Stories from the Park Lecture Series
An evening with Patricia Schaefer, New London County Historical Society.

Come mingle with friends and other guests in Lyman Allyn Art Museum’s elegant Hendle Library during a reception with wine and light hors d’oeuvres, visit the museum’s exhibits, and hear stories about Island Affairs of the Thames during this 5-part series.

“Lange Eylandt,” as the Dutch called it in the seventeenth century, stretches 120 miles from New York City eastward, roughly paralleling the coast of Connecticut. The eastern end of the island is about 20 miles offshore. In past times when it was often as easy to travel by water as by land, crossings from Connecticut to Long Island were common. This talk will focus particularly on Eastern Long Island and Southeastern Connecticut’s strong kinship, trade, and cultural ties in the eighteenth century, using examples from the Joshua Hempstead diary as illustrations.

This series will be held on the first Wednesday of the month from January – May 2024 at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum and begins with a reception at 6 PM featuring wine and light hors d’oeuvres immediately followed by the monthly lecture at 7 PM.

Rates:

Regular Pricing
TRHP + LAAM Members – $15
Non-members – $20

Early Bird
TRHP + LAAM Members Early Bird* – $10
Non-member Early Bird* – $15

*Early bird rate is valid through January 31, 2024.

Purchase Today: https://bit.ly/LectureSeriesTRHP

Thames River Heritage Park Foundation is pleased to present its 2024 lecture series: Stories from the Park: Island Affairs of the Thames. Probing the historical impact and influence of the connections with islands near and far to the Thames River, the 5-part series will explore the “power of place” from social, cultural, political, economic and ecological perspectives along with its impact and influence on life on the Thames – historically and up to the present time.
This program is made possible thanks to grants from Connecticut Humanities and Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut.

Author Bio
Patricia M. Schaefer has been researching and writing about eighteenth century Connecticut for almost thirty years. She worked on and wrote the introduction to the New London County Historical Society’s 690 page 1999 edition of The Diary of Joshua Hempstead 1711-1758. Her book, A Useful Friend: A Companion to the Joshua Hempstead Diary 1711-1758, was published by the NLCHS. It won the Homer Babbidge Award for the best work on CT history in 2009. She has more recently been responsible for the new third, expanded edition of the diary. Pat has a bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature from Brown University and a master’s in management of training programs from Boston University.