Letter of introduction by George Fox for Hannah Feake Bowne’s 1675 religious voyage to England. Source: Bowne House Archives
The pivotal role the Bowne House, built ca. 1661 in Flushing, Queens, played in the struggle for religious freedom in the United States is showcased in “Archives Around New York,” a column published in New York Archives (Summer 2020), the quarterly magazine of the New York State Archives Partnership Trust: https://www.nysarchivestrust.org/new-york-archives-magazine (Click this link to subscribe and read full issue, or scroll to bottom of page to read article posted below.) Each issue of the magazine profiles a historically important collection housed in New York State. Written by Bowne House archivist, Charlotte Jackson, and researcher, Kate Lynch, the current profile, titled “An Illustrious Family,” draws on documents in Bowne House’s rich archival holdings, which are professionally managed and conserved by the Bowne House Historical Society.
Jackson and Lynch’s article tells the story of 17th century Flushing residents John Bowne and his wife Hannah, Quaker converts whose commitment to personal liberty and the freedom of worship made them early examples of the spirit later enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees all citizens freedom of religion. The article also documents the role played by pre-Civil War era Bowne and Parsons family members in abolition and emancipation, at the time when the Bowne House was a stop on the Underground Railroad. The story of Bowne family activism is particularly relevant in the twenty-first century, as the struggle for religious freedom and personal liberty continue.