“A thoroughly researched account that will interest historians of social movements, religion, and public policy. K’Meyer’s clear storytelling makes it a useful case study for undergraduate teaching. By recovering the important role of Quakers in the long fight against housing discrimination, K’Meyer has made an important contribution to our understanding of movements for social justice in the United States, as well as the powerful obstacles to their organizing.”

Peace & Change

“Residential segregation remains one of the seemingly intractable problems of American society, anchored in racial prejudice and the legacies of decades of government policy. In To Live Peaceably Together, K’Meyer tells the story of how, in the 1950s and ’60s, white Quaker activists and allies used a variety of strategies and tactics to try to achieve open housing. Her deeply researched, well-argued book shows us how the American Friends Service Committee was central to this aspect of the early civil rights movement and how its work inspired other groups. K’Meyer proves beyond question how important spiritual motivation was for many of the activists who sought a more just America.”

Thomas Hamm, author of The Quakers in America

“To Live Peaceably Together is an original and highly readable book that reorients our understanding of the Black Freedom Struggle in the North by focusing on an advocacy group run mainly by white allies, a historical topic with great contemporary relevance. I salute K’Meyer’s achievement in telling this fascinating and overlooked story.”

Todd Michney, Georgia Institute of Technology