Blog

Renew Your Membership!

For everyone hoping to attend the AGM on September 14th (either in person or for the online portion), please remember to renew your membership with CFHA. We hope you’ll join us for the guided tour of the Sharon Temple, catered lunch, and for our AGM guest speakers hosted at the Yonge Street Meeting House. Your support through membership provides the financial resources to keep CFHA an active and healthy association. CFHA is incorporated under the auspices of the Ontario Historical Society (OHS). You can now Read more

By CFHA, ago

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.  

By CFHA, ago

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) Read more

By CFHA, ago

Elizabeth Hooten (1603-1672): First Quaker Woman Preacher, a Mother of Quakerism, Part II

By 1656, George Fox was sending some of his followers as missionaries to early colonies in North America. Puritans had sought asylum from religious persecution for themselves in New England but, unfortunately, they persecuted, imprisoned, whipped, expelled, and hanged those who differed from them in religious belief. John Endicott (ca1588-1665), first Governor of New England, was a strong opponent of Quaker heretics and along with Puritan ministers championed their persecution. In 1656 when Quakers Mary Fisher and Anne Austin arrived at Boston, they were detained Read more

By Sandra Fuller, ago

Elizabeth Hooten (1603-1672): First Quaker Woman Preacher, a Mother of Quakerism, Part I

Recently, Quaker historians have been marking a cluster of anniversaries significant to Quakerism. The year 2024 marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of George Fox (1624-1691) who was the founding father of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers in 1647 in England. The year 2022 marked the 350th anniversary of the visit of George Fox to North America in 1672. 2022 was also the 350th anniversary of the death of Elizabeth Hooton (ca. 1603-1672) the first Quaker woman preacher, who accompanied Read more

By Sandra Fuller, ago

The Future of Quaker History and CFHA

In early February,  Martin Kelley (Quaker writer and senior editor at Friends Journal) wrote a blog post responding to an event titled “The New History of Quakerism.” The free Zoom event was hosted by Haverford College and featured talks from historians Ben Pink Dandelion and Robynne Rogers Healey (the talk is available to view on Vimeo). Kelley’s response focused on the price inaccessibility of academic publishing, asking, “I understand we’re all caught in these capitalist and academic systems. I just wonder what we can do.” The Read more

By CFHA, ago

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 Read more

By CFHA, ago

Report of the Annual General Meeting 2023

Report of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Canadian Friends Historical Association (CFHA) held September 23, 2023 on Zoom  CFHA board must call the members of Canadian Friends Association to meet an annual general meeting. CFHA was incorporated 2009 and is subject to the Ontario Non-Profit Incorporation Act. CFHA is also a Canadian Charity (Federal) and can be found on Canada Helps: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/canadian-friends-historical-association/ Elaine Bishop chaired the AGM as interim chair of CFHA. Reports were given: At the beginning of the AGM Jim Thompson joined Read more

By CFHA, ago

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 Read more

By CFHA, ago