The Creation of Modern Quaker Diversity, 1830-1937

The period from 1830 to 1937 was transformative for modern Quakerism. Practitioners made significant contributions to world culture, from their heavy involvement in the abolitionist and women’s rights movements and creation of thriving communities of Friends in the Global South to the large-scale post-World War I humanitarian relief efforts of the American Friends Service Committee and Friends Service Council in Britain.

The Creation of Modern Quaker Diversity, 1830-1937 explores these developments and the impact they had on the Quaker religion and on the broader world. Chapters examine the changes taking place within the denomination at the time, including separations, particularly in the United States, that resulted in the establishment of distinct branches, and a series of all-Quaker conferences in the early twentieth century that set the agenda for Quakerism.

Written by the leading experts in the field, this engaging narrative and penetrating analysis is the authoritative account of this period of Quaker history. It will appeal to scholars and lay Quaker readers alike and is an essential volume for meeting libraries.

In addition to the editors, the contributors include Joanna Clare Dales, Richard Kent Evans, Douglas Gwyn, Thomas D. Hamm, Robynne Rogers Healey, Julie L. Holcomb, Sylvester A. Johnson, Stephanie Midori Komashin, Emma Jones Lapsansky, Isaac Barnes May, Nicola Sleapwood, Carole Dale Spencer, and Randall L. Taylor.

Stephen W. Angell is Leatherock Professor of Quakerism at the Earlham School of Religion.

Pink Dandelion directs the work of the Centre for Research in Quaker Studies at Woodbrooke and is Professor of Quaker Studies at the University of Birmingham and a Research Fellow at Lancaster University.

David Harrington Watt is Dorothy and Douglas Steere Professor of Quaker Studies at Haverford College.