Daughters of Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and Abroad, 1700-1775 [Paperback]

Rebecca Larson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 2000

More than a thousand Quaker female ministers were active in the Anglo-American world before the Revolutionary War, when the Society of Friends constituted the colonies' third-largest religious group. Some of these women circulated throughout British North America; others crossed the Atlantic to deliver their inspired messages. In this public role, they preached in courthouses, meeting houses, and private homes, to audiences of men and women, to Quakers and to those of other faiths, to Native Americans and to slaves.

Utilizing the Quakers' rich archival sources, as well as colonial newspapers and diaries, Rebecca Larson reconstructs the activities of these women. She offers striking insights into the ways their public, authoritative role affected the formation of their identities, their families, and their society. Extensively researched and compellingly written, Daughters of Light enriches our understanding of religion and women's lives in colonial America.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Daughters of Light by Rebecca Larson is a startling reassessment of the place of women in American colonial history. Larson's story of 18th-century Quaker women describes women's power in popular reform movements of that era, and explores Quaker women's redefinitions of marriage and motherhood. Colonial Quakers, like their contemporary descendants, believed that "the Holy Spirit had been planted in the hearts of all humans to inwardly teach them." Although Quakers had strict rules regarding women's dress, language, and behavior, Quaker women were never denied their claims of a direct connection to God. (Their Puritan sisters, by contrast, practiced a religion that idealized female submission in both the earthly and spiritual realms.) So when Quaker women believed they were called to preach--in meeting houses, courthouses, and private homes; to other Quakers, to Native Americans, and to ecumenical audiences; in the West Indies, England, Europe, and the American colonies--they were given the freedom to do so. All domestic duties were configured to account for divine demands. (The Spirit leading Quaker women, as one wrote, "was to me like a needle of a compass ... for so it pointed where I ought to go.")

Daughters of Light begins with a deft summary of Quaker history; it moves on to consider the theological justification for women's preaching, the ways in which women discerned their callings and arranged their journeys, and the effects of these journeys on private life, on Quaker communities abroad, and on the larger culture of colonial America. Larson is best, however, at describing the transformations wrought by these journeys on the women's inner lives. "Thy mother is become very courageous in riding thru deep waters and over rocky mountains beyond what I could expect," one woman wrote to another's child, in 1724. "She says fear is taken away from her and that she is born up by a secret hand, which I am very glad of and thankful to the Lord for." --Michael Joseph Gross --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In the past quarter-century the number of women entering the ordained ministry has increased dramatically. There is consequently a lively interest in the history of women's leadership from biblical times to the present. This account of the Quaker women (numbering well over a thousand) empowered by their home meetings to travel and preach throughout the British Isles and the American colonies will find an appreciative audience among those with such a concern. Believing that men and women were equally open to divine inspiration, Quakers not only accepted the preaching ministry of women, but actively encouraged it by sponsoring and assisting the women preachers in their extensive journeys, of which many first-hand accounts survive. In its presentation of these documents, however, this study (the author's first book) betrays its origins as a doctoral dissertation. The pastiche of quotations can make for slow going, especially since archaic spellings and usages are translated in brackets, often when the meaning is already quite clear. There is a wealth of detail, however, that amply illustrates the background and daily life of these remarkable women. The final chapter places the preachers' ministry in the larger context of the history of both the Quaker and the non-Quaker world during this period. Illustrations. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (August 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807848972
• ISBN-13: 978-0807848975
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #983,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Protestantism > Quaker

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very readable scholarly work, April 30, 2000

By 

Kate Daly "Hammerwater Kate" (Langhorne, PA.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daughters of Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and Abroad, 1700-1775 (Hardcover)

Daughters of Light reveals much about 18th Century society and shows how the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) furthered feminism by allowing and encouraging women from all walks of life to preach, although neither the Quakers of the time nor the book focuses mainly on feminism. These women traveled widely and enjoyed freedom of movement that was unheard of for women of other religions. They also had tremendous spiritual authority. The book is illustrated with specimen letters, excerpts from diaries, and pictures.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quaker History With Broad Implications, May 5, 2008

By 

Chimonsho (Turtle Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daughters of Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and Abroad, 1700-1775 (Paperback)

Despite the narrow formal scope of DOL, its import goes well beyond Quakerism. Larson draws on solid primary sources in tracing peripatetic female Friends as they preached throughout the Atlantic world. She quotes at length from sermons, letters and diaries, though 18th century spiritual prose won't appeal to all. While not feminists in the modern sense, their ability to speak and function as public figures helped create space for women in a more inclusive civil society; this feat was overlooked til now. Lydia M. Child is often cited as the first female public speaker in America. Well, that depends on how one defines "public." Quaker meetings are semi-private, but services are open and many non-Quakers attended, eager to hear inspired religiosity. Far from being a quaint anomaly, the Society of Friends contributed crucially to making the modern world. F. Jennings, "Empire of Fortune" further sets the record straight on Quakers in wartime, showing their central role in peacemaking in 1750s Pennsylvania. Thou hast performed thy work well, Friends.