Quaker Genealogy and History Conference to study Reconstruction
By
Randy Sarvis-
The sixth annual Quaker Genealogy and History Conference April 10 will delve into the Society of Friends’ influence in the period following the Civil War.
“Binding Up the Wounds: Quaker Work During Reconstruction” will follow last year’s successful look at Quakers and the Civil War with a day-long conference at Wilmington College and Wilmington Friends Meeting.
Conference co-sponsors are Wilmington College, the Meriam R. Hare Quaker Heritage Center, WC’s Watson Library, the Clinton County Genealogy Society and Southwest Ohio Research.
The event is part of the Wilmington/Clinton County Bicentennial celebration.
The conference will illustrate the role of Quakers during this critical period in American history when the nation struggled with the emancipation of formerly enslaved persons and its often-tragic interaction with Native Americans.
The morning and afternoon programs will be held at Wilmington College’s Kelly Center.
Following registration from 8 to 9 a.m., Karen Campbell will speak at 9 a.m. on “Binding Up the Wounds,” a report on the yearlong process of researching the work of Quakers during the era of Reconstruction (1865 to 1877).
Campbell is an independent scholar that has authored a number of books, including Friendly Research: An Introduction to Quaker Genealogical Research (2005).
She will follow her presentation at 10:30 a.m. with a genealogy workshop, “Finding Friends,” which will focus on the challenges of tracking Quakers during resettlement.
Following lunch at the College, Joshua Brown will speak on “Allen Jay and Quaker Work During Reconstruction” at 1:15 p.m. Jay spent eight years working with the Baltimore Association in North Carolina Yearly Meeting.
Brown is the editor of the centennial edition of the Autobiography of Allen Jay: 1841-1910, which is being published this spring by Friends United Press. A graduate of Earlham School of Religion, Brown serves as pastoral minister at West Richmond (Ind.) Friends Meeting.
At 2:45 p.m., Mary Ellen Krisher of Springfield Friends Meeting will give a presentation titled “President Grant’s Indian Policy and the Quakers” in which she will share the story of Thomas Miller, of Springfield Friends Meeting, who worked with the Sac and Fox tribes. Krisher was involved in the research and publication of Quaker Historical Collections, 1809-2009.
Also during that session, Joyce Hollingsworth will discuss the history of the Associated Committee of Friends on Indian Affairs, of which she was a member.
Following dinner at Wilmington Friends Meeting at 5:30 p.m., a mini-concert, “Friendly Song,” by Wilmington Friends’ vocal and bell choirs will be held at 6:45 p.m., followed by a presentation, at 7:15 p.m., by Thomas Hamm on “Transformation During Reconstruction.”
Hamm is archivist for the Friends Collection and professor of history at Earlham College, and the author of the books Quakers in America, God’s Government Begun: The Society for Universal Inquiry and Reform, 1942-1846, and The Transformation of American Quakerism: Orthodox Friends, 1800-1907.
Just as the United States underwent a reconstruction of its political and constitutional order after the Civil War, Hamm said the American Friends underwent their own transformation as older ways of worship and life changed dramatically — Quakers today are still dealing with the impact of those changes.
Registration for the entire conference and meals is $70 if received by April 1. Contact Ruth Dobyns, curator of the Quaker Heritage Center at (937) 382-6661 ext. 719 or via email at ruth_dobyns@wilmington.edu for registration and additional information.
[[In-content Ad]]