Women in the Society of Friends; The Ward Lecture
Greensboro, NC: Guilford College, N. C., 1955. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Wraps. Format is approximately 5.25 inches by 7.5 inches. Cover has some wear and soiling. 23, [1] pages. This was the fifth Ward Lecture, which was given at Guilford College on Founders Day, November 11, 1955, Guilford College, N.C. Reared in a Quaker home, educated at Bryn Mawr College, active in the philanthropic activities of the American Friends Service Committee, Elizabeth Gray Vining understands and is capable of interpreting "Women in the Society of Friends." She has won recognition for her teaching, her lectures, and her books. Her contribution to devotional literature through "The World in Tune," an anthology with comments, reveals the depth of her faith, her insight into, and her practice of, the Society of Friends. Reared in a Quaker home, educated at Bryn Mawr College, active in the philanthropic activities of the American Friends Service Committee, she understands and is capable of interpreting "Women in the Society of Friends." Guilford College is a small liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Guilford's program offerings include such majors as Peace and Conflict Studies and Community and Justice Studies, both rooted in the college's history as a Quaker institution. Elizabeth Janet Gray Vining (October 6, 1902 – November 27, 1999) was an American professional librarian and author who tutored Emperor Akihito of Japan in English while he was crown prince. She was also a noted author, whose children's book Adam of the Road received the Newbery Medal in 1943. From 1946 to 1950 during the Allied occupation of Japan after the war, Vining was selected by Emperor Hirohito himself (and not the United States government, as is erroneously claimed) to become a private tutor to Crown Prince Akihito, the heir apparent to the Chrysanthemum Throne: As part of her teaching program, she arranged for closely supervised occasions when four Western teenaged boys in Tokyo would get together to help the crown prince practice English conversation. She nicknamed the prince “Jimmy”. ‘His interests in those days were almost entirely confined to fish,’ she wrote later, ‘and I felt they needed broadening.’ The influence of this American pacifist on the young prince was regarded with resentment by right-wing intellectuals; one of them would later complain that Akihito had contracted a spiritual and intellectual ‘fungus’ from his tutor. After her return to the United States, Vining wrote a book about her experiences in Japan in Windows for the Crown Prince, which appeared in 1952. Vining went on to write over 60 fiction and non-fiction books in her lifetime. She also worked on the Board of Trustees of Bryn Mawr, as vice-president from 1952 to 1971 and was vice-chairwoman of the Board of Directors at the same time. In 1954 Vining received the Women's National Book Association Skinner Award,[1]:1000 for "meritorious work in her special field" Condition: Good.
Keywords: American Friends Service Committee, Quaker, Society of Friends, Women, Gender Studies, George Fox, Preaching, Persecution, Costume, Dress, Simplicity, Quiet
[Book #82498]
Price: $40.00