Lynchburg Students Provide Tour Guidance at South River Meeting House Ahead of April 24 Lecture (Lynchburg, Virginia)

University of Lynchburg students are offering guided tours of the South River Meeting House, a historic site tied to the city’s early Quaker community. The students, history majors Mike Muñoz, Taylor Akers, and Thomas Canard, have been trained as tour guides and have conducted public tours, including fieldtrips for home-school students. The meeting house, located adjacent to Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church, is a focal point for the Quaker community in Lynchburg.

The students began their training in February and have been authorized to lead tours. Thomas Canard will lead the next group of trainees this summer. The tours are part of a broader effort to share the history of the meeting house with the public. The site is historically significant, as it is linked to John Lynch and other prominent Quakers in Lynchburg.

On April 24, a lecture titled “‘The Last Sayings of Sarah Lynch Terrell’ and the Radical Abolitionism of South River Quakers” will be held at Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church. The event is co-sponsored by the University of Lynchburg, Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church, and the Lynchburg Museum System. The partnership was formed in 2022 to promote local history and community engagement.

Dr. Lisa Crutchfield, associate professor of history, emphasized the value of the project for students. It allows them to apply academic skills in real-world settings, such as research, analysis, and communication. The initiative also provides the public with access to local history, bridging academic study with community outreach.

Dr. Elizabeth Sharrett’s Museum Exhibitions students are also contributing to the project. They are creating interpretive displays for the meeting house, documenting the restoration efforts by Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church in the 1980s. The class is sharing its progress on Instagram, aiming to present the history of the meeting house and its Quaker worshippers to a wider audience.

The collaboration between the University, the church, and the museum system highlights the importance of preserving and sharing local history. The South River Meeting House stands as a testament to the Quaker community’s role in Lynchburg’s past, offering insights into their beliefs and contributions to the city’s development.

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