Quaker Heritage Center to Highlight 19th Century Abolitionist Movement

Five Weeks of Programming to Insightful Feature Lectures and Music Programming delving into the concurrent efforts to end slavery by abolitionists, Quakers and the African American resistance is on tap this spring semester at the Meriam R. Hare Quaker Heritage Center (QHC) at Wilmington College. Lectures and musical programs are planned from Feb. 1 through March 6. PICTURED: The statue at WC of Quakers Isaac and Sarah Harvey, called "Who Sends Thee?," depicts two local Friends embarking to speak to President Lincoln in support of abolishing slavery. QHC director Dr. Tanya Maus said the series of talks and musical performances will highlight “the power of solidarity and resistance” among African Americans, abolitionists and Quakers. “At the same time, these programs will address the complicated dynamics of white and African American abolitionists who were entangled in systems of privilege and oppression throughout the 19^th century.” The series opens Feb. 1 with a lecture, titled “Harriet Beecher Stowe: Anti-Slavery Advocate and Friend of Friends,” by Christina Hartlieb, director of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, at 7 p.m. in the Quaker Heritage Center. On Feb. 15, Dr. Tammy Kernodle, of Miami University’s music faculty, will present “Of Thee We Sing: Black Magic and the Quest for Equality in Post Reconstruction America.” It also starts at 7 p.m. in the QHC. She will use Marian Anderson’s famous singing of “My Country Tis of Thee” at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 as a “historical guidepost” for centering discussion on how music became “the terrain through which blacks advocated for social equality” during the late 19^th century. The series continues Feb. 22, at 7 p.m., in the QHC with Dr. Tamika Nunley, of Oberlin College’s History Dept., presenting on “Targets of the Riot: Gender, Violence and Interracial Abolitionism in Antebellum Washington, D.C.” Programming concludes March 6 with a combination lecture and musical performance on “Negro Spirituals in the 19^th Century” by La’Shelle Allen and members of Spirituals in Motion. The 90-minute program starts at 1 p.m. in the QHC. All events are free of charge. The series is co-sponsored by the Quaker Heritage Center, Issues & Artists Series, Fine Arts, History and Social Sciences departments, and Office of Diversity and Inclusion.