Format: PDF
Finding aid URL: https://archives.lafayette.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/porterfamily.pdf
This diverse collection of letters, notebooks and legal papers documents various generations of Pennsylvania’s prominent Porter family from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. The correspondence and notebooks of James Madison Porter I, who had a pivotal role in the founding of Lafayette College, make up a large part of the collection. Other portions of the collection include the correspondence of Harriet Porter McKeen and John Ewing (Parker) Porter, as well as various documents from ensuing generations of the Porter family. The collection also includes the notebooks and teaching materials of James Madison Porter III, who was instrumental in developing the Civil Engineering program at Lafayette during his years on the faculty from 1890-1917. Also included in the collection is a report by James Madison Porter III on the “Suspension Bridge across the River Delaware at Riegelsville, N.J., built by John A. Roebling’s Sons Co. of New York…1904” for which Porter was the consulting engineer.