Angels of Progress: A Documentary History of the Progressive Friends 1822-1940

The Progressive Quakers, long forgotten by historians, were at the radical edge of activist American religion in much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They included pioneer crusaders for abolition and women’s rights. They denounced authoritarianism in religion and many traditional dogmas as well. They championed the application of reason to dogma and theology; yet they were also welcoming to the burgeoning spiritualist movement. Come right down to it, the Progressive Friends were just damned interesting. They also shaped the contemporary liberal stream of the Quaker religious movement movement. They deserve a much better deal from historians than they ever got. And with this book, they’re finally getting it.
The documents in Angels of Progress, collected in print for the first time, trace where the Progressive Friends came from, sketch some of their outstanding leaders, detail their agenda for change in both society and spirituality and track their struggle for a voice and recognition. Beginning as a band of pacifists, it also shows their agonizing over the Civil War, which pitted one of their key values -- nonviolence, against another - ending slavery. Then we follow their evolution and impact through the post-Civil War decades, into the first “Gilded Age,” and the emergence of modern imperialism and militarism. It shows their ultimate success in shaping contemporary liberal Quakerism, even as their separate identity faded. The book includes extensive samples of their theological work, plus introductions and overviews.