About This Collection
The digitized diary of Elizabeth Passmore consists of 382 scanned pages and dates from January to December of 1891. Found within the diary are descriptions of her daily life, including family affairs, social engagements, housework, education, and religion. Elizabeth Broomell Passmore (1839-1932) was born to John and Esther Moore Hambleton Broomell of Upper Oxford Township. After teaching school in Upper Oxford, Elizabeth married George Birdsall Passmore in 1862. Together, they had 8 children, Hanson, Louella, Ellen, Andrew, George, Norman, and two children who died in infancy. George Passmore was an educator who taught for several years in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Rising Sun, Maryland before moving to Oxford Township where he established George B. Passmore and Sons, a coal, coke, and wood supply business. Both George and Elizabeth were actively engaged in the temperance and abolition movements, and after the death of her husband in 1890, Elizabeth became increasingly engaged in progressive efforts on the behalf of women’s suffrage, temperance, abolition, child welfare, and education. For over twenty years, Passmore was a board member of Swarthmore College, and she served fifteen years as a manager of the Chester County Children’s Aid Society. In addition, she served as President of the Oxford Public Library and was a working member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. The diary covers Passmore’s lamenting of her husband’s death and her memories of their life together. She also documents her daily activities, including visits with family and friends, Society of Friends meetings, and volunteer meetings and events in the community. Many diary entries include quotes and selections from published writers and poets. The entirety of the Elizabeth Broomell Passmore Diary Collection, which consists of 40 bound volumes and dates from 1891 to 1930, is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center.
