Drexel family collection, Drexel University Archives and Special Collections

The collection contains correspondence, memoirs, genealogical charts, newsletters, pamphlets, family reunion material, scrapbooks, legal documents, publications, and newspaper clippings related to the descendents of Francis Martin Drexel. Includes a diary written by Francis Martin Drexel in 1826-1830 and three letters authored by Anthony J. Drexel, the founder of Drexel University. The bulk of material dates from the twentieth century and is contained in eleven volumes of scrapbooks that begin with the death of Anthony J. Drexel in 1893.

Biographical note

The progenitor of the Drexel family, Francis Martin Drexel, was born at Dornbirn in Austria near the Swiss border in 1792. He was the son of a merchant who sent him to school in Italy where he showed a natural gift for painting. Fleeing from a conscription measure imposed by the Austrian government, he wandered though Switzerland, Germany, and France working as an itinerant laborer and part-time portrait painter.

In 1817, Drexel moved to the United States and established himself in Philadelphia, working as an artist of some distinction for a period of approximately twenty years. In 1826, he toured South America as a portrait painter and painted a number of portraits including one of General Simon Bolivar. He spent four years in South America. While traveling abroad, Drexel learned the many nuances of currency exchange - a skill he would later use to earn a great fortune when he returned to the United States.

After a number of years experimenting in business while maintaining his career as an artist, Drexel finally made a permanent career change from artist to banker. In 1837, Drexel opened a brokerage house in Philadelphia called Drexel and Company. Amidst the turmoil created by the end of the Second Bank of the United States and an unpredictable currency system, Drexel thrived. When Drexel's sons, Anthony and Francis A., turned eleven, he began teaching them the banking business. Both became members of the firm at age twenty-one. Drexel and Company made vast sums of money on financial opportunities created by gold discoveries in the west, opening a branch of Drexel and Company in San Francisco. They were also involved in financial deals with the federal government during the Mexican and Civil War. In the second half of the nineteenth century they played a conservative - which turned out to be a lucrative - role during the railroad boom. Anthony Drexel became the head of Drexel and Company when his father died in 1863. He partnered with J.P. Morgan and began one of the most lucrative banking interests in the world. By the end of the nineteenth century, Anthony Drexel and his brothers had significantly increased the wealth of an already lucrative banking firm.

Anthony Drexel's success in business led to significant philanthropic activity. He gave considerable sums to Christian hospitals and other institutions that administered care for the poor. In the 1860s, Drexel had started to consider using his wealth to fund a school. Under the influence of his niece Katharine Drexel, who would later be canonized by the Catholic Church, he decided to open an industrial school. What was unique about Drexel's vision was his intention to make his school accessible to all, without restrictions based on gender, creed, or social class. In December 1891, the Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry dedicated its Main Building on 32nd and Chestnut Streets. Anthony Drexel died two years later in 1893.

Scope and content note

The collection contains items related to the Drexel family found in the Drexel University Archives in 2005. The provenance for most of the items has been lost. The majority of the collection contains newspaper clippings and scrapbooks related to the Drexel family in the twentieth century. A preliminary index of the scrapbooks is available in the University Archives.

The nineteenth century items include a scrapbook containing obituaries of A.J. Drexel in 1893; memorial books for A.J. Drexel's wife and brother; a diary kept by Frances Martin Drexel while traveling in South America; three letters by A.J. Drexel - one written on the day of his death; and a cash book, believed to be related to F.M. Drexel, from 1830 and 1831.

The collection also contains genealogical charts created, mostly, for the hundredth anniversary celebration of Drexel University in 1992. Legal documents in the collection contain information about the estates of A.J. Drexel and his children including detailed inventories of the estate of George W. Childs Drexel and his wife Mary. The limited number of photographs in the collection likely came from the museum where some of the original prints and paintings reside.

Original order has been maintained where apparent; otherwise the collection has been arranged at the archivist's discretion. The pages of scrapbooks have been removed from binding and individual pages placed in folders.

Arrangement

Scrapbooks
Name/subject files
Diaries and memoirs
Correspondence
Publications and printed matter
Legal and financial records
Family reunion material
Genealogical material
Photographs
Oversized items

Administrative information

Restrictions

Restrictions on use:

Consult archivist regarding copyright restrictions.

Restrictions on access:

Portions of the collection are restricted. See series descriptions for further details.

Provenance

Found in collection, 2005. Most items are believed to have been transferred from the Drexel University Museum.

Preferred citation

Drexel Family Collection, Drexel University Archives.

Additional information

Bibliography

Rottenberg, Dan. The Man Who Made Wall Street: Anthony J. Drexel and the Rise of Modern Finance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.