Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

History

COLONIAL KIDS! – Everyday Life During The American Revolution

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Please join Merion Friends Meeting House on Saturday, September 19th from 2 pm-5 pm for the next edition of our Let’s Be Friends programming!

COLONIAL KIDS!

Everyday Life During The American Revolution

Step back in time and discover what life was really like for children and families during the American Revolution.

Meet a historical interpreter and learn about the important roles women played during the war.

Explore the games and toys that entertained colonial children.

Refreshments will be served afterwards in Friends Hall.

This event is free, and all are welcome! Please visit our website at https://merionfriends.org/lets-be-friends to register. 

615 Montgomery Avenue – Merion Station, PA 19066

Ye Olde Yardleyville Festival

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Yardley Friends is teaming up with the Gather Place Museum and Historic AME Church to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary and Yardley’s historic roots on Saturday, May 30, 2026, from 12pm to 3pm.

Let’s Be Friends: Merion Friends Meeting Celebrates The Life Of Joseph Price

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Join us on Saturday, April 25 at 2:00 pm for a special program celebrating Quaker Joseph Price, brought to life by reenactor Stephen Pierce.

Discover the many roles he held – as a Quaker, farmer, innkeeper, undertaker, militiaman, diarist, sawmill operator, milestone installer, carpenter, turnpike supervisor, patriot, and engaged Lower Merion community member.

Following the program, guests are invited to stay for a guided tour of the 1695 National Historic Landmark Meeting House, along with the burial ground and historic horse sheds.

Refreshments will be served following the program in Friends Hall.

615 Montgomery Avenue, Merion Station, PA 19066

All are welcome.

Free registration is available at www.merionfriends.org

What Would Lucretia Mott Say?

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A Living History Event at Bristol Friends Meeting | Sunday, February 8 @ 2 PM

As the United States marks 250 years since its founding, Bristol Friends Meeting invites the community to reflect on the moral voices that helped shape the nation. One such voice belongs to Lucretia Mott—Quaker minister, abolitionist, women’s rights pioneer, and steadfast advocate for peace and equality. What Would Lucretia Mott Say?
 We will find out.

On Sunday, February 8, at 2:00 p.m., Kim Hanley, a historical reenactor portraying Lucretia Mott through the American Historical Theatre, will bring her words, convictions, and Quaker faith to life at Bristol Friends Meeting, 235 Market Street, Bristol. Through story and dialogue, audiences will encounter Mott’s courageous witness on slavery, women’s rights, and the Quaker belief in the Inner Light present in every person.

This free program offers a timely opportunity to engage with Quaker history and consider how Mott’s legacy speaks to the challenges and hopes of our own time, especially as we reflect on 250 years of the American experiment.

Feature Film about Friend Rustin Bayard Opens November 3rd

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A movie focused on the life and work of Friend Bayard Rustin is being released in the coming days, joining the 2002 documentary Brother Outsider and offering a new way for the wider public to learn about the peace, labor, and civil rights organizer and activist. [Read more…] about Feature Film about Friend Rustin Bayard Opens November 3rd

Darby Friends Meetinghouse Named as Underground Railroad Site by National Park Service

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Church Creek, MD – The National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom accepted the Darby Friends Meetinghouse and School site, in Darby, Pennsylvania., as one of 23 new listings, from the 46th round of applications, representing sites and programs in 14 states across the U.S. and Canada. These new listings, alongside more than 750 sites, facilities, and programs already in the Network, provide insight into the diverse experiences of freedom seekers who bravely escaped slavery and allies who assisted them. [Read more…] about Darby Friends Meetinghouse Named as Underground Railroad Site by National Park Service

Margaret Fell: “Mother of Quakerism”

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A question that we might ask today, “How can we make our meeting a community in which each person is accepted and nurtured and strangers are welcome?,” is one that would also have resonated with Margaret Fell Fox. Known as “The Mother of Quakerism,” Margaret Askew was born in 1614 in the Lake District of northern England. She married and became Margaret Fell at the age of 17 and was the mother of eight surviving children with Judge Thomas Fell. When she died in 1702 at the age of 88, Margaret Fell Fox had outlived her second husband, George Fox, by eleven years. The Quaker movement in 17th century England survived early persecution and grew as a religious movement in part because of Margaret’s social privilege, organizing skills, care for community, and deep faith. [Read more…] about Margaret Fell: “Mother of Quakerism”

New Friends Historical Association Grants

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The Friends Historical Association is pleased to offer funding to support contributions to the field of Quaker history. There are three grant opportunities: project support, publication subventions, and research funds. All opportunities run on the same cycle, and applications are due April 15, 2023.

Details about each opportunity and application instruction are provided at https://www.quakerhistory.org/grants.

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections 2023-2024 Research Fellowships

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Quaker & Special Collections at Haverford College is now accepting applications for its 2023-2024 Fellowship programs. These Fellowships provide funding for scholars at any stage of their careers to engage with our unique materials. [Read more…] about Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections 2023-2024 Research Fellowships

Quakers in Education: Nitobe Inazo, Elizabeth Gray Vining, and Joseph Wharton

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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.”

[Read more…] about Quakers in Education: Nitobe Inazo, Elizabeth Gray Vining, and Joseph Wharton

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