They Being Dead Yet Speaketh – Marlborough Meeting, Slavery, and the Progressive Friends

3:00 PM, Saturday May 12th, 2018

at the Marlborough Friends Meetinghouse

In the three decades before the Civil War, Friends were unified in their condemnation of slavery, but were often very divided on the role of Friends. Some became very active and embraced the anti-slavery society, others felt that they were called to be separate from the world’s people and were alienated by strong rhetoric as being divisive and not reflecting the peace principles of Friends. Marlborough Meeting was split. The radicals held a series of Marlborough Conferences in the Meetinghouse, followed by the Marlborough Riot, and the establishment of the Pennsylvania Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends in 1853.

Come join us for a fascinating talk on an important part of Quaker History.

Until his recent retirement, Christopher Densmore was head of Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College. He is the author of Red Jacket: Iroquois Diplomat and Orator, co-author of Quaker Crosscurrents: Three Hundred Years of the New York Yearly Meetings and of more than fifty other publications and articles. He has been involved with and played leadership roles in many organizations, including: Canadian Friends Historical Association, Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists, Pennsylvania Abolition Society and the Friends Historical Association.