Please join the Canadian Friends Historical Association in a “Friendly Friday” discussion of George Fox’s journal. This Zoom session will run on Fri. Oct. 16, from 1:30-3 pm. In the course of a little more than an hour, our group covered the first 8 pages of the Journal. We will pick up where we left off this coming Friday, and new participants are welcome to join us. Sessions will continue every other Friday through to December.
It is really easy to register–just submit your name and email address in the following link and submit. You’ll then be prompted “review your registration” which will then take you to a confirmation page. No need to be a member of CFHA to join.
Here’s more: “I attended the session on Oct. 2. The reading was sent out in advance, and it caught my interest in learning more about George Fox and his experience. During the session, we read a section from Fox’s journal, and then stopped for discussion along the way. I’m so glad to have attended this session because it helped me deepen my knowledge of a foundational text to understand what led up to the development of the Religious Society of Friends and to compare and contrast this with our modern Quaker experience. Donna Moore”
We recently received a genealogy question in regard to the ancestry of Jemima Camp Wade (1812-1895).
In 1832, Jemima Wade married Solomon Doan, an active member of the Black Creek PM and Pelham MM. One of their children is listed in the Pelham Register as born in Crowland. We’re hoping some information can be found regarding Jemima Camp Wade’s parentage, in particular linking her to Wells Wade (1780-1858) and Abigail ‘Abby’ Wade (1782-1858).
Do you have any information about Jemima Camp Wade and her family?
As students enter a fall semester full of new challenges, we want to highlight the CFHA Student Essay Award and Scholarship Program. The program was created to support students interested in Canadian Quaker history and promote awareness of local meetings among students. The CFHA encourages all students undertaking research related to Canadian Quaker history to apply.
One CFHA student essay scholarship is available to junior high school students (Grades 9-10) in the amount of $200, and one award is available to senior high school students (Grades 11-12) in the amount of $300. In addition, one scholarship in the amount of $1500 per year for each of two years is available to a university student who is undertaking a program in relevant Canadian Quaker research.
For those of you who were unable to join us at the program portion of our AGM, we have a recording of Ben Pink Dandelion and Stephen W. Angell’s discussion. Ben and Stephen have been instrumental in the field of Quaker studies and we were so pleased to have them.
Freedom Forum Institute is hosting the fifth program in their series, “Religious Resolve: Stories from Our Past, for Our Future,” on the Grimké sisters. The panel, “The Grimkés Speak Out on Faith, Race, and Civil Rights,” will take place Sunday, October 11th, at 3:00 pm (EST).
The panel includes Dr. Healey’s discussion of Quaker sisters Angelina and Sarah Grimké and the complexities and contradictions of religious life in 19th and 20th century America. Rev. Perzavia Praylow will present the story of Rev. Francis Grimké, a prominent African-American clergyman and civil rights activist.
How many times have you seen a Quaker in a television program or movie? How often have Quakers, the Amish, and Mennonites been conflated into stock characters? We are thrilled to share this guest post from Stephen D. Brooks who is researching representations of Quakers in television and film as part of a PhD in Quaker Studies at the University of Birmingham (UK). If any readers would like to discuss Stephen’s post, or if you have suggestions where he may find representations of Quakers in film or tv, please drop him a line at [email protected].
Verifying a Quaker Presence in American Television Westerns
Stephen D. Brooks
At first glance it would appear that representations of Quakers in the mediums of film and television are sparse. Collectively, James Emmett Ryan’s Imaginary Friends (2009) and David N. Butterworth’s Celluloid Friends (2015) found forty-nine cases of either motion pictures or television programs that included some portrayal of Quakers. These vary from significant Quaker characters, or some reflection on Quakerism, to secondary or walk-on characters who can be identified as Quaker. These include silent-era features and shorts, plus those that use Quakers to provide one-liners and jokes such as Woody Allen’s Sleeper (1973).
Miles Monroe (played by Allen): “I’m telling you. You got the wrong man. I’m not the heroic type. Really. I was beaten up by Quakers.”
This was my starting point. From there I cross-referenced these forty-nine instances with the web-based resource The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) along with self-compiled lists put together by Quakers online. These lists included the “Friends Media Project” and “Quakers On Film” from pendlehill.org plus the michiganquaker.org entry of “Quakers in Popular Culture.” This resulted in 171 examples, ranging from a quarter of a reel (no more than three minutes) silent comedy called Topsy-Turvy Dance of Three Quaker Maidens (1900) up to the BBC TV series Fleabag (2019).
These representations of Quakers also covered numerous genres: romance, comedy, adventure and drama to crime thrillers, science fiction, and musicals. In this post I am focussing on the western genre, especially American television westerns. According to the IMDb, between 1958 and 1970, Quaker characters appeared in nineteen different episodes of various shows. I am currently in the process of tracking these shows down and verifying the presence of a Quaker. There are three types of validation that I have found so far: explicit, implicit, and negative.
To establish that a character is actually a Quaker in any of the examples I’ve examined, I look for explicit confirmation either by the character themselves or by another character. In the case of silent movies, I look for a title-card. The reason for an explicit verification is because it has become apparent that descriptors on the IMDb will use “Quaker” when a character may exhibit one or more of the following tropes: identifying as pacifist because of religious beliefs, using plain language, or wearing plain dress. Careful viewing has demonstrated that the character in question may not be a Quaker at all; they could be Amish, Pennsylvania Dutch, or a member of another Mennonite group.
An example of an explicit confirmation can be found in Wagon Train: The Patience Miller Story, NBC, first shown 11 January 1961. In the opening scenes, a wagon train is attacked. There is a close-up of a family—a man, a woman, and a child. The man is killed. It transpires that this is the Miller family who are missionaries on their way to Arapaho territory to open a school for indigenous children. Some of the men on the train urge wagon master Flint McCullough (Robert Preston) to convince the widowed Patience Miller (Rhonda Fleming) and her young daughter (Terry Burnham) to abandon her plan to continue to the mission without her husband. He replies, “ever tried arguing with a red-headed Quaker?” Patience for her part uses plain “thee” and “thou” language, dresses plainly, and often quotes William Penn.
An illustration of what I term as implicit confirmation occurs in Bonanza: The Hopefuls, NBC, first shown 8 October 1960. Here a religious group is crossing the Ponderosa as settlers on their way to new territory. A wagon train is carrying both the community members and the money they had pooled to pay for the land. Adam Cartwright (Pernell Roberts), who is smitten by the daughter of the group’s leader, and his stepbrother Hoss (Dan Blocker) escort the train across the Cartwright’s territory. In turn, they are stalked by a gang intent on stealing the community’s money. Members of the group display the familiar traits associated with depictions of Quakers: they are a pacifist religious group and they dress plainly and use the term “Friend.” Yet, at no point is there a verbal verification or use of the word “Quaker” by them or any other character.
Finally, a negative confirmation is evident in The Restless Gun: Strange Family In Town, NBC, first shown 20 January 1958. Here, a family of new settlers—the Hoffmans—fall foul of the locals when their belief in non-violence is misinterpreted as cowardice. Along with their pacifism they do dress plainly. However, they do not use plain language, and, at no point as with Bonanza or The Hopefuls, is there any verbal confirmation by them or any other characters that they are Quakers. Moreover, they have a German-language Bible, speak German at home, eat ‘hasenpfeffer’, and are insulted by the local townspeople as “squareheads.” So, despite the listing on the IMDb including this as a Quaker family, it appears after viewing that these characters are more likely (although of course, there is no explicit confirmation) to be members of a Pennsylvania Dutch community.
Stephen D. Brooks
As I continue to look through the results from IMDb, it will be interesting to see just how many films and programs will contain explicit confirmation that characters are Quakers rather than members of another religious group. The other side to this of course that merits consideration, is the possibility that listings stating that a story contains an Amish, Anabaptist, or another non-conformist representation of characters is in fact a Quaker?
Bibliography.
Butterworth, David N. (2015) Celluloid Friends: Cinematic Quakers real and imagined (1922-2012) USA, Amazon Press LLC.
Ryan, James Emmett. (2009) Imaginary Friends: Representing Quakers In American culture 1650 -1950. Studies in American Thought and Culture. Series editor Paul S. Boyer. Madison, Wisconsin, The University of Wisconsin Press.
Filmography.
Bonanza: The Hopefuls. October 1960 [TV] James Nielsen dir. USA. National Broadcasting Corporation.
Restless Gun, The: Strange Family in Town. January 1958. [TV] Earl Bellamy dir. USA. Window Glen Productions.
Sleeper. 1973 [Film] Woody Allen dir. USA. Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions.
Topsy-Turvy Dance of Three Quaker Maidens. 1902 [Film] George Albert Smith dir. UK. George Albert Smith Films.
Wagon Train: The Patience Miller Story. January 1961 [TV] Mitch Leisen dir. USA. Revue Studios.
CFHA is pleased to announce that the ‘Friendly Friday’ program presentations will launch Friday, October 02, 2020 at 1:30 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time (Toronto).
Everyone is welcome to participate. Sessions will be held via Zoom, and will typically last approximately an hour.
The first set of sessions will be of particular interest to anyone seeking an understanding of the spiritual experiences, epiphanies, and testimonies as related in the Journal of George Fox. These came to form the foundational principles of the Religious Society of Friends.
Although the Journal of George Fox has served for centuries as the creation account of the Quakers, it is relatively little read among contemporary Friends. Many find the book difficult and lengthy. It is nonetheless richly rewarding and relevant to contemporary seekers. This is especially so for the first 40 to 50 pages. These include the context and content of all of George Fox’s foundational “openings” and formative experiences through childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. It will be our objective to read and discuss this portion of the Journal.
Photo of George Fox from the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-pga-11433).
The readings and discussion will be facilitated by CFHA Co-Chair Gord Thompson. The text of the Journal has been broken into short manageable readings for willing participants to read aloud. Experience has shown that short readings followed by discussion, questions, and comments allow a thorough unpacking of the text. Our aim is to foster a personal tone of sharing which facilitates individual and collective understanding. It is anticipated that 5 or 6 sessions will see us through the essential first chapters. These will be scheduled for every other Friday following October 2nd, through to early December. Ideally most participants will be able to take part in all sessions, but even occasional participants will find the experience worthwhile.
Those interested in participating are asked to register here via the link provided in order to receive the Zoom meeting invitation and admission to the session.
Please note that readings will be based on the John Nickalls edition of the Journal of George Fox. Text annotated to identify the respective individual readings will be provided to participants. If you have any questions please contact [email protected].
A reminder that the CFHA’s Annual General Meeting is this Saturday, September 26th. The program portion beings at 11am Eastern time and will feature Quaker historians Stephen W. Angell and Ben Pink Dandelion. The business portion of the AGM will follow.
For last minute additions, register at https://cfha.b.civicrm.ca/civicrm/event/register?reset=1&id=1 and contact [email protected] for any additional information.
In this month’s Founders and Builders Series, we introduce you to one of the CFHA’s early supporters. Our third essay features Elma McGrew Starr and is written by David Newlands.
Elma McGrew Starr by David Newlands
Elma McGrew Starr (1890-1985) was a birthright Quaker and well-known member of the Canadian Yearly Meeting. She and her twin sister, Edith McGrew Smith, were born on 21 September 1890 on their parent’s farm near Harrisville, Ohio. Her parents were Gilbert and Eliza (Hall) McGrew. The family was part of the Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative).
In 1898 Elma and her sister attended the Friends School near Harrisville Meeting House. She attended the Friends’ Boarding School (now Olney Friends School) in Barnesville, Ohio, graduating in 1909. In 1911 Elma Starr attended the Normal School of Scio, Ohio, where she attained her teacher training. In the fall of the same year she accepted the post of teacher at the Friends School at Norwich, Ontario. Here she boarded a week at a time at each of the pupils’ homes. Her pay was $200 a year. There were fifteen pupils in the school. The school building is now on the grounds of the Norwich Historical Museum.
Elma met her future husband, Elmer Starr, of Newmarket, Ontario during sessions of Canada Yearly Meeting in 1912. In May of the following year they were engaged; they were married in 1915. Elma recalls, “With $30 of my teaching money, I bought a sewing machine and made my wedding clothes, and some for sister Edith.”[1] The couple eventually settled in Newmarket at ‘Starr Elms’, a farm to the east of the town. They attended Yonge Street Meeting regularly throughout the following decades. Although often quietly taking her place in Quaker meetings, she was considered a ‘weighty’ Friend, and other Friends often sought her advice and leadership, both locally and in the Canadian Yearly Meeting.
They had five children: Francis (1916–2000), Gilbert (1918, d. at age 8 ½ days of Spanish influenza), Harriet Starr Cope (1920–1967), Huldah Starr Stanley (b. 1923) and Stuart (b. 1927).
Throughout her long life Elma Starr was an indefatigable supporter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. She attended provincial temperance conventions and participated in Youth Oratorical Contests that encouraged speaking about temperance in schools. She was leader of the contest in schools for eighteen years, until her retirement in 1955. She continued to be active in the York County unit of the Ontario Temperance Federation until the local unit was dissolved in 1971.
Elma Starr was also an ambassador of Friends Peace Testimony, supporting in her dealings with others and encouraging Friends to be faithful to this testimony.
Elma was confident and constant in her Christian faith and testified to this in meetings and her beloved Yonge Street Meeting. She was actively involved in the Sunday School movement and was a teacher of the Intermediate Class at the Pine Orchard Sunday School. In 1941 she became the President of the Whitchurch Sunday School Convention. She gave the Sunderland Gardiner Lecture at the Canadian Yearly Meeting on ‘Why I am A Christian.’
For many Quakers and the people of the Newmarket community, Elma is best remembered for her simple Quaker piety, her faithful Christian witness, and her commitment to simplicity in daily life. In her autobiography, Contented, she writes, “all my life I have truly desired to know and to follow Jesus, and often I have been blest with a small measure of consciousness of his presence and guidance in various situations.”[2]
Learning at an early age how to make traditional Quaker bonnets, she continued to make them for her own use and for the many people who asked her for one. She could be seen at the Yonge Street Meeting or at special Quaker or community events wearing her Quaker bonnet, a witness to her commitment to simplicity.
Elma Starr was always interested in Quaker history. No doubt her family’s connections with Quakers and her love of Quaker traditions encouraged her. In 1936, when convener of the History Committee of the Pine Orchard and Bogarttown Women’s Institutes, she oversaw the production of Pine Orchard History, 1800-1936. At the inauguration of the Canadian Friends Historical Association, Elma was one of the loyal supporters, eager to see the work of the Association prosper. Elma’s involvement with the restoration of the Yonge Street Meetinghouse is also part of her contribution to the preservation of Canadian Quaker history.
Her beloved Elmer Starr died on 7 July 1973 at the age of ninety-two years. They had been married fifty-eight years. In the following years, Elma lived at Walton Home, a retirement residence of the Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends (Conservative) in Barnesville, Ohio. For a number of years she returned in the summer months to her beloved Yonge Street Meeting.
Elma Starr died peacefully at the Walton Home on 15 June 1985, ending a “life well loved, to the glory of God and her Savior.”[3]
[1] Elma M. Starr, “Contented.” Canadian Quaker History Journal 73 (2008), 69.
[3] This article is based on Elma Starr’s biography, “Contented,” republished in the Canadian Quaker History Journal 73 (2008): 64-79 (This article can be found online at: http://cfha.info/journal73p64.pdf), and Raymond W. Stanley’s memorial, “A Son-in-law’s Memories of Elma McGrew Starr,” 40-41, and the author’s own reminiscences.
This week the CFHA is happy to announce a book giveaway! To enter: follow the CFHA on Facebook or Twitter and register for the upcoming AGM program here for the chance to win a copy of Robynne Rogers Healey’s book, From Quaker to Upper Canadian: Faith and Community Among Yonge Street Friends, 1801 – 1850. The winner will be drawn and contacted on September 27th.
The program portion of CFHA’s Annual General Meeting will feature a talk given by leading Quaker historians Stephen W. Angell of the Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana, and Ben Pink Dandelion of the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Bournville, England.
