[2] The meetinghouse served as the site of the Yearly Meeting of the Hicksite sect of the Religious Society of Friends, known as the Quakers, from 1857 to 1955.

Built in 1856 by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and what is now known as Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, a building 131 feet long by 80 feet wide was set fairly close to its Cherry Street frontage but sufficiently far back from Race Street to provide a pleasant open yard.

Between the two meetinghouses, and exceeding them by 16 feet in total width, was a 25-by-96-foot three-story structure containing large rooms for committee meetings and other purposes.

[3] The Race Street Meetinghouse was at the forefront of women's involvement both in Quaker religion and in American political activism.

[4] The meetinghouse was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993 for its role in the abolition of slavery, the advancement of women's suffrage, and the civil rights movement.