Quakers showing People Power

1. As the subject for this year's Heritage Open Day is People Power this slide show shows some ways in which Quakers have shown People Power Do ask our hosts if you want to know more. The show takes about 6 minutes. Quakers showing People Power

2. Margaret Fell and the Peace Testimony Quakers showing People Power Margaret Fell was an early member of the Quakers, very active in its national and international organisation, who eventually married George Fox, the founder of Quakerism. In June 1660 Margaret Fell delivered to Charles II a paper directed to the king and both houses of parliament making clear the corporate testimony of Friends ‘against all strife and wars’.

3. Margaret Fell and the Peace Testimony Quakers showing People Power Margaret Fell said: We are a people that follow after those things that make for peace, love and unity; it is our desire that others’ feet may walk in the same, and do deny and bear our testimony against all strife, and wars, and contentions that come from the lusts that war in the members, that war in the soul, which we wait for, and watch for in all people, and love and desire the good of all… Treason, treachery, and false dealing we do utterly deny; false dealing, surmising, or plotting against any creature upon the face of the earth, and speak the truth in plainness, and singleness of heart.

4. Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery Quakers showing People Power 1767 - British Quakers ban the ownership of slaves by its members 1783 - British Quakers present a 273 signature petition to parliament condemning slavery and supporting a bill to stop Africans being sold. This is the first anti-slavery petition presented to parliament.

5. Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery Quakers showing People Power 1783 – British Quakers set up a committee on the slave trade – this is Britain’s first anti-slavery organisation 1787- The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade is formed by: 9 Quakers (John Barton, William Dillwyn, George Harrison, Samuel Hoare Jr., Joseph Hooper, John Lloyd, Joseph Woods Sr., James Phillips and Richard Phillips) and 3 Anglicans (Granville Sharp, Philip Sansom and Thomas Clarkson). Thomas Clarkson (1750-1846) a resident of Bury St Edmunds William Dillwyn (1743-1824)

6. Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery Quakers showing People Power This group approached William Wilberforce to act as their parliamentary spokesperson

7. Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery Quakers showing People Power 1789 – Quaker printer and publisher James Phillips makes the infamous slave ship Brookes diagram widely available (although continued use of the image today is controversial). The Quaker communication network was used to support and fund the printing and distribution of huge amounts of anti-slavery tracts, creating the first mass media humanitarian campaign.

8. Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery Quakers showing People Power 1807 – Abolition of the Slave Trade Act passes Quakers, particularly women such as Elizabeth Heyrick, lead the anti-slavery campaigners that continued to fight for immediate and total abolition. 1833 – The Slavery Abolition Act Passes, making slavery illegal in the British Empire. 1839 – The Quaker, Joseph Sturge founds the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society to oppose slavery in all parts of the world. Quakers showing People Power

9. Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery Quakers showing People Power Quakers were leaders of the “Free Produce Movement”, a boycott of goods made using slave labour, primarily cotton and sugar. This encouraged everyday people to take practical steps towards abolition. Eleanor Stephens Clark ran a free labour cotton shop in Street, Somerset in the 1850s. The Clark family wearing Free Cotton 1858

10. Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery Quakers showing People Power

11. Elizabeth Fry and Prison Reform Quakers showing People Power "She was the only really very great human being I have ever met with whom it was impossible to be disappointed" George Douglas Campbell, Duke of Argyll Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) changed the way that prisoners, particularly female prisoners, were treated, promoting education, healthier living conditions and community. She was a hands-on campaigner, doing a lot of work in Newgate and on convict ships herself and becoming the first woman to give evidence in parliament.

12. Elizabeth Fry and Prison Reform Quakers showing People Power Elizabeth was an unwilling celebrity. Watching her work in Newgate became something of a tourist attraction for the wealthy. She was also a working mother, whose diaries record her struggle to balance the demands of her 11 children against her work and the difficulties of her husband's bankruptcy. her prison-visiting card

13. Concentration Camps in South Africa Quakers showing People Power During the second Boer War (1900-1902) the British Army housed numerous civilian families in concentration camps throughout South Africa. Conditions were poor and over 26,000 women and children died in these camps. The Friends South African Relief Fund sent out a group of women to carry out relief work in the camps, and at home they publicised the truth of the situation with posters like this one. Public outcry then led the government to change its policies and improve conditions.

14. Quakers showing People Power War Relief Work - WW1 During World War I members of the Society of Friends formed the Friends Ambulance Unit which worked with the British and French armies, and the Friends Emergency War Victims Relief Service, which brought aid to civilians affected by the war.

15. War Relief Work - WW1 Quakers showing People Power Friends Emergency War Victims Relief Service workers at work

16. War Relief Work - WW1 Quakers showing People Power Friends Emergency War Victims Relief Service workers delivering bread

17. War Relief Work - WW1 Quakers showing People Power

18. Quakers showing People Power War Relief Work - WW2 After World War II there were hundreds of thousands of displaced persons across Europe, with no shelter and no food. The Friends Service Council, the Friends Relief Service and the Friends Ambulance Unit all sent workers, supplied with contributions from home, to provide aid. FRS workers at Goslar, Germany

19. Quakers showing People Power War Relief Work - WW2 Quakers showing People Power

20. Quakers showing People Power War Relief Work - WW2 It was for this work that the Friends Service Council and the American Friends Service Committee were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947.

21. Quakers showing People Power Homelessness in Bury St Edmunds Joan Hobson hated to see the individual homeless sleeping out in the cold on a wintry night on our Meeting House garden bench. “I remember the special empathy in her voice, the dismay and almost anger.” Joan Hobson 1920-2016 Bury St Edmunds Quaker

22. Quakers showing People Power Homelessness in Bury St Edmunds Joan started a movement to set up the Night Shelter for the homeless in the Lathbury Institute. Joan identified a gaping hole in provision and set about filling it, using gifts and volunteers. Thanks to her, Britannia House and then the purpose-built Tayfen Road Hostel grew out of her initiative. Joan Hobson 1920-2016 Bury St Edmunds Quaker

23. Quakers showing People Power Anyone can show People Power ! Joan's leaving party in this room 2011

24. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power !

25. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Extinction Rebellion

26. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Amnesty International

27. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Citizens Advice

28. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Interfaith and Community Forum

29. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Churches Together

30. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Soft Power Education

31. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Pets as Therapy

32. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Befrienders

33. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Alcoholics Anonymous

34. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Campaign against Arms Trade

35. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Peace Direct

36. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Relate

37. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! Suffolk Wildlife Trust

38. Quakers showing People Power Current Bury St Edmunds Quakers are active members of many organisations which use People Power ! United Nations Association

39. Quakers showing People Power We are grateful to the Quaker Library at Friends House in London for much of the material in this show. www.quaker.org.uk

40. Quakers showing People Power