 MARCH/APRIL 2003 (XXXXI 2) |
Norristown Meeting (PA) is now joyfully celebrating 150 years of Friends’ formal presence in the Norristown area. Norristown Friends have held a series of events including an Earth Stewardship day, a presentation by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission on the prevention of hate groups and hate crimes, a square dance, and a play celebrating Prudence Crandall.
On May 18 will be their main celebration, which will incorporate Meeting for Worship, a dedication and meal, and a Friendly Fair, which they hope to share with the local community and with Friends throughout the area. Meeting for Worship begins at 10:00 a.m., and activities at the meetinghouse, at the corner of Swede and Jacoby streets, will run through the afternoon. For more information, contact Amy Mangin at 610-631-0297.
The first mention of Friends activity in the Norristown area appears in 1817 in the journal of Elias Hicks. By 1842 there were a sufficient number of Friends in the area to warrant consideration of the establishment of a separate Meeting. Friends acquired land in the Borough of Norristown, and built a meetinghouse on the corner of Swede and Jacoby Streets. They held their first Meeting for Worship in the new building in May of 1852. Newspaper reports said the meetinghouse was “filled to overflowing” at that time.
Joseph Foulke, noted Gwynedd schoolmaster, and Lucretia Mott, widely known leader in the antislavery movement, were early speakers at “circular meetings” held in the meetinghouse, and a midweek meeting for worship was held on Thursdays. The Norristown Meeting continued as an “indulged meeting” affiliated with Plymouth and Gwynedd Meetings until 1860, when it became a “preparative meeting.” In 1867, the preparative meeting at Upper Providence was laid down and its members attached to Norristown. A Friends First-day School was started in the 1870s.
In 1897, separate sessions for men and women were discontinued, replaced by a joint business meeting. Then, in 1936, the three meetings comprising Gwynedd Monthly Meeting – Gwynedd, Plymouth, and Norristown – each became separate monthly meetings. The Norristown meetinghouse has had several structural changes, and continues to be used throughout the week by Friends and community organizations.
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM