Main content
American Friends Fellowship Council Records
Notifications
Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the 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
The American Friends Fellowship Council had its origin in the Fellowship Committee of the American Friends Service Committee. The primary purpose of the AFFC was to foster an increased interest in Quakerism throughout the United States and to draw all Friends groups into closer sympathy and fellowship. The Fellowship Council merged with the Friends World Committee, American Section, in 1954. From its beginning as the Message Committee of the AFSC, the Council assisted Friends travelling across America. Itineraries were prepared, contacts made, and a small fund was established to provide travel assistance. In 1937, the Friends World Conference brought about 250 foreign visitors to the United States; the Fellowship Council assisted in visitation plans.
The Wider Quaker Fellowship (WQF) was established as a spiritual movement in 1936. Its original purpose was to make it possible for persons to be associated with the Society of Friends while still maintaining other religious affiliation. Literature was sent to members several times a year.
The AFFC also assisted in the nurturing of new groups of Friends across the United States, especially in areas with no other Friends meetings. Some of these groups were directly affiliated with the American Friends Fellowship Council if there was no satisfactory yearly meeting connection. A policy for this purpose was adopted in 1944.
The Fellowship Committee also created a number of small unit libraries, designed for communities in which books were not easily available. These travelling units were sent to rural communities all over the country. Each year the Council printed a calendar of all of the Yearly Meetings. It also published the Quaker Handbook, a Quaker Bibliography, and the Quaker Letter, a single sheet letter sent to isolated Friends four times a year.
The American Young Friends Fellowship was established out of a youth group at Lake Forest, Illinois, in 1934. In 1942 it became the youth section of the American Friends Fellowship Council.
The Friends Conference on the Nature and Laws of Our Spiritual Life was affiliated with the Fellowship Council in 1945. Its primary purpose was to introduce and nurture a deeper searching for a richer and fuller spiritual life. Its name was changed to the Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology in 1947.
In 1953, the AFSC sponsored the Quaker Leadership Grants program. These grants, ranging up to $1000. or $2000., were intended to develop imaginative leadership among younger Friends through study, survey, or research. Among the groups for whom this assistance was intended was the American Friends Fellowship Council.
Correspondence and administrative records, minutes, financial statements, membership lists, publicity, correspondence about new meetings, Intervisitation, and Wider Quaker Fellowship, 1933-1954.
Primary correspondants include Sydney Baily, Willis Beede, Clement M. (Clement Miller) Biddle, Raymond Binford, Dr. Emma Bolzau, Hans Buchinger, Florence Burridge, Seaton Burridge, Rebecca Timbres Clark, Pearl Davidson, Robert J. Davidson, Emily Eaton, Horace Ainsworth Eaton, Russell Edgerton, Mae Edgerton, J. Passmore (Joseph Passmore) Elkinton, Leonhard Friedrich, Henry T. (Henry Tregelles) Gillett, Lucy Gillett, Frederick John Gillman, Leanore Goodenow, Walter G. Heacock, Burton S. W. Hill, Erika Hodgkin, Helen G. (Helen Griscom) Hole, Elizabeth Fox Howard, Grace Howson, William Hubben, Karl Hujer, Margaret E. Jones, Robert M. Jones, Rufus Matthew Jones, Thomas Elsa Jones, William Kantor, Thomas R. (Thomas Raymond) Kelly, Gilbert Hawthorne Kilpack, Hilda Koch, Rose Hum Lee, Robert Limburg, Joseph Wharton Lippincott, Eleanor Lippincott, Albert Martin, Augustus T. (Agustus Taber) Murray, William Noble, Charles Palmer, Anna Palmer, Irene Pickard, Alexander Converse Purdy, Grace E. Rhoads, Ronald Rice, Annie Rodgers, Leslie D. Shaffer, Beatrice Shipley, Ward W. Silver, Margaret Simkin, Robert Simkin, Fred Smith, Madame Raissa Soudarskaya, Dorothy Starr, Francis Starr, Greta Sumpf, Peter Tennant, Sergei Thomas, Willard O. Trueblood, James F. Walker, J. Barnard (Joseph Bernard) Walton, Benjamin F. Whitson, and David Wills.
The collection is organized into 10 series:
- Ser. 1 Administrative and Other Records is organized into four subseries: 1.1 Minutes, Agenda, and Announcements, 1936-1953 (.5 lin. ft.) includes Executive Committee meetings, Nominating Committee, etc.; 1.2 Financial, 1936-1953 (.5 lin. ft.) includes budget, Finance Committee, Financial Appeal letters, Financial Statements; 1.3 Annual Meetings, 1934-1952 (.3 lin. ft.); Other Administrative Records, 1930-1953 (1 lin. ft.) includes Annual Reports, Bulletins, membership, publicity.
- Ser. 2 General Correspondence, 1934-1953 (5 lin. ft.) is arranged alphabetically.
- Ser.3 Wider Quaker Fellowship, 1936-1953 (6 lin. ft.) includes minutes, members, literature and quarterly mailings, and correspondence arranged alphabetically.
- Ser.4 New and United Meetings, 1935-1953 (6 lin. ft.)
- Ser.5 Publications and Quaker Literature, 1935-1953 (1 lin. ft.)
- Ser.6 Intervisitation, 1933-1951 (1 lin. ft.)
- Ser.7 American Young Friends Fellowship, 1940-1948 (.1 lin. ft.)
- Ser.8 Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology, 1947-1952 (.2 lin. ft.)
- Ser.9 Non-Resident Membership, 1936-1948 (.4 lin. ft.)
- Ser.10 Quaker Leadership Grants, 1953 (.1 lin. ft.)
Depositor: Friends World Committee, American Section
Date: 1949
Accession number: N/A
Accruals: 1950-ca.1956
Friends Historical Library was designated Official Depository on April 13, 1949. Hannah Stapler, Secretary of the Committee, sorted through files in the AFSC Office and placed materials in document boxes purchased from FHL. Material was then deposited periodically by Friends World Committee, about every two years, as records were retired.
When originally deposited, material was sorted by year; within each year, folders were labeled as Administrative, Correspondence, New Meetings, etc. In 1999, decision was made to re-folder material into acid-free folders and the replace the acidic boxes. At that time, material was re-sorted by folder label, with the original material within each folder retained as originally arranged. This new sorting scheme will allow the researcher to look at all of the files of a particular meeting, for instance, in one box, rather that having to request boxes by year. It also allows arrangement into series. For the most part, folder labels remain the same.
Organization
- American Friends Fellowship Council -- History
- American Friends Service Committee. Message Committee -- History
- American Young Friends Fellowship -- History
- Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology -- History
Subject
- Society of Friends -- Hawaii -- Honolulu
- Society of Friends -- History -- 20th century
- Society of Friends -- Argentina -- Buenos Aires
- Society of Friends -- Arizona -- Phoenix
- Society of Friends -- Arizona -- Tucson
- Society of Friends -- Arkansas -- Little Rock
- Society of Friends -- California -- Berkeley
- Society of Friends -- California -- Riverside
- Society of Friends -- California -- Sacramento
- Society of Friends -- China -- Shanghai
- Society of Friends -- Colorado -- Denver
- Society of Friends -- Congresses
- Society of Friends -- Connecticut -- Hartford
- Society of Friends -- Connecticut -- New Haven
- Society of Friends -- Connecticut -- Middletown
- Society of Friends -- Connecticut -- Weston
- Society of Friends -- Florida -- Daytona Beach
- Society of Friends -- Florida -- Jacksonville
- Society of Friends -- Florida -- Miami
- Society of Friends -- Florida -- Orlando
- Society of Friends -- Florida -- St. Petersburg
- Society of Friends -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Society of Friends -- Georgia -- Augusta
- Society of Friends -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Society of Friends -- Illinois -- Decatur
- Society of Friends -- Illinois -- Lake Forest
- Society of Friends -- Illinois -- Oak Park
- Society of Friends -- Illinois -- Urbana
- Society of Friends -- Indiana -- Bloomington
- Society of Friends -- Indiana -- Indianapolis
- Society of Friends -- Indiana -- Purdue University
- Society of Friends -- Iowa -- Ames
- Society of Friends -- Iowa -- Council Bluffs
- Society of Friends -- Iowa -- Iowa City
- Society of Friends -- Jamaica -- Kingston
- Society of Friends -- Kansas -- Lawrence
- Society of Friends -- Kentucky -- Lexington
- Society of Friends -- Kentucky -- Louisville
- Society of Friends -- Louisiana -- New Orleans
- Society of Friends -- Maine -- Bangor
- Society of Friends -- Maryland -- Annapolis
- Society of Friends -- Maryland -- Pocomoke
- Society of Friends -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge
- Society of Friends -- Massachusetts -- Greenfield
- Society of Friends -- Massachusetts -- Marion
- Society of Friends -- Massachusetts -- Northampton
- Society of Friends -- Massachusetts -- Springfield
- Society of Friends -- Massachusetts -- Wellesley
- Society of Friends -- Massachusetts -- Worcester
- Society of Friends -- Massachusetts -- Amherst
- Society of Friends -- Mexico
- Society of Friends -- Michigan -- Detroit
- Society of Friends -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor
- Society of Friends -- Michigan -- East Lansing
- Society of Friends -- Michigan -- Kalamazoo
- Society of Friends -- Michigan -- Lansing
- Society of Friends -- Michigan -- Midland
- Society of Friends -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis
- Society of Friends -- Missouri -- Columbia
- Society of Friends -- Missouri -- Kansas City
- Society of Friends -- Missouri -- Penn Valley
- Society of Friends -- Missouri -- St. Louis
- Society of Friends -- Nebraska -- Lincoln
- Society of Friends -- New Hampshire -- Exeter
- Society of Friends -- New Jersey -- Leonia
- Society of Friends -- New Jersey -- New Brunswick
- Society of Friends -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- Society of Friends -- New Jersey -- Ridgewood
- Society of Friends -- New Jersey -- Shrewsbury
- Society of Friends -- New Mexico -- Santa Fe
- Society of Friends -- New York (State) -- Buffalo
- Society of Friends -- New York (State) -- Elmira
- Society of Friends -- New York (State) -- Ithaca
- Society of Friends -- New York (State) -- Jamestown
- Society of Friends -- New York (State) -- Mt. Vernon
- Society of Friends -- New York (State) -- Riverside
- Society of Friends -- New York (State) -- Rockland
- Society of Friends -- New York (State) -- Big Flats
- Society of Friends -- North Carolina -- Celo
- Society of Friends -- North Carolina -- Chapel Hill
- Society of Friends -- North Carolina -- Durham
- Society of Friends -- North Carolina -- Guilford
- Society of Friends -- North Carolina -- Winston-Salem
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- Cleveland
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- Columbus
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- Dayton
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- Delaware
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- East Cincinnati
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- North Columbus
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- Toledo
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- Akron
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- Antioch
- Society of Friends -- Ohio -- Oberlin
- Society of Friends -- Oklahoma -- Oklahoma City
- Society of Friends -- Oregon -- Corvallis
- Society of Friends -- Oregon -- Elkton
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Bethlehem
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Erie
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Harrisburg
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Lancaster
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Chambersburg
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Easton
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Lewisburg
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- State College
- Society of Friends -- Rhode Island -- Providence
- Society of Friends -- Saskatchewan -- Saskatoon
- Society of Friends -- Tennessee -- Gatlinburg
- Society of Friends -- Tennessee -- Nashville
- Society of Friends -- Texas -- Dallas
- Society of Friends -- Texas -- Austin
- Society of Friends -- Texas -- Corpus Christi
- Society of Friends -- Virginia -- Charlottesville
- Society of Friends -- Virginia -- Hampton
- Society of Friends -- Washington (D.C.)
- Society of Friends -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
- Society of Friends -- West Virginia -- Morgantown
- Society of Friends -- Wisconsin -- Madison
- Society of Friends -- Wisconsin -- Milwaukee
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- POD
- Finding Aid Date
- 1999
- Sponsor
- Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.