DAY 1 (July 19, 2023): Conceptual Anchor: Lucretia Mott and the Declaration of Sentiments
(10am - 4pm. Oriental Hall/Philadelphia Masonic Temple)
This year's Memory Parlor is organized, to the day(s), on the 175th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention which met from July 19-20, 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York. What was the Seneca Fall Convention? The traditional narrative of the U.S. women's equality movement marks this 1848 Convention as its "beginning". Accordingly, we begin our Memory Parlor with stories connected Philadelphian and Quaker Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), who was to one of the primary organizers of the 1848 Convention, and who, alongside her husband James (1788-1868), was one of the signatories of the manifesto that issued from the Convention, the Declaration of Sentiments. Committed to non-violence, and described as "the most belligerent non-resistant," Lucretia Mott provides a through-line that highlights the intersectionality of various reform movements (the abolition of slavery/women's equality/peace/non-violence) and therefore serves as our conceptual anchor for the "memory work" of the first day of our Memory Parlor. In addition to organizing the Seneca Falls Convention, Mott was also active in the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (founded in 1833) and the New England Non-Resistance Society (founded in 1838). Mott, as well as the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, condemned the use of physical violence as a means of solving the problem of slavery, and we will reflect on Mott's position and its relevance to today. The end of Day 1 will close with a private guided tour of the Philadelphia Masonic Temple. This breathtaking building, replete with symbols of virtue and universal brotherhood, celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.

Day 2 (July 20, 2023): Conceptual Anchor: Ham Sok Hon's 1959 essay "We Must, But We Cannot Resort to Revolution"
(10am-3pm. Oriental Hall/Philadelphia Masonic Temple)
The conceptual anchor of Day 2 of the Memory Parlor is a 1959 speech by Korean philosopher, poet, peace and democracy activist, Ham Sok Hon (1901-1989). Little known in the U.S., Ham Sok Hon, a Korean quaker sometimes referred to as "The Gandhi of Korea" provides a powerful framework which blends Eastern and Western thought. In his 1959 speech "We Must, But We Cannot Resort to Revolution: Politics and Religion", Ham urges us to move "toward unity" but in way which is "revolutionary", as will be discussed. 2023 is also the 75th anniversary of the Republic of Korea in the South, which solidified the division of the Korean Peninsula into two different countries after being unified for over 4000 years. What were Ham's thoughts about moving "toward unity" in a non-violent way? Ham Sok Hon was born in what is now known as "North Korea", but migrated to the South where we worked on behalf of Peace and Democracy. Ham also visited Philadelphia a number of times, and studied at Pendle Hill, a Quaker study center outside of Philadelphia. Some of his papers, including his 1959 speech discussed above, are held at the Friends Historical Library and the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, at Swarthmore College.

Evening of July 20, 2023: Memorial "Talk Concert" in Honor of Ben Ferencz (1920-2023)
(7pm - 9pm. Corinthian Hall. Philadelphia Masonic Temple)
South Korean violinist, educator and peace activist Hyung Joon Won will provide musical interludes while we honor and remember the work of Ben Ferencz (1920-2023) who devoted his life to Peace through Law, and a world of "law not war." Read the N.Y. Times obituary about Ben Ferencz here.

More on violinist Hyung Joon Won to the left (if on desktop) or below (if on mobile)