Juneteenth, the oldest African-American holiday, may also be the most ambigious holiday ever. So Let’s Talk About Juneteenth with Moorestown, New Jersey’s Ashlynn Conley, a co-founder of the town’s Juneteenth celebration. Let’s talk about an event that encourages us to celebrate – but also to educate ourselves, and to agitate, in the face of ongoing inequality. Join Moorestown Friends Meeting’s Anti-Racism Committee on Thursday 16 June at 7:30pm on Zoom to explore a weighty history and an invigorating promise. Then join the ARC and our neighbors at the celebration itself on Saturday 18 June at the Perkins Center in Moorestown, 395 King’s Highway.
History
New Exhibit Unveiling at Arch Street Meeting House
We are thrilled to announce that new outdoor exhibits have been installed on the grounds of Arch Street Meeting House! To celebrate the installation, we are inviting all of our friends and supporters to meet Quaker history and explore the new exhibits on Friday, May 27th.
A night for the whole family, attendees can engage with new stories in the exhibits, enjoy complimentary refreshments, win a raflle prize, and meet historical interpreters Lucretia Mott, Francis Watkins Harper, Elizabeth Drinker, and Samuel Nicholas.
Let’s Talk About Black Quakers
Let’s Talk About Black Quakers
Join the Black Quaker Project for a bi-weekly, free, online film festival, and Let’s Talk! Watch any or all of the five films screening on alternate Saturdays from 12 February through 9 April, or just bring your thoughts about Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, Howard Thurman, Mahala Ashley Dickerson, Bayard Rustin and/or Paul Robeson to an informal discussion of what we’ve learned on Thursday 21 April at 7:30pm. All are welcome; click here or call 646-558-8656 and enter meeting ID 873 3565 8140 to join the conversation.
The Quaker History of Eastern State Penitentiary
Arch Street Meeting House will be hosting Matt Murphy from Eastern State Penitentiary for an evening program! Matt’s presentation will discuss the many connections between Quakers, prisons, and Eastern State Penitentiary.
Matt Murphy has served as the Tour Programs Supervisor at Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site since 2015. Matt is responsible for creating major programming and oversees the hiring, training, and evaluation of the education staff. Matt is a seasoned expert in facilitative dialogue methodology. From Alcatraz Island to Independence National Historical Park, Matt has served as a cultural heritage interpreter at sites across the nation and has appeared on popular media outlets such as the Washington Post and the Travel Channel.
This program is presented in partnership with Eastern State Penitentiary.
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Quakers in Education: Nitobe Inazo, Elizabeth Gray Vining, and Joseph Wharton
This is the second in a series of articles about Quakers who’ve impacted the fields of education and contributed to global scientific, medical, political, or economic leadership. The first article was published on September 23 and covered Elise Goulding, Ezra Cornell, and Johns Hopkins.
Nitobe Inazo (1862-1933) was a Japanese Quaker who became the first Under Secretary General for the League of Nations. Nitobe was born into a samurai family on Honshu, the main island of Japan. While in college, he became a Christian and later a Friend. In 1884, He moved to the US for post-graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University. There he began attending Quaker meetings, telling friends, “I very much like their simplicity and earnestness.”
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Quaker Farms – Then and Now
Not long ago, a typed narrative from a transcribed letter written by a Quaker farmer in “Chester Township” Pennsylvania showed up in some files. It was dated 10th month, 1725, and began “Dear Sister Mary Valentine, this goes with a salutation of love to thee, brother Thomas, and the children…”