Hannah and Her Daughters: Original Music Performance

The Connecticut Museum invites you to the First Church of Glastonbury to experience an original work of music based on manuscripts from the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History’s collection.

Experience original music composed by C. Leonard Raybon (Associate Professor of Music at Tulane University) inspired by documents written by Hannah Smith, matriarch of the storied Smiths of Glastonbury, CT.

While researching for another project, C. Leonard Raybon discovered two journals and other writings by Hannah Hadassah Hickok held at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. Fascinated by the young woman revealed in the writings – whom he describes as “sometimes catty, sometimes capricious, always adventurous, and eternally self-deprecating” – Raybon discovered that Hannah was the matriarch of the storied Smiths of Glastonbury, CT. The Smiths were abolitionists, suffragists, and non-conformists, and Hannah’s daughters drew national attention in the 1870s for refusing to pay their taxes because they could not vote.

Hannah’s sayings, her poetry, her childhood rivalries, her readings, her opinions, and her daughters and their activism inspired the musical pieces. This sone-time public performance is presented in partnership by the Connecticut Museum, the Glastonbury Historical Society, and C. Leonard Raybon.

The concert will be held on November 8th at 7:30 pm at First Church of Glastonbury at 2183 Main Street, Glastonbury. First Church was the Smith family’s congregation, so it’s a fitting place to host this unique musical experience.

After the one-hour performance, there will be a talkback with composer Leonard Raybon and Diane Hoover of the Glastonbury Historical Society. Get free tickets to reserve your seat on the Connecticut Museum’s website.