BACON, Margaret Hope 1921-

PERSONAL: Born April 7, 1921, in New York, NY; daughter of Norman (an artist) and Myrtle (Hope) Borchardt; married S. Allen Bacon (director of a foundation), June 28, 1942; children: Margaret Scattergood, Elizabeth Hope, Peter Farquhar. Education: Antioch College, B.A., 1943. Politics: Democratic-Independent. Religion: Society of Friends. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, nature, canoeing, sailing, skiing, reading, the theater.

ADDRESSES: Home—1726 Addison St., Philadelphia, PA 19176. office—American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Agent—John Schaffner, 425 East 51st St., New York, NY 10022.

CAREER: Cooperative League of U.S.A., Chicago, IL, editorial assistant, based in New York, 1943; Eastern Cooperator, New York, NY, assistant editor, 1943-44; Springfield State Hospital, Sykesville, MD, psychiatric social worker, 1944-46; Radnor Township School District, Wayne, PA, part-time director of public relations, 1959-62; American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, PA, director of publicity for Algerian program, 1962-63, director of publicity for international service and affairs, 1964-65, director of press relations, 1965-69, director of information, 1969-73, special writer, 1973—.

WRITINGS:

The Quiet Rebels: The Story of the Quakers in America, Basic Books (New York, NY), 1969, reprinted, Pendle Hill Publications (Wallingford, PA), 1999.

Lamb's Warrior: The Life of Isaac T. Hopper (juvenile), Crowell (New York, NY), 1970.

I Speak for My Slave Sister, Crowell (New York, NY), 1974.

Rebellion at Christiana, Crown (New York, NY), 1975.

Valiant Friend: The Life of Lucretia Mott, Walker (New York, NY), 1980, new edition, Friends General Conference (Philadelphia, PA), 1999.

(Compiler) Lucretia Mott Speaking: Excerpts from the Sermons and Speeches of a Famous Nineteenth Century Quaker Minister and Reformer, Pendle Hill Publications (Wallingford, PA), 1980.

As the Way Opens: The Story of Quaker Women in America, Friends United Press (Richmond, IN), 1980.

Mothers of Feminism: The Story of Quaker Women in America, Harper & Row (San Francisco, CA), 1986, 2nd edition, Friends General Conference (Philadelphia, PA), 1995.

Let This Life Speak: The Legacy of Henry Joel Cadbury, University of Pennsylvania Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1987.

One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom: The Life of Mildred Scott Olmsted, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 1993.

(Editor) Wilt Thou Go on My Errand?: Journals of Three Eighteenth-Century Quaker Women Ministers: Susanna Morris, 1682-1755; Elizabeth Hudson, 1722-1783; Ann Moore, 1710-1783, Pendle Hill Publications (Wallingford, PA), 1994.

Love Is the Hardest Lesson: A Memoir, Pendle Hill Publications (Wallingford, PA), 1999.

Abby Hopper Gibbons: Prison Reformer and Social Activist, State University of New York Press (Albany, NY), 2000.

Year of Grace, Quaker (Philadelphia, PA), 2002.

Contributor to film, Rebel Hearts: Sarah and Angelina Grimke and the Anti-Slavery Movement, 1995. Contributor of articles, short stories, and poetry to periodicals, including Saturday Evening Post, Parents' Magazine, Mademoiselle, Better Homes and Gardens, New York Times, Good Housekeeping, and Saturday Review. Author of weekly column, "Child's Weekend," for Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.

SIDELIGHTS: Margaret Hope Bacon is a member of the Society of Friends, the religious group commonly called the Quakers. Since the early 1960s, she has also worked for the Society of Friends in various capacities: in 1964, she went to South Africa as part of a leader exchange program; she took a similar trip to the People's Republic of China in 1964; and she has visited many other African and European countries for the American Friends Service Committee.

Bacon's published works also focus on the Friends and some of their illustrious members, including Lucretia Mott, Abby Hopper Gibbons, and Faith Smedley. Smedley was an activist who worked for peace and justice for decades. In Bacon's book Year of Grace, the author details Smedley's last year of life. The time was the late 1960s, and the once-dynamic Smedley found herself on the sidelines as others fought to end the Vietnam War. She spent some time visiting with friends in France and the United States before moving to an isolated cabin in an attempt to find peace in nature before her death. A Booklist reviewer reported that the story of her final days is particularly convincing because Bacon does not "sugarcoat the pain" of confronting death. The result is a story of faith and courage that could provide "real solace" for hospice patients and others facing death, noted the reviewer.

One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom: The Life of Mildred Scott Olmsted relates the story of Olmsted, who died in 1990 in her hundredth year. Her story parallels that of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, founded in 1915. Olmsted was largely responsible for building up the organization. Bacon had a personal connection to the story, for she interviewed Olmsted many times in the last years of her life, and helped her in other ways during her last decade. One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom shows her human side, including her sometimes-turbulent marriage and strained relationship with her children. The book is a "portrait that does justice to this remarkable woman," concluded a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

American Historical Review, August, 1980, Ernest H. Schell, review of Valiant Friend: The Life of Lucretia Mott, p. 6; April, 1988, Thomas D. Hamm, review of Let This Life Speak: The Legacy of Henry Joel Cadbury, p. 513; December, 1988, Jean E. Friedman, review of Mothers of Feminism: The Story of Quaker Women in America, p. 1391; October, 1994, Paula F. Pfeffer, review of One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom: The Life of Mildred Scott Olmsted, p. 1418.

American History Illustrated, August, 1980, Ernest H. Schell, p. 6.

Booklist, June 1, 1996, Nancy McCray, review of Rebel Hearts: Sarah and Angelina Grimke and the Anti-Slavery Movement, p. 1744; October 1, 2002, review of Year of Grace, p. 285.

Journal of American History, March, 1988, H. Larry Ingle, review of Let This Life Speak, p. 1366; June, 1994, Kathleen Kennedy, review of One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom, p. 317.

Journal of Women's History, spring, 1994, Frances Early, review of One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom, p. 75.

Library Journal, May 1, 1980, Cynthia Harrison, review of Valiant Friend, p. 1076; August, 1986, Sheila R. Herstein, review of Mothers of Feminism, p. 145; January, 1987, Elise Chase, review of Let This Life Speak, p. 95; January, 1993, Nancy Magnuson, review of One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom, p. 126.

Ms., July, 1980, Joanne Edgar, review of Valiant Friend, p. 31.

New York Times Book Review, June 29, 1980, Doris Grumbach, review of Valiant Friend, p. 15; February 1, 1987, Elisabeth Griffith, review of Mothers of Feminism, p. 28.

Progressive, September, 1980, Wendy Schwartz, review of Valiant Friend, p. 60; May, 1987, Ann Morrissett Davidon, review of Mothers of Feminism, p. 44.

Publishers Weekly, April 11, 1980, review of Valiant Friend, p. 67; June 13, 1986, Genevieve Stuttaford, review of Mothers of Feminism, p. 67; November 2, 1992, review of One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom, p. 56.

Wilson Library Bulletin, October, 1986, review of Mothers of Feminism, p. 70.*