Facilities

Our Building The Women’s Interfaith Institute, under the leadership of Founding Director Allison Stokes, purchased the building in 2002.  Our building at 140 Fall Street was constructed in 1871 by the Wesleyan Chapel, host of the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848, and stands in the direct line of that courageous congregation.  We are proud to carry this heritage of working for justice forward into the future.

Ithaca College Volunteers putting
bookplates in library books

Our Library

The Library of the Women’s Interfaith Institute in Seneca Falls is made up of four separate collections: the Norma Thompson Library, the WII in the Berkshires Library, the Allison Stokes Library and the Kathleen Finney Library. Our first floor office and four carpeted rooms in the basement hold thousands of books.

Dr. Norman Thompson, a retired professor of religious education from New York University and a member of the Institute in the Berkshires, donated her large, professional collection to the Institute in the late 1990’s. In fact, looking for space to house these books is what led Allison Stokes to notice the “For Sale, Price Reduced” sign at the church in the Seneca Falls. It took two truckloads to move Norma’s books from her home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts to Seneca Falls.

When the Women’s Interfaith Institute closed its office in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, member Ann Hanchett and others moved the Berkshire collection to Seneca Falls. Over the years since the Institute’s beginning in 1992, many members, including Dr. Anne Barstow, Dr. Letty Russell, Pat Patterson, Ruth Harris, the Rev. Barbara Haugen, and the Rev. Lois Rose, donated these books.
The Rev. Dr. Allison Stokes, Founding Director, donated her extensive professional library to the Institute after our spacious building was purchased.

The late Rev. Kathleen (Katie) Finney (1948 – 2002) was a clergywoman in the United Church of Christ. After Katie’s untimely death from cancer, her family generously donated her books and papers to the Institute. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College in 1970, and of the Yale Divinity School in 1973, she served as Chaplain of Randolph-Macon Women's College from 1975-1977, as Chaplain of Hollins College from 1977-1979, and as Pastor of the United Ministry of Aurora (New York) from 1992-2001.

Donna Twardowski, a student at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School catalogued the Finney collection as an independent study project during the summer of 2006. Donna also created a Power Point presentation about Katie’s ministry as part of her project. During the spring/summer of 2007, the Institute plans to dedicate the room that houses the Finney collection and its contents to Rev. Finney’s memory, and to have Donna give her presentation.

The subject matter covered by these four collections of books and periodicals in religion is wide ranging and includes: Abortion, African American History, American Religious History, Barth, Bible, Biblical Theology, Buber, Campus Ministry, Character Education and Spiritual Growth, Church History, Counseling, Death and Dying, Depression, Ethics, Family and Children, Fiction, Gender Studies, History of World Religions, Hymnals, Judaism, Medical Ethics, Morality, Pastoral Care and Counseling, Poetry, Prayers, Psychology, Religion in Art and Literature, Sex Education, Sexuality, Sociology and Religion, Spiritual Development, Tillich, Wiesel, and Women’s Studies.

Our intention is to have our collections catalogued as soon as possible so that the books will be available to researchers and scholars.