Research in Progress

Research in Progress Mary Ellen Chijioke & Claire B. Shetter Meeting histories top the list ofsubjects ofcurrent Quaker research. Starting in the North, Thomas Bassett (179 North Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401) is using his research on Quakers of the Champlain Valley for New York Yearly Meeting's tercentenary history as the starting pointfor a general history ofreligion (including Quakerism) in Vermont. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Outreach Committee is moving into the visual age: Laura Jackson (Bank Street Court #302, 24 S. Bank St., Philadelphia, PA 19106) is producing a 10-15 minute video on its historical roots and present reality. On the local level, Mary Larkin Dugan (354 Marlborough Rd., Kennett Square, PA 19348) is studying the history ofMarlborough Meeting and village to seek their registration as an historic district. Two scholars are studying Exeter Meeting: Karen Guenther (106 Ambershadow, Houston, TX 77015) is writing her Ph.D. dissertation in History for the University of Houston on "Exeter Monthly Meeting, 17371789 : A QuakerCommunity on the PennsylvaniaFrontier"; and PhilipE. Pendleton (221 3 E. Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21231) will include the Meeting in his social history ofthe Oley Valley region of Berks County, PA 1700-1775, expected to be published in book form by the Pennsylvania German Society, 1994. George M. Whiteside, III (Hornblende Farm, 554 McFarlan Rd., Kennett Square, PA 19348) is studying the social and architecturalhistory ofCentreMeeting, Centerville, Delaware. Scholars interested in the early history of Friends on the western shore ofMaryland will look forward to the history ofGunpowder Monthly Meeting being prepared by Marshall O. Sutton ( 1 3801 York Road, D-3, Hunt Valley, MD 21 0301825 ). Quaker sources and topics figure in a number of current topics in 18th-century social history. Jeffrey B. Webb (5709 S. Ellis, #21 1, Chicago, IL 60637) is doing his dissertation on local elites in Philadelphia and Chester County, focusing on the language ofrank in early 1 8th-century Pennsylvania and status signification among first-, second-, and third-generation Pennsylvanians. With the dissertation behind her, Christine Daniels of the History Department, Lehigh University (Maginnes Hall #9, Bethlehem, PA 18015), is using Quaker sources for her study of apprenticeship and servitude in the 1 8th century, especially the practice of binding out orphans in colonial Maryland. Turk McCleskey (1121 Tienken Ct., #21 7, Rochester , MI 48306), on the History faculty of Oakland University, is doing research for a book on merchants in Philadelphia and Charleston dealing with the 1 8th-century Virginia back country. Outside the academic circle, Susan Vipont Hartshorne (22 Denison Rd., Victoria Park, Manchester M14 5RY, England), a British magistrate studying at Pendle Hill, has used her time in the U.S. to study the sentencing and judicial procedure during the first 50-100 years of Pennsylvania history. Two scholars are looking at Quakers and the American Revolution. Arthur J. Mekeel (142 Decatur Rd., Havertown, PA 19083) is revising his classic work on The Relation ofQuakers to the American Revolution (1979). Stephen A. Marini (670 Washington St., #3, Wellesley, MA 02181) in the Religion Department at 56Quaker History Wellesley College, is studying theresponseto the Revolution by FriendsMeetings, especially the Philadelphia Meeting for Sufferings. There is nolet-up in theuse ofQuakersourcesforwomen'shistory. MicheleLise Tarter (4425 Osage Ave., Boulder, CO 80303) is doing her dissertation for the University ofColorado on 17th- and 18th-century Quaker women's autobiographical writings. Elsa F. Glimes (22566 Fifth St., Hayward, CA 94541), Professor Emerita atCalifornia State University, Hayward, is using the Cadbury Scholarship at Pendle Hill to edit the letters ofMargaret Fell for publication. Hard though it may be to believe, this will be the first time this has been done! Richard Sweterlitsch, faculty member in the Department ofEnglish, University ofVermont (Burlington, VT 05405-01 14) is working on a biography of Sarah Norcliffe Cleghom. Moving from the personal to the topical side of women's studies, Stephen A. Bonnie (73 1 6 Bryan St., Philadelphia, PA 1 91 1 9), Director ofAdmissions at Penn Charter School, is doing his dissertation in History for Temple University on the history of women's education in Philadelphia, especially in Friends' schools. Bonnie S. Anderson (433 West 21st St., New York, NY 1001 1), faculty member at Brooklyn...