The Phillips Memorial Room

The beautiful oak-paneled Phillips Memorial Room is truly one of the jewels in the crown of the B. D. Phillips Memorial Building. 

The foyer is dominated by a lovely hand-colored portrait of Benjamin Dwight Phillips (1885–1968), the namesake of the B.D. Phillips Building.

The current displays in the Phillips Memorial Room highlight the significant relationship between three important institutions of the Restoration Movement: The Phillips family of Butler, Pennsylvania, President James A. Garfield, and Emmanuel School of Religion. 

Three display windows highlight events in the life of James A. Garfield. On display are antique lithographs of Garfield, his wife Lucretia, and their family. 

The first window shows the portrait of Garfield by W.H. Fowles, presented by the New York Tribune. This window also depicts the early life of Garfield and his role in education. Garfield was a leader in the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute of Ohio, now Hiram College. Displayed in this window is a 1903 Hiram College Commencement program listing B.D. Phillips as a graduate. Also on display is a transcript of a 1911 address delivered by Thomas Warton Phillips Sr., (1835–1912), father of B.D., in memory of his friend James A. Garfield.

The second window is dominated by the antique composite of the Garfield family, including his mother, Eliza. Highlighted here are Garfield’s careers as soldier, preacher and statesman. The Biographical Congressional Directory 1774–1903 lists both James A. Garfield and T.W. Phillips Sr., from their days in Congress. This copy is from the library of T.W. Phillips Sr.

The third window depicts home, family and church. The portrait of Lucretia, or “Crete” as she was called, is the central focus of this window. Photographs of the Garfield children and the Garfield home, Lawnfield, in Mentor, Ohio, are also shown. While in Washington, D.C., the Garfield and Phillips families worshipped at the Vermont Avenue Christian Church. After Garfield’s assassination it was known as Garfield Memorial. Today that humble congregation has grown into the National City Christian Church (Disciples) on Jefferson, only a few blocks away from the White House. This beautiful church was built, in part, due to the generosity of the Phillips family.

Between the three windows are portraits of B.D. and his second wife, Mildred Welshimer Phillips (1902–1983), daughter of P.H. Welshimer, minister of the First Christian Church of Canton, Ohio.

Displayed on the next wall are portraits of T.W. Phillips Sr., and his wife, Pamphelia. Above the display table is a beautifully framed photograph of the Phillips home in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The next frame holds photographs of Grace Phillips Johnson (1877–1972) and T. W. Phillips Jr. (1874–1956), sister and brother of B.D., and also major Brotherhood supporters.

The lighted display table features a number of treasures and also displays the symbolism of the Garfield, Phillips, and Emmanuel story. Here you will see an original letter from James A. Garfield to his friend, T.W. Phillips Sr., dated April 25, 1870, among other historic Garfield memorabilia. Earlier, in 1865, Garfield, Phillips and other leaders of the day met at the Phillips home, pictured above, to discuss the formation of a journal. The result of their efforts was the Christian Standard. Seen here is the one-hundredth-anniversary issue with both Garfield and Phillips appearing on the cover.

As second generation Disciple leaders, both Garfield and Phillips were enormously interested in unity, Restoration, and the role of the church. Phillips authored a number of works, including important anti-trust legislation. However, his most influential book was The Church of Christ. Originally published anonymously, early editions identified the author simply as “A Layman.”

The Phillips family and their Charitable Trusts have made many significant contributions to institutions of this movement and to the church of Christ on the whole. Nowhere is that commitment and contribution more obvious than in the B.D. Phillips Memorial Building of Emmanuel School of Religion. This school stands as a testament to the rich heritage of Disciple thought and commitment to education and service to the church of Christ. It is no accident then that the highest honor bestowed by Emmanuel School of Religion, the James A. Garfield Award, seeks to honor those who hold the same commitment to the Church as James A. Garfield, the Phillips family, and Emmanuel School of Religion. Seen here in the center is the prestigious Garfield Award.

Next we see a beautiful antique chromolithograph of Garfield’s beloved home, Lawnfield, in Mentor, Ohio. The home has recently undergone a multi-million dollar renovation and once again this national historic treasure, filled with priceless Garfield artifacts, is open to the public.

The final window in our tour shows the presidency, assassination, and death of James A. Garfield. Though shot in 1881 by Charles Julius Guiteau, pictured here in the center, it was not the assassin’s bullet that killed the President. Rather it was the unsanitary health practices of the physicians of the era that eventually led to the President’s death. Also, reproduced here are touching letters from Garfield to his mother after the shooting and a letter from his mother to a fellow mourner.

The next item on our tour is the lineage of the modem day Phillips family beginning with T.W. Sr. Many of the descendants have remained actively involved with the family oil business and many have remained active in the life of the Stone-Campbell movement.

The sidebar along the next wall displays scrapbooks of the accomplishments of the Phillips family and their Charitable Trusts.

Displayed in the foyer of the Phillips Memorial Room is a very impressive book, the Emmanuel Heritage Society’s Book of Wills. Take a moment to browse through it. Each person represented here has committed to the ongoing heritage of Emmanuel School of Religion by including the School in their estate plan. These concerned individuals wish to see the heritage of commitment to thought, education, and service to the Church of Christ continue into the future. In so doing, they stand in succession with the likes of James A. Garfield and the Phillips family. Won’t you join in this succession and make a commitment to the future? For more information on the Emmanuel Heritage Society, you may see President C. Robert Wetzel, or Executive Director of Development Dan Lawson.

We invite you to visit Emmanuel School of Religion and tour the Phillips Memorial Room yourself.