On November 5, 2018, representatives from Forsyth colleges and universities and from local Moravian records-keepers at the Moravian Archives, Old Salem and MESDA met to form a new Moravian Studies Collaborative. We formed three working groups out of our first meeting: 1) Cherokee Studies/Trail of Tears Witness Community work for spring 2019; 2) organizing a conference of Moravian studies on “Becoming American” with grant applications going out starting in February 2019; and 3) expanding what we as a local Moravian Studies Collaborative could do beyond emailing/sharing information and occasional gatherings. We will be sharing community events from the group though our email newsletter and on our website here as we receive them. In 2020 the seventy members of the Collaborative’s email list and interested guests are invited to meet monthly on fourth Thursdays from 5:30-7:00pm, with scholars presenting topics of interest to the group and discussions centering on our “Becoming American” conference and follow-up activities. Locations originally were at local restaurants and the Archives. Since April 2020, meetings have been online Zoom gatherings with scholars joining from as far away as Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, Oklahoma, Virginia and even Switzerland. For more information about the Collaborative and how to join us by Zoom, contact Archivist Eric Elliott.
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