Letters from an American Utopia
Friday, May 7, 7:00 p.m.
Buchanan Auditorium, Mansfield Public Library (Route 89, Mansfield Center)
Christopher Clark
Christopher Clark, Professor of History at the University of Connecticut, will present a talk based on his 2004 book, Letters from an American Utopia: The Stetson Family and the Northampton Association, 1843-1847. The Stetson family of Brooklyn, Connecticut joined the Northampton Association in 1843. The discovery of 75 letters written by members of the Stetson family has revealed much about life in this utopian community in Northampton, Massachusetts, considerable numbers of whose members came from eastern Connecticut.
Clark will discuss the campaign for the abolition of slavery, and the difficulties faced by Connecticut abolitionists in the 1830s and 1840s. He will also speak to the Northampton Community's involvement in the silk industry and its connections with Mansfield silk producers, including Joseph Conant and Orwell S. Chaffee. Additionally, the lives of women and children in utopian communities, a subject on which the Stetson letters provide rare and valuable evidence, will be explored. James Stetson, described by one historian as "an ambivalent family patriarch with a wry sense of humor" spent many months away from Northampton selling the community's silk products. Dozens of letters sent him by his wife, Dolly Witter Stetson, and by his eldest daughter Almira, throw light on community and family life, and on the hopes and ambitions of women dedicated to reform in pre- Civil War New England.
Christopher Clark grew up near London, England, studied at the University of Warwick, and obtained his PhD in History at Harvard University. He taught at the University of York for eighteen years, and was Professor of North American History at the University of Warwick for seven years before coming to UConn in 2005.
Introduction to Genealogy
Saturday, May 8, 10:00 a.m. - noon,
Mansfield Community Center
Richard C. Roberts, former Unit Head, History and Genealogy Unit, Connecticut State Library
and Keith Wilson, a genealogist with more than 30 years of family research experience, will present a program
covering the basics of genealogy, including how to get started, finding the who-what-when-where, and what to do
with the information once you have it. COST: $5/person.
More information and registration form.
Ancestors Road Show
Friday, May 22, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.,
Storrs Congregational Church
Members of the Connecticut Professional Genealogists Council will offer
participants approximately 30 minutes of individualized advice on how to get started in genealogy or solve a
thorny research problem. Participants are strongly encouraged to pre-register for a time slot, start each half hour
from 9:00 – 12:30 (e.g., 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, etc.) COST: $10/person.
More information and registration form.
|
