She must be quiet: a historical case study of how women created spiritualist education at the Chesterfield Spiritualist college

In this historical case study, the Chesterfield Spiritualist College and the women who created and led this organization are examined. Using a feminist theory framework with a poststructuralist paradigm, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with former students, former and present teachers, the Camp Chesterfield Historian and Archivist, and administrators from Camp Chesterfield and the Chesterfield Spiritualist College. Extensive document analysis fills in the gaps and provides an extensive history on the only Spiritualist Camp in Indiana, as well as its educational institution. The research questions that directed this study are as follows: • What was the role of women in the creation of Chesterfield Spiritualist College? • How has the role of women changed at Chesterfield Spiritualist College overtime? • Who were the founding women leaders of the Chesterfield Spiritualist College? • How have women contributed to the growth and sustainability of the ChesterfieldSpiritualist College, including its current educational programming? This study concludes with revealing some of the women of the Chesterfield Spiritualist College and their contributions to adult religious education, as well as answering the research questions, implications of practice, and recommendations for future study. While women did create, lead, and expand the Chesterfield Spiritualist College, Camp Chesterfield is not the utopian matriarchy some believe it to be. Instead, there were some instances of women participating in, what some have concluded as a patriarchal power struggle. Regardless, women have kept Camp Chesterfield and the Chesterfield Spiritualist College afloat. Who those women are/were, and their contributions are documented in the following pages.