Craig Atwood to speak as part of Old Salem’s Moravian History Series
Dr. Craig Atwood
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The second lecture in Old Salem Museums & Gardens’ Moravian History Speaker Series will take place on August 9 at 7 p.m. in the James A. Gray Auditorium in the Old Salem Visitor Center. Dr. Craig Atwood will speak on “Salem: City of Peace.” The lectures are part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of Salem, North Carolina. The lectures will be given by leading scholars in the fields of Moravian history and spirituality and will take a deeper look into the town and the people who founded it.
The Moravians were one of the most controversial and dynamic religious groups of the 18th century. Atwood will examine the spiritual and religious foundations of Salem and the way its social structure benefited the women and men who lived there. A native of Winston-Salem, Dr. Atwood had the privilege of working in Old Salem for 16 years, first as the Starbuck Assistant Professor of Religion at Salem College and then as Theologian in Residence at Home Moravian Church.
Dr. Atwood is the Charles D. Couch Associate Professor of Moravian Theology and Ministry at the Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, Pa. He is also the Director of the Center for Moravian Studies. He is the author of over 50 publications and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Moravian History, which is published by Penn State Press, and is the Senior Editor of the series Pietist, Moravian, and Anabaptist Studies, also published by Penn State. He is the President of the Moravian Museum Board in Bethlehem and President of the Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth.
The final lecture in the series will be When German Met English: Heart Religion and the Creation of an American Identity in Wachovia, North Carolina, by Scott Rohrer on October 18. This lecture will explore the complicated influences on Moravian culture and how Wachovia’s Moravians became Americans. The impetus for change came not just from outside Wachovia but from within the Moravian movement itself. Scott Rohrer is a historian of early America whose research focuses on religion’s influence on society and the American Revolution.
His 2005 book, “Hope’s Promise: Religion and Acculturation in the Southern Backcountry,” explored the impact of Hope, N.C., and the two other Moravian farm settlements in Wachovia.
The lectures will take place in the James A. Gray, Jr. Auditorium in the Old Salem Visitor Center at 900 Old Salem Road. Each lecture is $5 per person. The lectures are $3 for college students with an ID. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-441-5305.
For more information on these lectures and additional events that will be taking place throughout 2016 in honor of the 250th anniversary of the town of Salem visit old-salem.org/250.
