Friends' Central School: 1845-1984 (review)

Abstract

62Quaker History Friends' Central School: 1845-1984. By Clayton L. Farraday. Philadelphia: Friends' Central School, 1984. 145 pp. $10. This is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Quaker education as it not only tells the history ofone elementary and secondary school, but also indirectly the tribulations and triumphs of similar institutions in the Philadephia area. Especially noticeable are the ties with the small elementary institutions which provided students for Friends' Central and its close links with George School and Swarthmore College. This story is comprehensive, concise, crisp, and clear in its organization and in its style. To accomplish all that in a volume of only 145 pages is a remarkable feat. But the author was especially qualified to do such a superb job because of a halfcentury of personal participation in the life of Friends' Central and because of his meticulous care in constructing this account. Adding to the text is a section of sixteen pages of black and white pictures which constitute a photographic essay on the history of Friends' Central; a list of all the teachers and administrators; several vignettes of formal principals and teachers; excerpts from the minutes of the School Committee and from letters from former students and teachers; several well-chosen quotations on Quaker education; and a helpful index. This reviewer would have welcomed more details on the problems facing the School Committee as a guide to present and future members of such Boards. But others would wish for more details on many other aspects of the school's history. Obviously not all tiiose details could possibly have been included in a volume ofthis size. So we should all be grateful to Clayton Farraday for this splended history of Friends' Central School. Kendal at Longwood Kennett Square, Pa.Leonard S. Kenworthy ...