by Diane Bowden | Sep 16, 2005 | Archive, Writings - RFM
Responding to
The Baltimore Yearly Meeting
9th Month Query
by Ron Lee, RFM Ministry and Worship Committee
Do you promote social justice and make your life a testimony to fair dealing?
The growth I am currently experiencing with this area relates to feeling the need to be more thorough in my thoughts, words, and deeds. I give financial support to organizations that advocate for social justice and I strive to “live simply, that others might be able to simply live”. One of my principal concerns is about the amount of resources that we consume as American citizens, as compared to the rest of the world. In our home life, we are currently taking an inventory of the number of things that we acquire, in excess of what we really need. We are also striving to support businesses and vendors that practice fairness in hiring, compensation, and treatment of employees. It has been rewarding to take time to worship on these ideas, and to lay out concrete actions to promote social justice. These are simple actions that could have a great impact if the numbers of practitioners were to grow. Write letters to legislators encouraging the support of laws to increase fairness and social justice. Write letters to businesses that commit offenses against social justice and appeal to the leadership to review their practices. Notify businesses and organizations that you are avoiding spending money with them, if they are committing offenses against social justice. My deeper involvement in RFM has enhanced my awareness of resources for social action, within and outside of Meeting.
Do you seek to understand and appreciate differing cultures and social values?
If this query were an academic class, I would like to believe that I have an advanced placement. By personality trait, I have always been enthralled and fascinated with those who are most different from me, socially and culturally. I think it is a blessing and a source of my fascination with the diversity in the global village. Despite the smugness of that tidbit of personal revelation, I do realize that I am still growing in this area. Being a person of color and a gay person, I want to believe that I am completely steeped in tolerance and acceptances of varying cultures and social values. However, my prevailing condition (human) can lead me to indulge in fear of the other. My current exercise with cultural tolerance is related to the Neo-Conservative/Religious movement in politics, which feels focused on devaluing my personal existence. I have been coping by creating a journal of Forgiveness and Understanding. In this journal I write the names of people who are advocating for discrimination, hurt, and divisiveness. I also write letters of forgiveness, with the intent being to seek the light in that person, with no plan actually to send the letters. I do believe that there is that of God in people that I do not agree with, in those who scare me.
Do you support fair treatment of all regardless of race, gender, age and other differences?
I strive to live in this truth by preparing myself to speak up whenever I hear statements indicating unfair treatment. This can be as simple as letting my relative or co-worker know that they are inflicting harm by making a race, gender, or age related joke. I don’t believe that there is any such thing as harmless jokes, when it comes to hurtful thoughts about race, gender, age or other differences. I like to speak up in my calm and caring voice. I also like the concept of celebrating diversity.
I believe that nature proves this truth in so many realms beyond the human experience. I also believe that diversity is the source of our spiritual strength in Friends’ Meeting.
Are you concerned for those in our society who are disadvantaged?
I would like to think that I am off the hook on this one since I worked as social worker/public servant for 15 years. However genuine my intent, though, I don’t take it for granted that my employment experience can be the full measure of my care for those less fortunate. I am going to take the personality default again, and say that I have always loved helping others. I truly get a thrill from being there for someone in trying to get to where they want to go. I could surely do more. I strive to grow my concern for the disadvantaged by expanding my awareness of how my life-style may adversely affect others. Once again, back to living simply, that others may simply live. I must work harder to drive my car less. I need to say “yes” to more cries for help. The odd thing about this awareness is that I have previous experience to prove that giving more and taking less brings greater joy. Some my best lessons on joy came from my previous social work clients. People with nothing left to lose are often able to find more joy in conversation, fellowship, and the ministry of presence.
Do you take your full share of civic responsibility by voting and giving service?
I have always enjoyed my right to vote. I give moderate attention to lesser elections on the local level, but am seeking to improve on this, as I grow more involved with issues in my local community. My current effort in taking full civic responsibility comes in the form of participating on neighborhood teams and writing to my government representatives. In the coming year I have plans to become more active in Friends’ organizations that strive to effect positive social change. I have a great interest in Friends’ social action processes.
Do you oppose the use of land, labor, technology and capital for human exploitation or in ways destructive to other living things?
I grew up in a rural area of Virginia and hold great respect for the land, as a resource and as a place of beauty and wonder. I strongly oppose over-development, urban sprawl, and human exploitation. The news constantly covers so-called immigrant programs, referring to fellow human beings as if they are pests invading our land. The real issue is our culture’s demand for the cheap labor that is deemed necessary for the development and expansion of our excessive consumption. In our daily home and work life, we strive to avoid pollution, waste, and exploitation, by making mindful decisions. We apply this line of thought to our choice of where to live, where to work, and what to buy. Lately we are using much care in selecting grocery purchases, trying to buy as much locally produced goods as possible. I believe that small cumulative efforts can begin to reverse the trends of overusing natural resources.
by Diane Bowden | Sep 4, 2005 | Archive, Queries, Testimonies, Writings - RFM
Below is a minute from York (PA) Meeting. They wish to disseminate it to Friends everywhere.
At Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business on 9th month 4th day 2005, the following minute was approved be sent to Friends everywhere:
Friends (Quakers) have included in their testimonies, “speaking truth to power” and “we are all equal in the eyes of God.” We at York Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends are appalled and angry at the present administration and Congress for allowing this horrible tragedy to occur from Hurricane Katrina.
There is no reason why thousands had to die and more will die. The scope of this disaster could have been lessened had the administration not disregarded the many published scientific studies forewarning such an event. It is inexcusable that President Bush designated a political appointee, Michael Brown, who has no qualifications or experience for the position, as director of FEMA. There is no justification for criticizing the Louisiana National Guard for not doing enough when one-third of the guard was in Iraq, fighting in a war perpetrated with untruths. Some of the billions being spent on that war could have been used to prevent this hurricane holocaust from happening.
We criticized the Russians for inept government personnel in dealing with the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor disaster. President Bush, you, your appointees and the Leaders in Congress have mimicked the Soviets in the way this horrible occurrence has been dealt with. Who is being inept now?
The various departments of the Government are equally responsible for ignoring the warnings that this disaster would happen. Our legislators awarded money to their pet projects and looked after the welfare of a select few instead of doing what was really needed for the welfare of all the people of our great nation to prevent this horror from happening. We are only beginning to experience the economic, public health, and social ramifications of this event.
The world can not comprehend how we would let so many African Americans die when those who are affluent had transportation to safety As the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world, there is no reason why we cannot take care of our own citizens.
Our constitution promises…”Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Are these values not valid to those who were not helped by our complacent leaders? We pray that those survivors who have lost loved ones and those whose livelihoods have been destroyed will somehow be helped to regain that happiness. But one of the first goals of this Congressional session is the repeal of the estate tax, another example of looking after the welfare of a select few while ignoring the welfare of all. We the people who have opened our hearts and pocketbooks to fill the void left by the government cannot let such a vote go unnoticed and unprotested!
York Friends (Quaker) Monthly Meeting.
York, PA
Leada Dietz, Clerk
by Diane Bowden | May 28, 2005 | Archive, History - RFM
5-20-2005
by Diane Bowden | May 16, 2005 | Archive, Writings - RFM
Queries: “Do you make your home a place of affection where God’s presence is felt? Do you practice family prayer? Do you share your deepest beliefs and interests with all in the family? Do you grow together through sharing prosperity and adversity? Can you keep a sense of humor and avoid taking yourself too seriously? Do you establish family standards including the mutual obligations of children and adults?”
I suppose that families and homes are always in some transition but I have to consider this batch of queries in a past as well as present tense perspective. We are an immediate family of three (not counting dogs), with a grown son who is—except for an extended visit at the present moment—living on his own. My wife and I have begun our 30th year of marriage and our son is in his 26th year. He has spent the last couple years since graduating college living and working in Colorado.
Despite this recent separation of distance, we have been a close family. In fact, it seems to me that redefining ourselves as closely knit adults, rather than parents with a grown kid, is the major theme of this period of life. Continuing to grow as individuals and shaking off the patterns of an earlier life stage is essential to prevent families from becoming stagnant and parading through a series of stifling rituals. I certainly don’t know what happens in other families but for us it clearly is necessary to evolve in the roles we play in this ongoing three-some.
Our closeness is generally more understood than expressed in words. We tend to show our love for one another through actions more often than speech. It seems that to varying degrees, we each believe that it is easier to talk about love but committing one’s time, attention, energy – giving of one’s self—is what love really is. Actions speak louder than words. Not that we don’t use the words, too; we just don’t let them take the place of real expression.
Being Randee’s partner and Corey’s father has been the most important work (and greatest joy) in my life. I feel mostly fortunate, looking back. I’m quite clear that I’ve known all along that being her husband and his dad were my priorities. They have been and continue to be the essential meaning, beauty, and purpose in my life. I can’t say that it was one long episode of “Father Knows Best” but thank heavens I’ve been clear about what was most important to me.
I’m not comfortable talking about God – that’s probably why I’m drawn to Quakerism. We can be still and know … or wonder or imagine or question, even doubt. I reject the idea that I could make God’s presence felt in my home life. I don’t think I can make God do anything. Perhaps though, if we are wise enough, we can recognize the true source of our love for one another.
by Diane Bowden | Mar 16, 2005 | Archive, Writings - RFM
THE MEETING COMMUNITY
BYM FAITH AND PRACTICE
THIRD MONTH QUERY
by Bob Alexander
“Are love and harmony within the Meeting community fostered by a spirit of open sharing? Do you endeavor to widen your circle of friendships within the Meeting, seeking to know persons of all ages and at all stages of the spiritual journey? Does the Meeting provide for the spiritual refreshment of all members and attenders? Do Friends provide spiritual and practical care for the elderly, the lonely, and others with special needs?”
My personal experience of the RFM community began in 1982, when a Friend (friend) who knew I was struggling in my spiritual journey brought me to Meeting. I felt immediately at home with the silent, unprogrammed worship. Through the years, this community has become a vital part of my life
What makes us a community? First of all, it is a commitment by many of us to seek the Truth by participating in all aspects of the life of the community, to persevere through the hard times, and to rejoice in the good times, and to do the work that is needed to sustain us. We have no paid staff, no bureaucratic hierarchy (is that redundant?), no one to tell us what to do or how to do it. We are all in this together and each of us is responsible to do our part.
What keeps us coming back to worship, to meeting for business, to committee meetings, workdays, threshing sessions and all that we do together? For me, it is being part of a group of like-minded people who are willing to take the risk of worshipping and doing business in a way that is so radically different from the rest of our culture. We don’t take the way of strict creeds and dogma and majority rule. Instead, we seek the Truth through experience, experiment, continuing revelation and a “sense of the Meeting.” As is stated in BYM Faith and Practice, “We have a profound, often tested, durable respect for each individual’s affirmation of his own religious experience, which must be judged not only by his words, but also by his life. From the stimulus of dissimilarity, new insights often arise. Each Friend must, as always, work out for himself his own understanding of religion; and each Monthly Meeting must, as always, fit its practice to its own situation and the needs of its members.” However, it is also stated there that, “The Society of Friends arose out of personal experience of God as revealed through Jesus Christ. The conviction that God can and does speak to all human conditions – enabling, directing and working through us – is at the center of Quaker faith and practice.”
Are these two statements contradictory? While we in Meeting don’t usually discuss our religious beliefs, I know that our members and attenders include atheists, non-theists, agnostics, animists, naturalists, secular humanists, Zen Buddhists as well as Christians. I believe that what makes us a community even with all these differences, is our silent worship, seeking a sense of the Meeting in our business, and having our lives speak through the Quaker testimonies. Beyond all these differences there is something in the Meeting fellowship that touches us deeply.
“Are love and harmony within the Meeting community fostered by a spirit of open sharing?”
An expansion of this query could be, “Do we seek to consider openly matters at issue, seeking a loving resolution of conflict, rather than to preserve a semblance of community by ignoring issues?” (BYM F&P)
Tough questions. We have stumbled at times. We have at times avoided conflict and openness to preserve a façade of harmony. We are not perfect, but it is the imperfection and the struggle to live up to our ideals, and to forgive and love each other that makes an authentic community.
When I sit during worship and look around the room, I say to myself, “these are my people,” Each person is dear and unique to me, even the annoying ones. We are here to share our gifts with each other. And so I sit and rejoice in our community and our willingness to be part of the silence and to travel together on this journey.
“Do I endeavor to widen my circle of friendships within the Meeting seeking to know persons of all ages and at all stages of the spiritual journey?”
I only have the energy to know a few people on a deep basis. Being an introvert (is this an excuse?), I don’t make a great effort to widen my circle of friends and tend to gravitate to those I already know. However, my experience on committees and Friendly Eights over the years has given me the opportunity to know a great many people in Meeting on more than a superficial basis. While I may not see many of these Friends in any other areas of my life, our times together in Meeting related activities foster a kind of sharing and intimacy that I find rare in the wider world. I think what I enjoy most about Friends is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously and we can have many good laughs about our foibles.
I have trouble with the second part of the query about “stages of the spiritual journey.” This sounds too hierarchical to me and infers that the more “spiritually evolved” among us should condescend to make contact with those poor souls who are still in spiritual elementary school. Sometimes my four year old granddaughter seems way beyond me spiritually. We must beware of spiritual arrogance. There are no Standards of Learning to determine how spiritually advanced we are. I would like to rephrase the query as follows: “Do I endeavor to widen my circle of friendships within the Meeting, seeking to know persons of all ages, realizing that I have something to learn from each person?”
However, there are those among us who, through wisdom gained from life and Quaker experience can be teachers and mentors to others. Thomas Kelly, in his book A Testament of Devotion, writes, “Not all members share equally in spiritual discernment, but upon some falls more clearly the revealing light of His guiding will (I would rather say ‘the revealing light of the spirit’). ‘Weighty Friends’ with delicate attunement both to heaven and to earth, bulk large in practical decisions.”
“Does the Meeting provide for the spiritual refreshment of all members and attenders?”
For me, spiritual refreshment is the sense of renewal received through the fellowship of silent worship and shared activities. It is the joy I feel when we come together in committees and, through listening deeply to each other, realize how connected we all are. Our committees work hard to provide opportunities for everyone to be fully engaged in the life of the Meeting and to experience this sense of refreshment, renewal and connectedness.
It may be difficult at times to discern the healthy relationship between product and process, being and doing, and each of us has to strike the right balance for our own circumstances. I find that Meeting folks are very respectful of people’s needs to disengage at times, and no guilt trip is laid on anyone who needs a break. Those of us who can’t say “no”, quickly learn (I hope) that being exhausted with Meeting responsibilities does us and Meeting no good.
We do need individually and corporately to periodically ask ourselves who we are and what we are about, and if all our activities spring from and are centered on the “inward immediate experience of the Inner Light.” (BYM F&P) This is done annually on a corporate basis when Ministry and Worship Committee invites members and attenders to give input into the State of the Meeting report.
“Do Friends provide spiritual and practical care for the elderly, the lonely and others with special needs?”
We have recently had an entire generation of older members leave us, either through death or going to (mostly) distant retirement communities. I saw and was part of the Meeting community pulling together to help provide spiritual and practical care for these Friends who had been such a vital part of the Meeting. As many of them became frail and /or ill, we arranged for meals, provided worship at their homes and coordinated their health care if their families were distant. I am now, at age 68, a member of the senior generation at Meeting and will have the advantage, should I need it, of a fully accessible building, and when it is my turn to need special care, I know Friends will be there for me.
by Diane Bowden | Dec 21, 2004 | Archive, Building and Grounds, Business Meeting, History - RFM, Kensington, Meeting House, Minuted Decisions
RICHMOND FRIENDS MEETING
Building Committee Request
Approved by the
Financial Stewardship Committee
To be recommended to Meeting for Business
on December 19, 2004
The Building Committee, requests that Financial Stewardship consider and recommend to the next Meeting for Business on December 19, 2004, a $43,000 increase in the construction budget for the Religious Education Building. This increase will be used to solve two major problems that have been encountered during the early stages of construction. If approved, the overall budget for the expansion and renovation of the RE Building would increase from $590,000 to $633,000.
The first problem is the need to replace the first floor of the Religious Education Building. When holes were dug to tie the foundation of the addition to the existing building, the builders discovered that our existing floor consists of only one inch of a mortar-like material over one inch of gravel. (Apparently they were cutting corners in 1937). This floor should be removed and replaced with four inches of gravel and four inches of concrete. The cost for removal and replacement is approximately $30,000. Labor costs are high for this change order because it is not feasible to bring large power equipment into the building to dig up the old floor. A new floor will solve many of the moisture problems we have experienced over the years–a problem we would have had to address with or without this renovation.
The second problem concerns the elevation of the outdoor meditation area and the need to prevent flooding in the stairwell of the new side door of the multipurpose room. The builder and architect tell us the elevation of the meditation patio needs to be raised by ten inches to ensure that water drains away from the building. An additional step will have to be added to the stairwell. A new retaining wall will be constructed along with a concrete swale to drain water out to Kensington Avenue. In addition, the existing ramp for persons with disabilities will receive a new foundation. The total cost of these changes totals $13,000. (Note: we do wonder why these elevation and drainage issues were not identified prior to construction. We will address this with the architect in our next meeting.)
When we began the construction phase of this project, we had a contingency fund of $30,000 to pay for unexpected expenses. As one can see, the two problems discussed above clearly exceed this amount. In addition, there are other expenses we have incurred or expect that will be paid from the contingency fund. For example, we had to employ an independent, engineering firm to test the steel and concrete at critical stages of construction, and we have asbestos in our window glazing, floor tiles, and glue that must be removed by a specialized company. The good news is that there is no asbestos in our ceiling tiles and glue.
There is some urgency in our deciding how best to handle this situation. If we choose not to increase our budget, we will have to delete something from our current design. The only line items the Building Committee could identify were the replacement windows on the second floor of the RE Building, the new insulation for the north wall, and the drywall over that insulation. Cost savings by eliminating these items would be about $22,000. If we choose this path, we need to inform Century Construction this coming week so they will not order the replacement windows for the second floor. The downside of this choice would be our missing the opportunity to achieve new energy savings. If we replace these windows at a later time, the costs will be more, and we would have to move out of the RE Building a second time. We do not recommend this course of action.
It should be noted that the Building Committee is asking for permission to spend an additional $43,000 only if absolutely necessary. The estimates for the proposed work were made on the high side, and thus, we are hopeful that the actual costs will be less. We are looking for some cost savings during construction in the electrical area where we may have more in the budget than actually required. There also may be more money in the budget for furnishings than needed. Another possibility to reduce the amount we have to borrow is to ask Building and Grounds to spend some of our major maintenance funds to pay for part of the new floor.
Below are the construction and contingency budgets and along with the charges to the contingency budget to date plus anticipated charges.
Construction Budget $440,503
Contingency Budget $30,000
Anticipated charges to contingency other than the floor ($30,000) and meditation area drainage problem ($13,000)
Engineering inspections and tests $6,000
Hardware for one-hour fire doors 8,000
Undercut for foundation tie-in 1,500
Asbestos removal (floor tiles, window caulk) 5,000
Total to date $20,000
In summary, if this request is approved, we are authorized to spend up to $43,000 to replace the first floor in the RE Building and make the changes in the meditation area to prevent flooding. This increase will allow us to proceed with our plans to install replacement windows, new insulation, and drywall on the second floor of the RE Building. We will be able to meet the contingencies we have already encountered and still have $10,000 remaining in our contingency fund. The Building Committee recommends the approval of this request in a timely manner to avoid delays in the construction schedule and increased costs.
Submitted to Financial Stewardship on December 12, 2004, on behalf of the Building Committee by Howard Garner, Clerk of the Construction Subcommittee.
by Diane Bowden | Oct 21, 2004 | Archive, Building and Grounds, History - RFM, Kensington, Meeting House
by Diane Bowden | Sep 21, 2004 | Archive, History - RFM
by Diane Bowden | Aug 16, 2004 | Archive, Writings - RFM
Beyond All Expectation II
In need of companions for the path,
I was drawn by a Friend’s example
Toward Meeting’s open door…
Where beyond all expectation
I found myself at home!
It seems my heart was read at once
By this company of seekers,
For beyond all expectation
I was welcomed as true seeker,
Fellow traveler for the path.
This home, these Friends have shown me
What I’ve come at last to see:
That what is meant by path
Is simply a way to learn and grow
Beyond all expectation.
Grace Palmer
by Diane Bowden | Dec 18, 2000 | Archive, History - RFM, Writings - RFM
By Donna Knicely, member of the History Committee
If you have lived in Richmond very long at all, you have probably heard of the Friends Association for Children. And, as a Quaker, you have probably wondered what the connection is between the two. The following history was provided by staff of the Friends Association for Children.
Friends Association, currently located at 1004 Saint John Street, was founded shortly after the Civil War. A group of black civic workers, the Ladies Sewing Circle for Charitable Works, recognized the need for an orphanage for black children who were left homeless following the War. Turmoil surrounding the abolition of slavery left many children in the Richmond area without parents, relatives or guardians.
Mrs. Lucy Goode Brooks, the Sewing Circle leader, convinced the members of her group that support was needed from community groups to undertake the project. She sought the endorsement and financial aid for the orphanage from the Richmond Society of Friends. It is believed that Society was approached because some members of the Sewing Circle had lived with Quaker families before and during the War and recognized their humanitarian interest in the less fortunate and oppressed. The group was also aware of the financial contributions Quakers had made to the education of black children in other communities.
Under the direction of John Baker Crenshaw, the Quakers became active in the effort to find relief for black orphans in Richmond. Mr. Crenshew was the minister of the Richmond Society of Friends and grandfather of former Judge J. Hodge Ricks of the Juvenile and Domestic Court. The Quakers agreed to sponsor the orphanage project and raised money in Virginia and in the Northern States. On August 12, 1867, the Richmond City Council voted to deed the “Old Orphan Asylum” lot at the corner of Saint Paul and Charity Streets to the Trustees of the Society of Friends for the construction of an orphanage for black children. The building was completed in 1871, and the Friends Asylum for Colored Orphans was incorporated by the Virginia General Assembly on March 26, 1872.
The organization was governed by white trustees until 1889. At that time, the composition of the Board of Trustees was altered to include only representatives of black, Richmond area Baptist churches. The number of trustees was determined by the financial support provided by each church. In recognition of this change, the Richmond City Council deeded the property to the Friends Asylum for Colored Orphans. Increased funding was granted to the Asylum in 1926 following a study by the Community Fund and the Child Welfare League of America, which concluded that the orphanage was vital to the city. After another study in 1929 it was determined that foster home care was more needed than an orphanage. In 1931 the orphanage was closed and the group became a foster care agency under the supervision of the Children’s Aid Society of Richmond.
In 1932 after separating from the Children’s Aid Society, the group was renamed the Friends Association for Colored Children. About this time services began to change in order to respond to the needs of the community. An adoption service was started in 1938 and a program providing counseling services to children in their homes was initiated in 1940. In 1947 Friends Association began the evolution of its current Child Care Program by opening the Community Day Nursery. In 1955 the foster care program was replaced by a pre-adoption boarding home and services for the unwed mother.
Today the Friends Association for Children is guided by three basic tenets: “child care is our business, the family is important to us, and we make it possible for children to reach their potential.”
by Diane Bowden | Dec 18, 2000 | Archive, History - Quaker, Peace and Social Concerns
[Below a transcription of the 1802 Quaker petition against slavery presented to the Virginia legislature. Among those signing this petition are Samuel Parsons (the father of Samuel Pleasants Parsons, whose house survives at 601 Spring Street in Oregon Hill) and James Ladd (the uncle of Elizabeth Ladd, who married Samuel Pleasants Parsons).]
(Source: Miscellaneous Petitions to the Virginia Legislature, December 17, 1802. Archives of the Virginia State Library.)
To the speaker and House of Representatives of Virginia.
The memorial and petition of the religious Society of Friends.
Respectfully shew:
That your memorialists, estimating the importance of those concerns, which must necessarily engage the Legislature – feel no disposition to intrude upon your valuable time, or request your attention to subjects of a trivial nature but where grievances affecting any class of the community, arise from a partial construction of the laws, or exist because the laws have provided no remedy, we conceive it to be a duty, congenial with the spirit of legislation, and due to the House, faithfully to represent the same – and solicit such redress, as justice and equity require. Impressed with these sentiments- and feeling moreover the impulse of Religious duty, on behalf of the helpless, and unprotected – your memorialist beg leave to represent, certain cases of suffering, for which (in the opinion of some of the Courts) the laws have provided no effectual relief.
* Such we apprehend is the case of minor slaves, left free by will, but committed during their minority to the care of legatees – such minors notwithstanding their undoubted rights – and a clear conviction in the Courts of their claim to freedom – merely for the want of a legal prohibition – and on a ground of a temporary claim to their service – have been carried out of the State, and beyond the reach of testimony establishing their title – with the evident risk of being forever deprived of their freedom.
II Your memorialist beg leave further to represent that the practice of steeling, and selling free people of Color, continues to be carried on in some parts of the State; encouraged, we believe, by the little danger of conviction the law appearing to require evidence that free persons were stolen, or sold with a Knowledge of their being such. The difficulty, or rather their impossibility of adducing such evidence, we trust, will be sufficiently apparent, as well as the necessity of effectually restraining a practice which operates directly against the dignity of the Government – and contrary to the interest and spirit of the law, violates the first principles of justice with impunity. Your memorialist represent these subjects – with a full confidence that the justice, humanity, and sound policy of the Legislature will meet them with approbation. It cannot be supposed that the Representatives of a free, and enlightened people, can fail to appreciate the value of liberty, to whatever description of persons it may legally belong, or that they will not extend the barriers of the law around this inestimable privilege.
Interested as men and Christians, in the sufferings of our injured fellow creatures, and on behalf of numbers, who stand exposed to the same dangers – and may be involved in the same calamity – we therefore respectfully petition – That the law providing for the emancipation of slaves by will, and the law, respecting the stealing and selling free persons may be revised and amended – or that the legislature may make such provision for these cases as in their wisdom shall seem just and expedient.
Signed by order, and on behalf of the Representatives of the aforesaid Society
by James Ladd
Micajah Crew
Samuel Parsons
Jesse Copeland
Benjamin Bates Jr.
* See proviso to the law allowing emancipation. Abridgm’t of the permanent public laws, page 281.
II “If any person shall hereafter be guilty of stealing or selling any free person for a slave, knowing the said person so sold to be free, and thereof shall be lawfully convicted , the person so convicted, shall suffer death without benefit of Clergy.” Abridgment of the laws, page 280.
Friends Memorial. Mem. of L. to Riddick, Dupree, Dulaney, Allen, Sheffey, Shackelford, Aylett, Dunton, Jennings, Gee, Sebull, Blow, Josiah Riddick
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 ]
