EOF05B The Eye of Faith, A History of Ohio Yearly Meeting Conservative. Chapter 5 Part B, The Flowering of Wilburite Culture

We trace how Ohio Wilburite Friends built a “guarded education,” from printed minutes and women’s records to a brick-by-brick boarding school culture that survived fire, standardized primary schools, and balanced conviction with modernization. A story of plain speech, strict standards, aid associations, and a networked push for quality. • women’s minutes printed and epistles included alongside men’s • boarding school built at Barnesville with local bricks and pride • guarded culture of plain dress, thee and thou, strict discipline • bans on baseball and careful curation of reading material • high academics with limited salaries and leadership turnover • aid associations and alumni organizing to raise funds and standards • tuition increases and building upgrades amid cultural unease • 1910 fire, rapid rebuilding, improved safety and infrastructure • primary schools revived, subsidized, and gradually standardized • custom readers published to align texts with Quaker testimonies • education associations set courses, exams, and reporting norms • cross-yearly meeting cooperation to supervise and improve schools A complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website. We will be publishing video interviews with Conservative Friends on YouTube. See our YouTube channel. The first interview is with Susan Smith. To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Those interested in exploring the distinctives of Conservative Friends waiting worship should consider checking out our many Zoom Online Worship opportunities during the week here. All are welcome! We also have several Zoom study groups. Check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. Advices read in these podcasts can be found on page 29 in our Book Of Discipline. We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website.