by Diane Bowden | Dec 18, 2000 | Archive, History - RFM, Meeting House
1795 — “At a Monthly Meeting held at White Oak Swamp. 2nd day, 7th month, 1795. The members of Swamp Meeting were joined to Richmond Meeting which is to be held on First and Fourth days of the week, and to begin on the First Day the 15th of this month.” (Valentine Museum typescript, 1795) [See VA Historical Marker]
1796 — Minutes mention Friends in Richmond meeting in “the present room.” (Valentine typescript, 10th of 1 month, 1796)
— “At a Monthly Meeting held at White Oak Swamp 4th of the 6th mo. 1796. The Friends of Richmond through the channel of the Preparative Meeting requests the approbation of this Meeting to build a Meeting House there.” (Valentine type script, p. 254)
1797 — “11-4-1797 — The Committee appointed by last Meeting to consult with Friends of Richmond in respect to getting a more suitable lot there for the purpose of building a Meeting House, reported that they had attended to the service and fixed on one the lower side of Shockoe Creek which is procured for that purpose instead of the other one proposed; and the size of the house extended to forty feet square, which is in considerable forwardness, the completion whereof is left to the Committee appointed for that purpose.” (White Oak Swamp Monthly Meeting minute, summarized from Valentine typescript)
1798 — “At a Monthly Meeting at White Oak Swamp on 5th day of the 5th month 1798: Queries to Meeting — One new Meeting House built in Richmond.” (Summary of Valentine typescript, p. 281)
Mary Winston’s needlework thought to be in the first Friends Meeting House built by George Winston. It was embroidered by Mary Winston in 1806. The buildings near the bottom are two views of the Richmond Friends Meeting house located at 19th and Cary Street.
Contributed by Donna Rugg
Portrait of Hannah Watts Clarke, circa 1840, with first Richmond Friends Meetinghouse visible through window.
Hannah Watts Clark
1810 — The location of the meetinghouse is shown on the northeast corner of Cary and 19th Streets. (“Richmond Virginia in Old Prints,” Johnson Publishing Co., 1932,) p. 32.)
1819 — The Samuel Parsons House at 601 Spring Street was built from 1817 to 1819. The Parsons were members of the Richmond Meeting which met at 19th and East Cary Streets. Samuel Parsons was superintendent of the nearby Penitentiary during the 1820’s. The building later became Spring Street Home for Unwed Mothers, then harbored pensioners, then the Welfare Department. (M.W. Scott, p. 212)
1836 — “In 1836, the meeting house was so badly damaged by fire that it was necessary to appoint a committee to consider the matter of rebuilding…. It would seem from the records that $250 was received toward the rebuilding of the new meeting house. We suppose this amount was in addition to what was raised from the sale of the church property. At any rate, a new meeting house of frame, surrounded by a high brick wall, was built at the corner of 19th and Cary Streets, date not given.” (“Richmond Friends” by Matthew F. Woodard, 1929)
1853 — Description of the first meetinghouse: “Their earliest meetinghouse was of brick, with a graveyard just north of it….In 1853 a writer in the Dispatch described the rude building with its unpainted interior set in a graveyard without stones but covered with eglantine — an oasis in the desert of factories and warehouses.” (Scott, p. 67, citing the Richmond Times Dispatch June 15th, 1853.)
1862 — During the War between the States, the meetinghouse was forcibly occupied by Confederate troops. It was located between Castle Thunder (prison for Southerners) and Castle Libby (prison for Federal soldiers). It may have been used as a hospital, according to oral tradition. (Letter from Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting, 1st mo., 27th 1875, quoted below)
— The deed for the lot on 19th and Cary St. was sold, except the graveyard, in 1862. Three lots in Hollywood Cemetery numbered 121, 122, and 123 in Section L were purchased for $173 n 1863. (Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting Minutes, 1862, p. 218. Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, 9th month, 12th, 1894 p. 17)
1867 — “One building of a public character that survives is Springfield Hall…which was erected at 16th and M around 1850. Just after the Civil War the Society of Friends used this as its meetinghouse.” (Scott, p. 24. Picture is on p. 22.)
Springfield Hall, 26th and M (700 26th Street), 1867-1868
l868 — Location of the meetinghouse built after the Civil War was on the south side of Clay Street, west of First. In 1955 it was still standing and used as the Moses Memorial Baptist Church. (Richmond Times-Dispatch July 17th 1955) Pictures of this meetinghouse’s interior are to be placed in the Quaker Collection, Haverford College.)
9 East Clay Street, 1868-1909
1871 — Management of Friends Orphan House for Colored Children built by Friends (East corner of St. Paul Street and West Charity Street) after the Civil ended was officially offered to the colored churches of Richmond and Manchester. [See VA Historical Marker.]
1875 — “Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends, Richmond, Va. 1st Month, 25th, 1875 [See VA Historical Marker]. Dear Friends: Friends of the above Monthly Meeting earnestly solicit thy favorable consideration and pecuniary assistance in liquidating the liability incurred by the building of their new meeting-house. During the war the old meeting-house, situated betwixt Castle Thunder and Castle Libby, was forcibly taken possession of by the Confederate soldiery, and friends, after suffering much annoyance, found shelter for a while in a private house, and afterwards in a rented room. Before the close of the war the old meeting-house was sold for Confederate money, and the proceeds invested in railroad bonds, from which loss was sustained.. . .“ (Letter signed on behalf of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting by John B. Crenshaw, et al)
1909 — The property on Clay street was sold, and meetings were held, for the most part, in the YMCA Building, second floor. (Woodard, p. 1)
1929 — Friends purchased a building “constructed of plain white stucco. It is quite attractive, because of its simplicity and beauty. The location is good being opposite a small park and in the midst of a very good residential section.” (Woodard, p. 1) This meetinghouse was located at the north east corner of Park and Meadow. (Ulrich Troubetzkoy, “The Society of Friends in Richmond,” Richmond Times Dispatch, 1955)
1804 Park Avenue, 1929-1945
1943 — Friends met at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church during the winter due to war—time fuel shortages. (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, February 15, 1953)
1945 Sale of the Meetinghouse at 1804 Park Avenue at the north east corner of Park Avenue and Meadow Street, to Calvary Pentecostal Tabernacle of the Assemblies of God for $16,750 cash. Friends felt it inadvisable to buy another meeting house on the current market. (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, 5-13-45, pp. 205, 208)
— Friends met In an annex on the east side of Tabernacle Baptist Church ‘ 115 Grove Avenue, or In the YMCA from l9 through 1953. (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, February 15, 1953)
1953 — Friends met at 2702 Grove Avenue in a converted residence. (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, December 7, 1952) This was sold because it did not meet fire regulations. (Jessie Frazer Hartley interview, April 8, 1979)
2702 Grove Avenue, 1953-1957
1957 — The current meetinghouse at 4500 Kensington Avenue was purchased from Colonial Place Christian Church. “The Meeting approves the minute that the Trustees of the Meeting be authorized to negotiate a real estate transaction for the sale of 2702 Grove Avenue at $16,500 and the subsequent purchase of 4500 Kensington Avenue at $l7,500, or otherwise, the transaction to be at any differential of $1000.” (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, February 14, 1957)
4500 Kensington Avenue, 1957-present
4500 Kensington Avenue Deed of Sale, 1957
[Narrative above from: Hughes, Mary Fran (1979). The History of Richmond Friends Meeting 1795-1962 (Appendix – Location of Richmond Friends Meetinghouses). Unpublished. Link to full document: THE HISTORY OF RICHMOND FRIENDS MEETING 1795-1962 ]
by Diane Bowden | Dec 18, 1967 | History - RFM, Peace and Social Concerns, Testimonies
One of the most divisive events in 20th century U.S. history was the war in Vietnam. The antiwar movement gained national prominence in 1965, peaked in 1968, and remained powerful throughout the duration of the conflict. In June 1967, in keeping with our position against war, the Richmond Friends Meeting hosted in our Kensington Avenue building the office for the Vietnam Summer Project, a statewide program opposing U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
In June 1967, in keeping with our position against war, the Richmond Friends Meeting hosted in our Kensington Avenue building the office for the Vietnam Summer Project, a statewide program opposing U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Phyllis Conklin and Marii Hasegawa, representing the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, led the statewide Vietnam Summer Project. (The Richmond WILPF chapter, newly organized by Phyllis and Marie, had about ten active members.) Some Richmond Friends Meeting members were also active in the Vietnam Summer Project along with other community individuals, who opposed the war.
Ben Ragsdale, a young student, was hired to help coordinate the program, which had groups in Norfolk, Hampton, Northern Virginia, Charlottesville, Lexington, Roanoke and Farmville. Ben recalls doing a lot of moving around the state. He indicates that the college campuses were not as active as they were later because it was the summer and students were not in attendance. He also recalls receiving a small paycheck every two weeks.
The Vietnam Summer Project attempted to host a peaceful antiwar rally at the Richmond War Memorial but was denied a permit. The ACLU filed an injunction against the ruling, which found them before the newly installed Judge Mehrige in federal court. Judge Mehrige told them that it was a constitutional issue and refused an injunction until the case could be heard in federal court. When Phyllis and Marii protested that this was a one summer’s protest project and the convocation was to be the end of it, Judge Mehrige told them that he was certain there were enough concerned people to keep the group alive until the case could receive a proper hearing. Bob Conklin recalls that while the Judge was in favor of granting the permit, he delayed the opinion in part because of his newness on the bench and the public controversy over the war itself. The 1967 peace rally was held instead at Union Seminary. The court eventually ruled in favor of the Vietnam Summer Project and the peace rally at the War Memorial finally happened a year later with several hundred in attendance.
Minutes of the Richmond Friends Meeting show that the City of Richmond intervened in the Vietnam Summer Project by sending a letter to Meeting, arguing that we did not have a permit for allowing our building to be used for such a purpose. Since the Meeting had for years allowed numerous groups supporting a wide variety of social issues to use RFM for meetings and office space, we can conjecture that this time the city objected because the war was so divisive in the public mind. The Business Meeting though simply agreed to pay for the permit. Ben Ragsdale and Marii Hasegawa do not recall ever knowing about the permit issue so it may well be that the Meeting quietly went ahead and did their part to help the project without concerning others.
RFM member Peg Spangenthal recalls that her husband Art, who served in Italy in World War II, offered counseling to young men concerned about the draft. She remembers hosting groups at their home, where materials were distributed and young men role-played the offered advice. We believe that Jules Arginteanu from the Meeting also offered draft counseling.
Other project activists spoke to church and college groups and responded to media inquiries about why the war in Vietnam was wrong. Bob Conklin recalls attending a meeting at the Unitarian church, where right-wingers blocked the entrance and the hallways, pushing their cameras to within inches of antiwar activist faces before blinding them with flashes. The right-wingers were anxious to rough it up and antiwar activists expected worse. During the meeting, Bob recalls that the debate centered on who eventually should govern Vietnam. A woman, sensing that Phyllis Conklin would favor the Communists, asked, ” Who is there but the Communists to give it to?” Phyllis’s response was “Why, to the people, of course.” As a result, antiwar activists were not hassled on the way out.
Later the police planted an “informer” in the project. “Ed,” as he was known, was apparently a little too enthusiastic about his new mission. He was very anxious to help with mailings, because he wanted to obtain the WILPF mailing list. Organizers were able to put him off and give him inconsequential jobs. Later that year at a City Hall demonstration, members of the group recognized “Ed”—this time dressed in his police uniform. They had a good laugh as one after another they called out, “Hi, Ed!” Ben Ragsdale recalls another plainclothesman, who appeared at project events. His name was Ricky Duling and he eventually became “Sergeant Santa” at Christmas to area children.
This was also the beginning of the Friday peace vigils at the post office. For four years, Phyllis Conklin and other sturdy souls leafleted in opposition to the Vietnam War. In doing this, they were called many names. Phyllis loved to tell that hostility changed to curiosity and even some interest and support as the national challenges to the war increased. She told about a man who stopped her toward the end of the four years and said that he had been watching them all this time. In the beginning he thought they were crazy, but gradually over the years his attitude had changed and now he really admired their perseverance.
Marii Hasegawa recalls that Richmond Friends Meeting played an important role by providing office space and volunteer support. She also recalls that the key to the side door was often very hard to turn and hopes that we have repaired it.
Thanks to Marii Hasegawa, Bob Conklin, Wendy Northup, Ben Ragsdale, Peg Spangenthal, Ann Lane and others who offered information for the above story. Phyllis Conklin died in 1987. Marii Hasagawa, now age 84, resides in a retirement community in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She continues to be active in social justice issues and sends greetings to all her Richmond friends. Ben Ragsdale is presently the director of the Virginia Civil Rights Video Initiative. Betsy Brinson is responsible for the research and writing of this short article. Readers who have additional information to share about the Vietnam Summer Project are invited to contact her at brinson422@comcast.net
by Diane Bowden | Dec 18, 1962 | History - RFM, Writings - RFM
THE HISTORY OF RICHMOND FRIENDS MEETING
1795–1962
by
Mary Fran Hughes
Richmond, Virginia
1979
Since joining Richmond Friends Meeting in 1976, I have wondered about the history of my new spiritual family. A sense of our history might give us an appreciation for who we are and can become. Realizing that hardly any of the present active members had been in the Meeting prior to 1960 left me wondering about the danger of our being cut off from our heritage — no one even seemed to know how long it stretched back. (Photo 2003)
My interest was encouraged by Jay Worrall, official historian for Virginia Friends, who generously opened his card files on Virginia Friends’, history. Patricia Hickin, a historian who has worked with the Virginia State Library, likewise shared her historical resources and her enthusiasm for the project. Eda Martin whose interest in family history led to study of Quaker ancestors in Richmond Friends Meeting brought forth notes, books, watercolor portraits, a pilgrimage to Friends’ graves in Hollywood Cemetery, and a deep concern for historical accuracy. The occasion for the history-writing was James Smylie’s American Religious History course at Union Theological Seminary. His insistence that I learn about the broader contexts of Virginia, Richmond, national, and American religious history added depth and occasional discoveries about the topic itself. These persons and William McIntyre read the following history and offered editorial suggestions.
Discovering a history which went hack all the way to 1795 and which was passed down through a single family for about 150 years was breath-taking. With the Meeting’s current Friends General Conference (more Hicksite) orientation, we have a long heritage of Orthodoxy through the lifetime of the Crenshaw family in the Meeting. Our testimonies on peace and reform of the social order have been faithfully lived out as Friends have met silently to wait upon the Lord. From worship came fresh strength and perspective.
Since no systematic history of Richmond Friends Meeting has been previously written, I feel a responsibility to choose themes and to organize them in a way which grows out of the history itself. The hope is that contemporary and future Richmond Friends may gain insight through what has been lived out before. Yet, the focus is on issues alive today. With the current efforts to revive the draft, I have focused on our pacifist history which responded to each war or rumor of war with a peace-making stand. The Meeting’s recent sponsorship of eleven Cambodian refugees is in harmony with Friends testimony on race relations and the abolition of slavery. As we wrestle with our ministry in the prisons and in opposition to capital punishment, we look to our predecessors who did likewise.
May our history move us to “walk cheerfully over the world, looking for that of God in every person.”
Read full paper (PDF)…. THE HISTORY OF RICHMOND FRIENDS MEETING 1795-1962
by Diane Bowden | Dec 21, 1930 | History - RFM
Where the Money Went
A Brief Look at Richmond Friends’ Spending
In the Early Years of the Last Century
The responsibility of a treasurer is to keep careful track of the money coming into and going out of an organization. But the legacy of a treasurer also can be a rich historical record of the values and behavior of a group of people. What a society values is what it spends its money on. It’s true of nations, states, and cities. It’s also true of groups like the Religious Society of Friends.
In 4th month 1917, for instance, Richmond Friends’ treasurer Edwin A. Russell recorded a payment of $46.80 to Richmond Dairy Company for “Colored Orphanage Milk Jan, Feb & Mar.” In 5th month he paid for April: $16.80 for 120 quarts of milk. A few months earlier, he had paid $25.00 to the YWCA to support its “Colored work” – probably its Phyllis Wheatley branch. He also sent $50.00 to the American Friends Service Committee.
The Friends Meeting budget from October 1917 through July 1918 was $981.70. Of that amount, $408.15 was carried forward to the following budget. Most of the money went to support social causes, especially needy African Americans. Some of it went to rent the Blue Room of the YMCA where the Friends met: $2.50 a week. But substantially more than half the actual expenditures of the Meeting were to charity and in support of humanitarian causes.
There were few contributions from members: only an occasional sum for some specific project or group like the Board of Foreign Missions. The Meeting had invested funds in loans secured by real estate: either mortgages or what we now might call home equity loans. The interest supported the operating expenditures.
1918 brought the end of World War I. Friends almost immediately began to support various refugee projects, recognizing the enormous ruin that had been done to property, economies, and human lives. Treasurer Katherine Ricks carried on Friends’ support of local social programs. But she also paid $75.00 for Syrian relief in 1st month, 1919. In the next several months, Friends contributed money to help German and Austrian children and “Sufferers in Near East.” The Meeting also placed advertisements in the Times-Dispatch seeking contributions to these causes from the general public. Soon the needy of Russia and Armenia were added to the list.
1918 also was the year in which a virulent strain of influenza struck the United States, killing thousands. The Meeting contributed funds for the “Nurses Settlement during epidemic,” probably a temporary headquarters for nurses trying to contain the virus.
In 6th month 1920, the Meeting contributed $25.00 to the American Union Against Militarism. The organization is still around. Today, it is known as the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU.
After 1921, the treasurers’ entries become much less neat and much more sketchy. It’s difficult to know what is happening but the Meeting still paid rent to the YMCA. No expenditures are recorded for milk for the Colored Orphanage or to support the Phyllis Wheatley branch of the YWCA. Nor are there expenditures for international relief.
But on October 31, 1929, the Meeting paid $17,002.45 to the Trustees of the Christian Science Church to purchase a building at the corner of Park and Meadow in Richmond. From that point on, expenditures are recorded for coal, wood, electricity, and water.
Richmond Friends have had a Meeting House ever since, except for a period during World War II when Friends rented worship space at the YMCA and Covenant Presbyterian Church in order to conserve scarce fuel. It is interesting that the Meeting bought a building in 1929 for $17,000 and then bought another, its present Meeting House, for the an almost identical amount in 1957.
The purchase in 1929 came as the nation slipped into the Great Depression. There is little record in the treasurers’ accounts of the great suffering of that time.
But there is one record. On the 8th day of 5th month, 1930, the treasurer noted simply:
“Money given a stranger – $2.50.”
Contributed by Gordon Davies
* * * *
Springfield Hall, 26th and M (700 26th Street), 1867-1868
9 East Clay Street, 1868-1909
1804 Park Avenue, 1929-1945
2702 Grove Avenue, 1953-1957
4500 Kensington Avenue, 1957-present