In honor of Juneteenth, the State Library of Massachusetts invites you to join them in their historic reading room in the Massachusetts State House to hear Ilyon Woo discuss her latest book, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom.
Master Slave Husband Wife is the riveting, true story of Ellen and William Craft. The Crafts were a young, enslaved couple who, in 1848, made the perilous decision to flee from Macon, Georgia to seek freedom in the North. A journey like no other, Ellen disguised herself as an older, wealthy white man traveling with his slave, William. The book follows the Crafts as they make their way to Philadelphia, Boston, and eventually Canada. Along the way, the couple gained a certain celebrity status, joining the abolitionist movement with such leaders like Frederick Douglass. Woo’s well-researched book presents a story of the Crafts and antebellum America which reads almost like it could be a major movie with themes of freedom, self-emancipation, and love. COPIES ARE AVAILABLE AT CLAMS LIBRARIES.
In addition to Master Slave Husband Wife, Woo is the New York Times best-selling author of The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother’s Extraordinary Fight Against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times. She received a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Writing Grant for Master Slave Husband Wife. Woo’s writing has also appeared in the Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and The New York Times. Woo holds a BA in the Humanities from Yale College and a PhD in English from Columbia University.
This is a hybrid event and participants can attend virtually via Livestream.
Location: State Library of Massachusetts, Room 341. Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02133
Robin Putnam, Events & Outreach Manager from the Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation, will host a presentation on identity theft and fraud prevention. Topics will include recent identity theft trends and scams, how to identify and avoid identity theft, and steps consumers can take if they are the victim of fraud or identity theft.
Please call the library at 508-760-6219 to register.
The Master Gardener Association of Cape Cod will host a presentation on native plants of Cape Cod. The presentation will provide an overview of native plants and discuss native plants that are ideal for home landscaping and planting.
Please call the library at 508-760-6219 to register for this program.
Award-winning artist Gregory Maichack returns to the library to present a workshop on how to pastel paint. This workshop offers both beginner and advanced participants an opportunity to creatively explore pastel painting inspired by the work of Winslow Homer. Participants will receive instruction on expressive pastel strokes, blending, slurring, layering, and creating the wave effect of spray by embedding pigment particles into the painting.
All supplies are provided, and patrons go home with their own work of art.
Please call the library at 508-760-6219 to register, as spaces are limited for this popular event.
This project is supported in part from a grant from the Dennis Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.