I’ll plan to share one more item from the archives before the end of the week. But since we’ll otherwise be winding things down for Christmas break, I thought I’d look ahead to early 2025 and invite you to two events, both related in some way to Women of Bethel.
Most directly relevant… join Ellie Heebsh, Sam Mulberry, and me in the Bethel Library on Tuesday, March 18, 1:20-2:10pm for a Prime Time presentation that will serve as the formal debut of our oral history project.
By that point, we’ll have completed editing videos, transcripts, and interviewee biographies, all of which will be available for research in the Bethel archives — with streamlined videos added to the Bethel Digital Library. So I expect that we’ll not only talk about our project — what we intended, how it actually went, what we took away from it, and what we hope will happen next — but play some clips and maybe even hear live from some of the three dozen women we interviewed.
To whet your appetite, here’s a brief clip from our conversation with Deb Harless, the Bethel alumna-turned-psychology professor and dean whose 2013 appointment as provost was mentioned in the majority of other interviews.
But if you can’t wait that long to hear me talk about the themes of this project… I’m happy to announce that I’ll be returning to Salem Covenant Church in New Brighton, MN just after New Year’s, to teach a women’s history class in Salem’s Sunday Lecture Series.
Starting January 12, 2025 and running Sunday mornings through the 26th, I’ll use the women’s history of Bethel and its denomination to shed light on the larger story of women in American Christianity. Class will be in session in between the 9am and 11am worship services, and I’m sure the good people of Salem would be happy to welcome guests of any denomination!
One goal of this blog is to help involve members of the Bethel community in doing the history of Bethel, so comments are always welcome! Just know that if you leave a comment at the project blog, I’ll take that as expressing your permission to quote it in the project.
The Women of Bethel 