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Friends' Association of Philadelphia for the Aid and Elevation of the Freedmen, Annual Reports
Report of the Executive Board of Friends' Association for the Aid and Elevation of the Freedmen, Read at the Meeting of the Association
Yearly reports printed for annual meeting of the association. Largely consist of narrative accounts of the freedmen's progress, drawn from letters sent by teachers who operated colored schools under the care of the association. Most years, a list of the society's officers, the treasurer's report, accounts of donations received in cash and goods, and an overview of distributions made were also included.
1864 - 1871
192 p. ; 22 cm.
reformatted digital
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Friends Freedmen's Association Records--http://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/4024frfr
The Women's Association of Philadelphia for the Relief of the Freedmen was founded in 1862 to provide charitable assistance to recently freed slaves. Many Quakers were involved in this organization, but it was not until the following year that a similar group that was officially affiliated with the Society of Friends emerged. The Friends Association of Philadelphia and its Vicinity for the Relief of Colored Freedmen, was founded by Orthodox Quaker men in 1863. Soon after, in 1864, an equivalent group was established by Hicksite Quakers of both sexes: the Friends' Association for the Aid and Elevation of the Freedmen (amended to the more precise "Friends' Association of Philadelphia for the Aid and Elevation of the Freedmen"), which incorporated the Women's Association in 1865. It is unclear when this association closed, but it was in existence at least as late as 1872. Its Orthodox counterpart, renamed Friends' Freedmen's Association circa 1873, continued to operate in various capacities--most recently as a scholarship fund--until it was dissolved in 1982.
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among the freed people, which was considered and referred to
the Association, recommending the appointment of an Educa-
tional Committee to unite with one from the Board. This was
approved at the next meeting, and the Committee then appointed
continued to act until the Association decided to entrust this in-
teresting and important portion of nenwce: to the committee of
the Executive Board.
With the view of ascertaining the pp field for opera-
tion, the Executive Board, in the Second month, requested the
Corresponding Secretary to communicate with agents and other
persons in portions of the Southern States where the freed peo-
ple had collected, enquiring concerning their condition ; and, in
the Fourth month, our friends, H. W. Ridgway and Josiah
Wilson, were sent to visit accessible localities in- Gen. Butler’s
department. te
The information gained from these sources induced the conclu-
sion to concentrate our labors in the neighborhood of Washing-
ton. j
At the meeting of the Association in the Fifth month, a Re-
‘port of the transactions of the Executive Board up to that time
was read and directed to be published. The information was
therein contained that Sarah.Ann Cadwallader had been sta-
tioned as a teacher at a camp ten-miles from Alexandria, Va.
Good results are apparent from her labors, and the school is still
sustained, although she has been removed to another locality.
In the Sixth month, Harriet E. Stockly presented a report
of a visit of examination to the camps near Washington, and her
description of Camps Wadsworth and Rucker, as here given,
induced the appointment wt lydia T. Atkinson as teacher at
Camp Wadsworth.
“Camp Wapsworta.—Superintendent, Philip Fowler; Farmer, Eph-
raim Plowman. One hundred and seventy Freedmen. Five hundred
acres under cultivation, worked by about sixty persons.
‘On this farm some children of only eleven years of age are put 3s
daily. labor in direct violation of Government regulations, which require
that they be sent to school till they are fourteen. The people work ten
hours a day. ‘The farm looks well, and it is supposed thirty bushels of
wheat and fifty bushels of rye will be raised to the acre. The Freedmen
occupy two houses three-quarters of a mile apart. ‘There are only three
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Friends Freedmen's Association Records --http://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/4024frfr