On April 5-6, 2010, ESR will host the annual Willson Lectures on their Richmond campus. In honor of ESR's 50th Anniversary, this year's theme will be The Road to ESR, presented by Tom Hamm, Earlham College Professor of History and Archivest.

In The Road to ESR: Or, the Long, Tangled, and Often Confusing Story of How Friends Came to Embrace Theological Education, Tom Hamm will examine how Quietism and fear of hireling ministry led Friends to regard higher education generally and theological education in particular with suspicion for two hundred years.

His three lectures will cover The Quaker Controversy with the Universities, 1650-1800, The Century of Discernment, 1800-1900, and The Hard Choices of Friends, 1900-1960. All lectures are free and open to the public, and will take place in the ESR Center gathering area. Lecture I will be on Monday, April 5th at 7:30 pm, and Lectures II and III will take place on Tuesday, April 6th at 10 am and 12 pm. All are invited to attend Common Meal prior to Lecture III at 11:20 for a cost of $7 per person. Reservations and payment for the meal may be made by contacting Mandy Ford at fordma@earlham.edu or by calling 765-973-2158.

The Willson Lectureship was established at Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion in 1967 by Dr. and Mrs. J. M. Willson of Floydada, Texas.

About our presenter: Tom Hamm is a native of New Castle, Indiana. He received his Ph.D. in history from Indiana University in 1985. After teaching two years at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, he joined the Earlham faculty, where he is archivist and professor of history. He is the author of numerous works on Quaker history. His most recent book, The Quakers in America, was published by Columbia University Press in 2003. He is editor for Quaker Writings, 1650-1920, which will be published by Penguin Classics in 2011. He is a lifelong Friend, and served for several years as recording clerk of Indiana Yearly Meeting.

Earlham School of Religion is a Christian graduate theological school in the Quaker tradition, and prepares women and men for leadership that empowers and for ministry that serves.