Although a Friends Meeting under the care of New York Yearly
Meeting gathered in West Hartford from 1805 to 1819, the recent history of Friends in the
Connecticut capitol began in 1935, when meetings were held as part of the independent Connecticut Valley Association of Friends. During the general unification of Friends in New England in 1944, the Association formally joined New England Yearly Meeting and Hartford Friends Meeting was officially set off.
The records of Hartford Monthly Meeting are unusually complete and extensive for a meeting from western New England, including nearly unbroken runs of meeting minutes and newsletters from the start of the meeting to the present.
Abbie Loring in Cape Cod Quaker attire, ca.1930. Photo by Alton H. Blackington
Although a Friends Meeting under the care of New York Yearly Meeting gathered in West Hartford from 1805 to 1819, the recent history of Friends in the Connecticut capitol began in 1935, when meetings were held as part of the independent Connecticut Valley Association of Friends. During the general unification of Friends in New England in 1944, the Association formally joined New England Yearly Meeting and Hartford Friends Meeting was officially set off.
Still part of Connecticut Valley Quarterly, the Hartford Friends Meting has been a steward or point of origin for serval other meetings, including a worship groups in Middletown (1943-1956), Storrs (1962-1962), and Watertown (1969-1975), each of which has been set off as a monthly.
Scope of collection
The records of Hartford Monthly Meeting are unusually complete and extensive for a meeting from western New England, including nearly unbroken runs of meeting minutes and newsletters from the start of the meeting to the present.
