The Quaker Heritage Center
The Quaker Heritage Center celebrates the history of the members of the Religious Society of Friends who settled in southwest Ohio, building its culture and its institutions. The Center also highlights Friends contributions to America and American culture. An important part of the history of America has been the unfortunate tendency to “objectify the other,” whether that be Native Americans, African Americans, foreigners, or the incarcerated. Friends have been our “conscience,” reminding us, forcefully and sometimes with great sacrifice, that there is “that of God in everyone.” The Center honors this historical contribution and the living tradition of Friends, an ongoing commitment to the struggle for peace and justice.
The exhibits and programs of the Center highlight these contributions. In addition to the permanent exhibit on the history of the Religious Society of Friends which will be installed sometime this spring, we started the school year with a special exhibit of artifacts and documents from the collection of Meriam R. Hare, Wilmington College alum, former Trustee, and member of an established Quaker family. We have hosted a photograph and poster exhibit on the Civil Rights Movement, an art exhibit on the Underground Railroad in southwest Ohio, and “Eyes Wide Open – Ohio” (an exhibit on the war in Iraq sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee).
Our activities are designed to involve a wide variety of audiences: church congregations and pastors, public school teachers and their classes, college professors and their students, as well as the general public. We are working to partner with current college programs, local congregations, and national Quaker organizations to design and present programming at the Center.
Ruth Dobyns, Curator, is a Wilmington College alum, with a degree in Public History and Museum Studies from the University of South Carolina. This training, her work at the Clinton County Historical Society as the Collections and Education Manager, and her Quaker background, provide her with the expertise needed to design and fabricate exhibits for the Quaker Heritage Center using the College’s collections and items on loan from individuals and other institutions. She is also responsible for the care and expansion of the current collections. Allen Schwartz, Director of Programming, is a graduate of Denison University and The University of Illinois. He comes to us from the Newberry Library where he was director of The Chicago Metro History Education Center for 15 years. He develops a variety of programs for the Center based on the exhibits and the educational goals of the Quaker Heritage Center. He also secures funding for the activities and operation of the Center.