Research in Progress

Research in Progress Prepared by Mary Ellen Chijioke and Claire B. Shetter Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081 Women's studies continue to be a fertile breeding ground for Quaker history topics, and a number of researchers are working on topics relating to gender roles in the Society of Friends. Phyllis Mack of Rutgers University is preparing a book on "Gender and spirituality in 17th-century Quakerism." Her address is 334 Graham St., Highland Park, NJ 08904. Rebecca Larson, a Fellow of the Philadelphia Center for Early American Studies, is writing her Harvard doctoral dissertation on "Quaker women ministers, 1700-1775, in the AngloAmerican world." During her field studies, she can be reached at 615 North Chester Rd. , Swarthmore, PA 19081 . Covering the next century, Carole Spencer, a graduate student at Western Evangelical Seminary, is studying 19th-century Gurneyite Quaker women ministers and their contributions to social reform. Her mailing address is 15770 S. Beaver Glen Dr., Oregon City, OR 97045. Alison M. Newby, a doctoral candidate at Manchester University (address: 12 Deanbank Ave., Burnage, Manchester MI9 2E2, England) finds Quakers very important in all aspects of her research on "Religious choices of women in the antebellum period." Margaret Hope Bacon, of 1726 Addison St., Philadelphia, PA 19146, continues her interest in women in her study of Quaker women's journals. Depending on the results of her research, she hopes to produce either a book or a set of extracts. Writing for a younger audience, Nancy W. Bennett of the Institute of Children's Literature has been researching the lives of young Quaker girls to find a suitable true incident to serve as the basis for a short story. Her address is 421 Hardscrabble Rd., Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510. The feminist theme is continued in the appearance of Lucretia Mott as the most popular biographee. Sally M. Davis, a graduate student who can be reached at 1352 G Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003, is "reworking Hare's biography from a feminist perspective." Also in the capital area, Jen Batchelder, a graduate student at George Washington University, is studying Mott's personal correspondence with her family. Her address is 10414 Inwood Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20902. Douglas Gwyn of Pendle Hill (Wallingford, PA 19086) is conducting research for a book on early Friends and politics. Elaine J. Crauderueff, of 306 Bailey Rd., Rosemont, PA 19010, is preparing a Pendle Hill pamphlet on "War Taxes: Experiences of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Quakers through the American Revolution," based on her 1986 MA thesis in Religious Studies for Villanova University. Teruyasu Tamura of Chukyo University in Japan has been a visiting scholar at Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College conducting research on the influence of Quakerism on American culture and especially American literature. He has been looking at the work of Penn, Woolman, Cooper, Emerson , Whitman, and Elizabeth Gray Vining, among others. He hopes to produce a series of articles for the Japanese journals of English studies, as well as a general book. He can be reached locally at 3 Dartmouth Court, Swarthmore , PA 19081. His permanent address is 626-1 Nishihino-cho, Yokkaichishi , Mie-ken 7510 Japan. Research in Progress53 Other biographies cover the full span of Quaker history. Larry Ingle is working on a biography of George Fox. This will be the first modern general biography of Fox. Ingle is on the faculty of the University of Tennessee and can be reached at 1106 Collins Circle, Chattanooga, TN 37411. J. Henriette Louis is preparing a biography of William Penn for the major French publisher Gallimard. Her address is 28 place St. Gilles, 91150 Etampes, France. For the nineteenth century, Beverly Weaver is researching Joseph Wharton and especially his New Jersey ventures, family, and Batsto Village for the State of New Jersey's New Jersey Heritage Program (DEP, CN404, Trenton, NJ 80625). Coming to the early twentieth century, Madeline Gaudioso is preparing her MA thesis for San Jose State University on Helen Marot. She can be reached by mail at 15941 Linda Ave., Los Gatos, CA 95030. The chronology is completed with David M. Kennedy's research for a biography of Courtney Smith, President of Swarthmore College from...