greater Lancaster, Manheim Township, Book 2, 1947-1952
Description
These scrapbooks address the development of Manheim Township. There is a variety of correspondence discussing the boundary lines between Greater Lancaster and Manheim Township and the impact they would have on the community. The books show the debates between Kendig C. Bare with Simplex Paper Box Corporation and John M. Groff with Armstrong Cork Company. The newspaper clippings give a wider community view of the complex problems in developing new boundary lines, including taxes and education.
Date Range
1947-1952
Creation Date
1947-1952
Year Range From
1947
Year Range To
1952
Creator
Groff, John M.
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Archives South
Storage Wall
Side 22
People
Bare, Kendig Charles "Casey"
Groff, John M.
Subjects
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Correspondence
Lancaster (Pa.)
Scrapbooks
Search Terms
Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Correspondence
Lancaster
Letters
Manheim Twp.
Scrapbooks
Simplex Paper Box Corporation
Extent
2 volumes
Object Name
Scrapbook
Language
English
Object ID
MG0434_Box024and025
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions. Please request these items by contacting Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to your visit.
Copyright
These items may be photographed. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-434
Other Number
MG-434, Boxes 24 and 25
Classification
MG0434
Description Level
Item
Custodial History
Cataloged by CRB, October 2007. Added to database, 24 September 2023.
Previously housed in the Scrapbook Collection, Books 33 and 34.
This project was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, ME60112, 2007-2008.
Less detail