Race Street Friends Meetinghouse
Encyclopedia
The Race Street Friends Meetinghouse is a historic and still active Quaker
meetinghouse
located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
.
The meetinghouse, at 1515 Cherry Street, served as the site of the Yearly Meeting
of the Hicksite sect of the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers) from 1857 to 1955. Built in 1856 by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and the Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, it was at the forefront of women's involvement both in Quaker religion and in American political activism. Many leaders in the Women's Movement were associated with this meetinghouse; these included abolitionist and women's rights activist Lucretia Mott
, peace activist Hannah Clothier Hull, and suffrage leader and Equal Rights Amendment
author Alice Paul
.
The meetinghouse was designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1993 for its role in the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and the civil rights movement
.
The Meetinghouse is part of the Friends Center campus, which includes the National Office of the American Friends Service Committee
, Friends World Committee for Consultation
, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
, the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the United Nations Association
. It is the site of a copy of Sylvia Shaw Judson
's statue of Mary Dyer
, the 17th century Quaker martyr.
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
meetinghouse
Friends meeting house
A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends , where meeting for worship may be held.-History:Quakers do not believe that meeting for worship should take place in any special place. They believe that "where two or three meet together in my name, I am there among...
located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
.
The meetinghouse, at 1515 Cherry Street, served as the site of the Yearly Meeting
Yearly Meeting
Yearly Meeting is a term used by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, to refer to an organization composed of a collection of smaller, more frequent constituent meetings within a geographical area. These constituent meetings go by various names such as Quarterly Meetings, which...
of the Hicksite sect of the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers) from 1857 to 1955. Built in 1856 by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and the Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, it was at the forefront of women's involvement both in Quaker religion and in American political activism. Many leaders in the Women's Movement were associated with this meetinghouse; these included abolitionist and women's rights activist Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Coffin Mott was an American Quaker, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent of women's rights.- Early life and education:...
, peace activist Hannah Clothier Hull, and suffrage leader and Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
author Alice Paul
Alice Paul
Alice Stokes Paul was an American suffragist and activist. Along with Lucy Burns and others, she led a successful campaign for women's suffrage that resulted in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.-Activism: Alice Paul received her undergraduate education from...
.
The meetinghouse was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1993 for its role in the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and the civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
.
The Meetinghouse is part of the Friends Center campus, which includes the National Office of the American Friends Service Committee
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
, Friends World Committee for Consultation
Friends World Committee for Consultation
The Friends World Committee for Consultation is a Quaker organization that works to communicate between all parts of Quakerism. FWCC's world headquarters is based in London. It has Consultative NGO status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations...
, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, or simply Philadelphia Yearly Meeting or PYM, is the central organizing body for Quaker meetings in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, area....
, the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the United Nations Association
United Nations Association
The United Nations Associations are non-governmental organizations that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of a member state and the United Nations, raise public awareness of the UN and its work, promote the general goals of the UN and act as an advisory body...
. It is the site of a copy of Sylvia Shaw Judson
Sylvia Shaw Judson
Sylvia Shaw Judson , also known as Sylvia Shaw Haskins, was an American sculptor and teacher.-Early life and education:Shaw was born in 1897 in Lake Forest, Illinois, near Chicago, the daughter of prominent Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw. She attended the Westover School in Connecticut. In...
's statue of Mary Dyer
Mary Dyer
Mary Baker Dyer was an English Puritan turned Quaker who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony , for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony...
, the 17th century Quaker martyr.
Further reading
- Frances Williams Browin, A Century of Race Street Meeting House 1856-1956, Philadelphia PA: Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of Friends, 1956.