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Chester Quarterly Meeting (1955- ) Records
Notifications
Held at: Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Chester Quarterly Meeting was established by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 1683; its first business sessions opened in 12mo 1683/84. In 1800, the name of this meeting was changed to Concord.
After the Separation, there were two Concord Quarterly Meetings. The Hicksite and Orthodox branches merged in 1955, and several monthly meetings were transferred from Concord to the newly-formed Chester Quarterly Meeting (1955- ) or to Haverford Quarterly Meeting. Chester Quarterly Meeting currently includes the monthly meetings of Chester, Media, Darby, Providence, Lansdowne, Springfield, and Swarthmore. The Peace Center of Delaware County (under care of Chester Quarterly Meeting) was established in 1987 at Springfield Friends Meeting as an expression of Quaker witness. The Peace Center was a community space dedicated to peace and justice, providing a physical location to encourage networking and operational planning for peace actions. In recognition of the changing needs of peace activists, the Center requested that it be laid down by the Quarter in 2023.
Records of Chester Quarterly Meeting since 1955. Included are: Minutes 1955-1973 and 1979-1982; Representative Committee minutes, 1965-1973 and 1979-1982; papers of the Committee to Study Quarterly Meeting, also known as the Ad Hoc Committee on Quarterly Meetings, 1964-1965. A separate series is devoted to the records of the Peace Center of Delaware County (1987-2022).
Records of the first Chester Quarterly Meeting are described with the records of Concord Quarterly Meeting.
Deposit
Organization
Subject
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Chester County
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Delaware County
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Peace-building -- Pennsylvania -- Delaware County -- History -- Sources
- Peace Movements -- Brandywine Creek Valley (Pa. and Del.) -- History -- Sources
- Publisher
- Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Date
- 2011
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research. Access may be provided via digital or microfilm copy, per repository policy.
- Use Restrictions
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the Repositories All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the individual Meeting or its successor. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Repositories as the holder(s) of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.
Collection Inventory
Minutes of Chester Quarterly Meeting, 1955-1973, 1979-1982, and 1994-1998. Also included are: Representative Committee minutes, 1965-1973 and 1979-1982. Volumes as follows: 1.1 1955-1967, 1.2 1967-1973, 1.3 1979-1982, 1.4 1994-1998.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
2 v. + 2 folders
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: United
Physical LocationFriends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Includes minutes: 2.1 1955-1969, and miscellaneous papers: 2.2 1954-60, 2.3 1971-73, and 2.4 1961-70.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 vol. + 3 folders
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: United
Physical LocationFriends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: United
Physical LocationFriends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College Peace Collection collected records related to the Peace Center, including some related to member organizations like the Brandywine Peace Community. The collection includes many founding documents: the 1987 Statement of Purpose approved by Chester Quarterly, the committee charge for the Peace Center, and a draft lease agreement with Springfield Friends Meeting. The files also include steering committee minutes, press releases from the Peace Center and Chester QM, and postcards and ephemera (especially flyers) related to Peace Center programs.
Swarthmore College Peace Collection collected this material, its chronological arrangement has been maintained.
Physical Description7 folders
1 folder
Primarily minutes and financial reports
Physical Description1 folder
Paul Sheldon joined the Steering Committee in 2013. This file includes assorted correspondene among the Steering Committee, as well as dicussion of Springfield Friends Meeting's concern to lay down the Peace Center in 2013-2014.
Physical Description2 folders
1 folder
1 folder
A sampling of flyers advertising the Peace Center's many public programs, including files on Mother's Day for Peace, Toys for a Peaceful Planet, and the Delaware County Peace Festival.
Physical Description4 folders
Some gaps in coverage; no reports 2004-2010
Physical Description1 folder
Selection of records collected by Joan Wider from Peace Center member organizations and other peace work, including Delaware County Peace Justice and Environmental Networ, the Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation, and the Brandywine Peace Community.
Physical Description1 folder