Robert Mara Adger Jr. (c. 1837 - June 10, 1910) was a businessman and bibliophile in Philadelphia.[1] His family owned a collectibles shop and lived adjacent.[2] He became a member of the Banneker Institute at the age of 17 and became its president in his mid twenties.[3] He amassed an important collection of books and periodicals by and about African Americans and donated it for posterity. The "Catalogue of rare books on slavery and negro authors on science, history, poetry, religion, biography, etc." was printed from the holdings in his private collection.[4] In 1981, Rare Afro-Americana: A Reconstruction of the Adger Library was published.[5]

Adger was born in Charleston, South Carolina to Mary Ann Morong, a Native American, and Robert Adger Sr. He had 12 siblings. In 1848 the family moved to Philadelphia and he studied at the Bird School. He worked at his store. He became a director of the Philadelphia Building and Loan Association, a mortgage company serving African-Americans and joined the Black Enlistment Committee help recruit black soldiers for the Union Army during the American Civil War. He founded a fraternal organization and was involved with civil rights groups including the Pennsylvania Equal Rights League. He helped found the Afro-American Historical Society that included his personal collection of books, pamphlets, and other materials related to African Americans and the antislavery movement.

He died of a heart attack on June 10, 1910 and his funeral was held at 1115 Lombard Street, his final place of residence. He is buried at the Merion Cemetery in Merion, Pennsylvania.[6][7][1]

Fate of Collection

In 1906 Robert Adger sold his books to Ella Smith Albert who was the second black student to graduate from Wellesley College. Ella donated Adger's book collection to Wellesley College in 1938 where it became scattered. There have been attempts to retrieve these volumes and those that are found are housed separately at the Wellesley College Rare Book Room.[3]

Legacy

A historical marker commemorates his life at the site of his home at 823 South Street.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Adger, Robert Mara · William Still: An African-American Abolitionist". stillfamily.library.temple.edu.
  2. ↑ Biddle, Daniel R.; Dubin, Murray (August 13, 2010). Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America. Temple University Press. ISBN 9781592134670 – via Google Books.
  3. 1 2 Sinnette, Elinor Des Verney, et al., editors. Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History. Howard University Press, 1990.
  4. ↑ "Catalogue of rare books on slavery and negro authors on science, history, poetry, religion, biography, etc. / From the private collection of Robert M. Adger | Wellesley College Digital Collections". repository.wellesley.edu.
  5. ↑ Jardins, Julie Des (July 21, 2004). Women and the Historical Enterprise in America: Gender, Race and the Politics of Memory: Gender, Race, and the Politics of Memory, 1880-1945. UNC Press Books. ISBN 9780807861523 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Philadelphia's Guide: African-American State Historical Markers by Charles L. Blockson
  7. ↑ Philadelphia: Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection / William Penn Foundation, 1992
  8. ↑ "Robert Mara Adger". blackphillypast.com. 9 May 2016.
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