Common Roots, The

This scholarly essay sketches out for the first time a unified portrait of the educational institutions that inhabit the Middle Shenandoah Valley. Building on his previous academic work in Mennonite educational history, the author delves into fresh archival sources, newly discovered letters and diaries, forgotten connections and intriguing alliances. The end result is more than a fascinating look at education, but presents an eye-opening and paradigm-shifting thesis which has the power to reshape our understandings of local history, politics, race relations, religion and power structures altogether.

Local History; America History; History of Education; 19th century politics; Rockingham County, Virginia; Bridgewater College; Shenandoah University; Goshen College; James Madison University; Eastern Mennonite University; Dayton, Virginia; Mennonite & Brethren education; A.P. Funkhouser; L.J. Heatwole; J.S. Coffman; E.U. Hoenshel; John Wayland; Aldine Kieffer; Alcide Reichenbach.

With bibliography, Anabaptist Center for Religion in Society, 2023.