Canadian Friends Historical Association

Category: Events

  • CFHA Annual General Meeting and Visit to Coldstream Friends

    Canadian Friends Historical Association Annual General Meeting
    and Visit to Coldstream Friends
    Saturday September 27, 2025
    Ron Nickles “Sketches” Quaker Meeting House — Coldstream, Ontario.

    Join us for our 2025 AGM!

    The meeting will be in person with a Zoom link (to follow) for those who cannot be at the AGM.

    • 10:30 arrival Coldstream meeting house
    • 11:00 Annual General Meeting
    • 12:30 catered lunch (by donation)
    • 1:30 Tour of Coldstream meeting house 1859 and burial ground with a talk about the history of the monthly meeting. Coldstream (Lobo) was established 1857 as a preparative meeting and was a member of Genesee Yearly Meeting (Hicksite).
    • Sheila Havard will speak of her research on the 1955 union of the three Yearly Meetings (Canada Yearly Meeting (Orthodox), Genesee Yearly Meeting, and Canada Yearly Meeting (Conservative) that became Canadian Yearly Meeting. She has been transcribing minutes of the three Yearly Meetings.

    Billeting is being offered by Coldstream Monthly meeting members. Please contact Coldstream MM here.

    Also the Holiday Inn in Strathroy is close to Coldstream for those that wish to stay in the area.

    Canadian Friends Historical Association is incorporated and as such must hold an annual general meeting. The Executive is presently made up of Evelyn Schmitz-Hertzberg, chair, Bob Barnett, treasurer, Ginny Walsh, recorder, and Sylvia Powers. At the AGM the chair gives a message of welcome and reports on the activity of the year. The fiscal year is June 1- May 31.

    The membership year is from September 1. Please note that only currently paid members can vote at the AGM on resolutions. Reports will be shared digitally before the AGM to members: chair’s report, accept minutes of 2024 AGM, treasurers report, Friendly Fridays, membership, CFHA blog, digital archivist, Canadian Quaker Library and Archives CQLA. Nominations for the executive 2024-2025 are to be accepted at the AGM.

    CFHA is actively looking for more members to join the CFHA executive. Bob Barnett is looking for an assistant treasurer.

    Any questions please contact Eve Schmitz-Hertzberg — [email protected]

    Please RSVP to Eve if you are coming in person. This is needed for luncheon numbers.

  • Reminder! Renew Membership Before the AGM

    The CFHA Annual General Meeting will be held in Coldstream Friends meeting house in Coldstream, Ontario, on Saturday, September 27th. 

    A reminder to please renew your CFHA membership before the meeting, as only current members may vote on an AGM resolution. All registration information can be found here, including online membership renewal.

    CFHA is planning an in person and hybrid meeting this year. There will be lunch served and afterwards presentations of Canadian Quaker historical interest. More information to follow in the coming weeks.

    Coldstream (Lobo) preparative meeting was a member of the Genesee Yearly Meeting (Hicksite) (picture from Arthur Dorland’s The Quakers in Canada, A History)

     

  • Friendly Friday – George Fox Journal Discussion Group

    Friendly Friday – George Fox Journal Discussion Group

    Interested in exploring and reflecting on the source document of Quakerism?

    In Friendly Friday, our participants reflect an eclectic group of voices, opinions and viewpoints. We gather to read aloud, spiritually contemplate and reflect on George Fox’s Journal, respecting that of God in every one, including different viewpoints and experiences, to learn and grow from one another.

    We have found that a deep and prayerful listening to Fox read aloud tends to flow naturally into personal insight and comment that has much in common with worship-sharing. Collectively we come to a deeper understanding of the profound ministry of the Spirit through Fox, and are encouraged to reflect on how this ministry may speak into our contemporary experience. Join us at anytime.

    Our group has been meeting over Zoom to learn about the historic and spiritual beginnings of the Religious Society of Friends by reading and discussing the Nickall’s edition of George Fox’s Journal. It is an outreach program of the Canadian Friends Historical Association.

    We always welcome new participants. 

    Want to know more? Visit: Friendly Friday: George Fox Journal Discussion Group

    If you wish to receive email notifications about the next sessions, email Donna Moore at [email protected]

  • Save the Date: Hybrid AGM – Join Us In-Person and Online

    Save the Date: Hybrid AGM – Join Us In-Person and Online

    Save the Date!

  • The 2024 George Richardson Lecture at Fox at 400

    The 2024 George Richardson Lecture at Fox at 400

    Held jointly by the CQHA/CRQS/QSRA, the Fox at 400 conference held this past June included the 2024 George Richardson Lecture. Historian Nigel Smith presented “Back to the Light: A Fresh Approach,” examining Quaker activity from its origins to the early 18th century. Past lectures are on Woodbrooke’s website, and those interested in Smith’s talk can view it below.

     

  • FHA Virtual Lecture – “William Penn: Enigmatic Quaker, Founding Father” by J. William Frost

    Join the Friends Historical Association in celebrating the 400th anniversary of George Fox’s birth with a focus on his contemporary, arguably the second most important leader in the early Quaker movement: William Penn. Events include an in-person tour of Pennsbury Manor on May 19 and a virtual lecture by J. William Frost on May 29. These events are all free but registration is required. Details are on FHA’s website.

    Wednesday, May 29, 2024 – “William Penn: Enigmatic Quaker, Founding Father” by J. William Frost (virtual event)
    12:00 PM ET (find my local time)

    18th Century Engraving Print of William Penn

    For the 400th Anniversary of George Fox’s birth, J. William Frost will present a virtual talk on William Penn that excavates his life as a deeply religious man who experienced personal triumph and success as well as tragedy and failure, as well as his connections to George Fox. While many recognize William Penn as the founder of Pennsylvania and a defender of religious liberty, much less is known about Penn as a man of faith. Frost’s forthcoming book, William Penn: A Radical, Conservative Quaker (Penn State University Press, November 2024) examines Penn as a deeply religious man whose contradictions reflect, at least in part, his turbulent times. This intriguing history fills significant gaps in writings about Penn–particularly concerning Penn’s faith and its intersection with his work as a statesman and politician.

  • Event: “The New History of Quakerism” Tomorrow with Ben Pink Dandelion and Robynne Rogers Healey

    The Libraries and Quaker Studies at Haverford College is hosting a free Quaker history zoom panel on Wednesday, February 7th at 12:00pm EST. 

    The way that we understand the history of the Society of Friends today is very different from the way that we understood it one hundred–or even ten–years ago. In this session two distinguished scholars, Ben Pink Dandelion and Robynne Rogers Healey, will highlight some of the most important differences between “the new history of Quakerism” and older interpretations of Quaker history.

    See the event page for more details and further zoom information.

    Robynne Rogers Healey and Ben Pink Dandelion, courtesy of Haverford College.

    Ben Pink Dandelion

    Professor of Theology and Religion; Honorary Professor of Quaker Studies; Director, Centre for Postgraduate Quaker Studies

    University of Birmingham, UK

    His publications include The Creation of Modern Quaker Diversity, 1830-1937 and The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies.

    Robynne Rogers Healey

    Professor of History; Chair, Department of History; Coordinator, Gender Studies

    Trinity Western University, Canada

    Her publications include Quakerism in the Atlantic World, 1690-1830 and Quaker Women, 1800-1920.

    Please click the link below to join the webinar:
    https://haverford.zoom.us/j/93969172098?pwd=Y0JuRmxwSDRTOHM3ZXpFR2hSS2hRZz09
    Passcode: 057906

  • Online Event: “Assimilate or Be Exterminated” by David Raymond

    “Assimilate or Be Exterminated”
    Presented by David Raymond (Mi’kmaw descendant)
    December 4, 2023, 7pm Eastern Time

    David Raymond, a Quaker from Ottawa, will be giving a talk titled “Assimilate or Be Exterminated” this coming Monday, December 4th. David used the CFHA transcription of the Genessee Yearly Meeting minutes and other CFHA resources in his research. He has collected a trove of supporting documents found at other online sources.

    Registration: https://friendspeaceteams.org/assimilate-or-be-exterminated-2023/

    For much of their existence, the Quaker Yearly Meetings of Turtle Island and Britain pursued the eradication of Indigenous Peoples’ cultures and matriarchies as a means to save Indigenous Peoples from the supposed necessity of their extermination (mass killing).

    In his presentation, David Raymond will examine Quaker writings and deeds from the late 18th century to the present and will offer reflections on the impact of the truth on his faith journey.

    David is a Quaker from Ontario, Canada. He is of European and Mi’kmaw ancestry and is reconnecting to Mi’kmaw culture. For several years he has been researching Canadian Quakers’ historical role in the attempted forced assimilation of Indigenous Peoples.

    “Assimilate or Be Exterminated”
    December 4, 20238 pm Atlantic time7 pm Eastern Time6 pm Central time5 pm Mountain time4 pm Pacific Time

  • Upcoming Event: An Introduction to the History of Quakers in Canada

    Upcoming Event: An Introduction to the History of Quakers in Canada

    Winnipeg Monthly Meeting is hosting an online religious education event open to everyone on the history of Quakers in Canada. The event will be facilitated by Elaine Bishop on Thursday, November 30th.

    Some quiz questions for an Introduction to the History of Quakers in Canada:

    1. Who were the earliest Quakers in Nova Scotia?
    2. How many Winnipeg Monthly Meetings have there been?
    3. How many Yearly Meetings have had the word ‘Canada’ in their names?

    You can let Elaine know ([email protected]) what you want to know about Canadian Quaker history! If you would like to attend this event, please email Glenn to signal your attendance and to receive the online link ahead of time at [email protected].

    About the speaker: Elaine Bishop has been involved with Canadian Quakers for most of her life, having been taken to Quaker Camp NeeKauNis as a child shortly after her parents brought her to Canada from England in 1951. She has worked for Quakers in Scotland and Canada. Her interests include Quaker history and Indigenous rights, including reparations and relationships between land and peace through the lens of Quaker peace testimony. She now Clerks the Canadian Yearly Meeting Archives Committee which oversees the Canadian Quaker Library and Archives.  

  • CQHA / CRQS / QSRA Joint Conference in June 2024

    For the 400th anniversary of the birth of George Fox—credited with the establishment of The Religious Society of Friends also known as Quakers—the 2024 Joint Conference will be held in Lancaster in June, in the area at the epicentre of early Quakerism. The anniversary offers a valuable point for reflection by historians, archivists and others to consider the life and times of Fox as well as his legacies, and a coming together of new and exciting ideas around Friends and their history. This conference is ideal for anyone researching Quakerism or those interested in the findings of the research. This is a major transatlantic event and a very exciting opportunity to hear the latest scholarship in Quaker studies.

    The conference organizers invite proposals for presentations from all disciplines in the academy, from archivists and heritage practitioners, and from scholars from all backgrounds at any life stage. This year the organizers encourage proposals on the following topics:

    • George Fox focused:
      • George Fox in the Midlands / 1624 Country
      • Ancestry, parents, relatives of George Fox
      • Places and spaces of Fox and his heritage
      • The saintliness and hagiography of Fox, challenges to this
        • What is lost by focusing on Fox as the founder of Quakerism
    • Fox in the digital age
    • Quakerism beyond George Fox
    • The Valiant 60
    • Margaret Fell and other early Quakers before Fox
    • Women and religion in the 17th century
    • Weavers, shoemakers, printmakers: apprenticeships in the mid-1600s England
    • Archives and material culture of early Quakers

    In addition to individual paper presentations (20 minutes), they welcome proposals for panels of complete sessions (2-3 papers), roundtable discussions (60 or 90 minutes), workshops (up to a half day), or other collaborative formats. They also seek participants for a session of lightning talks (5-7 minutes each), a format especially well suited to works-in-progress, summaries of recent publications, or ongoing projects. All presenters are required to register for the conference.

    Complete proposals should be sent via email to Mary Crauderueff and Jordan Landes, program co-chairs, at [email protected]. The deadline for proposals is December 4, 2023.

    Please see the CQHA’s website for more information on proposals and registration.

    Questions? [email protected]
    Conference Website: http://libguides.guilford.edu/cqha
    Registration website: https://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/courses/crqs-qsra-cqha-quaker-studies-conference-fox-at-400/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quakerhistoriansandarchivists/