by Diane Bowden | Feb 11, 2025 | History - RFM, Minuted Decisions, Race & Racism ad hoc
Summary of Recommended Actions for Richmond Friends Meeting 2025 and 2026
- Form a three-person Race and Racial Justice Team, whose members will serve two-year terms, under the care of the Clerk of Meeting.
- Reparations to Indigenous peoples – Form a short-term ad hoc committee to develop a specific recommendation in 2025.
- Reparations to African Americans – make an annual donation (2025 and 2026) of no less than $5,000 in each year to the Friends Association for Children.
- Involvement with three priority organizations (2025 and 2026)
- Education/Transformation
- This transformational personal learning and informational programming is important to our spirituality and should always explore related Quaker history, testimonies, and values.
- Race and Racial Justice Learning – developed by committees and position holders
- Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders – an education program that examines the experience of Quakers with the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.
- Hispanic/Latino Americans - an education program that examines the current work of the American Friends Service Committee with Hispanic/Latino American communities.
- Spiritual Support – Use Quaker practices, such as clearness committees, support committees, embraced ministry, and Faithfulness Groups to support discernment and engagement.
- This transformational personal learning and informational programming is important to our spirituality and should always explore related Quaker history, testimonies, and values.
Ad Hoc Committee on Race & Racism Recommendations for Action/Implementation 2025-26
Richmond Friends Meeting approved the formation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Race and Racism during our twelfth month 2022 Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business. The committee’s charge called for engaging the Meeting in an inclusive and open discernment process to learn what our Meeting is led to do around race and racism—as individuals, within the Meeting community, and within the larger community. The committee was further tasked with developing an action/implementation plan reflecting the learning gained from the discernment process.
To guide our way forward, Richmond Friends Meeting adopted a Minute on Race and Racism early this year. Drawn from query responses received and listening circles held in 2023, the Minute acknowledges that “inequality and injustice based on race are deeply rooted in our society” and commits to “challenging and repairing racism and racial bias in ourselves as individuals, within our Meeting, and in our Meeting’s relationship with the wider world.”
Today, the ad hoc committee presents recommendations for action/implementation that aim to marry the goals of our Minute to concrete actions. We recognize that time, energy, and specific interests of individuals in our Meeting will vary greatly, and therefore the recommendations offer a range of opportunities for personal and collective action and growth. They are grounded in the belief that Meeting’s commitment is not the work of any individual, committee, or group – but of us all. Just as every suggestion received in the discernment process could not be included, the actions of Richmond Friends Meeting should not be limited to those suggested here.
Nor should it be understood that all must happen immediately. Meeting can move forward as way opens. Already, committees and position holders have begun to consider how they might be mindful of race and racial justice in conducting their business and serving both Richmond Friends Meeting and the wider community— they are changing how we choose new books for the library or identify potential contractors, for instance. This mindfulness and care will remain vital to our Meeting’s work concerning race and racial justice.
Central to the development of these recommendations for action/implementation have been the following:
An extensive effort to solicit the views of Richmond Friends Meeting members and attenders during summer and fall 2023—
- We received 54 digital or handwritten messages responding to: Please think about your own experiences and actions regarding race and racism and those of RFM and the wider society. Then please answer this query, “What should RFM do regarding race and racism?
Adoption of the Richmond Friends Meeting Minute on Race and Racism during our first month 2024 Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business (See Appendix E, below)
Three Meeting-wide programs designed to lay the groundwork for developing our action/implementation plan:
- Public historian Ana Edwards delivered a lecture on the foundation of systemic racism in Richmond (May 2024).
- The ad hoc committee offered a deep dive into Quaker and Richmond Friends Meeting history as it relates to race and racism (August 2024).
- The Meeting’s fall retreat included a program aimed at strengthening our spiritual grounding for the work ahead, led by the dismantling racism trainer and yoga teacher Michelle Cassandra Johnson (October 2024).
The recommendations we offer for Meeting’s consideration today have materialized across months of deep listening, study, and prayerful reflection. They are inspired by the boldness of our Quaker ancestors, nationally and locally — and chastened by our awareness of past shortcomings and injustices. They reflect the historic commitment of Richmond Friends and the larger Quaker world to prison reform and education as means of bridging racial and economic divides. As Meeting charts our path forward, may we be reminded of our Minute’s conclusion: “we will hold each other in the Light and accompany one another as we seek to learn, to understand, and to be of service.”
Ad Hoc Committee on Race and Racism, November 17, 2024
Allen Lee, co-clerk
Kathleen Morgan, co-clerk
Margaret Edds
recorder Lynda Perry
Michael Pierce
Monica Shaw
Rita Willett
Please click here to read the full recommendations and appendices.
by Diane Bowden | May 18, 2024 | Activity, Adult Spiritual Education, Announcement, History - Quaker, History - RFM
Adult Spiritual Education invites all members and attenders, those new to Quakerism as well as seasoned Friends, to learn more about our history. Mark your calendars and plan on joining us on Saturday, June 22 at 9:30. Our topic will be Quaker History: Evolution and Revolution. Kelly Kennedy will get us started with a Zoom-easy introductory activity. Dan Shaw will cover early history from the 17th to the 19th centuries, and Scott Selby will address Virginia and Richmond history.
While no reading in advance is needed, some may want to brush up on Quaker history in preparation. Attached is an excerpt from Faith and Practice focusing on Quaker history. Feel free to read all, part, or none of it.
This session is ALL on Zoom. Please look for the link in the coming days as well as the day before June 22. We look forward to seeing many of you on the morning of June 22nd!
by Diane Bowden | Sep 15, 2019 | History - Quaker, History - RFM
R. Arnold Ricks III, 94, on February 24, 2018, at home in Bennington, Vt. Arnold was born on August 23, 1923, in Richmond, Va., to Anne Elizabeth Ryland and James Hoge Ricks. His father, a member of Richmond (Va.) Meeting, was from a long-established Quaker family and served as a pioneering judge of the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for forty years, and his mother was from a Baptist family associated with the development of University of Richmond. A life-long Quaker, Arnold served in the Civilian Public Service as a conscientious objector, in 1941–1943 firefighting and doing reforestation in Oregon’s wilderness region and being an subjecting himself to experiments with hepatitis, which he contracted. In 1945 he joined the British-American relief team in rebuilding Cologne, Germany, where he helped to build a children’s center.
Originally a member of the Haverford College class of 1945, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in philosophy in 1948.. After earning a master’s in European history from Harvard University in 1954, he taught history at Swarthmore College. In 1963, he began teaching at Bennington College, where he also served two years as Dean of Studies. A beloved teacher, he spoke of classes as an “assault on the unknown and the imperfectly known.” In 1972 he married Pat Adams, a painter and colleague at Bennington College, and after a 4-month sabbatical in 1973, traveling through Europe and the Middle-East with his stepsons, Matthew and Jason, they settled in Old Bennington, Vt. Starting in 1974 he served as a trustee of the Village of Old Bennington and as Road Commission, overseeing the design and reconstruction of Monument Avenue, the village road leading to the Bennington Battle Monument, ensuring that the historic road would be in narrow in keeping with its environs, which go back to when the first frame house in Vermont was built in Bennington in 1763--a house still in use.
For decades he made generous contributions to Richmond (Va.) Meeting. He retired from Bennington College in 1992. Three years later, the mayor of Cologne, who as a child had benefited from the British-American Relief team’s work, led a celebration in honor of him and the other surviving team members. When he retired as a trustee of Old Bennington in 2014, the villagers presented him with an inscribed bench on the grass island in front of the Old First Church. As a trustee of the Bennington Museum from 1995 to 2015, he helped initiate a period of growth and revitalization for the museum, for which in 2013 it created the Hiland Hall Award to recognize his service. He lived as George Fox said, “[walking] cheerfully over the world answering that of God in everyone.”
Arnold is survived by his wife, Pat Adams; two stepsons, Matthew A. Longo and Jason R. Longo; a niece, Francie Ricks; three grandsons; and many Ryland cousins in Virginia. His remains rest in Old Bennington Cemetery. Donations to American Friends Service Committee or the Bennington Museum in care of the Hanson Walbridge & Shea Funeral Home, 213 West Main Street, Bennington, VT, are welcome.
by Diane Bowden | Dec 2, 2017 | Announcement, History - RFM
Midlothian Friends Meeting was established in 1986 as an ‘indulged’ meeting by the Ministry and Worship committee of Richmond Friends Meeting. The article below describes more about the history of Midlothian Friends Meeting.
Midlothian Friends Meeting
by Diane Bowden | Dec 2, 2017 | Announcement, History - RFM
At the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of Richmond Friends Meeting meeting at our current location on Kensington Avenue, a slideshow was shown of the history of Friends in Richmond, Virginia. Meeting Historian Betsy Brinson collected the material. Dan Shaw and Tracey Cain assisted in the preparation of the slideshow.
The slide show is is here.
by Diane Bowden | Sep 26, 2015 | History - Quaker, History - RFM
Few people alive today know that the Powhatan hamlet of Fine Creek was a center of Quaker life in what was once part of Goochland County; then a part of Cumberland County with its formation in 1749; and finally a part of Powhatan County with that county’s formation in 1777. The Fine Creek area was first developed in 1735 by John Pleasants Sr., a member of a prominent and early Virginia Quaker family. He built a gristmill at Lees Landing Road (Rt. 641) and Huguenot Trail (Rt. 711) along the lower falls of Fine Creek. Within a decade a small rural hamlet emerged next to the gristmill with several stores, a cooper’s shop, a blacksmith shop, a small cheese factory, a postal station, and a ferry that provided access across the James River to the northern part of Goochland County. Eventually a one room schoolhouse was also built for the area’s children.
We know from the historical Quaker record that White Oak Swamp Monthly Meeting (aka. Henrico Monthly Meeting) allowed a “particular” (or subordinate) Quaker Meeting, Fine Creek Meeting, to be created in the area in 1746. At that time in Quaker history a new meeting would not have been allowed by the “monthly” (parent) meeting if there were not a good number of Quakers willing to support its ongoing existence. Quaker discipline was strict then and not the laisser-faire culture of liberal Quakerism today. Quakers were required to attend worship every “First Day” (Sunday) at the local meetinghouse if they were to remain Quakers. So, we know that a ready-made and active membership would have been available to provide ongoing support for the new meeting.
White Oak Swamp Monthly Meeting had a dozen or so Quaker meetings under its care during the eighteenth century. Fine Creek Meeting was just one of these, along with its “sister” meeting of Richmond Friends Meeting. Had Fine Creek meeting survived the ravages of history, today it would be 49 years older than Richmond Friends Meeting.
Powhatan County archives do indicate that Fine Creek Quakers were active abolitionists. James Pleasants of Fine Creek (brother of John Pleasants Sr. who was instrumental in developing the gristmill at Fine Creek) began emancipating his slaves around 1800 along with Fine Creek Quakers John Pleasants Jr. and Jonathan Pleasants, both sons of John Pleasants Sr. No doubt they were prompted to do so by a unanimous decision by all Virginia Quakers in 1800 to “disown” (the term then used to revoke Quaker membership) any Quaker who refused to emancipate their slaves. All Virginia Quakers had been asked to begin doing so since the mid 1770’s. County and historical records demonstrate a concerted effort by Fine Creek Quakers to systematically work towards this end. It wasn’t until 1804, however, that the county finally began providing newly freed blacks their certificates of freedom.
Fine Creek Meeting existed from 1746 until 1780 – some 34 years. Yet, there is much mystery surrounding the meeting. At that time in Quaker history, once a meeting was in existence for more than a few years, there was pressure as well as support to build a permanent meetinghouse. Also, Fine Creek meeting was nurtured by the Pleasants family – one of the wealthiest families in Virginia. So, the circumstantial evidence would suggest that a meetinghouse existed somewhere in the Fine Creek area of Powhatan.
Where exactly was the Fine Creek meetinghouse located? Was it in the hamlet surrounding the gristmill; or, was it in the surrounding countryside? Why was the Fine Creek Meeting “laid down” after existing for 34 years? One can only hope that as ancient records become more searchable due to digitization, someone will be able to fill in the missing pieces to this local Quaker mystery.
— Howard Brod, Midlothian Friends Meeting
by Diane Bowden | Apr 24, 2015 | History - Quaker, History - RFM, Peace and Social Concerns
There have been several celebrations and ceremonies marking the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the freeing of slaves in the south. These events note an important milestone as a step toward greater racial equality, and Virginia Friends were allies in that equality quest.
Because it was against the law in Virginia to free your slaves, many Friends went to Ohio and Indiana, states that were more open to abolition. Due to dwindling numbers, the Virginia Yearly Meeting joined the Baltimore Yearly Meeting in 1843. Quakers who stayed in Virginia faced a hostile environment and needed to be discreet in their support of African-Americans. One supporter, John Bacon Crenshaw, a member of the Cedar Creek Meeting (mother to the Richmond Meeting) lived on a farm six miles north of Richmond. To help guide fugitive slaves north, he drove nails into fences and posts to indicate the route that led north. He is but one of many Friends aiding escaping slaves.
After the Civil War, a period called Reconstruction lasted from 1867 until 1875. During this brief time, African-Americans voted and elected legislators, pushing more equal treatment, but the white power establishment reasserted institutional racism by passing a huge body of laws that was called Jim Crow. From drinking fountains to walking on sidewalks, no aspect of civic life was too small to govern. This period, from 1875, lasted until the 1950’s, when it began to crumble with Brown vs. Board of Education. Most Jim Crow laws were finally dismantled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
White Privilege roots are deep and persistent, and as Michele Alexander points out in “The New Jim Crow” and Benjamin Campbell notes in “Richmond’s Unhealed History”, our prison system and zoning and boundary manipulations have been used to diminish the lives of our African-American citizens once again.
Today, in our prison population of 2.3 million, African-American are a disproportionate number of the imprisoned. Outside of prison, these, our brothers and sisters, lead shorter, unhealthier lives, earn less money, have poorer housing and school options than white people. So, 150 years after the Civil War ended, much has been changed, and much more remains to be changed.
Today’s Richmond Friends Meeting continues the work of earlier Friends to advocate for a fairer, kinder and more loving community for all to live and grow in.
by Diane Bowden | Jun 3, 2011 | Adult Spiritual Education, History - RFM, Minuted Decisions
In her will, Jean Jones Anderson offered a bequest to Meeting, with the stipulation that it be used for adult spiritual education. After much consideration, in November 2011, Meeting approved the following policy governing the use of the bequest.
Recommendations from the Bequest Use Committee to Richmond Friends Meeting Approved by 11th Month Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business (11/21/2010)
After a series of committee meetings, a listening circle, presentation at 10th Month Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business, and with consideration of feedback from the broader RFM community, the Bequest Use Committee brought the following recommendations to 11th Month Meeting:
- The Bequest Use Committee recommends the formation of a new Committee: The Adult Spiritual Education Committee (ASE). This Committee would have responsibility for adult spiritual education as defined by Ministry & Worship, as specified in Jean’s will. Responsibilities of the new committee would include the study of scriptures (such as Bible Workbench), the study of Quaker history, testimonies, and values (such as Quakerism 101), study groups (such as Spiritual Formation), speakers, forums, adult religious education, and other activities. These responsibilities would transfer to ASE from Ministry & Worship (M&W) Committee. Fall Retreat will be a joint responsibility of these two committees.
- ASE would have an annual budget from Jean’s bequest to develop programs that benefit our Meeting as a whole and to purchase materials for Bible Workbench. In addition, ASE could use some funds to award need- based scholarships for individuals (members and attenders) who want to participate in adult spiritual education activities, especially those sponsored by the wider Religious Society of Friends. Because the Mary Hulburt Fund is designated for first-time participation in specific Quaker activities, it seems appropriate that ASE administer this fund.
- The Bequest Use Committee recommends that the members of ASE be members of Richmond Friends Meeting and that they be appointed for three years, with staggered initial terms to ensure continuity of membership over time. Current members of M&W who have one or two years remaining on their terms should be allowed to choose either to continue on M&W or to serve on ASE. Nominating Committee will determine the appropriate size of ASE and M&W and will fill ASE as soon as feasible. Like other committees, ASE will report periodically to Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business on its activities and accomplishments.
- ASE will work with Financial Stewardship to develop guidelines for the investment and expenditure of the bequest funds over time. ASE and Financial Stewardship will present these guidelines to Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business for approval as soon as practicable. In developing these guidelines, the committees will consider the following recommendations made by the Bequest Use Committee and approved, in principle, by Meeting at 11th Month Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business:
- Since the amount of the bequest funds is still unknown, the Bequest Use Committee recommends dividing the funds into two parts for budgeting purposes. The Bequest Use Committee recommends that $20,000 of the funds from the bequest be held in reserve, to be invested and monitored by Financial Stewardship. It is anticipated that these funds would grow over time and would generate income to be used for adult spiritual education after the amount over $20,000 (see paragraph 4.b., below) has been expended.
- The Bequest Use Committee recommends an annual budget for ASE of five to 10 percent of the amount of the bequest funds over $20,000 for a period of ten to twenty years, depending on the amount expended each year. The exact amount of each year’s budget will be determined through the normal budgeting process and approved in a Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business.
- Following the review and support of this proposal by M&W, this proposal was presented at the 11th Month Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business and refinements suggested at that Meeting are reflected here.
These recommendations were approved and the Bequest Use Committee is now laid down. (Committee Members: T.J. Armstrong, Diane Bowden, Howard Garner (clerk), Bette Gilchrist, Steve Humphrey and Rita Willett.)
by Diane Bowden | Feb 15, 2011 | History - RFM
Richmond Friends Meeting (RFM) organized in 1795, and soon built its first Meeting House at 19th and Cary Street in Church Hill. This was the second oldest “church” in Richmond. We have a long history of religious observance and social justice within the Richmond community. In 1995, we celebrated our 200th birthday.
Richmond area Quakers established the Virginia Abolition Society in 1790. With the Civil War, RFM established the Friends Asylum for Colored Orphans, now called the Friends Association for Children. After slave emancipation, RFM member Sarah Smiley and other Quaker women helped start a school for over 1,000 free black adults and children in Richmond.
RFM purchased the 4500 Kensington Avenue property in 1957. (The Colonial Place Christian Church, an affiliate of the Disciples of Christ, built the original building in 1913. The educational annex was added in 1931.) The cost of the 4500 Kensington Avenue property in 1957 was approximately $17,500.
Deed of Sale 1956
RFM has provided office and meeting space to hundreds of community groups. Religious groups that have used the 4500 Kensington Avenue property for their programs include the Congregation Or Ami, the Metropolitan Christian Church, an unaffiliated Roman Catholic group and Muslims.
In the 1960s, RFM provided office and meeting space to the Richmond Area Association for Retarded Children. In 1967, RFM provided office space and volunteer support to the statewide antiwar Vietnam Summer Project. In 1971, RFM provided office space to the statewide Virginia Council for Human Relations until the Richmond Zoning Board opposition and a neighborhood petition of 1,200 signatures forced the interracial organization to relocate.
See below for a slide show of History of Quakers in Central Virginia
by Diane Bowden | Dec 18, 2008 | History - RFM
- Richmond Friends Meeting (RFM) organized in 1795, and soon built its first Meeting House at 19th and Cary Street in Church Hill. This was the second oldest “church” in Richmond. We have a long history of religious observance and social justice within the Richmond community. In 1995, we celebrated our 200th birthday.
- Richmond area Quakers established the Virginia Abolition Society in 1790. With the Civil War, RFM established the Friends Asylum for Colored Orphans, now called the Friends Association for Children. After slave emancipation, RFM member Sarah Smiley and other Quaker women helped start a school for over 1,000 free black adults and children in Richmond.
- RFM purchased the 4500 Kensington Avenue property in 1957. (The Colonial Place Christian Church, an affiliate of the Disciples of Christ, built the original building in 1913. The educational annex was added in 1931.) The cost of the 4500 Kensington Avenue property in 1957 was approximately $17,500.
- RFM has provided office and meeting space to hundreds of community groups. Religious groups that have used the 4500 Kensington Avenue property for their programs include the Congregation Or Ami, the Metropolitan Christian Church, an unaffiliated Roman Catholic group and Muslims.
- In the 1960s, RFM provided office and meeting space to the Richmond Area Association for Retarded Children. In 1967, RFM provided office space and volunteer support to the statewide antiwar Vietnam Summer Project. In 1971, RFM provided office space to the statewide Virginia Council for Human Relations until the Richmond Zoning Board opposition and a neighborhood petition of 1,200 signatures forced the interracial organization to relocate.
- Since 1957, RFM has provided financial assistance and social support to Russian, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Central American refugees, who have relocated to the Richmond area.
- The 4500 Kensington Avenue property has been the site of countless weddings and memorial ceremonies, not only of Friends but also from the community at large.
- In 1986, RFM, overflowing with new attenders, established new worship groups in Ashland and Midlothian. Midlothian has since become a full-fledged meeting.
See below for a slide show of History of Quakers in Central Virginia
by Diane Bowden | May 28, 2005 | Archive, History - RFM
5-20-2005
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 | Oct 12, 2004 | History - RFM
by Diane Bowden | Sep 21, 2004 | Archive, History - RFM
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 - 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, 1969 | History - RFM
1963 There is no mention of specific membership numbers in the minutes but it appears the Meeting had very few members during the 1960s. ( An influx was seen in the 1970s.)
Robert Clark, Clerk
Most of the Meeting for Business Notes are penciled notes for the 1960s.
January:
- RFM responsible for service at the Confederate Chapel for 4th month. Bob Clark on committee to plan; Harry Wilbur led service
- Concern raised that RFM did not have any positive program of action
- RFM will write AFSC and ask how they might help in Prince Edward County with closing of public schools due to massive resistance.
- Art Spangenthal added to Peace and Social Concerns Committee
February:
- AFSC answered letter but offered no suggestions other than request for donations
March:
- Richmond Area Association for Retarded Children uses building for their program; their new building is being built
- Meeting agreed to educate youth re choice of being conscientious objector in response to House (in Congress) passing extension of draft bill
June:
- Committee of Peg Spangenthal and Christopher Rigby appointed to look into how RFM might help childcare centers in Richmond
August:
- Committee appointed to look into purchase of new hymnbooks
- Art Spangenthal asked to compose letter commending action to give free schooling in Prince Edward Count. It will be sent to newspapers.
- Two day work camp held at the Educational Therapy Center, which serves severely disturbed Negro children. Work camp was quite successful.
September:
- Prince Edward Foundation is asking for funds. RFM decided to send all donations so marked from members of RFM
- Proposed budget for 1964 was $2770
1964
August
- Refugee English class starts at Meeting house
1965 and 1966 Jay Worrall, Clerk
Feb 12, 1965:
- Nancy Adams of AFSC staff will speak on Brotherhood Day at RFM. She will talk about AFSC project in Prince Edward County. No press please.
- VA Council on Human Relations uses RFM building for program. (A contract between two groups for responsibilities is included in minutes.)
- 1966 Proposed budget $3090
January, 1966:
- VA Council of Human Relations has reported problem of using the building to their lawyer and a hearing is ser for March 2. We are to appoint our rep to this meeting.
- AFSC letter re Prince Edward AFSC project to Mary Hulbert has few suggestions to consider next meeting. AFSC says need is for money and people, not clothing.
Feb 2, 1966
- Something is going on in Meeting and there will a meeting with Mr. Kennedy. Sounds like neighbors are dissatisfied with VCHR . Letters included.
Feb 27, 1966
- Richmond Council of Peace Education given permission to have business sessions at Meeting once a month.
- RFM agrees to give up saving green stamps for piano since we aren’t getting there fast enough
- RCHR (RFM agrees) to allow them to host several tutorial programs and will use RFM twice a month for several months to evaluate their programs.
March, 1966
- Petition hearing on application for permit for VA Human Relations Council to continue in our building resulted in denial of permit. In compliance with the ruling, they moved back to old address at 17. E. Cary Street.
- Baltimore Yearly Meeting Young Friends will have their Easter Conference in Richmond April 15. A work program is to paint cabins at Camper Baker, which is used for campers of mentally retarded children. They will supply paintbrushes and adult superviosn. 45 young Friends attended despite cold weather.
April 1966
- Jay Worrall reported that Peace and Social Concerns had discussed the idea of a meeting on the God is Dead Theory, but members were not in favor of such a meeting.
May, 1966
- RFM decided to make Pendle Hill pamphlets available without charge but to leave a basket for those who wished to contribute.
- RFM agreed to pay $5 of $25 subscription for Washington Post for a conscientious objector at federal prison in Petersburg. The rest is to be paid by individual contributions.
- The lawn will be cared for this summer with the Spanthenthals providing the mower and the Hulburts the labor.
July, 1966
- Bob Clark will serve as Clerk with Jay Worrall’s resignation. (Jay and Carolyn moved to Charlottesville?)
1967
Robert Clark, Clerk
April, 1967
- There is considerable concern expressed over the seeming lack of unity and dedication to the Meeting by some of the members. It was felt that this concern should be given prayerful consideration by all members and by the Committee on Ministry and Counsel.
May, 1967
- Mary Hulbert, member of Peace and Social Concerns, asked that our building be made available for the summer months for a Vietnam Summer Project by a number of organization in cluding AFSC. The Meeting approved.
- RFM assisted a refugee family, under sponsorship with Church World Service, with $ and other assistance. Minutes over several years indicate that this family (from eastern Europe) was not easy to work with. RFM eventually terminated relationship. References to this family, problems encountered and the RFM struggle to help are referred to numerous times in the minutes. The name is not mentioned here since the family may still reside in Richmond and we wish to protect their privacy. 1968 RFM owes $90 to owner who rented the house to our refugee family to cover repairs. Owner will pay remainder. RFM assisted this family, under the sponsorship of Church World Service, for several years with money and assistance. The family left the basement of the house ½ full of clothing, which will be donated, to Church World Service. (This was not an altogether successful project as the family had difficulty in accepting American ways of heating, keeping daughter home to work in household instead of sending her to school, etc.)
September 1967
- A certificate of occupancy must be filed with city.
- RFM agreed that Ministry and Counsel send 2nd letter asking non-attending members if they wish to be dropped from roll. A second letter will also be sent to those who replied to first letter, saying how happy we are that they have expressed interest in remaining involved. Ministry and Counsel asked to make revision of membership a yearly task.
November, 1967
- Attorney says code does not require certificate of occupancy. RFM will write City of Richmond.
- The meal for the Christmas carol sing will be ham, sweet potatoes, two jello salads (one red and one green), rolls, and coffee. Red and green candles will be used for table decorations.
1968
Rowland Leonard, Clerk
- Prepared 1st Friends of report on state of society for 1967-68.
- Agreed to purchases another piano for no more than $100
- Christian Education reported a new project would start March 1 with a family first day. The AFSC project is to support a day care center in Vietnam. A special meeting called shortly thereafter this meeting due to concerns since Friends have always helped on both sides of conflict that it was wrong for children to help one side. After much discussion it was decided to allow the project to continue but to point out to the children that we would like to help both sides but are limited by laws of government for helping on North Vietnam. It was hoped that all members would follow the guidance in deciding course for themselves. Children later held a yard sale to raise money for the AFSC project.
- Baltimore Youth Conference held at RFM with 17 attendees who slept in Meeting and had work project with Neighborhood Center of the Richmond Community Action Project. .
- Social Concerns reported that Fair Housing conference will be April 12. We are only one of sponsors. RFM purchased 100 Pendle Hill pamphlets to distribute.
- Piano found for $295, not $100, to be paid on an extended plan so not to deplete our account.
May 1968
- Peace and Social Concerns has arranged a series of group dinners with the Woodville church to talk about the whole black-white situation. Food will be served first. Later reported that evening series was going very well.
- Indian Affairs Committee has collected about $215 in our annual “Buffalo Nickel” drive. A picnic at Pamunkey Indian Reservation is coming up and we will be invited.
September, 1968
- Piano has sticking keys. Treasurer asked to see about repair before making final payment.
- Concern expressed that only $1300 has been received thus far this year. Budget is $2880.
October, 1968
- RCAP budget being cut. RFM asked to support; sent $10. FRM will write letter for newspapers in support of Richmond Community Action Program.
- Concern raised again being “chained” to a building. Social Concerns will prepare a plan of what RFM should be doing. A special meeting will be called of members to discuss the proposed plan and the future of the Meeting.
November, 1968
- Treasurer reported we may weather the storm financially until first of year.
- RFM agreed to send letters to Sears and Salvation Army for their stand in doing no ads for war toys this year. Copy will be sent to newspapers also.
December, 1968
- RFM laid down annual lecture organized by the Ricks Memorial Lecture committee, realizing that we can revise it in future if deemed advisable.
- Fire escape still needs repair.
January 1969
Clerk, Jessie F. Hartley
NO RECORDS INCLUDED FROM 1969-1974.
- 1973 has $2675 budget with breakdown. No other records.
Prepared by Betsy Brinson, Ph.D.
RFM Historian
May, 2003
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
* * * *
by Diane Bowden | Dec 19, 1800 | History - Quaker, History - RFM
Hannah Watts Clarke
(circa 1754–1843)
Hannah Watts Clarke was a lifelong member of the Society of Friends. Her portrait, attributed to Charles Burton, an English painter, was done about 1840. She is shown in profile looking out on what is thought to be the first Quaker Meeting House in Richmond, built by George Winston on 19th and Cary Streets.
By 1840 Hannah was a widow and the matriarch of a sizable kinship group of Quakers who had emigrated to Richmond from Northern Ireland in the early 1800’s.
The Clarkes (Hannah, her husband, John, and their eight children) were from County Antrim, Ulster. The transfer of their memberships from Lisburn Monthly Meeting to Richmond Particular Meeting was recorded on the 12th of Third Month, 1801. They left a country plagued by poverty and political unrest following the Union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1800. The family resided on Main Street between 18th and 19th, where John Clarke worked as a grocer nearby. Their home was only a block away from the Meeting House.
The original portrait, which is done in watercolor and pastel, is in the possession of Eda Williams Martin of Williamsburg, Virginia. The photo print here was made from a transparency of the original portrait loaned to us by the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Colonial Williamsburg. There are seventeen extant portraits of Clarke and Sinton family members done by Burton. Hannah’s portrait is the only one showing the Meeting House, perhaps symbolic of the importance of the Meeting in her life as well as realistic. It is the only known depiction of the Meeting House in existence.
Text was supplied by Eda Williams Martin and is based on research she has done in Quaker records.
by Diane Bowden | Dec 19, 1800 | History - Quaker, History - RFM
The Jacob House
by Harry Kollatz, Jr.
The Jacob House is a small place with a big history. During its most recent years, it deteriorated and got up rooted. Now restored, it’ll be given away to a worthy cause.
Until 1995, Jacob House stood on its original circa-l817 site. Plans for the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering removed it from 610 W. Cary St. across the street to 619 W. Cary St. Preservationists, religious organizations and members of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council (OHHIC) campaigned to keep the house at 610 W. Cary. Some time later, it came into the ownership of developer Stephen Salomonsky. He was aware of the house’s complex story.
“I knew of its history and all that it stood for,” he explains, “and was also fortunate to acquire the adjacent properties that allowed me to do something interesting with Oregon Hill.”
Richmond master builder and prominent Friend (Quaker) George Winston (1759-1826) built Jacob House as a speculative property for the Town of Sydney, a proposed community for Richmond’s then-West End. An 1819 stock crash halted the plan, however, and Sydney’s planned Street grid formed the template for Oregon Hill and the Fan District.
The house was on an elevated lot, close to town and by the newly established Westham Turnpike (Cary Street). The Quakers were involved in anti-slavery activity, including the employment, rather than bondage, of African-Americans. Winston employed free black apprentices who laid their own handmade brick and raised the house’s pinioned rafters. These same bricklayers constructed the Benjamin Latrobe-designed state penitentiary (where the Ethyl Corp. campus is today) and assisted in the construction of the Virginia State Capitol.
Winston also erected the city’s first Friends Meeting House, at 19th and Cary streets, in 1797. According to researchers Dulaney Ward and Charles Pool, under Winston’s direction the free blacks built more than 100 brick buildings in Shockoe Bottom, 30 or more houses in Church Hill and the 1795 mansion of Thomas Rutherfoord (demolished in 1895), at Adams and Franklin streets.
John Jacob (l790-1864), a penitentiary assistant superintendent, was the house’s first recorded resident. A Quaker’s son, Jacob founded what became Grace Baptist Church and lived in the house for many years. During the 1830s he expanded the house to suit the needs of his family of seven. Jacob moved in 1853 to Woodlawn, his estate that stood where Interstate 64 now crosses the Mechanicsville Turnpike.
Another Jacob House resident was French native Lewis Rivalain, whose drawings of insured properties covered by the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia provide an indispensable record of early Richmond and Virginia buildings, from Mount Vernon to Shockoe’s first 17th Street Market building.
After the Civil War, canal-boat builder John Messier resided in the Jacob House. He enjoyed a short walk from home to his canal-boat building business, which was behind today’s Virginia War Memorial.
Eugene Crehen, another Frenchman, and Richmond’s best illustrator in the mid-19th century, occupied the house from 1886 to 1895. During the Civil War, he was a designer of uniforms and a popular portraitist.
Exactly a century after the brick maker Winston built the house, it became home to brick maker Edward Thurston Mankin, whose kilns fired the brick for the Carillon, the Virginia Museum and many buildings in restored Colonial Williamsburg.
From 1947 to 1974, Jacob House was an urban mission called the Cary Street Baptist Center. While it was variously occupied and neglected, a city university thrived nearby. But pleas to incorporate Jacob House into VCU’s School of Engineering failed.
In 1995, activist John Alan Schintzius stood in front of a bulldozer in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the Jacob House in place. Early this year Schintzius contacted Salomonsky with an idea for allowing the house to continue its tradition of social involvement while recognizing Richmond’s abolitionist and Quaker history.
A commission of 15 people comprised of historians, preservationists and community members are selecting a suitable charitable organization to occupy it. “The idea is that [a nonprofit] would have offices upstairs and [downstairs] a museum dedicated to raising up the memory of what happened there,” Salomonsky says.
From Richmond Magazine, October 2003, page 136.
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- This photo was taken around 1895 and was given to historian by Bob Willis, who is related to the Duesberries who lived in the house. In the left window is Lislie Duesberry and Sarah Duesberry, and on the front porch is Sadie Duesberry (holding cat), Laura Crehen, and Sarah Wickham (nurse in white apron). Notice the old shutters, the old fence and the carriage stone on the sidewalk.
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Jacob House Citizens Commission
In 2003, the Richmond Friends Meeting assisted in the selection of a new owner for the Jacob House. Stephen Salomonsky, a builder and the owner of Jacob House, made the decision to give the house to a worthy not-for-profit organization, as he began the construction of a private college dormitory in the adjacent area.
Stephen approached the Friends Meeting and asked our help in choosing a new owner. Alan Schnitzius of the Friends Meeting helped Salomonsky in conceiving the selection process. The Quaker practice of consensus decision-making would be used in choosing the new owner.
The Jacob House Citizens Commission was comprised of some 15 individuals who represented historians, historical preservationists, and Oregon Hill community representatives. David Depp of the Friends Meeting clerked the Citizens Commission and Betsy Brinson, Meeting historian, staffed it.
The Commission selected from a number of applications the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council. The mission of OHHIC is to preserve and rehabilitate old properties in the Oregon Hill neighborhood. OHHIC will use the Jacob House for their office operations. The Citizens Commission felt of all the applicants that OHHIC was not only doing good community work but also knew best how to preserve and care for historical property.
On June 8, 2004, OHHIC celebrated a dedication ceremony at the Jacob House. A number of public officials attended the event, including the mayor, two legislators and the state Secretary for Natural Resources. A historical marker to the Jacob House was unveiled. A permanent one room wall exhibit of local Quaker history is located on the first floor for all to see.
by Diane Bowden | Dec 19, 1800 | History - Quaker, History - RFM
George and Judith Winston were birthright Quakers who were active with Richmond area Quakers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. George was a maker of bricks and a builder so he built the first Meetinghouse at 20th and Cary Street in 1797. This building no longer exists but a needlework sampler sewed by his daughter Mary in 1806 shows us the front and the back of the brick Meeting House. Records also show that the Meeting did not finish payment to George Winston for the 30 by 40-foot square building until 1816.
The house in the photograph was built by George Winston in Church Hill, built about 1810 and was probably used for his business.It was located between 25th and 26th and Broad and Grace Streets in the area we know today as Church Hill. At that time the area was known as Shed Town, perhaps because there were so many sheds in the backyards. Winston used the backyard for his brickyard. The Winstons became strong opponents of slavery and as a result, George did not hire slaves to work in his construction business. Instead he trained free black apprentices for the work. George and Judith may have lived here from 1810-1816 when they moved their residence to 2604 East Franklin Street.
George and Judith were originally members of and were married under the care of the White Oak Swamp Meeting about 15 miles out of Richmond in Henrico county. We believe that once they lived in Richmond and the Richmond Meeting was organized that they probably became active in the Richmond Meeting since it was more convenient. They were the parents of 14 children. Interestingly Judith though in 1810 was placed under the care of the White Oak Swamp Meeting for not attending meetings. She confessed that it was true and accepted the rebuke. However, she did not resume her attendance at meetings and she was condemned for having encouraged her daughter in going to plays and dances. She was dismissed from the Society on July 6, 1811. Judith may well have become disenchanted with her restricted life of constant pregnancy and felt that she wanted more for her daughters. She may have simply been too tired to continue to make the effort to attend meetings.
Henrico County court records show that George took seriously that he should not hold slaves and instead should prepare free black apprentices with job skills. Repeatedly in the records are agreements to teach an apprentice a trade. In June 1804, George Winston had placed with him, Daniel, a free, black, orphan boy to learn the trade and mystery of a house joiner. “Apprentice is to serve from the date thereof for a period of nine years, nine months and seven days or until Daniel arrives at the age of twenty-one.” The 1820 census listed twenty-one male free blacks ranging in age from 14-25 living and working with Winston. George was also a trustee of the Gravely Hill School, a Quaker institution for the education of blacks.
Business was good. George had begun to build houses and stores at a time when Richmond was growing rapidly. He built the block of stores at 14th and Main along with many other buildings. It is said that he also provided bricks and lime for the building of the state penitentiary and for the new Capitol. In 1817, he built the Jacob House, now located at Pine and Cary. This may be his last standing building.
The photograph is provided us courtesy of the Library of Virginia
Our thanks to Charles Pool, Virginia Davis, Gregg Kimball and the Library of Virginia for the above information and for the photograph.
by Diane Bowden | Dec 19, 1800 | History - Quaker, History - RFM
James Pleasants deserves more fame than he has received. He was raised a Quaker and served as Governor of Virginia, 1822-25. He also served in the Virginia House of Delegates, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
Within the context of his times, Pleasants was quite reform minded. He was in a unique position to influence change. Through his Quaker father, he was related to many reformers. Through his aristocratic mother, he was a cousin to Thomas Jefferson and related to other rich and powerful people.
As Governor, his most successful reform was the elimination of public flogging in favor of incarceration. His efforts to establish public education, improve roads and attain fairer representation for western counties were less successful.
He spoke out for free blacks at a time when Virginia law required that they be removed from the state. This law was finally relaxed in 1828. Throughout most of his career, Pleasants was a staunch Jeffersonian. However, his opposition to the policies of Andrew Jackson led him to support the Whig Party. His son, John, was the first editor of the Richmond Whig. His Quaker heritage may have contributed to his remarkable personality. A contemporary, John Randolph, said that Pleasants “never lost a friend or gained an enemy.”
In some way, he was only a Friend in the same sense as Richard Nixon. Jay Worrall, in The Friendly Virginian, called him “a Quaker turned politician.” For his law practice, he traveled in a fancy carriage that cost a whooping $250. He held 18 slaves on his Goochland County plantation. As a Congressman, he supported the War of 1812. Still, there is no reference to James Pleasansts that does not mention his Quaker heritage.
Wayne Young has provided us the information above on James Pleasants, a Virginia governor, who was influenced by Quakers..
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“The Religious Society of Friends in Virginia has long standing interest in penal reform. For example in 1788 of 66 criminals tried, twenty-five were convicted and executed, three imprisoned, one burnt in the hand and thirty-seven discharged. In 1796, Virginia reformed its penal laws so “that no crime whatsoever committed by any free person should be punished with death, except murder in the first degree. In 1799, Virginia abolished capital punishment and replaced it with one to ten years in the penitentiary (operated in part by Richmond Quakers) “fearing that some unfortunate victim might be deprived of life, contrary to those (humanitarian) principles.” In 1802 capital punishment was reinstated for treason. James Lownes and Thomas Ladd, two members of the Richmond Meeting, regretted not making a deeper study of capital punishment and thus refrained from making a recommendation about it to the legislature.” (History of Richmond Friends Meeting, 1795-1962) by Mary Fran Hughes McIntyre, 1979.
Author and RFM member Margaret Edds continues in the tradition of those two Friends’ concerns about capital punishment with her new book An Expendable Man: The Near-Execution of Earl Washington, Jr.. (New York University Press, 2003). She provides readers a clearer understanding of the history and the modern day reality of the Virginia justice system as evidenced in the case study of Earl Washington, a 23-year-old black man from Culpeper, who by his own confession was sentenced in 1985 for the murder of a young white mother. He was incarcerated for 18 years and spent nine years on death row. The defendant was mentally retarded with a 69 IQ (age 10 equivalency). What we learn is that people with this level of retardation are usually very agreeable and willing to say what they are asked to say. His legal team argued that this was cause for his confession. Not surprisingly Earl Washington was a model prisoner with no infractions and liked by guards and inmates alike. DNA evidence eventually proved him not guilty. Washington now lives in Virginia Beach, where he works as a handyman and is newly married to a woman he met through his community mental health program.
This chilling story also provides insight into a system of representation where appointed legal counsel can be inadequate, why videotaping a confession to insure accuracy as well as to show body language is important, and how gubernatorial politics can play a part. Governors Wilder and Gilmore both were asked to assist with pardons. In 1994, on the eve of departure from office, Wilder granted immunity from the death penalty based on new DNA findings but offered life in prison for Washington, who had rightfully been convicted in a second case for burglary and assault. In 1999 a filmmaker raised the inadequacies of the legal findings and the frailties of the justice system in the PBS Frontline series, helping once again to open up the legal process for Earl Washington. A public campaign, which included editorial support from many Virginia newspapers, followed. On October 2, 2000, Governor Gilmore granted an absolute pardon but gave the state parole board the question of when to release Washington. Four months later Washington was free.
Richmonders Marie Deans of the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons and local attorney Jerry Zerkin are among the cast of characters who made up the legal team from around the country that spent years defending Earl Washington. Ironically it was Joe Giarratano, another inmate on death row, who authored Washington’s early appeal for habeas corpus since Washington was intellectually unable to handle the research and writing for such an appeal.
Edds relates not only a fascinating story of injustice but does a fine job in helping readers to understand the intricacies of the Virginia justice system and the improving changes in DNA testing. Readers who are especially interested in the Virginia history of capital punishment will find some of that story also. She helps us to understand why capital punishment is wrong and how death penalty law and protocol can frequently be in error.
In June 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court banned capital punishment of offenders who are retarded. Edds argues that this is just a beginning. “The key will be in the extant to which defense attorneys are able to get skilled assessments of clients and persuade juries of intellectual deficits and gaps in adaptive behavior,” she says.
Margaret Edds has provided a free copy of her book to the RFM Library.
by Diane Bowden | Dec 18, 1800 | History - Quaker, History - RFM
Robert Pleasants, who was born at Curles in Henrico County, Virginia in 1723 and died in 1801, was one Virginia’s most noted Quaker abolitionists. As one of the founders of the Virginia Abolition Society in 1790, he served as president. In 1782 he successfully lobbied for the Manumission Act, which, within one decade, was responsible for freeing over ten thousand slaves in Virginia. In 1792 Mr. Pleasants submitted a petition to the U.S. Congress from the Virginia Abolition Society calling for the end of the slave trade. Mr. Pleasants went to court repeatedly to free hundreds of slaves. He wrote to Virginia leaders such as George Washington and Patrick Henry, asking that slavery be abolished. (See links below.)
In 1784, two years after manumitting his slaves, Mr. Pleasants founded the Gravelly Hill School, the first school for free blacks in Virginia, and set aside 350 acres of land to maintain the schools. Henrico Parks and Recreation dedicated a historic maker on the Gravelly Hill Site in 2003.
The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association successfully petitioned the Richmond City Council in 2003 to name Pleasants Park at 401 South Laurel Street for Robert Pleasants.
Robert Pleasants Links:
1777 Letter to Patrick Henry (transcribed)
1785 Letter to George Washington (transcribed)
1790 Abolition Society Advertisement (original)
The Virginia Abolition Society (Article)
1790 Letter to Virginia Independent Chronicle (Transcribed)
1791 Memorial of the Virginia Society (Transcribed)
