Oral History Interview of Arthur and Leona Griswold Dunham, conducted by Jan Kennedy on October 28, 2014. In this interview, the Dunhams discuss their childhood, Reverend Dunham's work in a sawmill and farms during college, the various congregations in which he served, different styles of preaching and theological movements, interdenominational associations, changes in the Congregational Church, church choirs, and various aspects of ministry, among other issues.
Orgnaizational or Biographical History
Reverend Arthur Dunham, the son of Elsie Corpi Dunham and Arthur Henry Dunham, Sr., was born in 1934 in Quincy, MA. He went to college at New England College in Henniker, NH, where he worked in a sawmill and dairy farms to put himself through school. He later attended the Hartford Theological Seminary and became a Congregational minister, serving as the minister of several churches throughout New England, before becoming the pastor of the First Congregational Church on Main Street in South Windsor. During his years in South Windsor, he also served as the fire chaplain for the South Windsor fire department. He is now retired.
Leona Dunham was born in Rocky Hill, CT, the daughter of Betsey Thompson Griswold and Leonard Griswold. She grew up helping on her family's poultry farm. She met Arthur in 1956 and they were married in 1959. She directed church choirs and taught Head Start for several years. Together they have four children, Phillip Dunham, Sandra Dunham Hart, Patricia Dunham Russo, and Keith Dunham.
