This is a very random beginning list of some of the many journals we have in the library. They are shelved together under a yellow sign in the middle bookcase on the wall backing up to the dining room. Their Dewey Decimal numbers are 920.86 for collections of narratives, and 922.86 for books about a single individual. Within the 922.86 number they are in alphabetical order by the last name of the subject.

Fox, George. Journal; we have many versions, although more copies are signed out than are on our shelves at the present. (If you have one that belongs to the Meeting, please return it!) The most definitive edition is by John L. Nickalls (1952).

Fogelklou, Emilia (ed. by Howard T. Lutz) Reality and Radiance: Selected Autobiographical Works of Emilia Fogelklou (Richmond, Ind.: Friends United Press, 1985) 922.86 / Fo1985re

Penington, Mary. Experiences in the Life of Mary Penington (written by herself) (London: reprinted by Friends Historical Society, 1992) 922.86 / Pe1992ex

Penn, William. (ed. by Isabel Grubb) My Irish Journal, 1669-1670 (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1952). 922.86 / Pe1952my

Vining, Elizabeth Gray. Quiet Pilgrimage 922.86 / Vi1970qu

Woolman, John. Journal and Major Writings. There are many different editions; I think the best is that edited by Philips Moulton.

Biographies of Friends

Books written about the lives of Friends (there are a lot more in the library):

Prudence Crandall: A Biography, by Marvis Olive Welch. (Manchaster, Conn.: Jason Publishers, 1983). 922.86 / Cr1983pr

Herbert Hoover: A Biography, by Eugene Lyons. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964). 922.86 / Ho1964he

Living with Nature's Extremes the biography of Gilbert Fowler White, by Robert E. Hinshaw. (2006).

Reviews and Short Comments
on books and pamphlets in the library of Cleveland Friends Meeting

Friends and attenders are warmly invited—even urged—to share comments about things you have read from the meeting library. Here are a few to get you started, and to encourage you to read some of these things for yourself.

        Opening the Quaker Time Capsule by Thomas D. Hamm is the 2001 Weed Lecture at Beacon Hill Friends House. Tom, a Quaker historian and archivist at Earlham College, reviews Quaker mores and thoughts at the turn of the last century. He describes what the optimists saw, what the pessimists feared, and invites us to learn from their prescriptions for improvement.

        Report from the Middle: Reflections on Divisions Among Friends Today by Doug Gwynn, in Beacon Hill Friends House Quaker Issues series, is two essays addressing major divisions within the Religious Society of Friends today. Doug compares them with the early Christian conflict between Jewish and gentile groups, and Paul's appeal to live in the tension because of our experience of transformation. Although our meeting is not struggling with the issue of homosexuality, we have other issues and divisions that might be helped by a thoughtful reading of Doug's essays.

        God's Healing Grace: Reflections on a Journey with Mental and Spiritual Illness (#394), by Mariellen Gilpin, is a challenging and encouraging story of her own struggle with mental illness into a deeply centered, grace-filled life in which she has come to understand and practice spiritual non-violence.

        You may find interesting Pendle Hill Pamphlet (#391) by Brian Drayton, Getting Rooted: Living in the Cross, A Path to joy and Liberation. It includes some discussion questions at the end.

        In God We Die by Warren Ostrom, is a relatively recent Pendle Hill Pamphlet (#385). It tackles questions about the end of life, trust in God, the high cost of health insurance, and other issues. For those who have participated in one of Connie Green's workshops, this pamphlet will have special meaning. Ostrom raises important issues that each of us is invited to pray about to find our own answers.

        Another Pendle Hill Pamphlet (#384) is The Mystery of Quaker Light by Peter Bien. He runs lightly over the history of the concept of "light" as used by Greeks, Hebrews, the first chapter of the Gospel of John, and a handful of poets. It concludes with a very quick sketch of scientific theories about the physics of light, then tries briefly to tie it all together to illuminate a Quaker understanding.

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        This page is still under construction, as is our electronic data base/catalogue. We do not envision putting the catalogue on line.

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This page was first posted on First Month 24, 2007; updated most recently on 9m/8/2009.