Arch Street Friends Meeting House

The Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust, an entity of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, has responsibility for the building and grounds. Its mission is to “preserve, operate, and interpret the meeting house and grounds which will serve to increase public understanding of the impact and continued relevance of Quakers and Quaker history.” The East Room has dioramas representing significant events of the Quaker experience in Pennsylvania and North America as well as artifacts offering views into common experiences of Friends. The West Room, still used for large Quaker gatherings and private events, features interpretive panels about Friends’ worship. Notable in the West Room is the sounding board on the south wall, amplifying the voices of Friends seated on benches facing the congregation so that they could be heard throughout the balconied room. The Reception Room in the center of the building has display cases which change seasonally as well as a small collection of religious books on open shelves. The Meeting Room is used by the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia for weekly worship services and is often open to view. Notable in this room are the horsehair-filled bench cushions. The building’s basement has restrooms, and its second floor houses administrative offices and private meeting rooms not open to the public. The building is open seasonally from Thursday to Sunday. The grounds are open from 9 am to dusk year round. Arch Street Meeting House is featured on the cover of the 2018 edition of Faith and Practice, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's book of discipline (standards and practices). A Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker is located at the front of the building. It was dedicated on December 17, 1954. ==Place of worship==

The Arch Street Meeting House is a landmark building within the over 100 monthly meetings of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, Friends came from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s four-state geographic area to conduct annual business at its midsummer “sessions”. The meeting house was also the home of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia, which has met here since its completion in 1805. As of 2024, the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia has two weekly meetings for worship. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting holds two of its three annual business meetings, known as “continuing sessions”, in the West Room. Because of its central location and historic significance, Friends meet at Arch Street for other events during the year. ==Revitalization==

The trustees of the Preservation Trust initiated a program in 2022 to revitalize the building’s infrastructure and exhibits. Because of its adjacency to the National Park Service’s Independence National Historical Park, the Trust incorporated local architectural, historic, and NPS standards into the planning process as well as Friends’ own attention to energy conservation. As of 2024, work is underway to increase the electrical service to the building to permit conversion of its gas boiler to an efficient heating and cooling system. Lighting will be improved and the fire suppression system will be upgraded. In the East Room, the exhibits will be refreshed to offer a more contemporary and inclusive interpretation of the Quaker experience and the testimonies of Friends. ==Notable interments==

The ground upon which the meetinghouse was built was the first burial ground for Quakers in Philadelphia. Although the plot was officially given to the Society of Friends by William Penn in 1701, burials had been taking place here since as early as 1683. According to reports, Quakers were buried here alongside of “Indians, Blacks and strangers.” Notable interments include: • Charles Brockden Brown (1771–1810), the first American novelist (Wieland) • Samuel Carpenter (1649–1714) and most of his family and his brother Abraham Carpenter (a non-member who married a Quaker) were buried in the Friends Burial Ground. Samuel was a Deputy Governor under William Penn and the "First Treasurer" of Pennsylvania. • Lydia Darrah (1728–1789), Revolutionary War spy • John Eckley (1652–1690), First purchaser, merchant, and judge of the Provincial Court in Philadelphia • James Logan (1674–1751), secretary to William Penn • Robert Waln (1765–1836), U.S. Congressman • Caspar Wistar (1761–1818), American physician, professor of anatomy and vice president of the American Philosophical Society. Wistar mentored Meriwether Lewis before Lewis joined William Clark on the expedition to cross the western part of the continent. • Thomas Wynne (1627–1691), personal physician to William Penn and one of the original settlers of Philadelphia in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania. Born in Wales, he accompanied Penn on his original journey to America on the ship Welcome. ==Gallery==

File:Sunday Morning in front of the Arch Street Meeting House, Philadelphia MET DT1806.jpg|John Lewis Krimmel, Sunday Morning (ca.1813) File:Friends Meeting House, late 19th century.jpg|In the late 19th century File:ArchStFriendsMeetingHouse.jpg|The northwest corner (1974), photo by Jack E. Boucher File:Arch St Meeting interior.JPG|Interior (2010) File:Arch Street Meeting House Historical Marker at 320 Arch St Philadelphia PA (DSC 4766).jpg|Historical marker ==See also==