Hartford History Lectures

Evangelical Empire: Hartford’s Religious Book Publishing Industry, 1795-1835
Presented by: William Hosley
Thursday, September 22, 5:45-7pm, Old State House (800 Main Street, Hartford)
In-person and virtual livestream options

The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival in the United States from about 1795 to 1835, increasing membership and stimulating several social and moral reforms, including temperance, the emancipation of women, and anti-slavery. The “evangelical empire,” so-called, was centered in Hartford through the Connecticut Missionary Society and other sundry tract producers. Religious book publishing earned Hartford prominence in the rapidly evolving publishing industry. Mark Twain was attracted to Hartford because of the publishing industry, and each of the individuals featured in the coming lectures – Pennington, Plato, and Mars – published books in Hartford. Hosted by: Connecticut’s Old State House.

Rev. James W. C. Pennington: A National and Local Voice for Freedom
Presented by: Dr. Stacey Close
Thursday, September 29, Refreshments at 5:30pm, Lecture begins at 5:45, Old State House (800 Main Street, Hartford)
In-person and virtual livestream options

A lecture on the life of the Reverend James W.C. Pennington, educator and pastor of the Talcott Street church in the 1840s and 1850s, with an emphasis on his impact as a leader of the Black community in Hartford and the context of national events and the abolition movement. Hosted by: Connecticut’s Old State House.

Ann Plato of Hartford: Pioneering Black Writer
Presented by: Antoinette Brim-Bell
Thursday, October 6, Refreshments at 5:30pm, Lecture begins at 5:45, Old State House (800 Main Street, Hartford)
In-person and virtual livestream options

In 1841, Ann Plato becomes the first African American writer to publish a collection of essays. When scrutinized through a white canonical literary lens or juxtaposed with accepted African American authors, her work is generally criticized for being derivative and of “little literary merit,” rendering Plato a footnote in history. This presentation will explore Ann Plato’s literature against this assessment, situating the publication of Essays as a treatise that strategically optimizes the author’s opportunity for social and physical mobility. Hosted by: Connecticut’s Old State House.

Justice & Faith Hartford Walking Tour
Led by: Steve Thornton
Saturday, October 15, 10-11:30am, meet at Main Street side of Old State House (800 Main Street, Hartford)
In-person walking tour

For almost two hundred years, African Americans — both enslaved and free — maintained a vital community on Hartford’s East side. Most of these extraordinary men and women were associated with Talcott Street Congregational, the city’s first Black church. It provided a safe haven and a center of activism for the primary moral and political issues of the day. The “Justice & Faith” walking tour introduces participants to these fascinating figures and uncovers previously unknown stories that are relevant to our times. In-person only.

ENCOUNTERS: The Global Reach of the Local Talcott Church
Moderated by: Dr. Fiona Vernal
Saturday, October 22, 10am-12pm, Old State House (800 Main Street, Hartford)

This guided community conversation will take the Mars family as a lens for exploring how the congregants of Talcott Street Church cast their advocacy far and wide and weighed in on the emigration debates. This allows us insight into the wider network of the Mars family—particularly, Elizabeth Mars and her years of service in Liberia. It will also allow us to understand the relationship between the Connecticut Colonization society, the Hartford Female African Society, and the Charitable Society in the African Sunday School. These are important lenses for understanding the Christian missionary impulse in the Talcott Church as well as the role of black women as organizers and leaders. Hartford participated in the “The African Mission School” established at Trinity College, which was described as a “short-lived effort on behalf of Connecticut Episcopalians to develop a black leadership for the church in Liberia.” Hosted by: Connecticut’s Old State House.