Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

Quakers & Quakerism

Quakers in Education: Elise M. Boulding, Ezra Cornell, and Johns Hopkins

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Quaker education has always been grounded in basic principles of the Religious Society of Friends. Each child has that of God within, and Friends’ education is centered in truth, practical learning, scientific inquiry, simplicity, and concern for civic society.

Quakers have a long history of questioning power and engaging in social action for human rights and peace. Today, many Quaker schools or Quaker affiliated institutions of higher education frame their learning environments with social or civic responsibilities and define community expectations through the lens of Friends’ values while still honoring the individual.

As the United States grew from colony to nation, the Quakers advocated for and delivered universal pubic education in Pennsylvania, built colleges, and created private Quaker secondary and elementary schools. The motto of the William Penn Charter School; “Good Instruction is Better than Riches” dates back to its founding in 1689 and still serves to describe Friends’ fundamental belief that knowledge outperforms wealth over time.

In the United States, Quakers were key to the founding of Haverford College (Pennsylvania), Guilford College (North Carolina,) Earlham College (Indiana), Swarthmore College (Pennsylvania), Johns Hopkins University (Maryland), Cornell University (New York), and the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania). All that does not mean that Quakers were perfect. As we see in the stories below, the were human and also strongly influenced by their own time and place.

[Read more…] about Quakers in Education: Elise M. Boulding, Ezra Cornell, and Johns Hopkins

Historic Quaker Treasures Added to Unprecedented Digital Archival Effort

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18th century manumissions and 17th century burial records are among tens of thousands of early Quaker documents recently added to a major digitization project spearheaded by Christ Church Preservation Trust. Contributed by Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges, these records will be available to free online access for the first time.

The “Digitizing Philadelphia’s Historic Congregational Records” project began two years ago, when the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) awarded a Hidden Collections grant to Christ Church Preservation Trust. The $385,000 award — funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation — allowed the Trust to digitize the records of eleven of Philadelphia’s historic congregations, including the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Gloria Dei, Christ Church, Mikveh Israel, the First, Second and Third Presbyterian Churches, St. Paul’s and St. Peter’s Episcopal Churches, St. George’s Methodist Church and the First Baptist Church. [Read more…] about Historic Quaker Treasures Added to Unprecedented Digital Archival Effort

Friends Then and Now, Connecting to the Source of Spirit

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Photograph – A View of Pendle Hill from the 2012 Quaker Pilgrimage

Following worship, a Land Acknowledgment by S. Boone O’ Scheyichbi, and a brief meeting for business, PYM’s keynote speaker, Marcelle Martin, welcomed 144 Friends of all ages to an evening of  spiritual programming on Wednesday, July 29th.

She began her presentation by inviting the assembled community into a deeper relationship with the Faith. She acknowledged an apprehension in leading a virtual session with so many numbers of PYM Friends. However, by looking at the evening differently—through the perspective that God wants to reach us—this relaxes the heart. She noted that for her and for gathered Friends, Spirit can have a way of opening the self to a keen sense of possibility and connection—all through God’s love and power. [Read more…] about Friends Then and Now, Connecting to the Source of Spirit

Willits Book Trust Participates in A Community Reading of Frederick Douglass’ July 4 Speech

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As a representative of the Willits Book Trust Committee, a grantmaking group of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Lisa Stewart Garrison, a member of Greenwich Friends Meeting in Salem Quarter, was invited to take part in a community reading of Frederick Douglass’ “4th of July Speech” sponsored by the National Park Service and the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

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Quaker Nobel Prize Winners: Emily Greene Balch, Philip Noel-Baker, Joseph Taylor, William Vickrey

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The Nobel Prize was created through under Alfred Nobel’s November 1895 will. The bulk of Nobel’s fortune endowed a novel effort to award prizes in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace, and the inaugural award was made in 1901.

Friends throughout history have made significant contributions in the fields of science, medicine, peace, art, manufacturing and industry, and economics (to name a few). Some of these Quakers, like Henry Cadbury–who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Quaker relief work done through AFSC–are well known to Quakers today. [Read more…] about Quaker Nobel Prize Winners: Emily Greene Balch, Philip Noel-Baker, Joseph Taylor, William Vickrey

Black Lives Matter: Quaker Schools Share Powerful Messages and Resources

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Over the past week, people have been assembling in peace to express grief and voice concern over police brutality and racism in the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky; and Ahmaud Arbery in Southeastern Georgia.

Like many monthly meetings, Friends School communities were deeply affected by these issues. As a result, school administrations and trustees at schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware published powerful messages on their websites that were centered in the Quaker belief that there is that of God in everyone and Friends’ testimony of Equality. These have been basic tenets of the faith since the time of Margaret Fell and George Fox.

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Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust Welcomes Sean Connolly as Executive Director

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The Board of Trustees of Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust is pleased to announce the appointment of Sean Connolly as its new Executive Director, beginning June 9, 2020.

Sean comes to the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust from Pennsbury Manor, where he oversaw the Education Department. Formerly, he was the Assistant Director for Historic Philadelphia Inc.’s Once Upon A Nation program and the Executive Director of the Manayunk Theatre Company. He has also taught in the Department of History at Drexel University. [Read more…] about Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust Welcomes Sean Connolly as Executive Director

Quaker Farms – Then and Now

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Not long ago, a typed narrative from a transcribed letter written by a Quaker farmer in “Chester Township” Pennsylvania showed up in some files. It was dated 10th month, 1725, and began “Dear Sister Mary Valentine, this goes with a salutation of love to thee, brother Thomas, and the children…”

[Read more…] about Quaker Farms – Then and Now

News from 1652 Country, England

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This story was adapted from an email distributed by Terry Winterton, the Friend in Residence at Glenthorne’s guest house in Grasmere, Great Britain. Anyone who has read William Wordsworth will know that the walks, hillsides, and lakes in this region were powerful sources of inspiration for Wordsworth’s poetry. They also charm Quaker travelers seeking to access Pendle Hill, Swarthmore Hall, and the rural country roads and fells (mountains and hills) walked by George Fox in 1652. All are featured in this short film. (Interested educators can teach this history to children though Faith & Play Stories on George Fox and Margaret Fell.) The region also serves international hikers and nature lovers from around the world.

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Women Quaker Artists: Dame Judi Dench, Bonnie Raitt, Sandra Boynton and Signe Wilkinson

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Today, Quakers are known to be actively involved in the creative and performing arts community; they are artists, actors, musicians, and lend their meetinghouses for art shows and performances.

It wasn’t always like this–George Fox (whose powerful vocal ministry sparked the Quaker faith in 1652) was against ornamentation in religion and viewed it as a distraction. Theater, dance, and musical performances were seen as leading Friends away from an investment in faith and virtuous reflection.

Over the years, that reality has evolved. Among many respected artists, Quaker artists have made a pronounced impact in their fields with their artistic abilities.

[Read more…] about Women Quaker Artists: Dame Judi Dench, Bonnie Raitt, Sandra Boynton and Signe Wilkinson

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