1962–2025:
A Legacy of Quaker Community, Education & Stewardship
After more than 60 years as a home for Quaker learning and community gatherings in the woods of Northern California, the land known as Woolman at Sierra Friends Center was returned to its original stewards: the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe.
In September 2024, ownership of the campus — once the John Woolman School and the Woolman Semester School — passed to the California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP), the tribally guided nonprofit representing the Nisenan. This marks both an ending for our Quaker experiment in education, and a hopeful beginning as the Nisenan return to live on a small part of their ancestral homeland, Yulića.
In 2025, College Park Friends Educational Association, the nonprofit that operated the Woolman programs at Sierra Friends Center, was dissolved.
Our Story
Founded by visionary Bay Area Quakers in the early 1960s, Woolman welcomed generations of students, campers, families, and Friends. Rooted in the values of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship, this place became a hub for transformative learning, spiritual gatherings, and deep connection to the land.
Over the decades, the Woolman community faced ongoing challenges in funding and sustaining programming. A devastating fire in 2020, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and aging infrastructure eventually made it clear that continuing was no longer viable. In discerning next steps, we felt called to right historical wrongs by returning this land to its original people.
(A recent book, The Woolman Way, chronicles the history of the school and educational endeavors on the property. Brief memoirs from students show how powerfully the school, and the land, affected them.)
What’s Next
The proceeds from the sale of Woolman have supported:
- Pacific Yearly Meeting’s John Woolman School Fund to help continue transformative Quaker education for youth.
- The Center for Ethical Land Transition, which guided this process.
- Ben Lomond Quaker Center, the last Quaker-led retreat and education center on the West Coast.
- And, of course, the Nisenan Tribe’s return to Yulića, their ancestral home.
The historical archives of both the John Woolman School and Semester Program were donated to the Doris Foley Library for Historical Research in Nevada City. The archive can be accessed by contacting their librarian or calling 530-265-4606.
Alumni & Transcripts
To our alumni: your time here is a part of Woolman’s living legacy. If you need a copy of your John Woolman School or Woolman Semester School transcript, you may request one by emailing info@woolman.org. Please include:
- Your name when you attended,
- Year(s) of attendance, and
- The email address where the transcript should be sent.
Please note: We can only accommodate transcript requests submitted by December 31, 2027. Requests will be processed on a weekly basis.
Staying Connected
This site will remain online only through, or shortly beyond, December 31, 2027. To share our gratitude and direct those seeking connection:
- To support the Nisenan Tribe’s ongoing work, visit CHIRP.
- To support land justice for Indigenous, Black, and POC communities, visit The Center for Ethical Land Transition.
- To support Quaker youth education, consider gifts to The John Woolman School Fund of the Pacific Yearly Meeting.
- For retreats and programs, visit Ben Lomond Quaker Center.
- For Alumni connection, visit the John Woolman School Alumni Facebook Page.
In 2025, College Park Friends Educational Association, the nonprofit that operated the Woolman programs at Sierra Friends Center, was dissolved.
With Sadness, Joy, Hope, and Gratitude
To everyone who built, learned, taught, cooked, gardened, sang, prayed, donated, gathered, and dreamed here — thank you. Together we honor an ending that makes room for new beginnings.