Friends in York: The Dynamics of Quaker Revival, 1780-1860 (review)

66Quaker History Societies" includes a historiographical essay by Nancy Hewitt and discussions of the New York, Boston and Philadelphia Female Antislavery societies by Amy Swerdlow, Debra Hansen and Jean Soderlund, respectively . Those looking for the inclusion of further information about the Buffum sisters will be disappointed, because only Rebecca is mentioned, and that only briefly, in the essay on the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. The essays highlight the social and political tensions these women faced as they attempted to organize in a culture of "separate spheres" and respond with moral integrity to the unpopular cause of abolition. The second part investigates "Black Women in the Political Culture of Reform." Sources focus on the same three cities: Boston, New York and Philadelphia. Emma Lapsansky and Julie Winch concentrate on Philadelphia , which had the most active black population, while Anne Boylan examines antislavery activity in New York and Boston. The essays reflect on the halting, but daring, attempts at biracial organizing and the emergence ofAfrican-American self-help organizations. The final essay in this part, written by Nell Irvin Painter, rethinks the indomitable Sojourner Truth, in light of the highly charged intersection ofrace and gender. Thè final part explores "Strategies and Tactics." Strategies immediately raise questions ofanalysis ofpower, resource allocation, and participation. Fund raising fairs, writing pamphlets and newspaper articles, circulating petitions, even speaking before "promiscuous" (mixed-gender) audiences are some ofthe many tactics examined in these essays. Ofparticular interest to some will be the essay by Margaret Bacon "By Moral Force Alone: The Antislavery Women and Nonresistance." The section concludes with Kathryn Kish Sklar's essay comparing American and British women at the World Anti-slavery Convention held in London, 1840. Together these books offer some fascinating insights into the nineteenth century world offemale activists. Racial slavery tears at the fabric oftheir society, and in challenging slavery, they learn a great deal about the political and economic operations of their country, and begin pushing the borders of their own commitment to gender and racial equality. Their struggle to live "virtuous lives" in the midst of socially sanctioned injustices may challenge some readers to reflect on contemporary parallels. Earlham CollegeCarol Hunter Friends in York: The Dynamics of Quaker Revival, 1780-1860. By Sheila Wright. Keele: Keele University Press, 1995. 253 pp. Maps, tables, appendixes, notes, bibliography, and index. £35. Membership ofYork Monthly Meeting grew in these eighty years even Book Reviews67 though the membership ofLondon Yearly Meeting as a whole decreased during thisperiod, andWrightprovides us with a careful analysis ofvarious statistics, plus helpful and reasonable explanations of what the figures represent as well as an interesting overall picture of York Quakers in this era. The author indicates that the contributions of strong, independent women such as Esther Tuke, Priscilla Tuke, Katherine Jepson, and Sarah Rowntree was as important in explaining the strength ofthe Meeting as the contributions of male members such as Henry Tuke, Lindley Murray, James Backhouse, and Joseph Rowntree. She provides many statistical tables such as figures on the size ofestates of deceased Friends, varying from £60,000 for the nurseryman Thomas Backhouse to £1,000 for the bookseller Nathaniel Bell, and a similar amount for John Tuke, land-surveyor. One third of the wills listed were worth £1,000 or more. She compiles figures on the age ofboth men and women at the time ofmarriage, the number ofyears between marrying and the first birth, statistics about disownment, of which marrying out of Meeting was the most common. She also lists allmembers who attendedthe business meetings ofYork Monthly Meeting, and provides the occupation of each member. As Friends turned from Quietism to Evangelicalism they became involved in many philanthropic activities in York, oftenjoining Evangelicals in other denominations, instead of maintaining a distinct existence as before. Wright lists 33 of these bodies, not counting the Retreat, the Quaker-controlled mental hospital. She also listed seven schools which Friends supported, including three started by their own members. They provided leadership in some of these concerns, especially in the antislavery movement, which they supported even before the evangelical movement embraced it. John Woolman, an active leader in this movement, was also a leading exemplar ofQuietism. He came to minister in York in...