Category Archives: Guides
“In turbulent times”: sources on local Quakers and their meetings over the centuries
For Quaker Week 2017, our head of Library & Archives, Libby Adams, travelled to Penrith Meeting to give a talk on local Quakers living through “turbulent times” (this year’s Quaker Week theme). This blog post concentrates on Quaker stories from … Continue reading
Quaker women: resources for women’s history in the Library of the Society of Friends
For Women’s History Month this March, we offer a broad overview of some of the great women’s history resources the Library has to offer. Whether you’re interested in the lives and thought of particular Quaker women, in the history of … Continue reading
Friends as missionaries: contemporary reports, newsletters and magazines
This blog post introduces some of the periodicals that document British Quakers’ activity in the foreign mission field from the second half of the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Mission work was reported and promoted through annual reports, newsletters, and circulars. These … Continue reading
Library resources for researching World War I: visual resources
For the past nine months our blog has been focusing on printed and archival resources for researching World War I and its aftermath. At last it’s the turn of the Library’s “visual resources” – ever-present in the blog and on … Continue reading
Library resources for researching World War I: periodicals
Where would you look for news, reflections, debate or comment on World War I events as they unfolded? Contemporary magazines, newsletters and reports are a fruitful resource for researchers studying Quaker thought and activity during the war and its aftermath. … Continue reading
Library resources for researching World War I: peace pamphlets
It’s sometimes said that the richness of a library’s collection can be judged by the number and variety of its pamphlets. This Library has over a thousand boxes and volumes of pamphlets, which we aim to catalogue individually. Pamphlets have … Continue reading
Library resources for researching World War I: Wartime Statistics Committee
The Wartime Statistics Committee was established by Meeting for Sufferings in June 1917, a year after the introduction of conscription, to collect statistics on men of military age. Its records are of value for researchers interested in British Quakers and … Continue reading
Library resources for researching World War I: Friends Ambulance Unit
The records of the Friends Ambulance Unit are the focus of this blog post, the latest in our series on resources for researching World War I. Established in the First World War and revived in the second, the Friends Ambulance … Continue reading
Library resources for researching World War I: prison experiences of conscientious objectors
Most of the men who found themselves imprisoned for conscientious objection during World War I were characterised as absolutist objectors. These men were not willing to participate in the war effort to any extent, turning down non-combatant duties and alternative … Continue reading
Library resources for researching World War I: Friends Peace Committee
The first of our World War I resources blogposts focuses on the Friends Peace Committee, a committee of Meeting for Sufferings (the standing representative body of Quakers in Britain) that had already been in existence for many years before the … Continue reading
Quaker Strongrooms 