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| May 2008 Meeting
On Thursday May 15th Charlie Sweeny will present a paper entitled “Aspects of Slavery.” Modern Western concepts of slavery are often only in reference to Negro enslavement in the Southern United States, ending with the Civil War. This overlooks other forms of slavery that have existed all over the world, and continue to the present day in prisons and prison-factories in China, Cuba, and North Korea, as well as the enslavement of young boys used as racing camel jockeys in some Middle Eastern countries. Slavery also continues in many African countries. Early hunter-gatherer societies did not appear to have slaves. When agriculture evolved, slavery seemed to arrive with it. The unending daily drudgery of plowing, sowing, and reaping made slavery attractive (to the landowners). Mohammed promised victory, loot, and slaves to those who would follow him. This turned field-workers into soldiers, who then captured more slaves. Western Christian religious movements of the 18th and 19th centuries caused massive social reexamination which ultimately led to the abolition of slavery in most, but not all, parts of the world. Charlie Sweeny was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was reared in a very religious household. Conversation topics around the dinner table frequently included such theological personalities as Saint Thomas More and Saint James The Less. Charlie’s great grandfather was captured at the First Battle of Bull Run and later died of disease and malnutrition caused by imprisonment. Charlie worked in hospitals and medically-related fields from 1943 until retirement in 1994. His four years of Navy service, in the Hospital Corps, included time in the Enteric Pathogens Lab of Epidemiology, Unit #13, the Naval Department of Health for the Ninth Naval District. He attended college and the Graduate Program in Hospital Administration at the University of Chicago. He came to California in 1974 to work at UCSF. Charlie has also worked at Mount Zion, Saint Mary’s, and Kaiser hospitals in San Francisco, and, briefly, at Seton in Daly City. He lives with his wife and two cats in their pre-mortuary home in Sam Mateo. |
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| Entree Choices
Filet of Salmon Beurre Blanc - $31.00 or Baked Lasagna - $25.00 Entrees come with salad, fresh vegetables, potatoes , rolls and butter, dessert, coffee (regular or decaffeinated) or tea. Mail a check with your choice of entree to Joan Keller, 515 42nd Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94121-2530 before Monday, May 12th. (Phone: 415 752 4156) |