Synopsis
Discusses the Society of Friends’ long-standing interest in mental illness.
About the Author(s)
Born and educated in England, Norma Jacob came to Pendle Hill with her family in 1940. During and after the Spanish Civil War they had worked with the Friends Service Council in Britain, feeding children until Franco’s forces expelled them. They went from Pendle Hill to Vermont to live in the Hilltop Community in 1941. They stayed there through the war, and then returned to Philadelphia where Norma began a career in social work. She engaged in mental health advocacy in Philadelphia for many years and later became the volunteer coordinator for a mental institution in Syracuse, New York.
After retiring from the profession of social work, Norma Jacob moved to Kendal-at-Longwood, one of several Quaker-administered life care communities in the greater Philadelphia area. There, she edited Quaker Roots, a book telling the story of early Friends in southern Chester County, written largely by present-day descendants of William Penn’s original settlers. She also edited Bliss Forbush’s biography of Elias Hicks, making it more accessible to a modern audience. Norma Jacob died in 1991.
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #102
