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July 25 and 27
QUAKERS IN TWO CENTURIES IN CELEBRATION OF SADSBURY FRIENDS (QUAKER) MEETING'S 300TH ANNIVERSARY
BRENDA WALKER BEADENKOPF PRESENTS: QUAKERS IN TWO CENTURIES
PART 1 --- Her Quaker Ancestors in the 1850s and '60s: Sadsbury Meeting and the Underground Railroad, Thursday July 25, Christiana Historical Society (6PM) *Note
PART 2 --- Her Philadelphia Quaker father in the 1950s and '60s: Charles Coates Walker worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, July 27, Sadsbury Friends Meeting (10AM)
Along with celebrating George Fox's 400th Birthday in July of 1624
August 14:
“My Dad and Dr. King” Wednesday, 6:30pm, Sacred Heart of Mary Book Discussion Group. 51841 Leach Road, Dowagiac, MI 49047 (Set up Tri-fold weekend before at Church)
September 18:
“What Did the Quakers Do After Abolition?” Wednesday, 10-11am. Council on Aging, Dowagiac Branch, Front Street.
Middle School Underground Railroad Docents
Will and Brenda, as members of the Board of the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County, Michigan, were tour guides twice in April to give area elementary students a visit to the past at the Bonine House Carriage House on M-60, Cassopolis. First was a group of about 100 Second Graders from Elkhart, and then a few days later, 66 Fifth Graders from Sam Adams Elementary visited.
The Sam Adams fifth graders also participated in a bus trip to the sites of the Kentucky Raid of 1847 which took place in this very area. Students learned how Quakers and others in the communities of Cassopolis and Vandalia sent away empty-handed Kantucky slave catchers who had attempted to recapture at least nine Freedom Seekers staying on local farms.
Edward Lowe and Front Street Crossing Senior Center Speaker
This past March, Brenda and Will accomplished a two-part talk at the local Councils on Aging, otherwise known as the local Senior Centers. On March 11, with Will running the power point, Brenda spoke with her power point presentation on the subject, "My Dad and Dr. King." She brought her tri-fold exhibit, "Did the Civil Rights Movement Just Happen? No!" to the Front Street Crossing
She spoke two days later on March 13 at the Ed Lowe Center in Cassopolis, Michigan, on the same subject and with the power point and tri-fold. There was a good crowd both places, and they both got a free lunch in Cass.
Andrews University Martin Luther King Jr. Forum
Will and Brenda were warmly welcomed and enthusiastically received by both the students and administration of Andrews University on January 11th; Brenda as the featured speaker and Will as a former student from the 1980's. Will helped in the back with the slides while Brenda presented the exciting story of her father and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Paulette Johnson, Dean of Libraries, who had invited Brenda, wrote:
Thank you so much for telling the exciting and enduring story of your dad's legacy and your family's role in the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement. Your message to our campus of working together in Christian love was well received. I would love to invite you back to the library specifically. If you have any availability in February, please let me know.
P.S. We would be excited to return as well!
In these photos, Brenda speaks to the student body in the Andrews University Howard Performing Arts Center.