SDB Presents History Paper

G. Douglas Clarke presented a paper at the Baptist History and Heritage Society annual conference in Huntsville, Alabama, last weekend. He is the second member of the First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Alfred, N.Y., to do so in the past four years. Pastor Patricia Bancroft presented her paper in 2005, "Chosen by God: Women Pastors on the Frontiers of the Seventh Day Baptist Denomination."

Doug presented his paper "A Familial Story: Contributions of the First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Alfred, New York, to Social Justice." One of the events he described is from 1885, when a woman by the name of Lucy Barber voted in a local election. Two years later, 10 women voted, and all were indicted for voting illegally.

One of the stories that came out of that incident included "as the proceedings began, the judge ruled that before they could proceed with the trial, they must first prove that they were women. This so horrified the good men of Alfred that the charges were immediately dropped." Doug wanted to find out more.

You’ll have to wait until the September edition of the Sabbath Recorder to hear more, and we’re anxious to see if the article will be published in the Baptist History and Heritage Journal.