Research in Progress

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS Prepared by Barbara L. Curtis 63 1 Walnut Lane Haverford, PA 19041 Richard Eldridge and Cynthia Kerman are in the final stages of research and writing of a biography of Jean Toomer. Toomer's early publications form part of the "Harlem Renaissance." During the 1940s he was an active Quaker in the Philadelphia area both as speaker and author. Edwin and Kate Kerman are doing research on the use ofpeaceful witness in early Friends' history in England. The Kermans hope to produce some drama materials for use in role playing in groups. Patricia Edward DeLancey is beginning research for a Ph.D. dissertation at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. The study will explore the role of Quaker women in the abolition movement of the 19th century and the pursuit of women's rights in the 19th and 20th centuries. For a biography ofAlice Paul, notable Quaker woman advocate of women's suffrage, Amelia R. Fry is attempting to resolve the issue of how significant Paul's membership in the Society of Friends was to her. In particular Fry wants to know of any persons who can inform her as to what extent Paul was a practicing Quaker after her return from her work on behalf of the British suffragettes in 1910. Persons having had correspondence, recollections, or other contacts with Alice Paul in the Quaker meetings in Moorestown, N.J., Washington , D. C. , or any meeting elsewhere, are urged to write to Amelia R. Fry, 31 1 10th St., S.E., Washington, DC 20003. Sulayman Clark of 10 Peabody Terrace, no. 32, Cambridge, MA 02138, is preparing a thesis for the doctorate at Harvard on Leslie Pinckney Hill, educator and administrator at Cheyney State University , Cheyney, Pa. For a dissertation at the University of California at Los Angeles, Rosemary Abend of 158 Via Monte d'Oro, Redondo Beach, CA 90277, is doing research on philanthropy in 18th century Philadelphia as evidenced by the activities ofthe Pemberton family. Elizabeth H. Addison of 25 Parris Cemetery Rd., Sylva, NC, is 62 Research In Progress63 preparing a thesis at Duke University on Edward Stabler, Mary Rotch, and the New Lights of New Bedford and other Quakers with whom Ralph Waldo Emerson had contacts. Thomas W. Burkman of the Department of History at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23508, has been doing research on the distinguished Quaker diplomat from Japan, Inazo Nitobe. He is particularly interested in Nitobe's work at the League of Nations. A thesis on the topic "Transformation of Orthodox Friends, 18601920 , Especially in the Midwest," is being prepared by Thomas D. Hamm, 3200 Longview Drive, no. 18, Bloomington, IN 47401 , who is a degree candidate at Indiana University. Eighteenth century Quaker metaphors are the subject of a study by R. Melvin Keiser, faculty member at Guilford College, Greensboro, NC. He may be reached by correspondents at 815 Dolley Madison Rd., Greensboro, NC 17410. Lisa Klopfer, a graduate student in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, is at work on an ethnohistorical investigation ofthe Hicksite separation, with particular emphasis on the role of the women's meetings. Her address is 853 N. 27th St., Philadelphia, PA 19130. For a doctoral dissertation at the University of Rochester, Bonnelyn Young Kunze is making a study of the family life and religious thought of Margaret Fell (ca. 1615-1702). Her address is 3525 Elmwood Ave., Rochester, NY 14610. John R. McKivigan, lecturer in the Department ofAfro-American Studies at Yale University, is preparing a study ofabolition leaders in the form ofcollective biographies entitled "Schism: An Examination of the Socio-economic Factors Leading to the Schism in the Arnerixan Anti-Slavery Movement." Martha Van Artsdalen, 45 Mary Jane Lane, Newtown Square, PA 19073, is doing a research paper for the Department ofArt History at the University of Delaware on some of the architectural work of Addison Hutton, 19th century Quaker architect. Alan Armstrong of 18 Railroad Ave., Haverford, PA 19041, is preparing a collection of the letters of Peter Collinson, the English Quaker natural philosopher (1694-1768). For over fifty years this influential Quaker scientist helped to introduce American plants, as well as Franklin's electricity, to Europe, and he...