Did not our Lord bear the heavy cross of wood to Calvary and almost sink beneath it? Theology, Business, and Social Activism in the Philadelphia Quaker Community, 1907-1927 Luke McKinstry Haverford College History 400: Senior Thesis First Reader: Bethel Saler Second Reader: Emma Lapsansky Submitted: April 23, 2010 Abstract: In the early 20th century before the beginning of World War I many members of the Quaker community carried the perception that the Friends Meeting was becoming increasingly irrelevant in the city of Philadelphia. Starting with the United States entry into World War I, the Quaker Meetings in Philadelphia transformed from sanctuaries for people to nurture their inner spirits into cauldrons of ideas for an ambitious social mission. The 'total war' nature of World War I thrust the Quakers into public life. In a militarized society, how could Quakers uphold their religious commitment to peace without becoming traitors to the state? Quakers commitment to peace was the underlying fact that set them apart from civil society in the United States. Adhering to this principle in wartime forced the Quakers to set out on an ambitious program of social service and war relief, which began to turn the focus of the Meeting outward to the world around them. Called to action by the war, the Quakers became increasingly aware of the larger social problems around them. As Quakers surveyed and heard tales of the destruction in Europe, and witnessed the postwar uprisings in Germany and the United States, many became acutely concerned with the problems of economic inequality. The Quakers sought to bring about systemic reform to the capitalist system because they felt that inequitable industrial relations and the profit-seeking ambitions of business cause the ultimate evil of war. Most Quakers did not have any specific knowledge of industry or economics, they found these concepts to be scary and mysterious. Based on tales of unrest and poverty in Europe and their own industrial city, they felt something drastic needed to be done. Fearful Quaker reformers in postwar Philadelphia foreshadowed that if this inequitable system went unreformed, it would foster radical politics and lead again to war. Motivated by the belief that inequitable economics would lead to further war, many Quakers formed groups to read about and discuss labor law, industrial relations and reform to the ways businesses were managed. In the turbulent years after WWI, Quakers in Philadelphia spoke constantly about the need to eradicate the underlying causes industrial unrest. The zeal for reform did not last. By the early 1920's, the post-war industrial upheaval in the United States subsided, and the frightening accounts of radicalism in Europe ceased to seem threatening and close to home. The 1920's were a return to peace, with a succession of three Republican and pro-business presidents. Reform to business and limits on the capitalist system took a backseat to other measures on the national agenda until the New Deal. Throughout the 1920's, a small tightly knit group of visionary businessmen and social scientists who were leaders in their professions, the Meeting community, and Quaker peace movements during WWI, continued to assert that business needed to be reformed for the long-term well-being of society. Because there was little hope of the Republican administrations of the 1920's adopting a policy of reform to business, these Quakers designed schemes to improve conditions and security for the working classes to be initiated by employers themselves. These acts, sometimes called, 'corporate liberalism' and 'industrial welfare' were silent measures which attempted but failed to prevent the collapse of the capitalist system, the onset of widespread suffering in the Great Depression, the rise of radicalism on the left and right side of the political spectrum, and war. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Section 1: The Philadelphia Quaker Community and the tradition of Philanthropy 1907-1917 18 Section 2: Quakers and Business 30 Section 3: The Quakers in World War I: Conscientious Objection and Humanitarian Service 1917-1919 35 Section 4: Postwar Unrest and the Social Order Committee 1919-1922 47 Section 5: Concern for Order and Schemes for Peace 1922-1927 58 Bibliography Introduction In the early 20th century before the beginning of World War I many members of the Quaker community carried the perception that the Friends Meeting was becoming increasingly irrelevant in the city of Philadelphia. Indeed, the membership ranks of the Meetings in the city were shrinking as many Friends during the period moved to the suburbs or lost their faith. Some Quakers criticized the reclusive character of the community, likening Meeting members to monks in a monastery. These accounts were an exaggeration because many Quakers took part in extensive philanthropic programs in Philadelphia and the surrounding region, and others were very active in the Social Gospel Movement for Progressive reform to protect the working class, but the Meetings were beset by internal insecurities. The anxiety that Quakers were disconnected from the surrounding world would not last. Starting with the United States entry into World War I, the Quaker Meetings in Philadelphia transformed from sanctuaries for people to nurture their inner spirits into cauldrons of ideas for an ambitious social mission. The 'total war' nature of World War I thrust the Quakers into public life. In a militarized society, how could Quakers uphold their religious commitment to peace without becoming traitors to the state? Quakers commitment to peace was the underlying fact that set them apart from civil society in the United States. Adhering to this principle in wartime forced the Quakers to set out on an ambitious program of social service and war relief, which began to turn the focus of the Meeting outward to the world around them. Called to action by the war, the Quakers became increasingly aware of the larger social problems around them. As Quakers surveyed and heard tales of the destruction in McKinstry 1 Europe, and witnessed the postwar uprisings in Germany and the United States, many became acutely concerned with the problems of economic inequality. The Quakers sought to bring about systemic reform to the capitalist system because they felt that inequitable industrial relations and the profit-seeking ambitions of business caused the ultimate evil of war. Most Quakers did not have any specific knowledge of industry or economics, many found these concepts to be scary and mysterious, but based on tales of unrest and poverty in Europe and their own city, they felt something drastic needed to be done. Fearful Quaker reformers in postwar Philadelphia foreshadowed that if this inequitable system went unreformed, it would foster radical politics and lead again to war. Motivated by the belief that inequitable economics would lead to further war, many Quakers formed groups to read about and discuss labor law, industrial relations and reform to the ways businesses were managed. In the turbulent years after WWI, Quakers in Philadelphia spoke constantly about the need to eradicate the underlying causes of industrial unrest. The zeal for reform did not last. By the early 1920's, the postwar industrial upheaval in the United States subsided, and the frightening accounts of radicalism in Europe ceased to seem threatening and close to home. The 1920's were a return to peace, with a succession of three Republican and pro-business presidents. Reform to business and limits on the capitalist system took a backseat to other measures on the national agenda until the New Deal. Most Quakers, and the majority of American society, enjoyed the 'return to normalcy' promised by President Harding. Philadelphia Quakers again became preoccupied with the internal affairs of the Meeting and their own families. McKinstry 2 Not all Philadelphia Quakers easily forgot the lessons of WWI and the outbreaks of postwar radical unrest in Europe and Philadelphia however. A small tightly knit group of visionary businessmen and social scientists who were leaders in their professions, the Meeting community, and Quaker peace movements during WWI, continued to assert that business needed to be reformed for the long-term well-being of society. Because there was little hope of the Republican administrations of the 1920's adopting a policy of reform to business, these Quakers designed schemes to improve conditions and security for the working classes to be initiated by employers themselves. These acts, sometimes called, 'corporate liberalism' and 'industrial welfare" were silent measures which attempted but failed to prevent the collapse of the capitalist system, the onset of widespread suffering in the Great Depression, the rise of radicalism on the left and right side of the political spectrum, and war. This thesis is about both how the Quaker community in Philadelphia interpreted their theology into a social mission in response to local, national, and international events, and about Philadelphia Quaker's unique approach to religiously inspired social reform movements during the Progressive Era (1890-1917) and after WWI (1917-1927). It will pose the question, in what ways was the social mission of the Philadelphia Quaker community similar or different from other Protestant churches and mainstream reformers on issues of business and social reform? It will also ask what was the underlying factor that set Quakerism apart from other religious groups and mainstream society during the period? This paper will argue that Philadelphia Quakers built upon the foundations of the Social Gospel Movement to speak out against the unjust economic order as a cause of 1 McQuaid, Kim. Corporate Liberalism in the American Business Community, 1920- 1940. The Business History Review, Vol. 52, No. 3 (Autumn, 1978) pp. 342-368 McKinstry 3 war. Before WWI, the social mission of Philadelphia Quakers paralleled the general Social Gospel Movement of the Progressive Era. After the war however, Quakers created a distinctive argument, saying reform to the inequitable business relations was vital to prevent what was in their minds the ultimate evil: war. The first requisite for understanding this argument is to define Progressivism and the Social Gospel Movement. The United States underwent rapid urbanization at the turn of the 20th century. Between 1880 and 1920, the percentage of the population of the United States living in urban areas went from 28.2% to 51.2%. In the northeast region of the United States, the percentage of the population living in urban areas went from 50.8% to 75.5%. The city of Philadelphia grew from 847,000 in 1880 to 1,823,000 in 1920. 2 Increasingly large factories employing technologically advanced production methods that required large unskilled labor forces drew masses of migrants from rural agricultural areas of North America and Immigrants from Europe. The working classes moved into crowded urban neighborhoods with poor living conditions and worked long hours performing demanding tasks. As the gap between the wealthy and poor expanded during the Gilded Age of the late 19 century, the consequences of the capitalist system became th apparent in the growth of urban poverty. In response, many forces in society including the working classes, farmers, radicals, and Christians began to campaign for reform and limits on unchecked capitalism. This broad-based movement to protect the working classes and to bring order to society through reform became known as 'Progressivism,' and found its most high-profile advocate in the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt (1901- 1909). In the wake of Roosevelt's presidency, Progressivism became the dominant 2 Statistics from US Census Bureau McKinstry 4 ideology in national politics until World War I, and achieved legislation to among other things restrict labor for children and women, enforce anti-trust laws more strictly, and increase protections for the working class. During the Progressive Era, several ideological movements developed in opposition to the 'steel chain of ideas' of the capitalist system. Inspired by the revolutionary discoveries of the natural and physical sciences in the late 19 th century, academics working in new social science disciplines of economics, political science, sociology, psychology sought to adapt empirical and inductive methods to the study of human behavior. Many social scientists observed the consequences of the capitalist system in urban neighborhoods and tenements, became critics of greed and self-interest, and began to advocate for reform. The most important social science research institution in Philadelphia was the University of Pennsylvania. Its business school, Wharton, led research on how to improve industrial working conditions and make businesses more efficient. The social upheaval of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era also caused reconfigurations of the religious character of the United States. The influx of immigrants from Europe added large populations of Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Eastern Orthodox into the predominantly Protestant eastern United States. Christian churches developed several theological and social responses to rapid urbanization and industrialization. First, the Christian temperance movement campaigned to protect the working classes from alcohol, gambling, and other vices. Second, Christian Socialists sought to reconstruct the economic order of society. Third, evangelical Christians developed gospel missions in working class immigrant neighborhoods to ameliorate poverty and convert new members. McKinstry 5 Last, Christians of the Social Gospel Movement wanted to reform society to ameliorate poverty among the working classes. The Social Gospel movement combined the reconstructionist platform of Christian Socialists and ameliorative desires of the evangelicals.3 In the Social Gospel Movement Christian congregations set up settlement houses in urban neighborhoods and experimented with new neighborhood ministries, organizations for social research and advocacy, and charity programs for the poor. Social Gospel churches also supported political campaigns for municipal home rule, an end to child labor, the banishment of tenements and the improvement of housing, collective bargaining for workers, and the establishment of women's suffrage. The Social Gospel Movement included varying levels of participation from many different Protestant Churches. Some Protestants sects were not formal members of the movement but had parallel programs to Social Gospel churches. The Quaker fit these criteria. Meetings in Philadelphia did not collaborate with other churches or frequently refer to national Social Gospel leaders, but the Friends had many of the same social platforms and identical charitable institutions. The first section of this thesis will explore the Philadelphia Quaker community's many programs of philanthropy that paralleled the Social Gospel Movement before WWI. Subsequent sections will then show how after WWI, Quakers developed their own interpretations of the Social Gospel Movement that was unlike their peers because it stressed the prevention of war as the justification for reform. An understanding of the history and traditions of the Society of Friends, specifically in what ways it is different and similar to other Protestant denominations, is They wanted to reconstruct society but not abandon capitalism for socialism, and 3 they wanted to ameliorate urban poverty without necessarily trying to evangelize. McKinstry 6 requisite to the task of this thesis to paint a picture of the specific character of the Philadelphia Quaker community in the early 20th century and its relation to the Social Gospel Movement. George Fox (1624-91), the son of a weaver, founded Quakerism in 1652 in England. As a restless teenager, Fox was led by passages in the New Testament such as John 1:9 'the true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world,' to believe that the religious divinity called the 'inner light' was available to all people regardless of creed or position. Fox left home at age 18 and began traveling around England preaching his message and attracting followers later to be called Friends based on the passage John 15:14 'You are my Friend if you do what I command you.' The radical nature of the Quaker's Doctrine of the Inner Light, which was directly contrary to the hierarchical nature of English society in the established church led them to embrace radical democratic ideas such as freedom of speech, assembly, and worship. They refused to attend church, take oaths in law courts, recognize distinctions between social classes and genders and most importantly: fight in war. 4 The Quakers both embraced the spirit of the English Reformation, but also reacted against other Protestant churches. They organized into Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly Meetings and held weekly `unprogramed' worship services that did not employ priests or the sacraments. The basic theological difference between Quakers and other Protestants was the interpretation of human sinfulness. George Fox believed that Protestant ministers, "preach up sin... It was all their works to plead for it. They came to plead for sin and imperfections..."5 In contradiction to this, the 4 As asserted in Quakers Peace Testimony of 1660 submitted to King Charles II 5 Mullett, Michael A. A. "Society of Friends." The Encyclopedia of Protestantism. 2004. Routledge, New York McKinstry 7