Articles and Publications

Articles and Publications Prepared by Claire B. Shetter Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081 Several studies on Quaker aspects of Pennsylvania history have appeared recently in various journals, as here listed: "Pennsylvania Institutes Religious Liberty, 1682-1860" by J. William Frost, Director of the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College, an important contribution focusing on the legislative changes which defined freedom of religion, appears in The Pennsylvania Magazine ofHistory and Biography, 1988, 112(3), 323-347. "Friends and War Tax Resistance," also by J. William Frost, was published in the March 1988 issue oí Friends Journal. It was extracted from the author's testimony at the trial of a Friend for tax resistance. Jean R. Soderlund's article, "Women's Authority in Pennsylvania and New Jersey Quaker Meetings, 1680-1760," is a close study of women's leadership in four monthly meetings: Shrewsbury, Chesterfield, Philadelphia and Chester. Women's meetings had responsibility for women within the Quaker community, and their decisions were routinely accepted by the men's meeting. This article appeared in The William and Mary Quarterly, 1987, 44(4), 722-749. "In search of the American character: French Travellers in Eighteenth Century Pennsylvania," by William Pencak, surveys the literature of these French observers, such as aristocratic officers Hector St.-John de Crevecoeur, the Marquis de Lafayette, Francois-Jean, Marquis de Chastellux, and future revolutionaries Francois, Marquis de Barbe-Marbois, Jean Louis, Comte de ClermontCrevecoeur , underground pamphleteer and future Girondist leader Jean Pierre Brissot de Warville, Chevalier Dubuysson, Comte de Rochambeau, and Mederic-Louis-Elie Moreau de St.-Mery, all of whom seemed fascinated by the Quaker character. This engrossing article was published in Pennsylvania History, 1988, 55(1), 2-30. Ira V. Brown's "Pennsylvania's Antislavery Pioneers, 1688-1776," Pennsylvania History, 1988, 55 (2), 59-77, describes the work of these pioneers, many of whom were Quaker: Francis Daniel Pastorius, George Keith, William Southeby, Ralph Sandiford, Benjamin Lay, John Woolman and Anthony Benezet. William C. Kashatus III published an article in The Old York RoadHistorical Society Bulletin, 48 (1988), 23-31. "Abington Friends School: a Century of Excellence in Secondary Education." Mr. Kashatus is an alumnus of and a former teacher at the school. Lloyd Balderston Swift has recently published his handsome little booklet in collaboration with Stephanie Brandes, Bethesda Friends Meeting: the First 25 years. This brief history of this young meeting sketches the background of its precursors in Sandy Spring and the Friends Meeting of Washington, its setting off in 1962 as Bethesda Meeting Indulged, and describes the more recent issues in the life of the meeting. Included is an excellent index. It is available from the author, Poolside Publications, Bethesda, MD. Another attractive history of a Maryland meeting has been produced by Hunter C. Sutherland and the Historical Society of Harford County, Bel Air, 55 56Quaker History MD. The Little Falls Meeting ofFriends, 1738-1988 was prepared for the 250th anniversary celebration of the meeting at Fallston. In addition to meeting history, the second half of this booklet consists of lists of members, marriages, clerks, and cemetery records of Little Falls, Forest Cemetery and "Old Sharon" Burial Ground. Mark Minear's Richmond 1887: a QuakerDrama Unfolds retells the dramatic events of the historic Richmond Conference of 1887 when all Gurneyite yearly meetings labored over the issues of the day and anticipated the establishment of the Five Years Meeting. This is issued by the Friends United Press, Richmond , IN. Three reprints of earlier publications in Quaker history deserve mention. The first is Ernest Taylor's popular work The Valiant Sixty. First published in 1947 as a collection of the author's notes for his field expeditions through the 'cradle of Quakerism', it has remained a guidebook for Quakers when visiting 'the 1652 country' in England. It has now been issued by Sessions Book Trust, York, England, with a new foreword by Roger C. Wilson, and a new map. The second of these reprints is a facsimile printing of A. Ruth Fry's Victories Without Violence, by Ocean Tree Books, Sante Fe, NM. The last is Howard Brinton's standard Friends for 300 Years. First published in 1952, this eighth printing was published...