Quakers: That of God in Everyone (2015) - full transcript

[MUSIC]

GEORGE: WE UTTERLY DENY

ALL OUTWARD WARS AND STRIFE,

AND FIGHTING WITH

OUTWARD WEAPONS,

FOR ANY END, OR UNDER ANY

PRETENSE WHATSOEVER;

THIS IS OUR TESTIMONY

TO THE WORLD...

NARRATOR: THIS IS THE

"PEACE TESTIMONY,"

FIRST PROCLAIMED IN 1660

TO KING CHARLES II OF ENGLAND

BY A GROUP OF RELIGIOUS SEEKERS

LED BY GEORGE FOX

AND CALLING THEMSELVES

THE "CHILDREN OF LIGHT",

OR "PUBLISHERS OF TRUTH."

TO THEIR CRITICS

THEY WERE KNOWN AS "QUAKERS,"

A DERISIVE NICKNAME THAT THEY

UNABASHEDLY ACKNOWLEDGED

AS THEY WERE KNOWN FOR

TREMBLING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

IN THEIR WORSHIP MEETINGS.

ULTIMATELY, THEY WOULD

OFFICIALLY NAME THEMSELVES

"THE RELIGIOUS

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS."

THEIR VISIONARY LEADER,

GEORGE FOX, WROTE IN 1683:

GEORGE:

GOD, WHO MADE ALL,

POURS OUT HIS SPIRIT UPON

ALL MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORLD,

IN THE DAYS

OF HIS NEW COVENANT,

YEA, UPON WHITES AND BLACKS,

MOORS, AND TURKS, AND INDIANS,

CHRISTIANS, JEWS, AND GENTILES,

THAT ALL WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD,

MIGHT KNOW GOD

AND THE THINGS OF GOD,

AND SERVE AND WORSHIP,

IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH.

GEORGE: BE PATTERNS,

BE EXAMPLES IN ALL COUNTRIES,

PLACES, ISLANDS, NATIONS,

WHEREVER YOU COME,

THAT YOUR CARRIAGE

AND LIFE MAY PREACH

AMONG ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE,

AND TO THEM;

THEN YOU WILL COME TO WALK

CHEERFULLY OVER THE WORLD,

ANSWERING THAT

OF GOD IN EVERY ONE.

PAUL: THAT OF GOD IN EVERYONE

AS IT WAS ORIGINALLY USED,

REALLY REFERRED TO

PEOPLE BEING MADE

IN THE IMAGE AND

LIKENESS OF GOD.

WE ALL SHARE THE SAME FATHER

WITH THE SAME PARENTS.

WE'RE ALL CHILDREN OF GOD,

WE'RE ALL CHILDREN

OF THE SAME GOD.

WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT THAT'S

WHAT WE NEED TO BE RESPONDING TO

IN OTHER PEOPLE,

IS THAT COMMON HUMANITY

THAT WE HAVE,

THE INWARD LIGHT OF CHRIST.

AND JUST AS THE LIGHT

FROM THE SUN

ALLOWS US TO SEE WITH OUR

EYES, OUR OUTWARD EYES,

WE HAVE INWARD EYES

AND WHEN WE ARE ILLUMINATED

BY THAT INWARD LIGHT OF GOD

WE CAN SEE OUR

SPIRITUAL CONDITION

AND UNDERSTAND WHAT IT

IS GOD'S CALLING ON US TO DO.

NARRATOR: AS THE MOVEMENT GREW

IN NUMBER AND MOMENTUM,

THAT INNER LIGHT LED QUAKERS

TO PIVOTAL ROLES

IN MANY OF THE MOST

TRANSFORMATIVE MOMENTS

OF THE LAST FOUR CENTURIES.

QUAKERS SUCH AS WILLIAM PENN,

SUSAN B. ANTHONY, LUCRETIA MOTT,

JOHN WOOLMAN AND

GEORGE CADBURY

HAVE ACHIEVED A DEGREE

OF FAME,

BUT LESS IS KNOWN ABOUT

THOUSANDS OF OTHER FRIENDS,

SUCH AS THOSE FROM

THE AMERICAN MIDWEST,

WHOSE FAITHFULNESS

TO QUAKER IDEALS

POSITIVELY IMPACTED

THE LARGER SOCIETY.

AND THESE ARE THE PREVIOUSLY

UNTOLD STORIES

OF SOME OF THOSE ARCHITECTS

OF PEACE AND EQUALITY.

[MUSIC]

NARRATOR: QUAKERS LEFT

ENGLAND IN THE 17TH CENTURY

TO ESTABLISH A COLONY

IN THE NEW WORLD -

WILLIAM PENN'S

"HOLY EXPERIMENT" -

INSPIRED BY THE IDEA OF LIVING

WHERE THEY COULD BE GOVERNED

ACCORDING TO THEIR FAITH.

PENN HAD BEEN GIVEN THE LAND BY

KING CHARLES THE SECOND

TO SETTLE A LARGE FAMILY DEBT.

PAUL: SO IN 1682,

HE SAILS ACROSS THE OCEAN

WITH A GROUP OF COLONISTS,

MOST OF WHOM ARE QUAKERS.

BUT HE DOESN'T SAY TO THE PEOPLE

ALREADY LIVING THERE,

"THIS IS MINE."

WHAT HE SAYS IS,

"I AM GOING TO BUY IT."

HE SAYS THIS NOT ONLY

TO THE SWEDES

AND THE DUTCH;

HE SAYS IT TO THE INDIANS

AS WELL.

HE SAYS "THIS IS LAND

THAT WE WANT TO SETTLE ON.

"WE RECOGNIZE IT AS YOUR LAND

AND WE WILL PURCHASE IT

FROM YOU,"

AND BEGINS, THE FIRST

ARE THE NUMBER OF TREATIES

THAT PEN AND HIS SONS MAKE

WITH THE INDIANS TO BUY LAND

THAT THE KING HAS

ALREADY GIVEN TO PENN.

NARRATOR:

AFTER AN ENCOUNTER WITH PENN,

TAMANEND, A NATIVE AMERICAN

DELAWARE CHIEF, DECLARED:

TAMANEND: WE WILL LIVE

IN LOVE WITH WILLIAM PENN

AND HIS CHILDREN AS LONG

AS THE CREEKS AND RIVERS RUN,

AND WHILE THE SUN, MOON,

AND STARS ENDURE.

PAUL: PEN WRITES THIS

CONSTITUTION

ALLOWING PEOPLE

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP,

ABOLISHING THE DEATH PENALTY

EXCEPT IN SOME VERY--

I THINK IF YOU ENGAGED IN

TREASON YOU STILL BE EXECUTED,

BUT BEYOND THAT, THIS WAS

AN AMAZINGLY LIBERAL DOCUMENT

THAT HE PUT TOGETHER.

NARRATOR: THE QUAKER COLONY,

PENNSYLVANIA,

WAS OPEN TO ALL

AND GOVERNED WITH LAWS

BASED ON EQUALITY, TRUTH,

SIMPLICITY AND PEACE.

WILLIAM: PEACE REQUIRES JUSTICE,

JUSTICE REQUIRES LAW.

LAW REQUIRES GOVERNMENT,

NOT ONLY WITHIN NATIONS

BUT ALSO BETWEEN NATIONS.

-- WILLIAM PENN, 1693.

JUDY: IF YOU COULD

ONLY BUILD A STATE

WHERE PEOPLE WOULD BE FREE,

THEY COULD HAVE

FREEDOM OF RELIGION,

THEY COULD HAVE FREEDOM

TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES,

THERE COULD BE EQUALITY,

WOMEN COULD BE AS EQUAL AS MEN,

COULD HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS,

COULD DO THE SAME THINGS AS MEN,

THERE WOULD BE

NO NEED TO OWN SLAVES,

THAT EACH IN THEIR OWN WAY

WOULD GIVE TO THE COMMUNITY,

THAT YOU WOULD HAVE

A JUST GOVERNMENT,

THAT WOULD LOOK OUT FOR

EVERYONE WITHIN THE SOCIETY.

NARRATOR: UNFORTUNATELY, BY THE

TIME OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,

THERE WERE MORE NON-QUAKERS

THAN QUAKERS IN PENNSYLVANIA,

AND THE HOLY EXPERIMENT

CAME TO AN END

AS QUAKERS WERE

VOTED OUT OF OFFICE

OR LEFT OFFICE RATHER THAN

PARTICIPATE IN DECISIONS

RELATED TO WAR-MAKING.

PAUL: HE THOUGHT HE WAS

GOING TO ESTABLISH A UTOPIA,

A HEAVEN ON EARTH AND FOUND OUT

THAT THE TOUGH REALITIES OF LIFE

REALLY GET IN THE WAY.

BUT HE DID CREATE THIS COLONY,

HE CREATED THIS MODEL.

WE HAVE THE MODEL

OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

THAT PENN ESTABLISHES

IN PENNSYLVANIA.

AND THE CONSTITUTION

OF THE UNITES STATES,

IN SOME WAYS DRAWS ON THINGS

THAT HE WROTE IN THE 1680S,

ALMOST 100 YEARS EARLIER.

NARRATOR: THOUGH THEY WERE

NO LONGER A MAJORITY

IN PENNSYLVANIA,

QUAKERS HAD SPREAD THROUGHOUT

THE AMERICAN COLONIES

WITH SUBSTANTIAL SETTLEMENTS

IN RHODE ISLAND, NEW JERSEY,

VIRGINIA, NORTH AND

SOUTH CAROLINA, AND GEORGIA.

[MUSIC]

NARRATOR: AS THE COLONIES

IN THE NEW LAND DEVELOPED,

SLAVERY BECAME A PART

OF THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM.

BUT QUAKERS WERE

TO FOLLOW A DIFFERENT PATH.

THROUGH THE 1700S, FRIENDS URGED

THEIR MEMBERS WHO OWNED SLAVES

TO FREE THEM AND MAKE PROVISIONS

FOR THEIR WELFARE

AND BY 1784 VIRTUALLY

NO QUAKERS OWNED SLAVES.

MARY: THE SLAVE ECONOMY

BECAME STRONG IN THE SOUTH,

SO IN 1806 MY FAMILY GROUP

OF QUAKERS

MOVE FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA

PIEDMONT AREA, TO OHIO.

THEY DID NOT WANT TO RAISE THEIR

CHILDREN IN THAT SLAVE SOCIETY.

SO IT WAS A MATTER OF CONSCIOUS

AND ALSO A MATTER OF ECONOMICS,

A MATTER OF LOOKING FOR A LIFE

THAT WOULD BE BETTER

FOR THEIR COMMUNITY

AND THEIR FAMILIES.

NARRATOR: APPALLED BY THE

CRUELTY OF SLAVERY AROUND THEM,

AND ATTRACTED TO THE POSSIBILITY

OF LIVING WHERE SLAVERY

WAS PROHIBITED,

MANY SOUTHERN QUAKERS

BEGAN MOVING

TO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY,

SETTLING FIRST ON LAND

THAT NOW INCLUDES

THE STATES

OF OHIO AND INDIANA.

THOMAS: IN 1787 CONGRESS PASSED

THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE,

WHICH WAS TO PROVIDE FOR

THE ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT

AND SETTLEMENT OF THE LANDS

NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER.

WHAT WAS PROBABLY THE BEST

ELEMENT OF THE ORDINANCE;

HOWEVER, WAS ITS PROVISION

THAT NEITHER SLAVERY

NOR INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE

WOULD EVER EXIST IN THE LANDS

OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

AND FRIENDS ARE DRAWN

TOWARD TERRITORIES

WHERE SLAVERY IS ILLEGAL.

NARRATOR: DANIEL BOONE, WHO GREW

UP A PENNSYLVANIA QUAKER,

WAS AMONG THOSE WHO HELPED

FRIENDS MOVE WEST

IN SEARCH OF A PLACE TO LIVE

IN PEACE AND EQUALITY.

DANIEL: LET PEACE, DESCENDING

FROM HER NATIVE HEAVEN,

BID HER OLIVES SPRING AMIDST

THE JOYFUL NATIONS;

AND PLENTY,

IN LEAGUE WITH COMMERCE,

SCATTER BLESSINGS

FROM HER COPIOUS HAND!

DANIEL BOONE, 1784.

NARRATOR: IN 1799,

TWO QUAKER FAMILIES

FROM BUSH RIVER, SOUTH CAROLINA,

SETTLED ON "MILITARY LANDS"

IN SOUTHWESTERN OHIO,

JUST NORTH OF FORT WASHINGTON,

THE SITE OF WHAT WOULD,

IN A FEW YEARS,

BECOME THE THRIVING RIVER

PORT TOWN OF CINCINNATI.

IN 1803, JOINED BY

MORE MIGRATING FRIENDS,

THEY ESTABLISHED THE FIRST

FORMALLY RECOGNIZED

QUAKER MEETING FOR

WORSHIP, OR "CHURCH",

IN SOUTHWESTERN OHIO:

MIAMI MONTHLY MEETING

IN THE VILLAGE OF WAYNESVILLE.

AND THAT SAME YEAR,

SOMETHING WAS TO HAPPEN

BACK IN BUSH RIVER,

SOUTH CAROLINA

THAT WOULD OPEN THE FLOODGATES

FOR QUAKER MIGRATION

TO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

ZACHARIAH DIX, A QUAKER,

DESCRIBED BY THOSE

WHO HEARD HIM SPEAK,

AS "A POWERFUL

RHAPSODICAL PREACHER"

WITH "PROPHETIC INSIGHT

IN AN UNUSUAL DEGREE,"

DELIVERED A DISTURBING MESSAGE.

THOMAS: BY THE 1790S,

FRIENDS HAD COME TO BELIEVE

THAT ZACHARIAS HAD

A GIFT OF PROPHECY.

THAT HE COULD SEE

INTO PEOPLE'S MINDS

AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR SECRET

SPIRITUAL STATES WERE.

AND THAT HE HAD FORESHADOWINGS

OF THE FUTURE.

AS FRIENDS RECORDED THEIR

MEMORIES OF HIS PREACHING

DECADES LATER, WHAT ZACHARIAS

HAD TO SAY TO THEM

WAS SOMETHING LIKE THIS -

"WOE UNTO THEE BUSH RIVER.

THE FLOWER OF THY GLORY

HAS FADED.

GET THEE, HENCE, OUT OF THIS

LAND OF EGYPTIAN SLAVERY

AND DARKNESS UNTO THE FREE

LANDS OF THE NORTHWEST."

AND WITHIN A FEW YEARS, A QUAKER

COMMUNITY THAT HAD NUMBERED,

PROBABLY CLOSE TO 1000 PEOPLE,

WAS FEWER THAN A HUNDRED

LEFT IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

DONNE: THE QUAKERS WHO CAME HERE

TO THE MIDWEST

WERE THOSE WHO WERE MAYBE

MORE RISK-TAKERS.

THEY LEFT HOMES,

WELL-ESTABLISHED FARMS

AND VILLAGES

AND FAMILIES BACK EAST

AND MOVED WEST.

A LOT OF QUAKERS

STAYED ON THE EAST,

YOU KNOW, WHERE THEIR FARMS

AND FAMILIES WERE,

AND THEY DID GOOD WORK THERE,

BUT THE ONES WHO CAME WEST,

TOOK ALL SORTS OF RISKS

AND CHANCES,

AND IT STRIKES ME,

WE MAY KNOW LESS ABOUT THEM

BECAUSE THEY WERE DOERS

MORE THAN WRITERS.

THEY DIDN'T NECESSARILY SIT AND

WRITE DOWN WHAT THEY HAD DONE,

THEY WERE OUT THERE

JUST DOING IT.

NARRATOR: A LARGE NUMBER

OF QUAKERS CONTINUED MIGRATING

TO PRESENT-DAY INDIANA AND OHIO

JUST LIKE THOSE FROM BUSH RIVER,

FAITHFULLY FOLLOWING GUIDANCE

FROM THEIR INNER LIGHT.

THOMAS: QUAKERS WHEREVER

THEY FORM COMMUNITIES,

FIRST FORMED A MEETING

FOR WORSHIP.

THE NEXT THING THEY DID

WAS TO OPEN A SCHOOL

FOR THEIR CHILDREN.

THOSE QUAKER SCHOOLS

ARE OFTEN ADMITTING

NON-QUAKER STUDENTS.

AND SOME OF THEM GAINED

A REPUTATION AS BEING

SOME OF THE BEST SECONDARY

SCHOOLS IN THE MIDWEST.

AFTER STATEHOOD IN 1803,

A PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

WAS SET UP,

BUT BLACK CHILDREN

WERE NOT ADMITTED TO IT.

EVEN THOUGH BLACK LANDOWNERS

WERE FORCED TO PAY TAXES

THAT SUBSIDIZED

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS,

THEIR CHILDREN COULD NOT

ATTEND THOSE SCHOOLS.

SO IF BLACK CHILDREN

WERE TO BE EDUCATED,

THAT MEANS THAT THEIR PARENTS

OR SYMPATHETIC WHITES

HAD TO MAKE THAT POSSIBLE.

DONNE: IN HARVEYSBURG,

WHICH IS JUST A FEW MILES

FROM WAYNESVILLE,

THERE WAS A QUAKER

MEETING THERE,

AND THERE WERE TWO QUAKERS,

ELIZABETH HARVEY

AND HER HUSBAND.

THEY STARTED THE FIRST

FOR CHILDREN OF COLOR IN OHIO,

WHICH WAS EARLY AND REALLY

UNHEARD OF AT THE TIME,

AND HIGHLY FROWNED ON AND GOT

A LOT OF CRITICISM FROM PEOPLE

WHO WEREN'T FRIENDS.

CARL: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT

REALLY FEEDS FREEDOM

IS NOT A PLACE TO HIDE BUT

A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN LEARN,

A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BECOME A

PART OF THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY,

BUILD A HOME FOR YOUR FAMILY,

AND THEN SEND YOUR CHILDREN

BACK TO SCHOOL.

AND HARVEYSBURG CREATED

A SCHOOL FOR BLACK STUDENTS

AND THEN EVEN HIRE BLACK

AND WHITE TEACHERS.

AND SO IT WAS IMPORTANT

BECAUSE IT STARTED AT THE BASE.

PAUL: FOR EARLY FRIENDS

OF COURSE,

THIS IS JUST PLAIN SCRIPTURE.

EQUALITY IS...

YOU LOOK IN THE EPISTLE

FROM PAUL

AND IT SAYS IN CHRIST THERE

IS NO MALE OR FEMALE,

THERE IS NO GREEK OR JEW,

THERE IS NO SLAVE OR FREE.

IF WE ARE PART OF THE BODY

OF CHRIST, WE ARE ALL THE SAME

AND SO THE SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS

THAT WERE MADE

AND STILL ARE MADE TO A DEGREE

BETWEEN PEOPLE

OF DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS

AND DIFFERENT GENDERS,

THOSE ARE ALL IRRELEVANT.

THOSE ARE ALL OUTWARD THINGS,

BUT INTERNALLY WE ARE ALL,

AS I SAID, CHILDREN OF GOD,

AND ARE ALL EQUALLY

CHILDREN OF GOD.

NARRATOR: AS MORE AND MORE

OF THE COUNTRY

BEGAN RELYING UPON SLAVE

LABOR FOR PRODUCTIVITY

AND COST SAVINGS,

QUAKERS THROUGHOUT THE

NORTHWEST TERRITORY

CONTINUED TO MAKE THE DIFFICULT

AND DANGEROUS CHOICE

OF SUPPORTING FREEDOM FOR ALL.

CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY, A FOUNDING

MEMBER OF THE QUAKER MEETING

IN CINCINNATI, OHIO,

WAS ONE OF MANY QUAKERS TO GIVE

UP HIS RELIANCE ON SLAVE LABOR.

SABRINA: MARY P. HART

WAS CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY'S

GRANDDAUGHTER, AND FORTUNATELY,

SHE HAD THE WHEREWITHAL

TO SHARE HER MEMORIES

OF THE MEETING HOUSE AND SOME OF

THE ORAL HISTORY OF HER FAMILY

AND HOW THEY CAME

TO ARRIVE IN CINCINNATI.

MARY: THE HOUSEHOLD GOODS

CAME IN WAGONS

AND WITH THEM

A FAMILY OF NEGROES.

THE MAN WAS A DESCENDANT

OF A SLAVE OF GRANDFATHER'S

BEFORE GRANDFATHER JOINED

THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS,

AT WHICH TIME HE SET

ALL HIS SLAVES FREE.

MARY P. HART.

NARRATOR: EVEN FOR QUAKERS

LIVING IN THE SLAVERY

FREE NORTHWEST TERRITORY,

IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO

AVOID BEING DRAWN INTO

THE MOST CONTENTIOUS DEBATE

IN THE HISTORY OF OUR NATION.

MANY FRIENDS COMBINED

INTELLECT AND CREATIVITY

TO OVERCOME OPPOSITION TO THEIR

WORK FOR PEACE AND EQUALITY.

LEVI AND CATHERINE COFFIN

ARE PRIME EXAMPLES

OF SUCH MORAL INGENUITY.

THOMAS: IN THE 1830S AND 1840S,

THE TOWN OF NEWPORT

IN WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA,

HAD A REPUTATION AS

BEING ONE OF THE MOST RADICAL

ANTI-SLAVERY CENTERS

IN THE UNITED STATES.

IT WAS WIDELY KNOWN THAT

HUNDREDS OF FUGITIVE SLAVES

HAD PASSED THROUGH NEWPORT;

MOST OF THEM

THROUGH THE COFFIN HOME,

AND HE ESTIMATED THAT,

I BELIEVE, IN THE COURSE

OF THEIR LIVES

FROM 1826 TO 1865 THEY HAD

AIDED SOMEWHERE BETWEEN

TWO AND THREE THOUSAND

FUGITIVES.

AND TO THE BEST OF HIS KNOWLEDGE

NONE OF THEM

WAS EVER SEIZED

AND RETURNED TO SLAVERY.

LEVI COFFIN WAS AN

EFFECTIVE CONDUCTOR

ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

NOT JUST BECAUSE HE WAS

A COMMITTED ABOLITIONIST,

BUT ALSO BECAUSE HE WAS A SMART,

COMMITTED ABOLITIONIST.

HE KNEW THAT IF SLAVE CAPTURERS

INVADED NEWPORT

OR EVEN HIS HOME,

THEY WOULD HAVE THE FORCE

OF LAW BEHIND THEM.

AND SO HE TRIED TO THINK OF WAYS

THAT HE MIGHT BE ABLE

TO OUTWIT THEM.

AND YOU CAN SEE THREE EXAMPLES

OF THAT HERE AT THE HOUSE.

THE FIRST IS THE WELL,

WHICH IS INSIDE.

AND OF COURSE, THAT WOULD HAVE

BEEN CONVENIENT.

BUT IT ALSO HAD THE ADVANTAGE

THAT SNOOPY NEIGHBORS WHO MIGHT

NOT BE SYMPATHETIC WOULD NEVER

BE ABLE TO NOTICE JUST HOW MUCH

WATER THE COFFINS WERE

DRAWING FOR THEIR OWN USE

OR FOR THE 18 FUGITIVE SLAVES

THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE WITH THEM,

AT ANY GIVEN TIME.

IN THE ATTIC,

THERE IS A HIDING PLACE,

ONE WHERE PEOPLE COULD HAVE BEEN

CONCEALED, IF NECESSARY.

THEY ALSO HAVE A FALSE

BOTTOM WAGON,

WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN

ANOTHER EFFECTIVE WAY

TO TRANSPORT FUGITIVE SLAVES.

THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN

PARTICULARLY IN DANGER

WHEN THEY'RE ON THE OPEN ROAD.

SO IF YOU THINK THAT SLAVE

CATCHERS MAY BE ON YOUR TRAIL,

THE FALSE BOTTOM WAGON

IS AN EXCELLENT WAY

TO TRANSPORT A FREEDOM SEEKER.

I THINK, TO ME,

IT'S A GOOD EXAMPLE

OF COMBINING PRACTICALITY

WITH A MORAL WITNESS.

PAUL: HE DIDN'T TRY

AND HIDE FROM THE SHERIFF.

HE WAS JUST OPEN ABOUT IT

AND THIS IS WHAT REAL CIVIL

DISOBEDIENCE IS ABOUT.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS SAYING

THIS LAW IS WRONG.

I AM NOT GOING TO FOLLOW IT

AND DOING IT OUT WHERE PEOPLE

CAN CATCH YOU IF THEY WANT TO.

HE DIDN'T HIDE THE FACT THAT

HE WAS, NOT JUST A CONDUCTOR,

ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD,

HE WAS DESCRIBED AT THAT TIME

AS THE PRESIDENT

OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

AND HE WAS DESCRIBED

THAT WAY PUBLICLY.

NARRATOR: IN HIS MEMOIR,

LEVI COFFIN RECOUNTS

A CONVERSATION

WITH A MAN WHO DISAPPROVED

OF HIS HELPING SLAVES

ESCAPE FROM THEIR MASTERS.

LEVI: I TOLD HIM I HAD READ IN

THE BIBLE WHEN I WAS A BOY,

THAT IT WAS RIGHT TO FEED THE

HUNGRY AND CLOTHE THE NAKED,

AND TO MINISTER TO THOSE WHO

HAD FALLEN AMONG THIEVES

AND WERE WOUNDED,

BUT THAT NO DISTINCTION

IN REGARD TO COLOR

WAS MENTIONED IN THE GOOD BOOK,

SO IN ACCORDANCE

WITH ITS TEACHINGS

I HAD RECEIVED THESE FUGITIVES

AND CARED FOR THEM.

I THEN ASKED: "WAS I RIGHT,

FRIEND, IN DOING SO?"

HE HESITATED AND SEEMED

AT A LOSS HOW TO REPLY.

I CONTINUED: "HOW DOES

THY BIBLE READ?

WAS IT NOT AS I HAVE SAID?"

"YES, HE ANSWERED,

IT READS SOMEHOW SO."

HE EVIDENTLY WISHED

TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT.

LEVI COFFIN.

NARRATOR: IN ADDITION TO HELPING

FUGITIVES ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY,

COFFIN AND OTHER ABOLITIONISTS

WORKED TO UNDERMINE

ITS ECONOMIC FOUNDATION,

BUYING AND SELLING PRODUCTS

SUCH AS COTTON AND SUGAR

FROM PLANTATIONS THAT

HIRED FREE LABORERS

INSTEAD OF USING SLAVES.

IN 1846, A GROUP

OF ABOLITIONISTS

DECIDED TO ESTABLISH A FREE

LABOR WHOLESALE WAREHOUSE

IN CINCINNATI AND URGED

LEVI COFFIN

TO OVERSEE ITS OPERATION.

IN THE SPRING, LEVI AND

CATHERINE COFFIN

MOVED FROM THEIR HOME

IN NEWPORT, INDIANA

TO CINCINNATI, OHIO.

THROUGHOUT THEIR YEARS

IN CINCINNATI,

THE COFFINS ALSO HELPED THOSE

WHO SOUGHT FREEDOM

BY PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES

FOR EDUCATION,

TEACHING SIMPLE SKILLS DENIED

THOSE OPPRESSED BY SLAVERY.

CARL: PEOPLE LIKE LEVI COFFIN

NOT ONLY PROVIDED

YOU WITH SHELTER

BUT THEN PROVIDED YOU WITH HOPE.

IN HELPING BLACK PEOPLE

LEARN TO READ, WRITE

IN THE BASEMENT

OF UNION BAPTIST CHURCH,

THAT'S FREEDOM.

AND EVEN IF THEY CATCH YOU

AND TAKE YOU BACK

THEY DON'T OWN YOU ANYMORE.

COFFIN AND OTHER PEOPLE LIKE HIM

UNDERSTOOD THAT PHYSICAL FREEDOM

WITH NO JOB AND NO WAY

TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR FAMILY

IS JUST ANOTHER FORM OF SLAVERY.

NARRATOR:

ANOTHER CINCINNATI FRIEND

WHO TOOK THE TESTIMONY AGAINST

SLAVERY PARTICULARLY TO HEART

WAS MORDECAI MORRIS WHITE.

HIS MATERNAL GRANDFATHER WAS

A WEALTHY PLANTATION OWNER,

AND IN 1846, WHEN MORRIS WHITE

WAS ONLY 16 YEARS OLD,

HE INHERITED A LARGE ESTATE

FROM HIS GRANDFATHER,

INCLUDING A NUMBER OF SLAVES.

SABRINA: WHEN HE WAS

IN HIS EARLY TWENTIES

AND LIVING IN CINCINNATI

AS A YOUNG BUSINESSMAN,

THE REALIZATION THAT HE WAS A

SLAVE OWNER BEGAN TO BOTHER HIM,

SO HE MADE THE JOURNEY

ON HORSEBACK

ALL THE WAY DOWN

TO NORTH CAROLINA,

REGISTERED HIS SLAVES

TO ESTABLISH HIS OWNERSHIP

AND HIS ABILITY TO FREE THEM,

AND THEN AT THREE IN THE MORNING

STARTED ON A JOURNEY

BACK TO THE MIDWEST.

WHEN HE GOT TO NORFOLK

HE WAS OFFERED $10,000 IN GOLD

FOR HIS GANG OF SLAVES,

AND TURNED IT DOWN.

GARY: THE PERSONAL

PROPERTY VALUE

OF THE SIX MILLION

SLAVES IN THE SOUTH

WAS WORTH MORE MONEY

THAN ALL THE FACTORIES

AND INVENTORY

OF EVERYTHING UP NORTH.

AND SO, WHEN YOU ASK THAT THAT

BE TAKEN AWAY AND GIVEN AWAY,

THAT WOULD BE LIKE TELLING

PROCTER & GAMBLE

TO GIVE AWAY ALL THEIR SOAP.

WE DON'T REALIZE

HOW MUCH VALUE THERE WAS

AND WE DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA

OF WHAT IT WAS LIKE

TO HAVE THE COURAGE TO RUN AWAY.

NARRATOR: EVENTUALLY MORDECAI

WHITE'S GROUP MADE ITS WAY

TO RAYSVILLE, INDIANA,

A SETTLEMENT OF QUAKERS

AND FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR

WHERE WHITE HAD RELATIVES.

THERE, WHITE RENTED AND

FURNISHED TWO HOUSES

FOR HIS FORMER SLAVES, AND FOUND

JOBS FOR THE MEN CHOPPING WOOD,

MAKING FENCING RAILS,

AND OTHER EMPLOYMENT

THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM

TO PROVIDE FOR THEMSELVES.

DONNE: IT'S A RISK TO LET YOUR

LIFE SPEAK WHAT YOU BELIEVE.

SO IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT

YOU SAY YOU BELIEVE,

IF YOUR ACTIONS ARE

SHOWING A DIFFERENT BELIEF,

THEN IT DOESN'T MATTER.

BUT IT IS RISKY.

NARRATOR: QUAKERS WHO DID NOT

DIRECTLY PROTECT

AND GUIDE SLAVES TO FREEDOM

ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

FOUND OTHER WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE,

SUCH AS CINCINNATI FRIEND,

ACHILLES PUGH

AND CLINTON COUNTY QUAKERS,

ISAAC AND SARAH HARVEY.

CARL: PUGH OWNED A

PRINTING COMPANY

THAT PUBLISHED,

"THE PHILANTHROPIST"

THAT WAS WRITTEN

BY JAMES BIRNEY.

BIRNEY WAS LIKE LEVI COFFIN AND

LIKE JOHN RANKIN FROM RIPLEY.

AND THAT BIRNEY

WAS A SOUTHERNER,

BIRNEY WAS THE SON OF A SLAVE

OWNER FROM DANVILLE, KENTUCKY

WHO SAID THIS ISN'T RIGHT.

AND SO HERE IS A GUY

OF PRIVILEGE

WHO HAS A STRONG MORAL BASE

AND JUST TURNS HIS BACK

ON WEALTH

AND STARTED WRITING THIS PAPER,

AND SOME OF THE CITIZENS

OF CINCINNATI

BURNED HIS PRESS TWICE

AND DUMPED IT HERE

IN THE OHIO RIVER.

SABRINA: WHAT'S WORSE

THEY DECIDED TO GO

TO ACHILLES PUGH'S HOUSE

THAT NIGHT

TO MAKE SURE THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE

ANY MORE PRINTING

EQUIPMENT HANDY.

AND IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN

A TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE,

TO HAVE THIS ANGRY MOB

AT YOUR FRONT DOOR STEP,

WITH YOUR WIFE AND YOUR CHILDREN

THERE IN YOUR HOME.

FORTUNATELY THEY DIDN'T COMMIT

ANY VIOLENCE.

AND HE COULD HAVE

SAID TO HIMSELF,

"THIS IS TOO DANGEROUS.

I AM NOT GOING TO DO

THIS ANYMORE."

INSTEAD HE WENT

TO HIS PRINTING PRESS,

LITERALLY PICKED UP THE PIECES,

AND CONTINUING PUBLISHING

THE PHILANTHROPIST.

DONNE: THERE ARE CERTAIN

INDIVIDUALS WHO EXEMPLIFY

WHAT IT MEANS

TO BE A QUAKER,

AND WHAT IT HAS MEANT

FROM THE BEGINNING,

AND ONE OF THE QUALITIES

IS A DEGREE OF FAITHFULNESS

TO LEADING, TO COMMUNICATING

OR BEING COMMUNICATED

WITH GOD AND LISTENING.

AND ISAAC AND SARAH HARVEY

ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT.

MARY: IN THE LATE SUMMER

OF 1862,

HE WAS PLOWING IN HIS FIELD

AND CAN YOU IMAGINE WALKING

BEHIND HORSES AND A PLOW

AND THAT MUST BE A VERY

MEDITATIVE KIND OF EXPERIENCE,

YOU KNOW.

SO HE WAS DOING THIS AND

HE HEARD A VOICE THAT SAID,

"GO TO WASHINGTON

AND TALK TO THE PRESIDENT."

AND HE SAID, I DON'T --

HE DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER

THE VOICE WAS OUTSIDE OR INSIDE

BUT HE SAID,

"I HEAR YOU."

SO HE UNHITCHED HIS HORSE

AND TOOK CARE OF HIS HORSES,

WENT TO THE HOUSE

AND SAID TO HIS WIFE SARAH,

"WILL YOU GO TO WASHINGTON

WITH ME TO SEE THE PRESIDENT?"

AND SHE IN HER QUAKER WAY SAYS,

"WHO SENDS THEE?"

AND HE SAYS, "THE LORD."

SO OF COURSE SHE'S READY TO GO

WITH HIM AND THEY DO.

NARRATOR: THE CIVIL WAR

WAS UNDERWAY

AND THE COUNTRY WAS

DIVIDED AND DEVASTATED,

BY BOTH WAR AND SLAVERY.

BUT ISAAC HARVEY WAS CONVINCED

GOD HAD GIVEN HIM A

MESSAGE TO SHARE

THAT MIGHT PROVIDE THE SOLUTION.

DONNE: SO SARAH AND ISAAC HARVEY

GET OFF THE TRAIN

IN WASHINGTON DC.

THEY DON'T KNOW THE CITY;

THEY DON'T KNOW

ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

THEY LOOK ACROSS THE STREET,

AND THERE IS A FELLOW STANDING

OVER THERE BY A STREET LAMP.

SO THEY GO OVER TO HIM AND ASK

DIRECTIONS TO THE WHITE HOUSE;

THEY HAVE COME

TO SEE THE PRESIDENT.

SO HE ASKS THEM

A FEW QUESTIONS

AND IT TURNS OUT THAT HE IS

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY,

SALMON P. CHASE.

HE IS FROM CINCINNATI;

HE HAD SERVED SEVERAL

DIFFERENT POLITICAL OFFICES,

INCLUDING GOVERNOR OF OHIO.

WHEN HE FINDS OUT

THEY ARE FROM WILMINGTON,

AND HE KNOWS THEY'RE QUAKERS,

AND HE KNOWS THE AREA,

HE TAKES THEM, HE SAYS,

"COME WITH ME;

I WILL GET YOU SETTLED."

HE TAKES THEM TO A BOARDING

HOUSE OR SOMETHING,

AND FINDS THEM A ROOM,

AND HE SETS UP

AN APPOINTMENT WITH THEM

TO GO SEE ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

MARY: SO THEY WENT

INTO THE WAITING ROOM

AND MANY PEOPLE

READING THE NEWSPAPER

BECAUSE THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

HAD JUST BEEN FOUGHT

AND THE NORTH HAD WON

BUT THERE HAD MANY,

MANY CAUSALITIES.

SO THEY WAITED THINKING

CERTAINLY THEY WOULD PROBABLY

NEVER GET IN WITH ALL THESE

IMPORTANT THINGS GOING ON.

BUT AT THEIR APPOINTED TIME,

PRESIDENT LINCOLN CALLED THEM IN

AND THEY REPORTED THAT PRESIDENT

LINCOLN PICKED UP HIS CHAIR

AND CAME OVER

AND SAT BETWEEN THEM

SO THAT HE COULD TALK

TO THEM MORE PERSONALLY.

SO THEY TALK

FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR

AND AT THE END OF THAT TIME

PRESIDENT LINCOLN

SIGNED A NOTE

SAYING THAT THEY

HAD VISITED WITH HIM,

THAT THEY HAD COMFORTED HIM

AND DATED IT.

ABRAHAM: I TAKE PLEASURE

IN ASSERTING THAT I HAVE HAD

PROFITABLE INTERCOURSE WITH

FRIEND ISAAC HARVEY

AND HIS GOOD WIFE SARAH HARVEY.

MAY THE LORD COMFORT THEM

AS THEY HAVE SUSTAINED ME.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN -

SEPTEMBER 19, 1862.

DONNE: ABOUT TWO DAYS

AFTER THE HARVEY VISIT,

THE FIRST DRAFT

OF WHAT WOULD BECOME

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

WAS GIVEN TO THE CONGRESS.

IN THIS PRELIMINARY VERSION

LINCOLN INCLUDES IN

HIS SECOND PARAGRAPH

ALMOST EXACTLY WHAT ISAAC

HARVEY HAD SUGGESTED,

AND THAT IS THAT THE GOVERNMENT,

THE US GOVERNMENT PURCHASE

SLAVES FROM THE SOUTH.

NARRATOR: ON SEPTEMBER 22, 1862,

LINCOLN ISSUED THE FOLLOWING:

ABRAHAM: THAT IT IS MY PURPOSE,

UPON THE NEXT

MEETING OF CONGRESS

TO AGAIN RECOMMEND THE ADOPTION

OF A PRACTICAL MEASURE

TENDERING PECUNIARY AID

TO THE FREE ACCEPTANCE

OR REJECTION OF

ALL SLAVE STATES, SO CALLED,

THE PEOPLE WHEREOF

MAY NOT THEN BE IN REBELLION

AGAINST THE UNITED STATES

AND WHICH STATES

MAY THEN HAVE

VOLUNTARILY ADOPTED,

OR THEREAFTER MAY

VOLUNTARILY ADOPT,

IMMEDIATE OR GRADUAL

ABOLISHMENT OF SLAVERY

WITHIN THEIR RESPECTIVE LIMITS.

DONNE: AND THE WONDERFUL

THING THAT HAPPENS

WHEN YOU ARE FAITHFUL

LIKE THAT,

IS THAT YOU ARE ABLE

TO DO THINGS

YOU SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO.

YOU SHOULDN'T BE ABLE

TO JUST ARRIVE,

GET OFF THE TRAIN

IN WASHINGTON DC

AND MAKE YOUR WAY TO SEE

PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

AND WHEN YOU HAVE THAT

KIND OF CONFIDENCE,

YOU ARE NOT ALONE AND YOU CAN--

YOU ACCOMPLISH

INCREDIBLE THINGS,

AND THAT'S ALONG WITH

THIS IDEA OF GEORGE FOX

WHEN HE SAID "LET YOUR LIFE

SO PREACH."

IN OTHER WORDS, YOUR LIFE WILL--

WHAT YOU DO,

IF YOU ARE FAITHFUL

AND TUNED IN AND LISTENING

AND YOU ACT ON THEM,

YOUR LIFE WILL SPEAK

WHAT YOU BELIEVE.

SO IT'S A POWERFUL MESSAGE

TO WATCH SOMEONE LIVE A FAITH

AND NOT JUST SAY IT.

[MUSIC]

THOMAS:

SINCE THE 17TH CENTURY

THE OFFICIAL QUAKER POSITION HAS

BEEN THAT ALL WARS AND FIGHTING

ARE CONTRARY TO THE WILL OF GOD

AND THAT FRIENDS AS FAITHFUL

CHRISTIANS, CAN NEVER BEAR ARMS

TO DEPRIVE FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS

OF THEIR LIVES,

EVEN IN SELF-DEFENSE.

THE CIVIL WAR IS DIFFERENT.

THEY SEE THE CONFEDERACY

AS COMMITTED TO THE

DEFENSE OF SLAVERY

AND THAT, IN QUAKER MINDS,

MAKES IT ABSOLUTELY IMMORAL,

INDEFENSIBLE.

SO, THAT'S THE CHOICE

THAT FRIENDS ARE FACING.

JUDY: IF WE TRULY ACCEPT AND

BELIEVE THAT THERE IS INDEED

THAT OF GOD IN EVERY PERSON,

THEN WE MUST BE A PEACEMAKER.

WE MUST GIVE FULL JUSTICE

AND EQUALITY TO EVERY PERSON

AND SEEK THE PEACE

AND JUSTICE THAT THE WORLD NEEDS

AND THAT THE SPIRIT

REQUIRES OF US.

NARRATOR: JUST AS THE COUNTRY

WAS DIVIDED, SO WERE QUAKERS.

TORN BETWEEN THEIR

ABHORRENCE OF SLAVERY

AND THEIR TESTIMONY OF PEACE,

A NUMBER OF YOUNG QUAKER MEN

JOINED THE UNION ARMY.

A LARGER NUMBER, HOWEVER,

ELECTED NOT TO PARTICIPATE

IN VIOLENCE;

FOR THIS THEY WERE

LABELED AS COWARDS

AND FACED DERISION AND

HUMILIATION BY SOCIETY-AT-LARGE.

ALTHOUGH QUAKERS WERE NOT

WILLING TO KILL

FOR THEIR PRINCIPLES,

THEY WERE WILLING TO SUFFER,

AND EVEN DIE FOR THEM.

THE 1864 FRIENDS DISCIPLINE

FOR QUAKERS IN INDIANA

AND SOUTHWESTERN OHIO

ACKNOWLEDGED THE CHALLENGES

OF THE PEACE TESTIMONY

IN WARTIME:

MALE QUAKER: IF DURING THE

COMMON COURSE OF THEIR LIFE,

FRIENDS ARE ATTACKED,

INSULTED, AND PERSECUTED,

THEY OUGHT TO SUFFER WRONG,

TO REVENGE NO INJURY,

TO RETURN GOOD FOR EVIL;

AND LOVE THEIR ENEMIES.

SO ALSO, SHOULD IT HAPPEN

THAT THEY ARE EXPOSED

TO THE MORE EXTRAORDINARY

CALAMITIES OF WAR,

THEIR CONDUCT MUST

CONTINUE TO BE GUIDED

BY THE SAME PRINCIPLES.

IF THE SWORD OF THE INVADER

BE LIFTED UP AGAINST THEM,

THE PRECEPT IS STILL AT HAND,

THAT THEY RESIST NOT EVIL.

IF THE INSULTS AND INJURIES

OF THE CARNAL WARRIOR

BE HEAPED UPON THEM,

THEY ARE STILL FORBIDDEN

TO AVENGE THEMSELVES,

AND STILL COMMANDED TO PRAY

FOR THEIR PERSECUTORS.

IF THEY ARE SURROUNDED

BY A HOST OF ENEMIES,

HOWEVER VIOLENT AND MALICIOUS

THOSE ENEMIES MAY BE,

CHRISTIAN LOVE MUST STILL BE

UNBROKEN, STILL UNIVERSAL.

NARRATOR:

WHILE WITHSTANDING VERBAL

AND SOMETIMES

PHYSICAL PERSECUTION,

FRIENDS FOUND WAYS

TO CONTRIBUTE SOLUTIONS

WHILE AVOIDING VIOLENCE.

FOR INSTANCE, MARY J. TAYLOR,

CLERK OF THE WOMEN'S MEETING

IN CINCINNATI,

ORGANIZED ASSISTANCE FOR

SOLDIERS WHO WERE ENCAMPED

IN GARFIELD PARK, AND HER SON,

DR. WILLIAM H. TAYLOR,

PROVIDED MEDICAL SERVICES

TO THE WOUNDED.

OTHER CINCINNATI AREA FRIENDS

WERE CHALLENGED TO

ACTION AS WELL.

FEMALE QUAKER 1: ENDEAVOR,

AS WAY MAY OPEN,

TO RELIEVE IN SOME MEASURE,

THE COLORED PEOPLE

NOW AT OR NEAR CAIRO,

WHO ARE WITHOUT A HOME

IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE WAR

NOW EXISTING IN OUR

BELOVED COUNTRY,

AND WHO,

BY THE LAWS OF THE LAND,

ARE MOST LIKELY ENTITLED

TO FREEDOM FROM SLAVERY...

AT THIS TIME THERE

ARE ABOUT 4,000 PERSONS,

PRINCIPALLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN,

AT OR NEAR THAT PLACE,

THE ABLE BODIED MEN

BEING MOSTLY EMPLOYED

IN THE OPPOSING ARMIES,

LEAVING THEIR HELPLESS FATHERS,

MOTHERS, WIVES, AND CHILDREN

WITHOUT THE MEANS OF SUPPORT.

1862.

DONNE: THERE WERE SLAVES

WHO WERE CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE

OF BATTLEGROUNDS.

SO THERE WAS DREADFUL SUFFERING

AMONG THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SLAVES

AND WERE NOW ACCORDING

TO THE LAW, FREEDMEN,

BUT THEY WERE NOT FREE FROM

SUFFERING AND POVERTY AND SO ON.

NARRATOR: QUAKERS FORMED VARIOUS

COMMITTEES TO PROVIDE SUPPORT

FOR THOSE SUFFERING

BECAUSE OF THE WAR,

INCLUDING THE INDIANA

YEARLY MEETING COMMITTEE

ON THE CONCERNS

OF THE PEOPLE OF COLOR

AND THE COMMITTEE

FOR CONTRABAND RELIEF,

WHICH INCLUDED REPRESENTATIVES

FROM CINCINNATI FRIENDS MEETING,

ACHILLES PUGH AND

MURRAY M. SHIPLEY, AMONG OTHERS.

AS THE WAR CAME TO A CLOSE

AND FOR YEARS TO FOLLOW,

QUAKERS WERE INVOLVED

WITH PICKING UP

THE BROKEN PIECES OF SOCIETY

AND WORKING TO REBUILD IT.

SABRINA: ACCORDING TO SOME

SOURCES, DURING THE CIVIL WAR,

MURRAY SHIPLEY WAS INVOLVED

IN HELPING TO ESTABLISH

SCHOOLS IN THE SOUTH

WHICH INVOLVED GOING DOWN

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER,

UNDER FIRE AT TIMES,

FROM EITHER OF THE UNION FORCES

OR THE CONFEDERATE FORCES

SO THAT HE COULD BRING RELIEF

TO THE PEOPLE IN THOSE AREAS.

DONNE: LEVI COFFIN AND OTHER

QUAKERS IN THE CINCINNATI AREA

MADE TRIPS DOWN TO ALABAMA

AND MISSISSIPPI

TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON.

THEY CAME BACK,

THEY RAISED MONEY AND FUNDS

AND THEY STARTED THIS WESTERN

FREEDMEN'S COMMISSION

TO CONTINUE TO GET FOOD

AND CLOTHING AND SUPPLIES

AND RELIEF FOR

THE SUFFERING PEOPLE.

ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS

THEY DID,

BESIDES FEED AND

CLOTHE THE SLAVES,

WAS BUILD SCHOOLS

AND START TEACHING THEM,

BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT

THEY WOULD HAVE A BETTER CHANCE

OF SURVIVING IN THIS NEW WORLD,

WHATEVER IT WAS GOING TO BE,

TO SURVIVE, THEY WERE

GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE

SOME OF THOSE BASIC SKILLS.

CARL: AFTER THE CIVIL WAR,

YOU HAD FOUR AND A HALF MILLION

PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT,

MOST OF WHOM

HAD NO FORMAL EDUCATION.

AND COFFIN NOT ONLY HELPED THEM

IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING AWAY,

AT LEAST 2000, BUT HE THEN

HELPED AN EVEN A LARGER NUMBER

WITH THE KIND OF PROGRAMS THAT

THE FREEDMAN'S BUREAU SET UP:

ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS,

ESTABLISHMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

THAT PEOPLE WITH NOTHING,

NEEDED TO BEGIN TO BECOME

FULL-FLEDGED CITIZENS.

NARRATOR: WHEN COFFIN DIED

IN 1877,

HIS SERVICE WAS HELD AT

CINCINNATI FRIENDS MEETINGHOUSE.

FOUR OF THE EIGHT PALLBEARERS

WERE FREED BLACK MEN.

ONE OF THE SPEAKERS

WAS REV. DR. RUST,

SECRETARY OF THE FREEDMEN'S

AID SOCIETY

OF THE METHODIST

EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

DR. RUST: LEVI COFFIN HAD TOO

GREAT A MISSION

TO SPARE ANY TIME

TO TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF,

AND GOD TOOK CARE OF HIM.

HE WAS AN HONEST, WISE,

AND JUDICIOUS MAN -

WISE IN SELECTING THE MOST

PRACTICAL AND JUDICIOUS METHODS.

HE WAS A BRAVE

AND COURAGEOUS MAN.

IT WOULD TAKE LESS BRAVERY TO GO

UP TO THE CANNON'S MOUTH

THAN TO DO THE WORK HE DID.

AS HE WALKED

THROUGH THE STREETS,

HE WAS HOOTED AT

AND THREATENED BY MOBS.

THE BATTLEFIELD HAS NO SUCH

ILLUSTRATIONS OF HEROISM

AS HE EXHIBITED EVERY DAY.

REVEREND DR. RUST, 1877.

NARRATOR: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN

COMMUNITY IN CINCINNATI

HELD FUND RAISERS TO BUILD

A MEMORIAL FOR HIM,

BUT IT WAS QUAKER PRACTICE

TO MAINTAIN SIMPLICITY

AND EQUALITY EVEN IN DEATH.

IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS WISHES,

CATHERINE COFFIN HAD

HER HUSBAND BURIED

IN AN UNMARKED GRAVE

IN THE MEETINGS CEMETERY.

WHEN CATHERINE COFFIN

DIED IN 1881,

SHE WAS ALSO BURIED

IN AN UNMARKED GRAVE

IN THE FRIENDS CEMETERY.

TWENTY YEARS LATER, IN 1901,

CINCINNATI FRIENDS MEETING

WAS INFORMED THAT "PERSONS NOT

IN MEMBERSHIP WITH US

"DESIRE TO ERECT A MONUMENT

TO THE LATE LEVI COFFIN

ON OUR LOT IN

SPRING GROVE CEMETERY."

CINCINNATI FRIENDS MEETING

GRANTED PERMISSION

TO ERECT A MONUMENT

SO LONG AS FRIENDS APPROVED

OF THE INSCRIPTION.

AMONG A FEW SIMPLE HEADSTONES

IN THE QUAKER SECTION

OF SPRING GROVE CEMETERY,

STANDS A SINGLE SIX-FOOT MARKER,

DEDICATED IN A CEREMONY

ON MAY 30, 1902.

INSCRIBED ON THE MONUMENT

ARE THE FOLLOWING WORDS:

FEMALE QUAKER 2: LEVI COFFIN,

DIED 9TH MO. 16, 1877

IN HIS 79TH YEAR,

A CHRISTIAN PHILANTHROPIST.

CATHERINE COFFIN DIED 5TH MO 22,

1881 IN HER 78TH YEAR,

HER WORK WELL DONE.

NOBLE BENEFACTORS AIDING

THOUSANDS TO GAIN FREEDOM -

A TRIBUTE FROM THE

COLORED PEOPLE OF CINCINNATI.

[MUSIC]

NARRATOR: AFTER THE CIVIL WAR,

ANOTHER GROUP THAT GARNERED

THE ATTENTION AND

SYMPATHIES OF QUAKERS

WERE NATIVE AMERICANS,

SPECIFICALLY, THE CHEYENNE,

WICHITA AND COMANCHE TRIBES.

THOMAS: ONE OF THE DELICIOUS

IRONIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY

WAS THAT WHEN

GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT

BECAME PRESIDENT IN 1869,

HE DECIDED THAT

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

NEEDED A NEW INDIAN POLICY.

ONE THAT EMPHASIZED PEACE.

ONE THAT TOOK THE ADMINISTRATION

OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

AWAY FROM THE ARMY

AND PRIVATE CONTRACTORS AND

AGENTS WHO WERE OFTEN CORRUPT,

AND TURNED IT OVER

TO THE CHURCHES.

PEOPLE WHO PRESUMABLY

WOULD BE HUMANITARIAN.

WHO WOULD PRACTICE PEACE ON

EARTH, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN.

NARRATOR: IN 1869, WHEN A GROUP

OF QUAKERS WENT TO SEE

PRESIDENT ELECT GRANT

AND MADE THE SUGGESTION

THAT INSTEAD OF SOLDIERS

AS INDIAN AGENTS,

PEOPLE OF FAITH BE APPOINTED,

GRANT LISTENED ATTENTIVELY

TO THE QUAKERS, AND RESPONDED:

PRESIDENT GRANT: GENTLEMEN,

YOUR ADVICE IS GOOD.

I ACCEPT IT.

NOW GIVE ME THE NAMES OF SOME

FRIENDS FOR INDIAN AGENTS

AND I WILL APPOINT THEM.

IF YOU CAN MAKE QUAKERS

OUT OF THE INDIANS

IT WILL TAKE

THE FIGHT OUT OF THEM.

LET US HAVE PEACE.

ULYSSES S. GRANT.

NARRATOR: THUS,

PRESIDENT ULYSSES S. GRANT

WAS LED TO PURSUE WHAT BECAME

KNOWN AS THE "QUAKER POLICY,"

THE APPOINTMENT OF FRIENDS

AND OTHER CLERGY

TO OVERSEE THE CORRUPTION-RIDDEN

BUREAU OF U.S. INDIAN AFFAIRS,

AND TO ACT AS "INDIAN AGENTS"

ACROSS THE COUNTRY,

DISTRIBUTING FUNDS AND SUPPLIES

TO TRIBES WHO WERE LOSING

MORE AND MORE OF THEIR LAND

TO SETTLERS FROM THE EAST,

AND BEING FORCED TO LIVE

ON RESERVATIONS.

IT IS BELIEVED THAT MUCH

OF THE MOTIVATION

FOR INVOLVING THE QUAKERS WAS

THEIR POSITIVE REPUTATION

AMONG NATIVE AMERICAN

COMMUNITIES.

MARY: NOW, WILLIAM PENN

STARTED THAT.

WHEN HE CAME TO PENNSYLVANIA,

HE MADE TREATIES

WITH THE INDIANS.

THESE TREATIES WERE NOT BROKEN.

THEY PURCHASED LAND,

THEY TRIED TO BE AS HONEST

AS THEY COULD

AND AS EQUAL AND FAIR TO THE

NATIVE-AMERICANS.

SO, THAT TRADITION WAS HANDED

DOWN THROUGH THE SOCIETY.

AND THEY BUILT SCHOOLS,

HELPED THEM BUILD MILLS

AND PROVIDED THINGS

SO THAT THE NATIVE-AMERICANS

COULD ESTABLISH THEIR OWN HOMES

AND MAKE A LIFE FOR THEMSELVES.

NARRATOR: ONCE AGAIN,

MANY OF THOSE INVOLVED

IN THE EFFORT,

CAME FROM THE MIDWEST.

CINCINNATI FRIEND MURRAY SHIPLEY

SERVED AS CHAIRMAN

OF THE ASSOCIATED

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF FRIENDS

ON INDIAN AFFAIRS,

AND OTHER MEMBERS OF CINCINNATI

MEETING WERE APPOINTED

AS INDIAN AGENTS INCLUDING

THE INDOMITABLE HARRIET STEER,

WHO SPENT SEVERAL MONTHS

WITH TRIBES IN MISSOURI,

AND ACHILLES PUGH, WHO TRAVELED

TO KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA TERRITORY

WITH TWO OTHER FRIENDS ON THE

ASSOCIATED EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

INITIALLY, QUAKERS SEEMED

TO HAVE THE SUPPORT

OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN THEIR

WORK WITH THE PLAINS TRIBES.

THE CINCINNATI COMMERCIAL

TRIBUNE REPORTED:

NEWSPAPER REPORTER:

THE QUAKER AGENTS ARE UNWEARIED

IN THEIR EFFORTS FOR

THE AMELIORATION

OF THE INDIANS' CONDITION,

AND HONEST IN

DISPENSING THE RATIONS

AND ANNUITIES THEY ARE

ENTITLED TO RECEIVE.

UNDER THE OLD SYSTEM, THE AGENTS

SELDOM LIVED WITH THE TRIBES,

WHILE THE NEW AGENTS

ABIDE WITH THEM;

AND THIS IS A GREAT ADVANTAGE.

CINCINNATI COMMERCIAL TRIBUNE

SEPTEMBER 23, 1869.

NARRATOR: HOWEVER,

MANY WESTERN SETTLERS

WERE NOT FANS OF THE EXPERIMENT.

THOMAS: MANY OF THEM

WERE OF THE SCHOOL:

THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN

IS A DEAD INDIAN.

WHEN THEY SAW QUAKERS

COMING IN URGING JUSTICE

FOR NATIVE AMERICANS,

POINTING OUT HOW

VERY OFTEN LOCAL OFFICIALS,

WHITE SETTLERS, WERE STEALING

FROM NATIVE AMERICANS,

ENCROACHING ON THEIR LANDS,

WITHHOLDING GOVERNMENT FUNDS

THAT WERE RIGHTLY THEIRS,

THIS DID NOT ENDEAR

QUAKERS TO THOSE PEOPLE.

SO SOON, WASHINGTON WAS BEING

INUNDATED BY COMPLAINTS

FROM SETTLERS THAT THE QUAKERS

WERE COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC

AND THAT THEY WERE ENDANGERING

THE LIVES OF SETTLERS.

NARRATOR: UNFORTUNATELY,

THE TRUST PLACED IN THE QUAKERS

BY PRESIDENT GRANT WAS NOT

SHARED BY OFFICIALS

IN THE ADMINISTRATION

OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

IN 1879, ENCOUNTERING ANTAGONISM

AND LACK OF COOPERATION

BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS,

QUAKERS WITHDREW FROM

GOVERNMENT SPONSORED WORK

AND INSTEAD DIRECTED

THEIR EFFORTS

TOWARD ESTABLISHING

QUAKER MEETINGS,

BUILDING AND STAFFING

SCHOOLS ON RESERVATIONS,

AND MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS

THAT CONTINUE TODAY.

[MUSIC]

NARRATOR: IN 1896,

WHEN THERE WERE RUMORS OF WAR

BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND

GREAT BRITAIN, MURRAY SHIPLEY,

ONE OF THREE RECORDED MINISTERS

AT CINCINNATI FRIENDS MEETING,

ALONG WITH WILLIAM H. TAYLOR

AND ANNA M. JOHNSON,

THOUGHT IT PROVIDED:

MURRAY: A GREAT OPPORTUNITY

TO PROCLAIM

THE PRINCIPLES OF OUR SOCIETY

IN OPPOSITION TO ALL WAR,

AND OUR ADVOCACY

OF PEACEFUL MEANS

OF ADJUSTING ALL INTERNATIONAL

DIFFICULTIES.

MURRAY SHIPLEY, 1896.

NARRATOR: AND HE ADDED THAT

THE AIM OF THE FRIENDS WAS:

MURRAY: NOT TO TRANSLATE

CHRIST'S TEACHINGS

INTO A FREE RENDERING ADAPTED

TO THE CUSTOMS OF THE DAY,

BUT TO UPHOLD HIS STANDARD

AND LET THE WORLD BECOME NOT

ONLY ANTI-SLAVERY, BUT ANTI-WAR.

NARRATOR: THIS OPTIMISTIC 19TH

CENTURY HOPE WAS SHORT LIVED.

INSTEAD, IN THE NEXT CENTURY,

QUAKERS EVERYWHERE

FOUND THEMSELVES

REPEATEDLY CHALLENGED

TO UPHOLD THE PEACE TESTIMONY

WITH ITS UNDERPINNINGS OF

EQUALITY, TRUTH AND SIMPLICITY.

PAUL: WAR BREAKS OUT

IN 1914 IN ENGLAND FIRST.

THERE'S A PROBLEM BECAUSE

FRIENDS IN ENGLAND,

QUAKERS IN ENGLAND ARE CLEAR

THAT THEY ARE PACIFISTS.

WHAT THEY DO IN ENGLAND

IS TO ESTABLISH

THE FRIENDS AMBULANCE SERVICE,

WHICH WAS A MEDICAL CORPS,

INDEPENDENT OF THE ARMY.

YOUNG MEN, PRINCIPALLY QUAKERS

BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY QUAKERS,

WHO WOULD VOLUNTEER

TO DRIVE AMBULANCES

AND SERVE AS MEDICS

AT THE FRONT.

DONNE: SO RUFUS JONES AND

JAMES BABBITT AND HENRY CADBURY

AND SOME OTHER QUAKER LEADERS

AT THE TIME,

DECIDED THAT THEY NEEDED

A SIMILAR ORGANIZATION

FOR AMERICAN QUAKERS

SO THAT THEY COULD DO SOMETHING,

SO THEY COULD SERVE WITHOUT

SERVING IN THE MILITARY'S WAY.

NARRATOR: IT WAS THEN, IN 1917,

THAT THE AMERICAN FRIENDS

SERVICE COMMITTEE, OR AFSC,

WAS FORMED, TO FEED, CLOTHE,

AND PROVIDE AID

TO THE VICTIMS OF WAR.

RUTH: IF YOU LOOK

AT THE UNIFORMS

THEY LOOKED EXACTLY

LIKE THE UNIFORMS

THAT THE AMERICAN MILITARY

WERE WEARING IN THAT CONFLICT,

AND THAT WAS BECAUSE THEY WERE

ACTUALLY BUYING

SURPLUS ARMY UNIFORMS,

AND OUTFITTING THESE

YOUNG MEN IN THIS.

SO WHEN YOU SEE THE UNIFORMS

THEY HAVE ON THE SLEEVE

THE RED AND BLACK STAR,

WHICH WAS ADOPTED AS THE LOGO

FOR THE AMERICAN FRIEND

SERVICE COMMITTEE.

DONNE: AND THERE WERE LOT

OF YOUNG QUAKERS

AND OTHER MEMBERS OF PEACE

CHURCHES LIKE THE MENNONITE

AND THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN

WHO DID NOT WANT TO GO FIGHT.

THEY WERE WILLING TO SERVE,

THEY WERE WILLING TO DIE,

BUT THEY DIDN'T,

THEY COULDN'T KILL.

SO WHILE THERE WERE BOMBS

STILL FALLING IN FRANCE,

AMERICAN QUAKERS

AND BRITISH QUAKERS

WERE REBUILDING FARMHOUSES

AND HELPING THE PEOPLE WHOSE

WHOLE TOWNS HAD BEEN DESTROYED.

QUAKERS WENT IN THERE

AND WERE REBUILDING,

EVEN AS THE DESTRUCTION

WAS STILL HAPPENING.

NARRATOR: ONE OF THOSE

DEVOTED MEMBERS

OF THE AMERICAN FRIENDS

SERVICE COMMITTEE

WAS WILMINGTON, OHIO NATIVE,

LUTHER WARREN.

RUTH: LUTHER WARREN TELLS THIS

AMAZING POWERFUL STORY

ABOUT SPENDING THE DAY WITH THIS

FRENCH FAMILY

AND AT THIS POINT, ALL THAT IS

LEFT OF THIS FAMILY

IS GRANDMA, MOM,

AND A LITTLE GIRL,

AND SO LUTHER AND

A COUPLE OF HIS PARTNERS

ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO BUILD

THIS HOME FOR THIS FAMILY.

THEY ARE SO GRATEFUL

TO HAVE THIS HOME,

TO HAVE A ROOF OVER

THEIR HEADS AGAIN.

LUTHER AND THE MEN LEAVE

TO GO BACK TO THEIR CAMP

AND FIND OUT FIRST THING

IN THE MORNING

THAT THE BATTLE LINES

HAVE SHIFTED

AND SO THEY HAVE TO GO BACK

TO THIS SAME FAMILY

AND EVACUATE THEM FROM THIS

HOME THAT THEY JUST BUILT.

WHAT'S REALLY AMAZING ABOUT

THIS STORY IS LUTHER WARREN,

MAYNARD MCKAY, MARK MCMILLAN

ALL OF THESE YOUNG MEN

FROM THIS AREA

THEY'RE HAVING, FIRST OF ALL,

THESE CULTURAL EXPERIENCES

THAT FARM BOYS FROM

SOUTHWEST OHIO

HAVE NEVER HAD BEFORE.

BUT TO THINK ABOUT

THE COURAGE THAT IT TOOK,

TO SAY "NO, I DON'T BELIEVE

THAT THAT IS SOMETHING

"THAT I CAN PARTICIPATE IN

AND SO THIS IS WHAT I AM GOING

TO CHOOSE TO DO INSTEAD."

AND THEN TO KNOW THAT

THEY WERE IN JUST AS MUCH DANGER

AS THE YOUNG MAN

WHO WERE CARRYING RIFLES.

NEIL: SOME OF THEM WORKED

AS MEDICS

OR IN THE HOSPITALS,

THAT AND OTHER FUNCTIONS,

BUT HOSPITAL WORK, AND THIS WAS

COMMON TO WORK WITH REFUGEES

AND CHILDREN

AND YOUNG MOTHERS,

A KIND OF FOCUS ON

THAT KIND OF RELIEF.

I LIKE THIS COMBINATION:

TRYING TO MAKE CHANGES

THAT WILL HAVE LONG TERM

AND BROAD EFFECTS

THE AMERICAN FRIEND SERVICE

COMMITTEE HAS DONE THAT.

NARRATOR: ACCORDING

TO WALLACE T. COLLETT,

WHO SERVED AS CHAIRMAN

OF THE AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE

COMMITTEE IN THE 1970S,

ITS ORGANIZERS IN 1917

WERE INSPIRED BY A QUOTATION

FROM WILLIAM PENN:

WILLIAM: LET US THEN TRY

WHAT LOVE WILL DO;

FOR IF MEN DID ONCE SEE

WE LOVE THEM,

WE SHOULD SOON FIND

THEY WOULD NOT HARM US.

NARRATOR: THOUGH THE GREAT WAR

CAME TO A CLOSE IN 1918,

THE WORK OF THE AMERICAN FRIENDS

SERVICE COMMITTEE CONTINUED.

RUTH: SOMETHING CLOSE

TO A MILLION CHILDREN A DAY

FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS,

WERE BEING FED BY

THIS RELIEF WORK IN EUROPE.

THAT WORK HAD

A POWERFUL LEGACY

BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T JUST

FEEDING FRENCH CHILDREN,

THEY WERE FEEDING GERMAN

CHILDREN AS WELL.

THEY WERE FEEDING ANYONE

WHO NEEDED TO BE FED.

THERE IS A MAN NAMED JOE VOLK,

WHO, FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS,

WAS THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

OF THE FRIEND'S COMMITTEE

ON NATIONAL LEGISLATION.

IN THE 1970S AND 1980S

HE WAS TRAVELING IN GERMANY,

AND THEY WERE WORKING ON

EAST-WEST RELATIONS

AND ANTI-NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORK,

BUT HE WAS TALKING

WITH SOME OFFICIALS

HIGH UP IN THE

GERMAN GOVERNMENT.

AND AT SOME POINT WAS JUST KIND

OF REALLY PERSONALLY AMAZED

THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE

SO WILLING AND OPEN

TO TALK WITH HIM,

WHEN THEY WEREN'T WILLING AND

OPEN TO TALK WITH OTHER PEOPLE

AND SO HE FINALLY ASKED

SOMEBODY, WHAT IS IT?

WHY ME?

WHY US?

WHY THE AMERICAN FRIEND

SERVICE COMMITTEE?

WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO US AND

YOU WONT TALK TO ANYONE ELSE?

AND THIS GERMAN OFFICIAL SAID

BECAUSE I WOULDN'T BE HERE

IF YOU HADN'T FED MY PARENTS.

AND SO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT

A GENERATION AFTER, RIGHT,

THIS GUY'S PARENTS HAD

BEEN FED BY QUAKERS

IN THE YEARS AFTER WORLD WAR I.

SO WE THINK A LOT AND WE HEAR

A LOT ABOUT THE RIPPLE EFFECTS

OF CONFLICT AFTER

THE CONFLICT IS OVER,

BUT TO THINK ABOUT THE RIPPLE

EFFECTS OF HUMANITARIAN AID

AND OF PEACE WORK GENERATIONS

AFTER THAT'S HAPPENED

AND I THINK THAT'S A STORY

THAT DOESN'T GET TOLD ENOUGH.

[MUSIC]

NARRATOR: BY 1940, IT WAS CLEAR

THAT ANOTHER MAJOR CONFLICT

WAS BREWING IN EUROPE.

ROBERT JONES, MINISTER

OF CINCINNATI FRIENDS MEETING,

ATTENDED A GATHERING

IN RICHMOND, INDIANA,

"FOR THE PURPOSE OF,"

AS THEY EXPLAINED,

"DISCUSSING WHAT FRIENDS CAN DO

IN THIS WORLD OF CONFUSION."

HE REPORTED THAT THE AMERICAN

FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE

WAS TRYING TO WORK OUT,

WITH THE GOVERNMENT,

SOME SORT OF SERVICE

FOR THE CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS,

SHOULD WAR COME.

THE RESULT WAS "THE SELECTIVE

TRAINING AND SERVICE ACT,

WHICH, INCLUDED AN EXEMPTION

FROM COMBAT FOR ANY PERSON "WHO,

"BY REASON OF RELIGIOUS

TRAINING AND BELIEF,

"IS CONSCIENTIOUSLY OPPOSED

TO PARTICIPATION

IN WAR IN ANY FORM."

THOMAS: DURING WORLD WAR II,

FEDERAL LAW RESTRICTED

THE ALTERNATIVE SERVICE

OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

TO PROJECTS WITHIN

THE UNITED STATES.

SO YOU SAW

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

WHO WORKED AS ATTENDANTS

IN MENTAL HOSPITALS,

WHO WORKED IN FORESTRY CAMPS

DOING CONSERVATION

OR FIRE-FIGHTING WORK.

SOME OF THE BRAVEST

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

VOLUNTEERED TO BE GUINEA PIGS

IN MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS,

TESTING VACCINES

FOR VARIOUS DISEASES

OR EVEN TAKING PART

IN STARVATION EXPERIMENTS

THAT WERE AIMED AT GETTING

A BETTER UNDERSTANDING

OF HOW FORMER POWS

OR CONCENTRATION CAMP SURVIVORS

COULD BE NURSED BACK TO HEALTH.

SO THEY WERE BRAVE

IN THEIR OWN WAY.

NARRATOR: SEVERAL QUAKERS

FROM THE MIDWEST

TOOK PART IN THESE

DANGEROUS EXPERIMENTS.

DONNE: WAYNE OVERMEYER

PARTICIPATED AS

HUMAN GUINEA PIGS

IN SOME OF THESE EXPERIMENTS

IN WORLD WAR II.

DAVID STOFFREGEN WAS THE FIRST

QUAKER IN CINCINNATI TO REGISTER

AS A CO FOR THAT WAR AND TO

SIGN UP FOR THE CPS CAMPS.

NARRATOR: ANOTHER YOUNG QUAKER

BY THE NAME OF T. CANBY JONES,

WAS ALSO A CO DURING

WORLD WAR II.

NEIL: CANBY IS VERY,

VERY INTERESTING FELLOW,

A PHD FROM YALE.

HE WAS A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR

AND WORKED WITH THE COS

IN NORWAY AS WELL AS SOME PLACES

HERE IN THE UNITED STATES

AND HE'S ALSO

A BIBLICAL SCHOLAR.

HE WAS BORN IN JAPAN,

HIS FATHER WAS A MISSIONARY.

HIS FATHER BECAME

THE PRINCIPAL OR PRESIDENT

OF A BLACK UNIVERSITY

IN THE SOUTH WHERE HE WAS RAISED

SO HE'S ALWAYS BEEN ON CUTTING

EDGE IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS.

NARRATOR: CANBY LATER

BECAME A BELOVED PROFESSOR

AND PEACE ACTIVIST AT

WILMINGTON COLLEGE IN OHIO,

WHERE HE WAS KNOWN

ON CAMPUS AS "MR. QUAKER."

BARRED FROM SENDING RELIEF

WORKERS TO BATTLE ZONES

DURING WWII,

ONE WARTIME CONCERN

THE AMERICAN FRIENDS

SERVICE COMMITTEE ADDRESSED

WAS THE PLIGHT

OF MORE THAN

120,000 JAPANESE AMERICANS

ARRESTED ON THE SUSPICION

OF BEING "ENEMY ALIENS"

AFTER PEARL HARBOR WAS

ATTACKED IN 1941.

ENTIRE FAMILIES WERE IMPRISONED

IN TEMPORARY INTERNMENT CAMPS,

UNTIL THEY COULD BE "RELOCATED"

FROM THE WEST COAST

BY THE NEWLY CREATED WRA

OR "WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY."

SABRINA: WITHIN 48 HOURS

OF THE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

ISSUED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER,

THAT BASICALLY ROUNDED UP

HUNDREDS OF JAPANESE AMERICANS

THAT LIVED ON THE WEST COAST,

AND PUT THEM IN INTERNMENT CAMPS

IDENTIFYING THEM

AS ENEMY ALIENS.

THEY HAD TO SELL

THEIR FARMLANDS,

CLOSE THEIR BUSINESSES,

AND THEY WENT TO THESE CAMPS

LITERALLY WITH ONLY

WHAT THEY COULD CARRY.

THEY WERE TOLD THAT

THAT THEY HAD TO STAY THERE,

UNTIL THE MILITARY ORDER

WAS LIFTED,

OR RESCINDED, OR MODIFIED.

G. RAYMOND BOOTH WAS

A FORMER QUAKER PASTOR,

AND HAD BEEN A FORMER EXECUTIVE

SECRETARY OF THE PACIFIC COAST

DIVISION OF AMERICAN FRIENDS

SERVICE COMMITTEE.

HE WAS THE FIRST REPRESENTATIVE

OF THE WRA HERE IN CINCINNATI

AND MET WITH MEMBERS OF

CINCINNATI FRIENDS MEETING,

TO DISCUSS HIS CONCERNS

FOR HELPING JAPANESE

AMERICANS GET SETTLED.

NARRATOR: IN RESPONSE,

A HOSTEL WAS ESTABLISHED--

TEMPORARY QUARTERS--

WHERE JAPANESE AMERICANS

COULD STAY UNTIL EMPLOYMENT

AND MORE PERMANENT LIVING

ARRANGEMENTS COULD BE FOUND.

A UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

DORMITORY

WAS LEASED FOR USE

AS THE HOSTEL.

AND BOOTH LED BY EXAMPLE,

HIRING THE FIRST

INTERNMENT CAMP MEMBER

TO RELOCATE TO CINCINNATI,

HIS SECRETARY, ELVA SHINOZAKI.

SABRINA: CINCINNATI FRIENDS

WERE GREATLY INVOLVED IN THIS,

THEY WOULD COORDINATE PICNICS

WITH THE YOUNG

JAPANESE AMERICANS.

THEY INVITED THEM

TO COME TO WORSHIP

AND ABOUT 700 INDIVIDUALS

TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE SERVICES

OFFERED THROUGH THE HOSTEL.

SEVERAL PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE

FELT WELCOMED ENOUGH

BY CINCINNATI FRIENDS THAT THEY

JUST DECIDED TO JOIN THE MEETING

TO BECOME QUAKERS THEMSELVES.

NARRATOR:

AFTER THE HOSTEL CLOSED,

CINCINNATI QUAKERS CONTINUED

THEIR RELATIONSHIP

WITH THE JAPANESE,

CONTRIBUTING FUNDS TO REBUILD

A FRIENDS SCHOOL IN JAPAN

WHICH HAD BEEN

DESTROYED BY BOMBS.

MEANWHILE, AS IT HAD AFTER WWI,

AT THE END OF WWII THE AMERICAN

FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE

SENT RELIEF WORKERS TO HELP

REBUILD EUROPE.

ONE YOUNG QUAKER WHO JOINED THAT

EFFORT WAS ROBERT "BOB" MCCOY

WHO GREW UP ON A FARM

IN SOUTHWESTERN OHIO.

DONNE: THEN AMERICAN FRIENDS

SERVICE COMMITTEE WENT OVER

TO WAR-TORN EUROPE AND

BEGAN DOING THE WORK

OF FEEDING THE STARVING PEOPLE

WHO WERE THERE,

BOTH GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN

AND RUSSIAN.

I MEAN, THEY DIDN'T JUST GO

FEED THE CHILDREN OF ALLIES,

BUT THEY FED THE CHILDREN

OF THE ENEMIES.

AND BOB MCCOY WORKED THERE FOR

ABOUT FOUR YEARS AFTER THE WAR.

NARRATOR: ONE DAY,

WHILE OUT DRIVING A TRUCK,

BOB'S WORK PARTNER HAD QUITE

A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE

WITH A LOCAL VILLAGER.

DONNE: AS HE WENT ALONG

FROM VILLAGE TO VILLAGE,

HE WOULD STOP AND PICK UP

PEOPLE IF THEY WERE WALKING

AND IT LOOKED LIKE

HE HAD ROOM,

AND SO HE PICKED UP THIS

ELDERLY MAN,

GAVE HIM A RIDE

TO THE NEXT VILLAGE,

AND THE OLD MAN CAME IN ON

THE SIDE OF THE TRUCK AND ASKED,

"HOW MUCH DO I OWE YOU?"

AND THE GUY, THE AMERICAN

FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE FELLOW

SAID "NOTHING,

THIS IS WHAT WE DO;

YOU KNOW, WE ARE HERE TO HELP."

AND THE OLD MAN GLANCED UP AND

HE SAW THE QUAKERS INSIGNIA,

AND HE SAID, "AH, QUAKERS,

THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING."

THAT WAS LEFT OVER BECAUSE

THEY REMEMBERED WHAT QUAKERS

HAD DONE IN WORLD WAR I.

AND THAT MAKES ME THINK ABOUT

THAT SAYING FROM WILLIAM PENN,

"LET US THEN TRY

WHAT LOVE WILL DO,"

AND I THINK LOVE GIVEN FREELY

DURING AND AFTER WORLD WAR I

WAS REMEMBERED 50

AND 60 YEARS LATER

AND HAD AN IMPACT 50 OR 60 YEARS

LATER ON YOUR ENEMIES.

I MEAN THAT'S SUCH

A POWERFUL LESSON,

AND IT GIVES CREDENCE AND WEIGHT

TO THE TEACHINGS OF CHRISTIANITY

AND OF QUAKERISM.

PAUL: AFTER THE WAR IN

RECOGNITION OF THIS,

FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE

IN ENGLAND

AND THE AMERICAN FRIENDS

SERVICE COMMITTEE

ARE AWARDED

A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE.

IT'S INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

OF THE ALTERNATIVE TO WARFARE,

THAT QUAKERS IN THEIR BEST

SENSE, REPRESENT.

[MUSIC]

NARRATOR: OVER THE NEXT

THREE DECADES

THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL

FOCUS OF AMERICANS

AND MUCH OF THE WORLD,

SHIFTED FROM EUROPE TO THE

GROWING CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

WITHIN THE UNITED STATES.

IN 1954, FIVE BLACK PARENTS

IN HILLSBORO, OHIO

BROUGHT A LAWSUIT AGAINST

THE LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD

FOR ITS POLICY OF SEGREGATION

IN THE SCHOOLS.

IN ITS RULING ON

BROWN VS. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

EARLIER THAT YEAR,

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HAD

"ABOLISHED THE 'SEPARATE

BUT EQUAL' RULE UNDER WHICH

"HILLSBORO'S AFRICAN AMERICAN

CHILDREN HAD BEEN EDUCATED

IN SEGREGATED SCHOOLS

FOR DECADES."

THE NAACP HELPED PROVIDE LEGAL

COUNSEL IN THE HILLSBORO SUIT.

"THURGOOD MARSHALL,

WHO SUCCESSFULLY ARGUED

"THE BROWN CASE, WROTE THE

BRIEFS AND SIGNED THE PETITION

SUBMITTED TO THE

DISTRICT COURT IN CINCINNATI."

ONE OF THE PARENTS,

IMOGENE CURTIS,

APPROACHED LOCAL

QUAKER MEETINGS

IN NEARBY LEESBURG

AND WILMINGTON,

AND REQUESTED THEIR HELP.

THIS WAS HOW THE FREEDOM SCHOOLS

OF HILLSBORO, OHIO,

ALSO KNOWN AS THE

"KITCHEN SCHOOLS" BEGAN.

REBECCA GODFREY'S MOTHER

WAS INVOLVED WITH THE EFFORT.

REBECCA: MY DAD HAPPENED

TO BE SERVING

ON A COMMITTEE AT THE TIME

FOR THE YEARLY MEETING

THAT RECEIVED THE REQUEST.

HE CAME HOME AND HE INFORMED HER

THAT HE HAD VOLUNTEERED HER TO

GO TO HILLSBORO ONCE A WEEK

AND HELP WITH THE SCHOOLING

OF THESE CHILDREN.

SO THE GROUP OF

QUAKER TEACHERS--

THERE WERE FOUR OF THEM--

WOULD GO TO HILLSBORO

ON MONDAYS,

AND MEET, AND WORK WITH

THE CHILDREN ON THAT DAY.

AND THEN, THEY WOULD LEAVE

LESSON PLANS

FOR THE MOTHER TEACHERS

TO CARRY OUT

FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK.

AND THAT'S HOW THEY BECAME KNOWN

AS THE KITCHEN SCHOOLS

BECAUSE A LOT OF THEM,

THEY SAT AROUND A KITCHEN

TABLE FOUR OR FIVE CHILDREN.

NARRATOR: DURING THAT, LIFELONG

BONDS WERE ESTABLISHED

BETWEEN THE BLACK PARENTS

AND THE QUAKER TEACHERS.

REBECCA: I WAS AT A FAMILY

REUNION WITH MY TEENAGE SON

WHO INVITED HIS FRIEND TO COME.

AND HIS FRIEND IS BIRACIAL

AND I SAID, "DO YOU HAVE

ANY RELATIONS IN HILLSBORO?"

AND HE GOES "I THINK SO.

I THINK MY--"

I SAID, "IMOGENE AND

ORVILLE CURTIS, BY ANY CHANCE?"

AND HE SAYS, "WELL, MY DAD

WAS ORVILLE CURTIS

"AND HE WAS NAMED

AFTER HIS UNCLE.

I THINK THAT THEY LIVED

IN HILLSBORO".

AND SO, HERE, YOU KNOW, MY MOM

HAD WORKED WITH MS. IMOGENE

IN THE KITCHEN SCHOOLS AND TWO

GENERATIONS LATER

HER GRANDSON AND ORVILLE CURTIS,

HER HUSBAND'S GREAT NEPHEW

ARE BEST FRIENDS.

YOU KNOW, IT MAKES YOU

KIND OF PROUD

THAT YOUR MOM HAD

A PART IN THAT.

[MUSIC]

NARRATOR: WHEN AMERICAN

INVOLVEMENT IN THE CONFLICT

IN SOUTHEAST ASIA ESCALATED,

SO DID QUAKER CONCERN.

FRIENDS EVERYWHERE

PROTESTED THE WAR.

WILMINGTON COLLEGE,

UNDER THE LEADERSHIP

OF QUAKER PRESIDENTS,

BECAME A FOCUS

OF QUAKER ACTIVISM.

GARY KERSEY, A GRADUATE

OF WILMINGTON COLLEGE,

RECOUNTS HIS TIME AT THE SCHOOL

DURING THE PEAK

OF DEMONSTRATIONS.

GARY: I SAW THESE DEMONSTRATIONS

STARTING TO UNFOLD.

I REMEMBER THERE WERE THOSE WHO

OPPOSED THE WAR

KIND OF LINING UP

ON ONE SIDE OF THE SIDEWALK

AND THOSE WHO WERE IN SUPPORT

OF THE TROOPS

WERE ON THE OTHER SIDE.

AND I THOUGHT TO MYSELF,

YOU KNOW, I CAN GO BACK DOWN

THE BACK STAIRS OF COLLEGE HALL,

GET IN MY COUGAR

AND GO TO HARDY'S

AND AVOID THIS WHOLE DILEMMA

AS TO WHETHER I'M GOING TO BE

A PART OF THIS,

WHETHER I'M GOING TO BE

FOR THE WAR

OR SHALL WE SAY AGAINST THE WAR.

AND I MUST SAY THAT I THINK I

HAD REACHED THE POINT IN MY LIFE

THAT UP 'TILL THAT TIME,

MOST EVERYBODY HAD BEEN

TELLING ME WHAT I OUGHT TO DO

AND WHAT I OUGHT TO SAY

AND WHAT I OUGHT TO FEEL.

I HAD A LOT OF GOOD TEACHERS.

I HAVE WONDERFUL PARENTS,

HAD A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE

TELLING ME WHAT TO DO.

BUT HERE WAS A CASE

WHERE I WAS GOING TO HAVE

TO MAKE THIS DECISION MYSELF.

AND I THINK THERE'S A LOT

OF PEOPLE OUT THERE

THAT MAYBE HAVE

A CERTAIN FEELING

BUT THEY JUST DON'T CAPTURE

THAT FEELING

BECAUSE THEY'RE AFRAID

OF WHAT PEOPLE WILL THINK

THAT THEY'RE NOT, YOU KNOW,

IT'S NOT WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.

NARRATOR: THOUGH MANY

PEOPLE STRUGGLED

WITH HOW TO RESPOND TO THE WAR,

WILMINGTON COLLEGE PROFESSOR,

LARRY GARA AND HIS WIFE

LENNA MAE DID NOT.

THE GARA'S WERE INVOLVED

IN A PLETHORA OF VIGILS

AND DEMONSTRATIONS

DURING THE VIETNAM WAR

AND WERE QUITE FAMILIAR

WITH THE CONSEQUENCES

OF ACTING UPON THEIR BELIEFS.

LARRY SERVED MULTIPLE

PRISON SENTENCES

FOR HIS CHALLENGES

TO THE SYSTEM,

BEGINNING DURING WORLD WAR II.

LARRY: I WAS ONLY ARRESTED

ONCE DURING VIETNAM.

I DON'T TAKE CIVIL

DISOBEDIENCE LIGHTLY.

AND IN 1942 WHEN I WAS

SUPPOSED TO REGISTER

I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING ELSE;

IT WAS A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE.

I PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED

THAT I COULD NOT,

IN GOOD CONSCIENCE, REGISTER

AND OF COURSE WHEN I DID THAT,

WHEN I WAS 20 YEARS OLD,

I WAS SENTENCED

TO PRISON FOR THREE YEARS.

NARRATOR: YEARS LATER,

ACCUSED OF COUNSELING A STUDENT

TO REFUSE TO REGISTER

FOR THE DRAFT,

GARA WAS SENTENCED TO PRISON

FOR ANOTHER 18 MONTHS,

SEPARATING HIM FROM HIS WIFE

LENNA MAE.

LENNA MAE: WE HAD BEEN MARRIED

FOR ABOUT FIVE OR SIX YEARS THEN

AND THAT WAS KIND

OF DIFFICULT, VERY DIFFICULT,

BUT I WAS YOUNG,

HE WAS YOUNG,

WE WERE HEALTHY,

AND WE GOT THROUGH IT.

LARRY: I'VE REGRET A LOT

OF THINGS I'VE DONE

BUT I NEVER REGRETTED

REFUSING TO REGISTER.

I THINK IT WAS ABSOLUTELY

THE RIGHT THING TO DO

AND STILL FEEL THAT WAY.

NARRATOR: THROUGHOUT

THE VIETNAM WAR,

QUAKERS EVERYWHERE HELD

PEACE VIGILS,

AND IN MAY 1970, CINCINNATI

AND WILMINGTON FRIENDS

JOINED OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS

IN PROTESTING THE KILLING

OF FOUR KENT STATE

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

BY THE OHIO NATIONAL GUARD.

CURRENT CINCINNATI FRIENDS

MEMBER, JIM CROCKER-LAKNESS,

WAS A STUDENT AT KENT STATE.

HE REMEMBERS THAT MORNING.

JIM: THE GUARD MOVED

INTO THE FENCED IN AREA

AND FOUND THEMSELVES BLOCKED,

COULDN'T MOVE.

SO THERE WAS A MOMENT

OF BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN,

ABOUT EIGHT TO TEN OF US,

IN THE PARKING LOT.

THE NATIONAL GUARD

WOULD SHOOT THEIR TEAR GAS

AND WE WERE ABLE TO RUN

DOWN WIND OF THE TEAR GAS

AND PICK IT UP

AND THROW IT BACK.

AND THEN I FOUND MYSELF--

I HAD PICKED UP A ROCK

AND I FOUND MY ARM

COCKED READY TO THROW THIS ROCK

AND TIME STOOD STILL.

THE UNIVERSE VANISHED

AND I HEARD JESUS SAY,

"JIM ARE YOU SURE

YOU WANT TO DO THAT?

DROP THAT ROCK AND FOLLOW ME."

AND SO MY CONSCIENTIOUS

OBJECTION TO WAR

AND NON-VIOLENCE BASED ON

THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS,

CAME BACK TO ME

AND I DID DROP THE ROCK.

NARRATOR: ANOTHER INFLUENTIAL

QUAKER ACTIVELY INVOLVED

IN FOLLOWING THE PEACE TESTIMONY

WAS WALLACE COLLETT,

A WWII CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR

FROM WILMINGTON, OHIO.

AFTER GRADUATING

FROM WILMINGTON COLLEGE,

COLLETT MOVED TO CINCINNATI,

WHERE HE BECAME A PROMINENT

BUSINESSMAN AND CIVIC LEADER.

AND EVENTUALLY BECAME CHAIRMAN

OF THE AMERICAN FRIENDS

SERVICE COMMITTEE.

PAUL: WALLACE WAS UPFRONT,

OUT IN THE OPEN WITH HIS WAR

TAX RESISTANCE.

EVERY YEAR HE WOULD

FILL OUT HIS 1040

AND HE'D GET TO THE BOTTOM

AND HE'D WRITE A NOTE

AND ATTACH IT, TELLING THE IRS

THAT HE HAD NOT PAID X DOLLARS

BECAUSE HE CONSIDERED

THEM TO BE DOLLARS

THAT SUPPORTED THE MILITARY.

BUT THEN HE WENT ON

AND HE WOULD TELL THEM

"I HAVE DEPOSITED THAT

AMOUNT OF MONEY

"PLUS WHATEVER YOU KNOW

10% FOR THE PENALTIES

"THAT I KNOW YOU

ARE GOING TO ASSESS

"PLUS ANY INTEREST

THAT MIGHT BE DUE.

I PUT IT ALL IN THIS

BANK ACCOUNT."

HE'D GIVE THEM THE BANK NAME

AND THE ACCOUNT NUMBER

SO THEY COULD GO

AND GET THAT MONEY.

SO HE WAS GOING TO RESIST

THE TAXES.

HE KNEW THAT THEY

WERE GOING TO WANT IT

AND HE WASN'T GONNA TRY

TO STOP THEM FROM GETTING IT.

IN FACT HE ENDED UP PAYING MORE

BECAUSE HE KNEW THEY WERE

GOING TO ASSESS PENALTIES

AND INTEREST ON IT.

ALL THAT MONEY WAS IN THE BANK,

BUT THEN HE DID SOMETHING ELSE.

THIS IS THE GOOD PART.

HE KNEW THE PRESIDENTS OF MOST

OF THE BANKS IN CINCINNATI,

MAYBE ALL THE BANKS

IN CINCINNATI.

HE WOULD OPEN AN ACCOUNT

AT THE BANK, PUT THE MONEY IN,

BUT THEN HE'D MAKE

AN APPOINTMENT

WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE BANK

AND HE WOULD GO IN AND HE'D

SAY, "HI AL, HOW ARE YOU DOING?

"IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU.

"LISTEN THE IRS IS GOING TO COME

AND THEY ARE GOING

TO SEIZE MY ACCOUNT."

WELL, YOU CAN IMAGINE

THE SHOCK THAT THIS WOULD CAUSE.

I MEAN, THIS IS A PERMANENT

PERSON IN OUR COMMUNITY

AND HE IS TELLING ME AS

THE PRESIDENT OF THE BANK

THAT THEY ARE GOING TO COME

AND SEIZE HIS ASSETS.

AND SO OF COURSE WHAT

DO I DO AS THE PRESIDENT?

I SAID WHY, WHAT'S GOING ON?

AND WALLACE WOULD THEN HAVE

THE OPPORTUNITY TO TELL THEM

ABOUT WHAT WAR TAXES

REPRESENTED,

WHY THEY WERE WRONG AND WHAT

HE WAS DOING TO RESIST THEM.

IT GAVE HIM AN OPPORTUNITY TO

MINISTER TO PROMINENT PEOPLE,

PEOPLE WITH POWER AND AUTHORITY

IN THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

AND I JUST THINK THAT'S JUST

SUCH A TREMENDOUS EXAMPLE

FOR ALL OF US.

NARRATOR: OVER THE YEARS, OTHERS

LIKE JIM CROCKER-LAKNESS

FACED DIFFICULT CHOICES RELATED

TO THE PEACE TESTIMONY.

SUCH WAS THE SITUATION

OF RYAN MYERS

DURING DESERT STORM IN 1990.

BUT AFTER SOME GUIDANCE

FROM FELLOW FRIEND

AND CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR,

CHARLIE PIERSON,

MYERS WAS MORE

CONFIDENT IN HIS DECISION.

RYAN: LOOKING AT HAVING TO

REGISTER FOR SELECTIVE SERVICE,

THAT I WAS NOT GOING TO.

SO CHARLIE PEARSON, WHO WAS

A MEMBER OF THE MEETING

I WAS A CO DURING WWII,

WAS A BIT OF MENTOR FOR ME

WHEN I WAS YOUNG.

I THINK I TOOK SOME

STRENGTH FROM THAT

KNOWING THAT, OKAY I KNOW

CHARLIE AND I RESPECT CHARLIE.

HE WAS ABLE TO DO IT,

HE WAS OKAY.

OF COURSE, WHEN I WAS

MAKING THE DECISION

I KNEW IT CARRIED POTENTIAL

LEGAL CONSEQUENCES.

THE POSSIBILITY OF A PRETTY

SUBSTANTIAL FINE,

PRISON TIME, AND I'M NOT

ELIGIBLE FOR STUDENT LOANS.

BUT I THINK IT WAS

THE RIGHT DECISION FOR ME.

I THINK IF THE CIRCUMSTANCES

WERE THE SAME

I'D MAKE THE DECISION AGAIN.

[MUSIC]

NARRATOR: IN RECENT YEARS,

SOME QUAKERS HAVE,

AS THEIR PREDECESSORS DID,

FOCUSED ON PROJECTS TO PROVIDE

EDUCATION EQUALITY.

WITH THE SUPPORT OF HER

LOCAL FRIENDS MEETING,

CINCINNATI QUAKER CATHY BARNEY

HAS PUT HER ENERGY

INTO AN ARTS PROGRAM FOR

UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN.

CATHY: I STARTED IT BECAUSE I

JUST KNEW THAT THERE WERE KIDS

IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE OPTIONS

AND OPPORTUNITIES

THAT THE AVERAGE KID HAS,

YET THESE KIDS WERE

JUST AS VALUABLE.

I HOPE TO PROVIDE

A SAFE PLACE FOR THESE KIDS,

I HOPE IT SPARKS

SOMETHING IN THEM.

THAT MAYBE AN AREA

OR OPPORTUNITY WOULD OPEN UP

THAT THEY HADN'T SEEN BEFORE.

DONOVAN: IT'S JUST A WAY

TO BE CREATIVE

AND GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY.

MCKENZEE: WE PAINTED STUFF AND

WE GOT LIKE ONE OF THOSE HATS

THAT THE ARTISTS WEAR.

CATHY: SOME OF THE KIDS

HAVE TOLD ME

THEY REALLY LIKE TO COME HERE

BECAUSE IT GETS THEM

AWAY FROM THE DAILY DRAMA

WHERE THEY LIVE.

ANGEL: I KEEP COMING BACK

BECAUSE SOMETIMES

WHEN I LIKE HAVE A BAD DAY, THIS

IS THE ONLY PLACE I CAN GO TO

AND IT LIKE MAKES ME

FEEL BETTER ABOUT MYSELF.

I MISS CATHY AND MISS PAT AND

ALL OF THEM TEACHING ME

THE IMPORTANT RESPONSIBILITIES

AND STUFF IN LIFE.

CATHY: I THINK IT REALLY GIVES

THEM A VOICE, SELF EXPRESSION.

IF THESE KIDS HAVE A VENUE

FOR SELF EXPRESSION

THEN THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE,

THEY HAVE A VOICE AND THEY CAN

SAY NO TO BAD INFLUENCES,

THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE.

I THINK IT MAKES THEM STRONGER.

DONOVAN: IF I WOULD

LEARN SOMETHING,

IT WOULD BE HOW TO HELP PEOPLE

AND TEACH PEOPLE

HOW TO DO THE ART STUFF.

ANGEL: I'M JUST LIKE

A DIFFERENT PERSON,

LIKE I'M MORE MATURE AND I KNOW

HOW TO HANDLE SITUATIONS BETTER.

CATHY: I THINK ONE OF

THE QUAKER PRINCIPLES

THAT HAS ALWAYS SPOKEN TO ME

IS SEEING THAT OF GOD IN OTHERS

AND BEING ABLE TO SEE

THAT OF GOD IN THESE KIDS

AND HELPING THEM TO SEE

THAT IN THEMSELVES.

I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S,

SORT OF, IN A NUTSHELL,

WHAT THE WHOLE POINT IS.

NARRATOR: ALSO SUPPORTED BY

CINCINNATI FRIENDS MEETING,

LUKE AND ANGELA EBNER

EXPRESS THEIR FAITH

THROUGH WORK WITH

INNER CITY YOUTH,

EXPOSING THEM TO ORGANIC

AND SUSTAINABLE GARDENING,

"PLANTING SEEDS OF HOPE."

LUKE: THE KIDS THAT WORK WITH US

GET TO LEARN HOW

TO PLANT PLANTS,

HARVEST, MARKET, COOK ORGANIC

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

THAT ARE ALL GROWN

RIGHT HERE.

I ALWAYS SAY WE'RE PLANTING

NOURISHING HABITATS

FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

SO THIS IS A NOURISHING HABITAT

THAT I GET TO CULTIVATE

WITH THE YOUTH THAT

WE INTERACT WITH.

ROBERT: LIVING IN AN URBAN

COMMUNITY IT'S REALLY HARD

TO HAVE THAT TIME

OF MEDIATION AND PEACE

BECAUSE THERE'S ALWAYS

SO MUCH GOING ON.

AND THIS IS A HIGHLY

POPULATED AREA.

SO BEING IN A SECLUDED AREA

LIKE GARDENING,

IT BRINGS YOU A PEACE THAT

YOU NEVER EVEN KNEW EXISTED.

AND IT'S TRULY A BLESSING

TO BE ABLE TO GROW FOOD

AND TO JUST BE OUT BECAUSE

PUTTING YOUR HANDS AT WORK

AND REALLY ALLOW YOUR MIND

TO MEDITATE AND JUST FLOW

AND LOSING YOURSELF

WHILE BEING IN THE GRASS

OR TENDING TO THE

PLANTS OR WHATNOT

YOU REALLY GET THE

OPPORTUNITY TO THINK.

RASHAWN: LIFE OUTSIDE THE GARDEN

IS MUCH LIKE A CHALLENGE.

IT'S MUCH LIKE WORKING

AT THE GARDEN.

LIKE I SAID, PUTTING FORTH

EFFORT TO DO ANYTHING YOU WANT

TAKES PRACTICE, HARD WORK,

AND DEDICATION.

ROBERT: THERE WAS A TIME IN MY

LIFE WHEN I HAD NOWHERE TO GO.

AND I HAD TO COME TO THIS GARDEN

AND LUKE GAVE ME A JOB,

HE MADE SURE I HAD MONEY

IN MY POCKET,

HE MADE SURE IT WAS ENOUGH FOR

ME TO HELP SUPPORT MY FAMILY.

THIS GARDEN MEANS

EVERYTHING TO ME, TRULY.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT

EQUALITY WHILE WORKING HERE

AT THE ECO GARDEN IS THAT

WE ALL ARE IN THE SAME BOAT,

NO ONE IS BETTER THAN

NO ONE ELSE.

EVEN THOUGH SOMEONE

MIGHT HAVE BETTER CLOTHES

OR MIGHT HAVE A BETTER CAREER

OR BETTER OPTIONS

OR OPPORTUNITIES,

AT THE END OF THE DAY

WE'RE ALL HUMAN BEINGS

WITH THE SAME FAULTS AND ISSUES.

AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE'RE ALL

AFRAID OF THE SAME THINGS.

SO TRULY THERE'S NO POINT IN

SEEING ANYONE ABOVE YOU

OR BELOW YOU,

THERE'S NO POINT OF INSECURITY

BECAUSE WE'RE ALL

IN THE SAME BOAT,

WE'RE ALL SCARED

OF THE SAME THING,

WE ALL SEEK THE SAME THING.

NARRATOR: PUBLIC FRIEND

AND MINISTER, DONNE HAYDEN,

BELIEVES THAT SEVERAL THINGS

PARTICULARLY ATTRACT PEOPLE

TO QUAKERISM: SOCIAL ACTIVISM

AND THE AFFIRMATION THAT THERE

IS "THAT OF GOD IN EVERYONE"

WHICH INCLUDES THE UNDERSTANDING

THAT ANYONE MAY BE LED

OR GUIDED BY GOD.

DONNE: WE ATTRACT PEOPLE

WHO ARE DEEPLY INVOLVED

AND SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS AND

COMMITTED TO SOCIAL JUSTICE.

BUT THE OTHER KIND OF PERSON

IS A PERSON WHO IS TUNED IN

AND LISTENING AND CAN HEAR,

OR CAN BE LED AND SO FINDS

THEMSELVES AMONG OTHERS

WHO ARE OF SIMILAR LEADING.

JULIE: FOR ME, FOR MY FAMILY,

THAT COMPONENT OF EQUALITY

HAS BEEN A LARGE PIECE

OF WHAT HAS KEPT US HERE.

RACHEL: QUAKERISM HAS REALLY

HELPED US

FOCUS OURSELVES OUTWARDS,

BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THE EFFECT

THAT IT HAS ON EVERYBODY ELSE

AND YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE

CONTRIBUTING TO SOCIETY

AND HELPING OTHERS.

JUDY: QUAKERS BELIEVE THAT EACH

OF US HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY

TO BECOME A MINISTER

AND TO MINISTER EACH

IN OUR OWN WAY TO THE COMMUNITY

AND TO THE WIDER WORLD AS WELL.

JEFF: MY ATTRACTION TO QUAKERISM

HAS ALWAYS BEEN ON THE SIDE

OF THE EXPERIENTIAL

APPROACH TO RELIGION,

THAT YOU HAVE AN

IMMEDIATE EXPERIENCE

OF THE PRESENCE

OF THE SPIRIT

AND OUT OF THAT GROWS YOUR

VALUES AND YOUR COMMITMENTS.

REBECCA: IT IS JUST DISCOVERING

THAT YOU CAN HAVE AN ACTUAL

ONE-ON-ONE RELATIONSHIP WITH

YOUR CREATOR AND THAT YOU CAN

KNOW THE JOY AND THE PEACE,

AND THE BEAUTY THAT GOD

CREATED US TO KNOW.

NARRATOR: THROUGH MORE THAN

THREE CENTURIES,

QUAKERS EVERYWHERE--

FAMOUS AND ANONYMOUS,

IN EAST COAST CITY

AND MIDWESTERN COUNTRYSIDE--

HAVE HEEDED GEORGE FOX'S

ADMONITION

TO "ANSWER THAT OF GOD

IN EVERYONE."

THOMAS: IF IT WERE PROPER

FOR QUAKERS TO BE PROUD,

I THINK WE'RE ENTITLED TO BE

PROUD FOR THE MANY WAYS

THAT WE'VE WORKED TO TRY TO

MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

AND PARTICULARLY FOCUSED ON

PEOPLE WHO WERE MARGINALIZED

AND DISENFRANCHISED

BY THE LARGER SOCIETY.

AND I HOPE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT

WILL ALWAYS BE TRUE OF FRIENDS,

THAT WE WILL ALWAYS BE WILLING

TO BE COUNTER-CULTURAL,

NOT FOR THE SAKE OF BEING ODD

OR JUST FOR THE SAKE

OF BEING DIFFERENT,

BUT BECAUSE BY RUNNING

COUNTER TO THE LARGER CULTURE

AND ITS VALUES, WE ULTIMATELY

MOVE IT TOWARD BEING

A BETTER, MORE JUST,

MORE RADICALLY FAIR WORLD.