by WebPost | Dec 20, 2007 | Writings - Quaker Bibliography
Friends for 350 Years
BY HOWARD BRINTON, WITH AN HISTORICAL UPDATE BY MARGARET HOPE BACON
Overview of basic Quaker understandings and practices. Topics covered include the light within, meeting for worship, vocal ministry, reaching decisions, the meeting community, the meeting and the world, the four periods of Quaker history, and Quaker thought. Pendle Hill 2002 348 PP. Paper $16.00
Quaker Spirituality: Selected Writings
EDITED BY DOUGLAS STEERE A comprehensive collection of Quaker writings including George Fox, Isaac Penington, John Woolman, Caroline Stephen, Rufus Jones and Thomas Kelly. The introduction is a thoughtful brief history of Friends. Paulist Press 1984 334 PP. Paper $24.95
There is also an abridged edition. HarperSanFrancisco 2005 128 PP. Paper $11.95
The introduction can be purchased separately. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting 1988 56 PP. Paper $3.95
Encounter with Silence: Reflections from the Quaker Tradition
BY JOHN PUNSHON ”He presents the uniqueness of Quaker faith and practice while also relating it to the tradition of Christian spirituality.” -Parker J. Palmer
Friends United Press/Britain Yearly Meeting 1987 131 PP. Paper $12.00
Quaker Reader
EDITED BY JESSAMYN WEST Popular anthology of Quaker writings (1650-1960). Writings represent a wide range of perspectives; includes fine biographical notes at the beginning of each passage. An excellent and deep survey of Friends’ thought. Pendle Hill 1990 540 PP. Paper $17.50
Beyond Consensus: Salvaging Sense of The Meeting
BY BARRY MORLEY “In seeking the sense of the meeting we open ourselves to being guided to perfect resolution in the Light, to a place where we sit in unity in the collective inward Presence. Through consensus we decide it; through sense of the meeting we turn it over, allowing it to be decided.”
Pendle Hill 1996 32 PP. Paper $4.00
Beyond Majority Rule: Voteless Decision Making in The Religious Society Of Friends
BY MICHAEL J. SHEERAN
Michael Sheeran, a Jesuit scholar, studied the actual decision making process used among Friends. This book is the result of his study and he includes detailed descriptions of the process at work and draws conclusions about what works well and what does not. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting 1983 153 PP. Paper $12.00
Portrait in Grey: A Short History
BY JOHN PUNSHON
Traces the beginnings of the Religious Society of Friends, its distinctive way of life, and its explosive expansion in England and elsewhere. Britain Yearly Meeting 1984 293 PP. Paper $16.50
Silence And Witness: The Quaker Tradition
BY MICHAEL L. BIRKEL This is a new, meaty and inviting introduction to Quaker thought and spiritual life. The chapter entitled ‘The Facing Bench’ lifts up well selected quotations of prominent Friends on topics such as ‘The Immediate Presence of God,’ ‘The Universal Light of Christ,’ and ‘The Spiritual Basis of Peace.’ His chapter on the inward experience of worship is both an excellent introduction and a seasoned examination of centering techniques. Orbis 2004 144 PP. Paper $16.00
Essays On The Quaker Vision Of Gospel Order
BY LLOYD LEE WILSON Essays address facets of Quaker faith and practice, articulating the ways in which Gospel order has shaped lives and beliefs of Friends. Wilson gives the reader both a historical perspective and a contemporary understanding of basics like meeting for worship and for business, spiritual gifts, leadings and ministry. Seasoned Friends and those new to Quakerism will find much to ponder. Quaker Press of FGC 2002 200 PP. Paper $17.00
The Testimony Of Integrity
BY WILMER COOPER The call for integrity in daily life lies at the heart of Quakerism. It reflects Friends devotion to truth, honesty, authenticity, and wholeness. This pamphlet claims that the Testimony of Integrity should undergird all the Quaker testimonies and should become the guiding principle for daily living. Pendle Hill 1991 32 PP. Paper $4.00
Listening To The Light: How To Bring Quaker Simplicity And Integrity Into Our Lives
BY JIM PYM This book is an essential contemporary introduction to Quakerism written by a noted British Friend. Using many quotations from Britain Yearly Meeting’s Faith and Practice and other prominent sources, Pym summarizes Quaker thought and spiritual practice without over-simplifying it. Rider Books 1999 192 PP. Paper $16.95
Faith In Action: Quaker Social Testimony
ESSAYS BY JONATHAN DALE AND OTHERS.
Where do we stand on lived witness, on social testimony? Both in the essay by Jonathan Dale and the short contributions from many Friends, we get a glimpse at other people’s experience of the living truth. As Jonathan Dale says, “The more the Light is followed, the deeper the joy and the readier we may be for the next step.” This book will inspire readers to think about how we live out our testimonies in our lives, develop a culture of mutual accountability, and share the lessons from our journeys. When we say God is love, the integrity of our claim is known by the degree to which it is lived out in our lives. Britain Yearly Meeting 2000 292 PP. Paper $20.00
Faith and Practice of Baltimore Yearly Meeting
Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s book of discipline. Baltimore Yearly Meeting 1988 Paper $13.50
Pricing listed may not be current.
The above may be purchased at:
Friends Book Store
Pendle Hill Books
Baltimore Yearly Meeting Publications
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Publications
![Hannah Watts Clarke]()
by WebPost | Dec 19, 1800 | History - Quaker, History - RFM
Hannah Watts Clarke
(circa 1754–1843)
Hannah Watts Clarke was a lifelong member of the Society of Friends. Her portrait, attributed to Charles Burton, an English painter, was done about 1840. She is shown in profile looking out on what is thought to be the first Quaker Meeting House in Richmond, built by George Winston on 19th and Cary Streets.
By 1840 Hannah was a widow and the matriarch of a sizable kinship group of Quakers who had emigrated to Richmond from Northern Ireland in the early 1800’s.
The Clarkes (Hannah, her husband, John, and their eight children) were from County Antrim, Ulster. The transfer of their memberships from Lisburn Monthly Meeting to Richmond Particular Meeting was recorded on the 12th of Third Month, 1801. They left a country plagued by poverty and political unrest following the Union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1800. The family resided on Main Street between 18th and 19th, where John Clarke worked as a grocer nearby. Their home was only a block away from the Meeting House.
The original portrait, which is done in watercolor and pastel, is in the possession of Eda Williams Martin of Williamsburg, Virginia. The photo print here was made from a transparency of the original portrait loaned to us by the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Colonial Williamsburg. There are seventeen extant portraits of Clarke and Sinton family members done by Burton. Hannah’s portrait is the only one showing the Meeting House, perhaps symbolic of the importance of the Meeting in her life as well as realistic. It is the only known depiction of the Meeting House in existence.
Text was supplied by Eda Williams Martin and is based on research she has done in Quaker records.
by WebPost | Dec 19, 1800 | History - Quaker, History - RFM
James Pleasants deserves more fame than he has received. He was raised a Quaker and served as Governor of Virginia, 1822-25. He also served in the Virginia House of Delegates, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
Within the context of his times, Pleasants was quite reform minded. He was in a unique position to influence change. Through his Quaker father, he was related to many reformers. Through his aristocratic mother, he was a cousin to Thomas Jefferson and related to other rich and powerful people.
As Governor, his most successful reform was the elimination of public flogging in favor of incarceration. His efforts to establish public education, improve roads and attain fairer representation for western counties were less successful.
He spoke out for free blacks at a time when Virginia law required that they be removed from the state. This law was finally relaxed in 1828. Throughout most of his career, Pleasants was a staunch Jeffersonian. However, his opposition to the policies of Andrew Jackson led him to support the Whig Party. His son, John, was the first editor of the Richmond Whig. His Quaker heritage may have contributed to his remarkable personality. A contemporary, John Randolph, said that Pleasants “never lost a friend or gained an enemy.”
In some way, he was only a Friend in the same sense as Richard Nixon. Jay Worrall, in The Friendly Virginian, called him “a Quaker turned politician.” For his law practice, he traveled in a fancy carriage that cost a whooping $250. He held 18 slaves on his Goochland County plantation. As a Congressman, he supported the War of 1812. Still, there is no reference to James Pleasansts that does not mention his Quaker heritage.
Wayne Young has provided us the information above on James Pleasants, a Virginia governor, who was influenced by Quakers..
* * * *
“The Religious Society of Friends in Virginia has long standing interest in penal reform. For example in 1788 of 66 criminals tried, twenty-five were convicted and executed, three imprisoned, one burnt in the hand and thirty-seven discharged. In 1796, Virginia reformed its penal laws so “that no crime whatsoever committed by any free person should be punished with death, except murder in the first degree. In 1799, Virginia abolished capital punishment and replaced it with one to ten years in the penitentiary (operated in part by Richmond Quakers) “fearing that some unfortunate victim might be deprived of life, contrary to those (humanitarian) principles.” In 1802 capital punishment was reinstated for treason. James Lownes and Thomas Ladd, two members of the Richmond Meeting, regretted not making a deeper study of capital punishment and thus refrained from making a recommendation about it to the legislature.” (History of Richmond Friends Meeting, 1795-1962) by Mary Fran Hughes McIntyre, 1979.
Author and RFM member Margaret Edds continues in the tradition of those two Friends’ concerns about capital punishment with her new book An Expendable Man: The Near-Execution of Earl Washington, Jr.. (New York University Press, 2003). She provides readers a clearer understanding of the history and the modern day reality of the Virginia justice system as evidenced in the case study of Earl Washington, a 23-year-old black man from Culpeper, who by his own confession was sentenced in 1985 for the murder of a young white mother. He was incarcerated for 18 years and spent nine years on death row. The defendant was mentally retarded with a 69 IQ (age 10 equivalency). What we learn is that people with this level of retardation are usually very agreeable and willing to say what they are asked to say. His legal team argued that this was cause for his confession. Not surprisingly Earl Washington was a model prisoner with no infractions and liked by guards and inmates alike. DNA evidence eventually proved him not guilty. Washington now lives in Virginia Beach, where he works as a handyman and is newly married to a woman he met through his community mental health program.
This chilling story also provides insight into a system of representation where appointed legal counsel can be inadequate, why videotaping a confession to insure accuracy as well as to show body language is important, and how gubernatorial politics can play a part. Governors Wilder and Gilmore both were asked to assist with pardons. In 1994, on the eve of departure from office, Wilder granted immunity from the death penalty based on new DNA findings but offered life in prison for Washington, who had rightfully been convicted in a second case for burglary and assault. In 1999 a filmmaker raised the inadequacies of the legal findings and the frailties of the justice system in the PBS Frontline series, helping once again to open up the legal process for Earl Washington. A public campaign, which included editorial support from many Virginia newspapers, followed. On October 2, 2000, Governor Gilmore granted an absolute pardon but gave the state parole board the question of when to release Washington. Four months later Washington was free.
Richmonders Marie Deans of the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons and local attorney Jerry Zerkin are among the cast of characters who made up the legal team from around the country that spent years defending Earl Washington. Ironically it was Joe Giarratano, another inmate on death row, who authored Washington’s early appeal for habeas corpus since Washington was intellectually unable to handle the research and writing for such an appeal.
Edds relates not only a fascinating story of injustice but does a fine job in helping readers to understand the intricacies of the Virginia justice system and the improving changes in DNA testing. Readers who are especially interested in the Virginia history of capital punishment will find some of that story also. She helps us to understand why capital punishment is wrong and how death penalty law and protocol can frequently be in error.
In June 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court banned capital punishment of offenders who are retarded. Edds argues that this is just a beginning. “The key will be in the extant to which defense attorneys are able to get skilled assessments of clients and persuade juries of intellectual deficits and gaps in adaptive behavior,” she says.
Margaret Edds has provided a free copy of her book to the RFM Library.
by WebPost | Dec 18, 1800 | History - Quaker
March is Women’s History Month as declared by Congress, the Virginia legislature and the Richmond City Council in the 1980s. Thus, we want to share with you this month the stories of 19th century Quaker sisters Lucy and Sarah Chase, Eunice Congdon and Sarah Smiley (photo left), along with others. These women traveled to Virginia during the Civil War to be of assistance. Our thanks to authors Jay Worrell and Linda Selleck for the material presented below.
In 1862 Sarah and Lucy Chase from Worchester, MA arrived in Norfolk, Virginia. Lucy was age 39 and her sister, Sarah, age 25. Right after Union troops got control of the area around Norfolk in December 1862, Lucy and Sarah appeared in their Quaker bonnets. They came as emissaries of the Boston Education Commission. General Ben Butler, military governor of Norfolk, assigned the sisters to work with 2,000 ragged and bewildered Contrabands on Craney Island, six miles from Norfolk.
Craney Island’s muddy crudeness shocked the sisters. Late into the night they heard swelling spirituals sung, the chant and response sermons of black preachers. They survived severe homesickness. Army regulations frustrated them. They scourged for supplies, acted as teachers, nurses, mediators, counselors, and comforters. When a delegation of
New York Friends came to build them a schoolhouse, they were glad.
By early 1864 the Union armies had pushed up the James River from Norfolk halfway to Richmond. A company of eight or nine Friends came then to set up a Contraband area. The newly formed Friends Freedman’s Association of Philadelphia sent them. By this time the Chase sisters were seasoned refugee workers so they were invited to relocate to Slabtown, a new village for 400 refugee black families, near Yorktown.
Here they organized parties of black men to build a community center, a warehouse, and schoolhouses. Other work parties tended truck gardens for Slabtown’s food supply. A medical dispensary was established. Eunice Congdon from New England headed up the Quaker teachers at Slabtown. Lucy was so impressed with the teachers that she wrote home, saying, “The Friends have already done great work here. They have nearly 300 pupils in their day school and a large night school of adults.”
In 1865, within a week of surrender, Lucy and Sarah Chase visited Richmond. Soon they had a school underway in Richmond’s First African Church, enrolling a thousand black children and seventy-five adults.
Sarah Smiley joined the Chase sisters in Richmond to start her industrial school for adults there. She bought nine young Quaker teachers from the north to Richmond. She established a “Teachers’ Home” in Richmond and very likely was the person who established the shelter for abandoned black children that John Crenshaw and Richmond Meeting later made the Friends Asylum for Colored Children. Sarah Smiley joined Richmond Meeting in First Month 1866 and the Meeting later recorded her as a minister.
These Quaker women were among the many, who were excellent representatives of the sort of independent-minded women the Society of Friends were capable of producing in the first half of the 1800s. Their early exposure to religious thinking produced an ability to clearly define and obtain their own spiritual, intellectual, and professional needs. They had learned to coexist in the midst of controversy with dry charm and flexibility.
These women were not without friendly encouragement. From a distance their enlightened sisters steadily maintained personal communication and financial aid. Numerous northern-based support groups of Quaker women corresponded regularly with their transplanted Friends. Over the years, their contributions of funds enabled the women to focus immense energies into the cause of black assistance, despite the lack of white fellowship found in most southern communities.
SOURCES:
Selleck, Linda B. Gentle Invader:” Quaker Women Educators and Racial Issues During the Civil War and Reconstruction. Athens, GA, Friends United Press, 1995.
Worrall, Jay, Jr. The Friendly Virginians: America’s First Quakers. Charlottesville, VA, Iberian Publishing Company, 1994.
by WebPost | Dec 18, 1600 | History - Quaker
In his Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson reflected on the religious intolerance in seventeenth-century Virginia, specifically on the anti-Quaker laws passed by the Virginia Assembly from 1659 onward. Jefferson apparently believed that it was no more than an historical accident that Quakers had not been physically punished or even executed in Virginia as they had been in Massachusetts.
From “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic” pages on the Library of Congress website.
