March - May 2008 

American Studies Lecture Series at Bush-Holley Historic Site\

The front porch of Bush-Holley House, where artists and writers gathered to debate the issues of the turn-of-the-century, is the inspiration for study lectures by The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich at Bush-Holley Historic Site. Programs that explore American history and culture are presented by award-winning historians. These spring lectures will follow the theme “Race and the Making of America: From the Civil War to 1920” and will take place on Monday, April 7 and Monday, May 12. Each program begins with a coffee reception at 9:30 a.m. followed by the presentation at 10:00 a.m. Cost for each lecture is $15 per person or $12 for members of The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich. 

On April 7, Yale University Professor of American Studies and Gender Studies Laura Wexler will present “Laughing Ben at the Old Plantation exhibition at the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904.”  Using early recorded music, Edison film and early women's documentary photography, the speaker will reflect on the nature of race presented as spectacle at the turn of the twentieth century. 

On May 12, Teresa DeFlitch, project manager at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, will present Darwinian Object Lessons: The Cultural Formation of the African Savage in American Culture. Ms. DeFlitch will explore the ways in which Africans were imagined in American popular culture and how this affected the development of American identity.

Lectures at Bush-Holley Historic Site are presented by The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich and made possible in part by a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Council.  The Connecticut Humanities Council (CHC) is a statewide non-profit institution located in Middleton, CT that focuses its work on two time-honored traditions in the humanities – reflective reading of literature and exploration of history. CHC reading programs like Motheread/Fatheread and Book Voyagers help parents and children strengthen family bonds by reading together while encouraging children to become lifelong, avid readers on their own. CHC heritage programs, often conducted in partnership with state and regional cultural organizations, fund exhibits, walking tours, cultural festivals, and community humanities projects that explore Connecticut’s diverse local heritage, as well as American and world history. Each year, the CHC produces and funds over $2 million in cultural programming that enriches the lives of state residents and visitors statewide.

Bush-Holley Historic Site
The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich
Cos Cob, Connecticut
www.hstg.org

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