Baltimore Yearly Meeting Records

Quakers began to meet for worship and discipline in the 1650s along the east coast of what is today the United States. In the Province of Maryland and adjoining regions, Quakers began to formalize their organizational structure when a General Meeting was held at West River in 1672. Beginning in 1677, a meeting was held twice a year alternately at Tredhaven (Third Haven, also known as the Eastern Shore), in the house of John Pitts followed by John Edmundson, and West River (also known as the Western Shore) in the home of George Skipwith and others, until 1682, when the West River meeting house was built. These meetings are referred to as both General Meetings and Half-Yearly Meetings.

Beginning in 1775, the meeting began to meet just once a year, still alternately at West River and Third Haven. In 1785, the Yearly Meeting was held for the first time in "Baltimore Town." Soon after, the Yearly Meeting of Maryland became known as the "Yearly Meeting held at Baltimore for the Western Shore of Maryland and the adjacent parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia." In 1828, the Quaker Separation split the "Yearly Meeting held at Baltimore for the Western Shore of Maryland and the adjacent parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia" into two congregations. The Hicksite branch retained the name, while the Orthodox branch renamed itself "The Yearly Meeting of Friends for the Western Shore of Maryland and Adjacent Areas of Pennsylvania and Virginia, in unity with the Ancient Yearly Meeting of Friends."

The schism persisted, and the two yearly meetings incorporated under simpler names in the later 19th century. In 1886, the Orthodox branch was incorporated as the "Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends, Orthodox." It was also referred to as the "Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Homewood," as it has been held in the Homewood Meeting House since 1922. In 1867, the Hicksite branch was incorporated as "Baltimore Yearly Meeting held at Lombard Street." In 1889, Baltimore Yearly Meeting held its first sessions at their new meeting house on Park Avenue (and Laurens Street). Beginning in 1944, the Yearly Meeting was held at Stony Run, and the Hicksite branch became known as Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Stony Run.

In 1968, the Hicksite and Orthodox yearly meetings (then commonly referred to as "Stony Run" and "Homewood" respectively) reunited to form the Baltimore Yearly Meeting for the Religious Society of Friends. Baltimore Yearly Meeting is jointly affiliated with Friends General Conference and Friends United Meeting, and includes monthly and preparative meetings in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. While as of 2024 Baltimore Yearly Meeting includes four quarterly meetings, the modern incarnation of BYM is less centered on quarterly meeting structure than other large unprogrammed yearly meetings (like Philadelphia and New York), with many monthly meetings affiliating directly with Baltimore Yearly Meeting.