Notable Women of Pennsylvania (review)

BOOK REVIEWS87 ested in learning about Quakerism, with confidence that the reader would be impressed with the quality both of the personalities which Quakerism has produced, and of those who act as their interpreters. T. K. B. Notable Women of Pennsylvania, edited by Gertrude Bosler Biddle and Sarah Dickinson Lowrie. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1942. xviii + 307 pp. ; $3.00. <<"^TOTABLE Women of Pennsylvania" recently published by the University of Pennsylvania Press is a valuable contribution to Pennsylvania's history. It is a collection of short biographies of two hundred women who have had a share in the making of the State from pioneer days to those of the present time, including only those who have gone from works to reward, and is dedicated to the memory of Elizabeth Price Martin, Chairman of the High Street Committee of the Sesquicentennial Celebration of 1926. The nucleus of the volume was the "Book of Honor," a collection of biographical sketches made in 1932 by a committee of Philadelphia's Sesquicentennial Celebration and since amplified. The co-editors, Gertrude Bosler Biddle and Sarah Dickinson Lowrie, have known intimately many of the women as comrades and co-workers in public affairs. The biographies have been written by various authors— including the editors, and descendents, relatives, and friends of the subjects selected. The productions for the most part are well written and have been scrutinized by a group of historical experts. Sources are not listed, but the Foreword states that material has been gathered "from the documented records, tradition and sometimes hearsay." The reader becomes aware from the general tenor of the book that it has been made as accurate as possible. One looks immediately to see whether one's favorite patron saint is there and is gratified to find her. Far be it for any of us to choose any one of the "Notable Women" for special comment or praise. The volume contains some facts difficult to find through any other known source. The writer of this review showed the book to a college librarian who put it into immediate use by verifying something she had been trying to trace for some time. The group of biographies is surprisingly impressive, including artists, authors, physicians, civic leaders, active workers in the Club movement, and other women in public life. Some simple retiring mothers to whom honor is always due have not been forgotten, especially those who have given birth and training to some of Pennsylvania's most eminent men and women. By careful perusal one also learns of valuable institutions, especially ta the interest of protection of women and children, and other social and welfare organizations which have been founded and sponsored by Pennsylvania 's women. Some of these women have given distinguished services to the nation as well as to the State and have left us with a cultural 88 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION heritage whose influence has carried far. It would have been helpful to have had these institutions included in the index. The table of contents is well done, the type is excellent, the volume attractive, and all in all, it is a work of which we may be proud. It is of value because of the accounts of the labors and characters of our State's outstanding women, and because of the co-editors' evident and untiring efforts in making a significant phase of Pennsylvania's history appreciated and accessible for all time. It is more than a woman's "Who's Who" for this State. It is a record of lives and achievements which have formed an integral part in the progress of the State. It is the story of the women of the past who will be remembered and honored the more readily, because two loyal women of today, who themselves have made contributions to Pennsylvania's history, have recognized the importance of perpetuating the memories of the devoted women who have blazed the trail for liberal and progressive womanhood in America's great Democracy. Hannah Clothier Hull. Johann Conrad Beissel, by Walter C. Klein. Fifth volume of a series entitled "Pennsylvania Lives." Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1942. 218 pp.; $2.25. 1T1HE BEST resumé of the book Johann Conrad Beissel is found in the first paragraph on page 108 of the chapter entitled "Wisdom's Household." It reads as follows : "A narrative of Conrad Beissel's life, however sparkling in some passages and fantastic or curious in others, soon becomes a bald catalogue of the Vorsteher's feuds, notwithstanding the author's unflagging efforts to inject a modicum of charm into his account. In the end, both biographer and reader are obliged to accept the ineluctable fact that there is not much else to recount. Intellectually, Beissel was largely an echo. Spiritually, he bears the impress of Pietism and presents nothing startlingly distinctive. His temperament is the only interesting and original thing about him, and it is the temperament of an unbending, untiring fanatic. It derives its power from the concentration that is possible only for a circumscribed mentality. If we could watch experience blunting his jagged edges and infusing a pastoral compassion, if not a warmth of fellow-feeling, into his frozen soul, this repulsive monotony would be mitigated in some degree. At times a superficial graciousness and affability masked the obsession that dominated his life, but when we undo the wrappings we find nothing but a blade of cold flint, which pierced not only those who matched their strength with his, but also the friends who embraced him. Strife was his sustenance . The ecstasy of combat was his animating principle. He lived for the tension of struggle. His successes were personal triumphs, and his failures humiliated him deeply because in every dispute or wrangle it was his self-love that was most at stake." ...