Orthodox Quakers and Slavery: Baltimore, 1828-1900

In 1828 a small group of Friends (Quakers) left the Lombard Street Quaker meeting in Baltimore, and went across the street to form their own meeting. Among them were six future trustees of twelve entrusted with the dispersal of a remarkable gift (announced in 1867) of one of its attendees, Johns Hopkins, that he intended for the care of destitute African American children, medical care for all without regard to color, and an institution of higher education that the Black community thought at its implementation would not exclude them.

The research objective here is to determine whether Johns Hopkins adopted the Orthodox Friends views on slavery, and whether or not he put into practice those views during the years in which he accumulated his considerable fortune.

A carefully researched history of the Orthodox Friends in Baltimore City is related by the three authors of Minute by Minute A History of the Baltimore Monthly Meetings of Friends Homewood and Stony Run (1992), Homewood Meeting being the descendant of the Orthodox withdrawal from the Lombard Street Meeting in 1828. The surviving records of the Orthodox meeting prior to 1900 were well-catalogued by Phebe R. Jacobsen in Quaker Records in Maryland (1966) and microfilmed by the Maryland State Archives. Subsequently the original records related to the Orthodox meetings were sent to Haverford College and a selection can be found on Ancestry.com. As Phebe Jacobsen points out (p. 95) "Unfortunately, Mens Minutes of the Baltimore Preparative Meeting for the Eastern and Western districts (Orthodox)between 1828 and 1856, were destroyed in a warehouse fire." This loss restricts the degree to which Johns Hopkins and his trustees involvement in the affairs of the Baltimore Orthodox Meeting can be measured, but several reels of microfilm images remain to be explored that include relevant minutes and documents that apparently were not encompassed in Minute by Minute, at least to the degree that they may document Johns Hopkins's commitment to the Friends Discipline published in Baltimore and followed by the Orthodox Meeting. As future Trustee and Chairman of the Board of Johns Hopkins Hospital recorded as Clerk of the Orthodox Meeting in