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South Berkshire Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends)

South Berkshire Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends) Records

1982-2010
2 boxes 1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 S347

Originating as an independent worship group in Monterey, Mass., in about 1952, the South Berkshire Friends Meeting came under the auspices of the Middle Connecticut Valley Monthly Meeting in 1955 as the Great Barrington Worship Group. It changed name to Gould Farm in 1962, and then to Berkshire in 1971 before setting off formally from the Mount Toby Monthly Meeting in 1984.

This small collection contains minutes and newsletters of the meeting since it was organized as a monthly in 1984.

Background on South Berkshire Friends Meeting

The South Berkshire Monthly Meeting originated in the home of Raymond and Abbie Olds of Monterey, Mass., and in 1955 became an Allowed Meeting, the Great Barrington Worship Group, under the care of what was then the Middle Connecticut Valley Monthly Meeting (now Mount Toby Monthly). After the Olds relocated in 1962, the small group continued to meet at Gould Farm, a residential rehabilitation center for individuals with mental health challenges, under Clarence and Ruth Carr. It changed name again in 1971 to the Berkshire Worship Group.

With the number of worshippers slowly increasing, Shirley Olds called Friends in the area together in 1982 to discuss their future status and on Sept. 11, 1983, they held their first meeting for business to pursue becoming a monthly meeting. Their application was formally accepted at the Hartford Quarterly Meeting, leading them to set off formally from Mount Toby Monthly Meeting in February 1984.

Scope of collection

This small collection contains minutes and newsletters of the meeting since it was organized as a monthly in 1984.

Inventory

Minutes
1982-2003
11:E5
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1982 Sept.-1986 Jan.
Box 1: 1
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1986 Feb.-1988 Jan.
Box 1: 2
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1988 Feb.-1989 Jan.
Box 1: 3
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1989 Feb.-1990 Jan.
Box 1: 4
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1990 Feb.-Dec.
Box 1: 5
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1991-1992
Box 1: 6
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1993-1994
Box 1: 7
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1996-1997
Box 1: 8
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1998
Box 1: 9
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
1999
Box 1: 10
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
2000
Box 1: 11
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
2001
Box 1: 12
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
2002
Box 1: 13
South Berkshire Monthly: Minutes
2003
Box 1: 14
Miscellaneous
1984
The genesis of South Berkshire Monthly Meeting from the 1950s through 1984
1984
Box 1: 15
Publications
1985-2010
11:G2
South Berkshire Monthly: Newsletters
1985-1993
Box 2
South Berkshire Monthly: Newsletters
1994-1998
Box 2
South Berkshire Monthly: Newsletters
1999-2004
Box 2
South Berkshire Monthly: Newsletters
2005-2010
Box 2

Administrative information

Access

The collection is open for research.

Provenance

Gift of the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records, March 2016.

Related Material

This collection is part of the New England Yearly Meeting Records.

Current contact for the meeting

South Berkshire Friends Meeting website (Nov. 2018).

Processing Information

Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, October 2018.

Language:

English

Copyright and Use (More information )

Cite as: South Berkshire Friends Meeting Records (MS 902 s347). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

Search terms

Subjects

  • Massachusetts–History
  • Quakers–Massachusetts
  • Society of Friends–Massachusetts

Names

  • New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Genre terms

  • Minutes (Administrative records)
  • Newsletters

Link to similar SCUA collections

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Quakers--MassachusettsSociety of Friends--Massachusetts

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)Newsletters