Upcoming Programs:

Convention Days Keynote, July 15th, 2011, 7 PM
As the Women’s Interfaith Institute has done for many years in the past, we will be offering a program on the Friday night of Convention Days weekend.  With our Great Hall unusable, we will hold this Keynote in the Heritage Conference Center at 115 Fall Street (formerly the Seneca Falls Visitors Center). We are delighted to announce that the Rev. Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, skillfully portrayed by Dr. Melinda Grube, will give her most popular and powerful sermon, “God’s Women.”  Shaw, the most celebrated speaker of her time and Susan B. Anthony’s co-worker in “the Cause” and companion for 18 years, will be introduced (through a brief PowerPoint presentation) by Allison Stokes.
Click here for a program flyer.

Dedication of the Institute’s Evelyn Copeland Room, Saturday, July 16th, 2011
Details to be announced.

Past Programs:

100th Anniversary Celebration, International Women’s Day
March 8th, 2011, 10:30 AM—3:30 PM
In Seneca Falls, proud birthplace of women's rights, Allison Stokes greeted a busload of students, staff and faculty from the University of Rochester, and took the visitors on a walking tour.  They went to the National Park, the Women’s Interfaith Institute, the Hall of Fame, and the Seneca Falls Museum.  At the Hall, Director Christine Mouton announced to the eleven new, 2011 inductees-- made public in a news release just hours earlier.  Between site visits the group enjoyed a delicious lunch, provided by the Downtown Deli, and a remarkable program.  It was an unscripted dialogue between Mayor Diana Smith and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, played by Dr. Melinda Grube. (For detailed information about our day see the poster below.)
Click here for a program flyer.

Winter Forum Luncheon of the New England Women Ministers Association
February 17th, 2011
Allison Stokes was the featured speaker at the annualNEWMA luncheon in Providence, Rhode Island.  Her presentation, a slide lecture, was titled“Drawing Inspiration from Our Foremothers: Women’s Voices at the World’s Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 1893.” At the time of the first Women’s Rights Convention, in Seneca Falls in 1848, women did not have the right to theological education, ordination or religious leadership.  Just 45 years later the situation was quite different, as barriers were broken and remarkable gains made.   In her illustrated presentation Allison told the essentially forgotten story of these pioneers’ achievements, as showcased during their participation at the first World’s Parliament of Religions, held during the Columbia Exposition.
Click here for a program flyer.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges Day of Service
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
Nine students and one faculty member spent an afternooncleaning, painting, and organizing—the office, the meeting room, the Evelyn CopelandRoom and the Great Hall.  They accomplished an amazing amount of work!

Martin Luther King Day of Service
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Nineteen high school students from Seneca and Cayuga counties participated in a Day of Service organized by Marissa Garcia, Special Projects Director at the Women’s Interfaith Institute.  The day’s theme was: “Women of the Movement: Who are they? And how can we support women in our own community?”  The students designed and painted a four-panel mural about the Civil Rights Movement that will be on display in the Evelyn Copeland Room of the Institute.
Click here for an MLK Day of Service Information flyer.
View Photos

National Make A Difference Day of Service
October 23rd, 2010
In honor of the largest national day of community service, the Institute collaborated with the United Way of Seneca County in recruiting volunteers to do light cleaning and carpentry.  The Institute was also able to garner non-cash resources: cereal boxes were donated by Newman’s Own and later distributed to Seneca County House of Concern, a local food pantry.
Click here for program flyer.

“Stereotypes, Images and Misconceptions of Muslim Women:
An Inter-generational, Interfaith Dialogue—Women Together Changing the Story, Changing the World”
October 10th, 2010
The Women’s Interfaith Institute offered a brunch dialogue on Sunday morning October 10th at Hotel Clarence (a block away from our building on Fall Street) as part of the Seneca Falls Dialogue 2010 weekend.  In the historic setting of Seneca Falls, this was an historic gathering of Muslim women and their sisters of other faiths.  The featured speaker was Sarwat Malik, M.D., Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Muslim Women’s Fund, a global fund focused on the educational and economic advancement of Muslim women and girls. Dr. Malik advocates and supports contemporary scholarship of the religious interpretation of women’s status in Islam, to address the challenges Muslim women face due to patriarchal interpretations and cultural practices that often trump faith based rights.

On the Centenary of International Women’s Day, March 8th, 2011, Dr. Malik received a recognition award from the American Association of University Women, Greater Rochester Area Branch.   In May 2010, Women’s e News awarded her the honor “21 leaders for the 21st Century in NYC ” for lifelong efforts on behalf of women. Other honors include 2008,‘Woman of the Year” award by the Women’s Forum at the Islamic Center of Rochester.
Click here for a program flyer.

Move Back In Day of Service
October 2nd, 2010
Extensive advertising on community calendars, print advertising and word-of-mouth brought enthusiastic volunteers on this first service project after receiving our Certificate of Occupancy August 26th.

Art of Our Faiths
June 2010
From June 4th through June 13th, 2010 the Women’s Interfaith Institute in the Finger Lakes participated in the Art of Our Faiths exhibit at the First Congregational Church in Canandaigua.  Five pieces of our remarkable art (including two narratives quilts by Alice Gant of Trumansburg) were shown.  We thank Mr. John Paul for this wonderful opportunity to display our art and look forward to the June 2011 art show.

Convention Days
July 16th, 2010
Drawing upon her extensive research, Allison Stokes gave a slide lecture, “Drawing Inspiration from Our Foremothers: Women’s Voices at the World’s Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 1893,” on Friday evening, July 16th.  She also presented this at the fifth Parliament of World Religions gathering in December 2009 in Melbourne, Australia.

Patricia Bingham portraying
Sojourner Truth - Convention Days 2008
in Seneca Falls, NY