Quaker Records in Maryland (review)

118Quaker History In 1876 she was one of the first woman students at Cornell University. Graduating in 1882, she continued her studies at the University of Zurich, Switzerland . There she attended her first Socialist meeting. The topic was "The Progress of Social Democracy." The meeting convinced Florence that Marxian Socialism would solve aU the problems of poverty and progress. She eagerly joined the Socialist group, and for the rest of her life worked from this point of view. Perhaps a third of the book is devoted to the development of Socialism in this country, her work for the organization, and her relations with its leaders, especially with the German, Friedrich Engels, much of whose work she translated. For several years she lived at Hull House with the group attracted by Jane Addams. She taught English to foreigners, she ran a small employment office, and she gave many talks on Hull House, the sweat shop, child labor, etc. Then in 1893 the Governor of Illinois appointed her State Factory Inspector (the first in the state). Four years later, another Governor cancelled her appointment. Meanwhile, Consumers' Leagues had been forming, first in New York, then in other large cities. By 1899, aU then formed were united into one National Consumers' League with Florence Kelley as Secretary and Inspector. And so we come back to the Foreword of this book and the thirty-two years work with the Consumers' League. A memorial article in the Friends Intelligencer by Emily Greene Balch gives us a bit of information not mentioned in the book. "She had a 'Friendly' background , and formally joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1927, attending the Fifteenth Street Meeting, New York." Plainfield, N. J.Anna L. Curtis Quaker Records in Maryland. By Phebe R. Jacobsen. Annapolis: The Hall of Records Commission, State of Maryland. 1966. (Publication No. 14.) 154 pages. $5.00. Among religious groups in America, Friends have always been notable for the care they have given to records of their members and of the business which came before their meetings. The collecting of these records for permanent preservation, however, was not an early development. Every yearly meeting must be aware of the loss of some of its record books, most often through fire or the disturbed conditions of westward migration. The records of Maryland Friends reflect both our customary care and unpremeditated neglect, yet they have a degree of completeness which may seem like a miracle of survival. The Historical Records Survey possibly made an earlier census of the Maryland records but if so it was never published. The present guide, based on the comprehensive collection of microfilms now in the Maryland Hall of Records at Annapolis, is a needed and welcome tool of research. In most respects it furnishes a pattern which could well be followed in publishing the holdings of other Quaker archival collections. Book Reviews119 The book lists the records of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Stony Run (Hicksite), Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Homewood (Orthodox), the Eastern Shore Meetings under the care of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and Virginia Yearly Meeting. It wiU be important for the researcher to know that geographicaUy the District of Columbia, Virginia, and a section of Pennsylvania are included. The somewhat complex history of each yearly, quarterly, and monthly meeting precedes the listing of the microfilms. The fullness of these historical sketches is sufficient reason to look upon the book as a history of Quakerism in Maryland and related areas. Many of the meetinghouses are shown in photographs (undated), and a map based upon one made of Maryland meetings in 1790 is reproduced. A geographical glossary, a glossary of Quaker organizational terms, and a bibliography are useful addenda. Since it has been prepared to show the holdings of the Maryland Hall of Records, the book fails to give information which may be of some importance to other libraries. It wül be used by people who may want to know the exact rather than the probable location of the original record; who may want a definite statement about records which are known to exist but could not be microfilmed; and who may feel the need of bibliographical references to any records which have already...