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Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond records, 1936-1999, Collection # M 321, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Donated by the Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond, VA in 2003
The Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond (ICGR) is an organization of 19 different religious denominations in the city of Richmond, Virginia and surrounding counties. The 98 member congregations within these faith groups bring together diverse doctrinal, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.
Prior to 1900, it was common for volunteers from various religious groups to assume some responsibility for public welfare in their communities. However, with the development of the profession of Social Work in the 1920s, many city governments began to employ public welfare workers. The need for communication among the public and private organizations, professionals, and volunteers in Richmond, VA led to the formation of the Richmond Council of Social Agencies in the early 1920s, and subsequently the Richmond Community Fund in 1924. Dr. Arthur Guild was the Executive Director of both groups.
There was confusion between the new social work professionals and volunteers from churches engaged in public welfare work around the new division of responsibilities. The Council of Social Agencies along with the Richmond Ministerial Union saw the need for understanding and cooperation between religious communities and the social agencies. To address this need, the Rev. Dr. James C. Faw, a member of the Board of Directors for both agencies, turned to the women of the churches and synagogues who were already organized within their organizations. The recommendation passed and a subcommittee of the Council was established. Dr. Faw and Mr. Guild assisted women from three faiths - Protestant, Catholic and Jewish - to organize the Council of Church Women in 1929 as a Sub-Council of the Council of Society Agencies. This Council of Church Women was the first name of the Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond. Mrs. McClean Whittet became the first Chair.
In 1940, the name of the Council of Church Women was changed to The Interfaith Council of the Richmond Area Church Women to avoid confusion with The Women's Council of Churches, an existing Protestant group.
In 1979, The Interfaith Council of Richmond Area Church Women shortened its name to The Interfaith Council in order to reflect more clearly the diversity of religious traditions it represented. The Baha'i Faith was the first expansion faith to join ICGR in the 1970s. In the same year, the Interfaith Council accepted an invitation to affiliate with the National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ). In 1991-92, the Council added the Virginia Council of Churches (VCC) and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy to its circle of affiliations.
In 1986, the Interfaith Council changed its name to the Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond (ICGR) to expand its membership to the entire area. In 1991-92, representatives from Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and American Baptist groups were welcomed into membership. Previously, the group almsot exclusively represented Christian and Jewish religious denominations.
In 1983-84, a member of the Greek Orthodox Church and in 1991-92, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were elected President. The Board voted in January 1992 to incorporate all member religious organizations into the rotation for presidential election.
note: pre-1990, the vast majority of the ICGR presidents were identified by their husband's name in official documentation. Women's full names have been included where we were able to find them.
1929-30 Mrs. McLean Whittet, Presbyterian
1930-32 Mrs. Franklin Johnson, Baptist
1932-34 Mrs. James A. Richardson, Methodist
1934-36 Mrs. Raphael Levy, Jewish
1936-38 Mrs. J. McC. C. Greathead, Episcopal
1938-40 Mrs. Carroll C. Roberts, Christian
1940-42 Henrietta Knightly, Catholic
1942-44 Mrs. T. W. Smith, Baptist
1944-45 Mrs. James E. Gardner, Lutheran
1945-46 Mrs. John 0. MacKinnon, Unitarian
1946-47 Arleene (sometimes spelled Arleen) G. Fairly, Presbyterian
1947-48 Mrs. Henry Fine, Jewish
1948-49 Mrs. Dalton Flanagan, Methodist
1949-50 Mrs. Cyrus M. Bache, Episcopal
1950-51 Mrs. Bernard W. Glass, Christian
1951-52 Mrs. W. J. Burlee, Sr., Catholic
1952-53 Mrs. E. Harold Thompson, Baptist
1953-54 Mrs. B. V. VanHorn, Presbyterian
1954-55 Mrs. Lewis Markel, Sr., Jewish
1955-56 Mrs. C. W. Hinchman, Methodist
1956-57 Mrs. Frank O. Higgins, Episcopal
1957-58 Mrs. Alton C. Griffin, Christian
1958-59 Mrs. Herman F. Gallasch, Lutheran
1959-60 Kathryne Crowe, Catholic
1960 Mrs. E.F. MacDonald (resigned), Unknown
1960-61 Josephine Baskerville (completed MacDonald's term before starting her own), Baptist
1961-62 Lucy Blanton, Presbyterian
1962-63 Bertha Meyer, Jewish
1963-64 Martha Carson, Methodist
1964-65 Polly Parker, Episcopal
1965-66 June H. Jarman, Christian
1966-67 Dorothy Gundlach, Catholic
1967-68 Georgia Dieker, Baptist
1968-69 Inez Hartley, Presbyterian
1969-70 Mrs. Bert Mann, Jewish
1970-71 Dorothy Turner, Methodist
1971-72 Anne McKenney, Episcopal
1972-73 Helen Pohling, Lutheran
1973-74 Mrs. Edmund G. Schmitz, Catholic
1974-75 Mrs. William P. Anderson, Presbyterian
1975-76 Bertha Laster, Jewish
1976-77 Phyllis Clifford, Baptist
1977-78 Sophia U. Hodges, Methodist
1978-79 Mrs. Edward L. Hill, Episcopal
1979-80 Louise Hawkins, Lutheran
1980-81 Leslie C. Boze, Presbyterian
1981-82 Leigh Budwell, Baptist
1982-83 Mrs. Earl 0. Sims, Catholic
1983-84 Helen Parthemos, Greek Orthodox
1984-85 Rita Stein, Jewish
1985-86 Dr. Vivien K. Ely, Methodist
1986-87 Louise Lipscomb, Episcopal
1987-88 Ruby Turner, Lutheran
1988-89 Grace Deane, Presbyterian
1989-90 Virginia Johnson, Baptist
1990-91 Dolores Ross, Catholic
1991-92 Dr. Lee Pratt, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1992-93 Barni Schlein, Jewish
1993-94 Zoa Mottley, Methodist
1994-95 Louise Reza, Unitarian
1995-96 Midge Falconer, Bahá'i
1996-97 Saba Abed, Islam
1997-98 Shobha Shenoy, Hindu
1998-99 Joan E. v.H. Everett, Episcopal
1999-00 Ingrid Zoll Vetter, Lutheran
2000-01 Miriam T. Bailey, Presbyterian
2001-02 Virginia Smith, Baptist
2002-03 Sharon C. Clayton, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
2003-04 Anne H. Woods, Jewish
2004-05 Marian Agnew, Bahá'í
2005-06 Dr. Jeffrey Clark, Unitarian Universalist
2006-07 Lynn Johnston, Unity
2007-08 Annette Khan, Islam
2008-09 Dr. Baljit S. Sidhu, Sikh
2009-10 Kusum Jain, Jain
2010-11 Sandy Willis, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
2011-12 Malik Khan, Islam
2012-13 Rebecca Skinner, Unity
2013-14 Rebecca Skinner, Unity
2014-15 Sabrina Dent, Member at Large
2015-16 Sabrina Dent, Member at Large
2016-17 Ashley Pelli, Omnism
The materials in this collection range from 1936 to 1999 and include correspondence, treasurer's reports, meeting minutes, photographs, yearbooks, news clippings, and ephemera from the Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond. The collection highlights the annual events and the meetings of the organization.
The majority of the presidents of the Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond are referred to by their husband's name. Occasionally, their first names were included in correspondence or on other documents found in the collection. With the exceptions of presidents whose first names were unable to be found in the collection, these names have been included on folder titles and updated on the list of presidents.The Interfaith Council of Richmond records are arranged chronologically, largely following their original order. Prior to 1960, correspondence, minutes, etc. were generally organized by year, with some exceptions. Folders in box 1 that begin with a president's name have been slightly reorganized to follow the format of presidential terms (which started in May) instead of calendar years. Otherwise, original groupings and arrangement have been preserved. Post-1960, the collection was predominately organized chronologically in albums of each president's term, with some binders of meeting minutes and other administrative documents spanning multiple terms. Collection materials have been removed from binders and albums and added to folders, but the groupings have been preserved.