This book traces the Quaker experience in New England and New York from the Arrival of the first English Quaker missionaries in 1646 to 1790. The first Friends faced considerable hostility, so much so that it took almost eighty years for Quakers and their antagonists to solve their differences. By then, Quakers had settled into a comfortable period of numerical increase, and, to the extent that colonies permitted, participated as individuals in colonial political life. During the early eighteenth century Quaker organizational and disciplinary structures derived from the late seventeenth century underwent gradual evolution, but not to the extent of altering the basically comfortable arrangement that served to promote the growth of Friends. After 1750, however, Quakers throughout the colonies entered a period of reform, a reform that led to a numerical decline in older centers and to a drastic reduction in numerical growth. Reform ultimately caused Friends to sharpen their positions on antislavery and pacifism and led to a withdrawal from political participation. Ultimately, it pointed the way to the disastrous nineteenth-century Quaker schisms.

The angler’s dream of fishing pristine waters in unspoiled country for sleek, healthy trout has turned fishing into a form of theater. It is a manufactured experience—much to the detriment of our rivers and streams. Americans’ love of trout has reached a level of fervor that borders on the religious. Federal and state agencies, as well as nongovernmental lobbying groups, invest billions of dollars on river restoration projects and fish-stocking programs. Yet, their decisions are based on faulty logic and risk destroying species they are tasked with protecting. River ecosystems are modified with engineered structures to improve fishing, native species that compete with trout are eradicated, and nonnative invasive game fish are indiscriminately introduced, genetically modified, and selectively bred to produce more appealing targets for anglers—including the freakishly contrived “golden trout.” The Quest for the Golden Trout is about looking at our nation’s rivers with a more critical eye—and asking more questions about both historic and current practices in fisheries management.

Inspired by the British pastime of "letterboxing," questing has become one of the fastest growing recreational-educational activities on this side of the Atlantic. In scores of communities, people from toddlers and teens, parents and grandparents follow maps, clues, and rhyming riddles seeking treasure boxes hidden in natural and cultural locations. In this book, two experts in community education explain how individuals and organizations can create and organize permanent quests to foster place-based education, stewardship, adventure, and fun. In the process of undertaking quests participants "celebrate and strengthen community life" by forging "lifelong connections to the distinct landscapes and cultural features of their home ground." This book is intended to offer inspiration and practical advice for parents, teachers, community group leaders, and others interested in learning about where they live and building community ties through questing. Questing draws upon the well-established success of a program in New England in which individuals, students, and organizations create clues and maps highlighting the special places and stories of their community. The book presents a rationale for place-based education and quest program goals and objectives that can easily be implemented in any community.