Historical Notes
Did you know that Jacksonville area Quakers volunteered to help transport and resettle French and Polish citizens as part of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) efforts after the end of WWII? What questions do you have about our shared past as Quakers here in Jacksonville?
Local Quaker Al Geiger was part of “A Tribute to the Seagoing Cowboys,” a film which documented when he and other volunteers took cattle and other livestock to Europe and Asia to assist in feeding people recovering from the effects of World War II in 1947. Can you imagine accompanying cattle and goats on this ship? Or delivering them to waiting families? What would this experience have been like for you? How does that activity help you to better understand Quakerism in the past?
In 1994, Al and Julia Geiger donated 14 acres of land in Hampton, Florida to support the work of the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice (FCPJ). The FCPJ built a peace education center on this land in 2010. Hikers, campers and other groups seek out this beautiful spot as a member of the Florida Trail Gateway Community. Want more info? See https://florida4peace.org/.
Spiritual State of the Jacksonville Friends Meeting” documents, submitted to SEYM, starting about 20 years ago. Here’s an example of some thoughts written for 2010: “We bring quietness….Our meeting for worship offers an antidote to the constant bombardment of noise and distractions….We have been supportive of one another in individual ways…but we have not found common concerns for collective witness. We have experienced inward-directed witness to our Quaker family/community this year, seeking better understanding of each other and better support for each other in meeting challenges of illness, death and other family crises. In this way we are preparing ourselves to witness to the wider world.”
During the 1990s, young members raised money for school supplies to send to Nicaragua. Members of the meeting also traveled to Chiapas, Mexico, as they explained “…on a mission of reconciliation between Evangelical Protestants and Catholics in rural indigenous areas. The situation is very delicate and even dangerous….We feel that going in as Quakers on a listening mission might be a way to get into the area without being perceived as human rights workers or being partial to one side or the other.” How do these activities help you to better understand the history of Jacksonville Quakers?