1. June 20-Nov.18 1898, 1898

File — Box: 1, Folder: 4

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: The records of the Trustees of the Nathan Lewis Hatfield Prize and Lectureship, spanning 1898 to 1930, consist of the original deed of the Nathan Lewis Hatfield Prize, correspondence, and financial records, including ledgers, checks, checkbooks, receipts, and bank statements.

Much of the correspondence relates to the trustees' investment of the Nathan Lewis Hatfield Fund. Some of the letters document the trustees' first major investment, their 1901 purchase of four houses on Gratz Street in Philadelphia. In a letter of 1907 July 27, trustee Robert G. Le Conte expresses concern about the depreciation of the properties; he admits that the trustees were "rather nervous over the investment" and that they "feared trouble". After the 1907 liquidation of these properties, the trustees purchased bonds from the Canton Electric Company and the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

Also included in the correspondence are two letters from H. F. Harris, the first recipient of the Nathan Lewis Hatfield Priie, and a letter from Martin Fischer, the 1909 recipient of the award. Other significant correspondents include trustee Robert G. Le Conte and lawyer Charles Francis Gummey, who provided legal counsel for the trustees.

Monthly bank statements from 1910 to 1917, checks from 1898 to 1925, and a ledger from 1898 to 1902 have been discarded; the information they contained is recorded elsewhere in the collection.