This spring, the IHLC opened The Quakers of Illinois: Social Concerns and Westward Migration, an exhibit exploring the history of the Religious Society of Friends, or the Quakers, in Illinois throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Read about graduate student Sofia Caruso and undergraduate student Emily Gutknecht’s experiences and insights researching and curating the exhibit.
How did the idea for the exhibit come about?
SC: In the fall of 2023, I began processing new additions to the Illinois Yearly Meeting papers in our Religious Society of Friends collection (MS 960). I was surprised by how involved the Religious Society of Friends had been with social movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially for a religious group that is relatively small. When it came time to think of ideas for our next exhibit, I thought this would be a great topic to cover, since the collection is very extensive and I learned a lot while working with it.
Where did you decide to begin with your search?
SC: Our first idea for the exhibit focused more on daily life of Quakers in the Midwest in the 19th century, so we started by looking at documents within the Religious Society of Friends collection that focused on migration to the Midwest. While we didn’t end up using any items from these collections in the final exhibit, the Bond Family Papers (MS 447) and Mills, Abel Papers (MS 864) also had unique material like personal letters, recipes, and even a dress pattern. Eventually we decided to focus more on the big picture of how social causes, such as abolition, impacted Quaker migration to the Midwest, and the founding of the Illinois Yearly Meeting.
What was the most surprising thing you discovered?
EG: When we first started researching, I had no idea how many different Quaker theologies there were, so it was really interesting to trace different beliefs throughout the years. I was already mostly aware of how active Quaker communities have been in social issues, but I didn’t realize how widely varied their beliefs were, and how it impacted the formation of yearly meetings.
What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned while working on this exhibit?
SC: I was surprised to learn about how Quakers were involved in abolition and the Underground Railroad. One of the items in this exhibit is an illustration of the Indiana Yearly Meeting, part of which later branched off into the Illinois Yearly Meeting. Pictured in the illustration is a member of the Coffin family. Many members of the family moved to the Ohio River Valley area from North Carolina specifically because of slavery in the South, and Levi Coffin was one of the leaders of the Underground Railroad in the area.
What is your favorite thing you have found in your preparation for this exhibit?
SC: One of the pictures we included in the exhibit is a group photo of people gathered for the Illinois Yearly Meeting at their meetinghouse in the 1960s. It’s an interesting look into their growing community during the mid-twentieth century. The Yearly Meeting, held during the summer at a meetinghouse that is about 150 years old, brings together Quakers from across the state. But something I really like about this photo is that on the back, someone was doodling some of the people from the front side of the photo!
EG: One of my favorite items was a sasparilla recipe we found in the Bond Family Papers (MS 447). As far as I could tell, the recipe not only called for some more familiar ingredients such as sasparilla root and white sugar, but also yellow parilla roots, guaiacum, and potassium iodide. I thought this was especially cool because one of the items we included in the exhibit is a quiz of social concerns from the Illinois Yearly Meeting where some questions ask about Friends involved in the soft drink industry and popularization of root beer.
![A handwritten note containing a recipe for sasparilla. The text reads: Foreign Sarsaprilla [sic] 1/2 of lb, Yellow parilla, Dandelion Burdock, roots each 1/2 of lb, Guaiareum [sic] 1/4 lb, 4 lbs. white Sugar, 4 dr Iodide of Potassa. The text on the top half of the note, which is upside down, reads: Mollie B. Meeker, Lawrenceburg, Warren Co., Iowa.](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfjGLr2V17d3y3H0Jg75d0XOGu3hDi7QmdfayKEy3sCELQjjy9NQ1skgykuCX3r80oQgSLg9Czu-vaK-dRFmVM9E53wKWm4hv8wlYZrPbOUDxk4awQyfUOhb6O3dQktx40-GpaWkN8adrbYeRX6fvqyhYk?key=3Sa4Dy83IohD2DpnxndSpw)
What do you hope visitors take away from visiting this exhibit?
SC: The Religious Society of Friends collection at the IHLC is big—around 100 boxes! With only two exhibit cases, it was difficult to decide which items we wanted to display and how to focus our exhibit. We hope this exhibit serves as an introduction to the collection — there is so much more to explore about the role of the Religious Society of Friends in Illinois over the past two hundred years. Here are some further sources we used for research:
- Dobbert, Marion Lundy, and Helen Jean Nelson. The Friends at Clear Creek, 1830-1930. DeKalb, Ill: Westland Publications, 1975.
- Elliott, Errol T. Quakers on the American Frontier; a History of the Westward Migrations, Settlements, and Developments of Friends on the American Continent. Richmond, Ind: Friends United Press, 1969.
- MS 477: Bond Family. Papers, 1853-1940.
- MS 864: Mills, Abel. Papers, 1836-1919.