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News Release

Last modified: Friday, March 12, 2004

IU history journal describes Quakers’ quest for racial justice

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The long and complex relationship of African Americans and Midwestern Quakers in the 19th century is examined in the March issue of the Indiana Magazine of History.

This issue, the first of the journal's 100th volume, also introduces a new design -- the IMH's first since the introduction of its familiar red cover in 1987. The magazine is published quarterly by the Indiana University Department of History in cooperation with the Indiana Historical Society.

The lead article in the March issue is "'A Great and Good People': Midwestern Quakers and the Struggle Against Slavery," by Earlham College professor Thomas D. Hamm, one of the best-known Quaker historians, and four of his former students: April Beckman, Marissa Florio, Kirsti Giles and Marie Hopper. They describe the help Quakers gave to escaped slaves and other African Americans in Indiana and neighboring states.

The issue also features an essay on the place of dueling and other forms of violence in the Midwest before the Civil War. "Violence, Masculinity, Image and Reality on the Antebellum Frontier" was written by Purdue University graduate student Ryan L. Dearinger.

IMH Editorial Assistant Keith Erekson analyzes the 2003 IMH readers' survey in his article, "Bringing Research to the Public." As Erekson reports, this survey, which drew more than 1,000 responses from across the nation, does more than reveal readers' preferences for the journal itself. It also raises a range of questions about the function of history in contemporary society.

The review section of the magazine introduces new books on various aspects of history, focusing on Indiana but also including the Midwest and the nation.

The IMH's new look, created by Mary Blizzard of AB Graphics in Bloomington, draws on the illustrations and lettering of Hoosier artist Gustave Baumann, who was active in the state a century ago. The new design is one of a series of changes marking the journal's upcoming centennial in 2005.

The Indiana Magazine of History is provided free to all members of the Indiana Historical Society. Subscriptions are also available for $18 per year from Indiana Magazine of History, Ballantine Hall 742, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405. For information on subscribing, contact the magazine at 812-856-5394 or imaghist@indiana.edu. The magazine's Web site is at https://www.indiana.edu/~imaghist.

For information on joining the Indiana Historical Society, visit the society's Web site at https://www.indianahistory.org.

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