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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250424T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250424T140000
DTSTAMP:20260228T143829Z
CREATED:20260209T132434Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T143829Z
UID:9076-1745499600-1745503200@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Sacred Rebellion Virtual Exhibition Tour
DESCRIPTION:This special virtual tour of the Congregational Library & Archives’ new in-person exhibition\, Sacred Rebellion\, was hosted by Executive Director Dr. Kyle Roberts and New England’s Hidden Histories Project Director and Sacred Rebellion curator Dr. Tricia Peone. \nBy the time the American Revolution began\, many Congregationalists had embraced a theological justification for war and revolution. They believed that God favored them and that their cause was a morally justified\, sacred rebellion. Through sermons\, books\, poems\, songs\, and letters\, Congregationalists shared their stories\, reflected on their moral obligations to each other\, and debated questions of liberty and loyalty. But consensus was elusive\, and implementation proved difficult and unsatisfactory to many\, especially those on the margins. \nThe interactive tour was hosted on Zoom\, with registration limited to a small group of attendees. Participants viewed Revolutionary-era treasures from the collections; heard stories about how Congregationalists experienced the period leading up to\, during\, and immediately following the war; and had opportunities to ask questions; and reflect on what this pivotal event means 250 years later. \n  \nSPEAKER BIOS \nDr. Kyle Roberts was appointed the Executive Director of the Congregational Library & Archives in 2022. He received his BA in American Studies from Williams College and his PhD in History from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to coming to the CLA\, he was Associate Director of Library & Museum Programming at the American Philosophical Society and Associate Professor of Public History and New Media and Director of the Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities at Loyola University Chicago. \nA scholar of Atlantic World religion\, print\, and library history\, he is the author of Evangelical Gotham: Religion and the Making of New York City\, 1783-1860 (Chicago\, 2016)\, the co-editor\, with Stephen Schloesser\, of Crossings and Dwellings: Restored Jesuits\, Women Religious\, American Experience 1814-2014 (Brill\, 2017) and\, with Mark Towsey\, of Before the Public Library: Reading\, Community\, and Identity in the Atlantic World\, 1650-1850 (Brill\, 2017). \nKyle is an accomplished public historian and digital humanist whose collaborative projects include the Jesuit Libraries Provenance Project\, the Maryland Loyalism Project\, and Dissenting Academies Online: Virtual Library System. In addition to being the consultant for numerous digital and public history projects\, he sits on the executive committees of the American Catholic Historical Association\, the New England Historical Association\, the Urban History Association He is on the editorial and advisory boards for American Catholic Studies\, Early American Studies\, and portal. \nDr. Tricia Peone joined the CLA in 2022 as the Project Director for New England’s Hidden Histories. Prior to joining the CLA\, she was a research scholar at Historic New England for the Recovering New England’s Voices project. She has also previously worked as the public programs director at New Hampshire Humanities\, a university lecturer teaching classes on the Salem witch trials\, early New England\, and public history\, and as a researcher for cultural heritage organizations. She holds a PhD in history from the University of New Hampshire with a specialization in the early modern Atlantic world and history of science. \n  \n\n \nFunded by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/sacred-rebellion-virtual-tour
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Revolutionary Stories,Sacred Rebellion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SRVirtualTourCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250423T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250423T140000
DTSTAMP:20260228T143106Z
CREATED:20260209T132234Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T143106Z
UID:9074-1745413200-1745416800@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:The People's Music: Religious and Political Songs of Revolutionary New England
DESCRIPTION:This program\, featuring Stephen Marini\, Elisabeth Luce Moore Professor of Christian Studies at Wellesley College and singing master of Norumbega Harmony\, focused on the fascinating musical culture of Revolutionary New England. \nAttendees discovered the world of singing masters hired by 18th-century Congregational parishes to teach music to their members; the English tradition of parish music they initially conveyed; and the development of these masters into publishing composers like William Billings of Boston (1746-1800)\, Revolutionary America’s premier creator of sacred and political choral music. \nThe talk also included examples and recordings of this repertoire of Revolutionary-era sacred and secular music. \n  \nThis event was part of our Religion of Revolution lecture series\, sponsored by New England’s Hidden Histories. \nThe Congregational Library & Archives newest digital exhibition\, Religion of Revolution: Congregational Voices on Liberty\, is free to visit anytime at https://congregationallibrary.quartexcollections.com/online-exhibits/revolution. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Stephen A. Marini is Elisabeth Luce Moore Professor of Christian Studies at Wellesley College. He is an expert both on the history of religion in Early America and on American sacred music\, having written books in both fields\, including Radical Sects of Revolutionary New England (Harvard\, 1982)\, Sacred Song in America (Illinois\, 2003)\, and The Cashway Psalmody: Transatlantic Religion and Music in Colonial Carolina (Illinois\, 2020). In addition\, he is the founder and singing-master of Norumbega Harmony (1976)\, a choral ensemble specializing in the New England Singing-School music that is the subject of today’s program.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/peoples-music
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Congregationalists and the Arts,Religion of Revolution,Revolutionary Stories
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/PeopleMusicCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250416T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250416T140000
DTSTAMP:20260228T142822Z
CREATED:20260209T132054Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T142822Z
UID:9069-1744808400-1744812000@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity
DESCRIPTION:Few matters produce more public interest and public anxiety than sex and religion. Much of the political contention and division in societies across the world centers on sexual topics\, and one-third of the global population is Christian in background or outlook. The issue goes to the heart of present-day religion. \nIn Lower than the Angels\, Diarmaid MacCulloch seeks to calm fears and encourage understanding through telling a three-thousand-year-long tale of Christians encountering sex\, gender\, and the family. The message of Lower than the Angels is simple\, necessary\, and timely: to pay attention to the complexity and contradictions in the history of Christianity. The reader can decide from the story told here whether there is a single Christian theology of sex\, or many contending voices in a symphony that is not at all complete. \nThis program offered attendees a chance to learn more about an epic of ordinary and extraordinary Christians trying to make sense of themselves and of humanity’s deepest desires\, fears\, and hopes. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nRev. Prof. Diarmaid MacCulloch is Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church\, Oxford University\, and Fellow of St Cross College and of Campion Hall. His Thomas Cranmer: A Life first appeared in 1996\, winning inter alia the Whitbread Biography Prize. His History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (accompanied by the BBC TV series A History of Christianity) won the 2010 Cundill Prize; his Thomas Cromwell: A Life was published in 2018. His BBC TV series of 2015\, Sex and the Church\, was a foretaste of Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity (2024). He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/lower-than-the-angels
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Book Talks
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LowerAngelsCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250404T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250404T190000
DTSTAMP:20260228T142612Z
CREATED:20260209T131821Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T142612Z
UID:9067-1743787800-1743793200@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Sacred Rebellion Exhibition Opening Reception
DESCRIPTION:This event celebrated the opening of our new in-person exhibition\, Sacred Rebellion: Congregationalists in Revolutionary Massachusetts. The program featured an opportunity to visit the exhibition and curator’s comments from New England’s Hidden Histories Project Director and Sacred Rebellion curator\, Dr. Tricia Peone. \nBy the time the American Revolution began\, many Congregationalists had already embraced a theological justification for war and revolution. Ministers and laity alike believed that God favored them and that their cause was a morally justified\, sacred rebellion. Through sermons\, books\, poems\, songs\, and letters\, Congregationalists shared their stories\, reflected on their moral obligations to each other\, and debated questions of liberty and loyalty before\, during\, and after the war. \nAttendees learned more about how these discussions shaped the legacy of Congregationalism and the way the Revolutionary War is remembered today. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Tricia Peone joined the CLA in 2022 as the Project Director for New England’s Hidden Histories. Prior to joining the CLA\, she was a research scholar at Historic New England for the Recovering New England’s Voices project. She has also previously worked as the public programs director at New Hampshire Humanities\, a university lecturer teaching classes on the Salem witch trials\, early New England\, and public history\, and as a researcher for cultural heritage organizations. She holds a PhD in history from the University of New Hampshire with a specialization in the early modern Atlantic world and history of science. \n  \n\n \nFunded by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/sacred-rebellion-opening-reception
LOCATION:Congregational Library & Archives\, 14 Beacon Street\, Boston\, MA\, 02108\, United States
CATEGORIES:Revolutionary Stories,Sacred Rebellion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/SRReceptionCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250402T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250402T140000
DTSTAMP:20260302T170733Z
CREATED:20260209T131654Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260302T170733Z
UID:9062-1743598800-1743602400@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Knowing Your Collection: How to Identify Church Records
DESCRIPTION:ACCESS VIDEO TRANSCRIPT + RESOURCES\nHow do you know if the item you are looking at is a parish book or a church record book? Or how might you determine if a folder is full of building records or general financial records? \nSometimes\, when looking at a church’s collection\, it can be difficult to determine what exactly it is you hold. It is not uncommon to feel daunted or overwhelmed when looking at the full scope of a collection. \nWith years of experience looking at church records\, CLA archivists Billy McCarthy and Zachary Bodnar shared the processes they use to assess\, identify\, and label materials\, whether they be a bound volume\, a manilla folder full of papers\, or a born-digital document stored on Google Drive. \n  \nSPEAKER BIOS \nZachary Bodnar graduated with a Masters of Library and Information Science from Simmons University\, with a concentration in archives management\, in 2018. Prior to his work at the CLA\, Zachary worked at the Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden archive\, the Vassar College Special Collections\, the Harvard Law School Library\, and the Harvard Botany Libraries. Zachary joined the CLA as an Archives Assistant in 2017\, helping to prepare materials for digitization through the New England’s Hidden Histories program. In 2018\, he took on the title of Archivist. His professional interests include metadata collection and management\, digital archiving\, audio/visual preservation\, and archives management. \nBilly McCarthy graduated with a Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) at Simmons University with a concentration in Archival Management. He started working at the CLA through a graduate internship and was hired full-time as an Archivist in 2018. Billy is the Head of Reader Services\, helping the CLA’s visitors with reference requests and facilitating in-person research. Billy also serves as the collection manager for the archives\, working with CLA’s offsite vendor to protect and maintain the organization’s archival records. Some of his professional interests include increasing access\, collection management\, processing of complex materials\, and facilitating research.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/know-your-collection
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Archives,CSI
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KnowCollection400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250325T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250325T143000
DTSTAMP:20260228T145555Z
CREATED:20260209T131313Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T145555Z
UID:9057-1742907600-1742913000@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition:  A Virtual Roundtable
DESCRIPTION:Thousands of church properties worth billions of dollars are being sold or repurposed each year. Nothing can stop the currents of change. But congregations and cities can take steps now to ensure a legacy directed toward communal good rather than private interests. \nIn Gone for Good?\, Mark Elsdon marshals a diverse team of authors\, including pastors\, scholars\, developers\, and urban planners to explore the spiritual and practical aspects of church property transition. Congregations and cities can take steps now to ensure a legacy directed towards communal good rather than private interests. \nThis virtual program\, featuring Mark and three contributors to Gone for Good?\, focused on how to assess the impacts of churches on their neighborhoods—and the gaps they will leave behind\, the primacy of mission in any conversation about church property\, transforming ministry in rural churches\, and much more. \n  \nSPEAKER BIOS \nJennie Birkholz\, MHA is a national healthcare leader and consultant specializing in faith-based initiatives\, rural community well-being\, and collaborative networks. With over 20 years of experience\, she has partnered with healthcare systems\, faith communities\, and nonprofits to develop innovative programs that strengthen community resilience. A co-author of Gone for Good?\, she explores the evolving role of rural churches in her chapter. As a national speaker\, she brings deep insight into how faith communities can drive meaningful change in health and social care. \nPatrick Duggan is the Executive Director of the United Church of Christ Church Building and Loan Fund (CBLF)\, the oldest church-building society in the United States. He served as senior pastor of the Congregational Church of South Hempstead\, United Church of Christ from 1995 to 2023. \nMark Elsdon lives and works at the intersection of money and meaning. He is the author of We Aren’t Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry and editor of the book\, Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition. Mark holds degrees from the University of California\, Berkeley; Princeton Theological Seminary; and the University of Wisconsin School of Business. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church\, USA and serves as co-founder of RootedGood and principal at Threshold Sacred Development. Mark lives in Madison\, Wisconsin with his family. \nBob Jaeger co-founded Partners for Sacred Places in 1989 and currently serves as its President. He has overseen the publication of a recent study on the Economic Halo Effect of older sacred places and the development of programs to help congregations with internal capacity building\, capital campaigns\, engagement with the community\, and the shared use of space. Bob holds a master’s degree in Preservation Planning from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Michigan.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/gone-for-good
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Book Talks,Contemporary Congregationalism,Public Programs
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GoneForGoodCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250319T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250319T140000
DTSTAMP:20260311T112400Z
CREATED:20260209T131123Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260311T112400Z
UID:9055-1742389200-1742392800@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:The World of Mary and Roger Williams
DESCRIPTION:ACCESS VIDEO TRANSCRIPT + RESOURCES\nThis virtual program with Dr. Charlotte Carrington-Farmer focused on Mary and Roger Williams\, the influential seventeenth-century couple whose lives left an indelible impact on New England. \nRoger Williams\, an English immigrant to New England\, was famously banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 for his “new and dangerous opinions” on religious freedom\, the separation of church and state\, and Indigenous land rights. Following his banishment\, Williams settled the town of Providence with the permission of the Narragansett Sachems\, creating a colony that was arguably the freest in the western world. \nThe traditional narrative centers Roger Williams as a lone “hero” in the founding of Providence\, but none of it would have been possible without his wife\, Mary Williams. For years at a time\, Mary was the head of the Williams family\, and she played a central role in colony affairs. Part of the challenge of telling Mary’s story in her own words is that she left behind so few of them\, especially compared to her husband. \nAs this program highlighted\, Dr. Carrington-Farmer shines new light on Mary and Roger Williams in her recent essay “More than Roger’s Wife” in the New England Quarterly (2024) and her anthology\, Roger Williams and His World (2025). \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Charlotte Carrington-Farmer is Professor of History at Roger Williams University. She received her PhD from the University of Cambridge and specializes in early American history. Her book\, Roger Williams and His World (Peterborough\, Ontario: Broadview Press\, Jan. 2025)\, sets Roger Williams in his wider Atlantic world context. Her research centers on dissent in seventeenth-century New England\, and she has published book chapters on Thomas Morton and Roger Williams\, and an article on Mary Williams. She has also published a journal article and two book chapters on equines in colonial New England and the early modern Atlantic world. Her current book project is titled: Equine Empire: Horses and the Making of the Atlantic World. She is active in the field of public history and has received funding and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities\, Yale University\, the Mellon Foundation\, and the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/world-mary-roger-williams
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Book Talks,Congregational Story,Women's Voices
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/WorldofWilliamsCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250312T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250312T140000
DTSTAMP:20260228T145009Z
CREATED:20260209T130920Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T145009Z
UID:9052-1741784400-1741788000@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Religion and Black Abolitionism in the Era of the American Revolution
DESCRIPTION:In January 1773\, Massachusetts slaves submitted the first of four petitions that decade to the legislature of the colony requesting their release from bondage. Around the same time writers such as Phillis Wheatley and Caesar Sarter began to attack both slavery and the slave trade in print. \nMany scholars have discussed these individual writers and the petitioning campaign of Boston’s blacks as an example of the ways in which subordinate groups used the rhetoric of Revolution to advance their own claims. In this talk\, Christopher Cameron located the origins of their political thought even further back in puritan religious ideology and discussed the advent of black petitioning and other forms of antislavery writing in the colony\, which represented the beginning of the organized abolitionist movement in America. \n  \nThis event was part of our Religion of Revolution lecture series\, sponsored by New England’s Hidden Histories. \nThe Congregational Library & Archives newest digital exhibition\, Religion of Revolution: Congregational Voices on Liberty\, is free to visit anytime at https://congregationallibrary.quartexcollections.com/online-exhibits/revolution. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Christopher Cameron is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He was the founding president of the African American Intellectual History Society and currently serves as the founding secretary of the Black Humanist Studies Association. Cameron received his BA in History from Keene State College and his MA and PhD in American History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Cameron is the author of To Plead Our Own Cause: African Americans in Massachusetts and The Making of the Antislavery Movement and Black Freethinkers: A History of African American Secularism.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/religion-and-black-abolitionism
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Diverse Voices,Religion of Revolution,Revolutionary Stories
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/RBACarousel400_0.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250307T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250307T123000
DTSTAMP:20260228T144639Z
CREATED:20260209T130744Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T144639Z
UID:9050-1741339800-1741350600@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:The Afro-Christian Convention: Exploring our Deeper Roots
DESCRIPTION:This in-person workshop\, held at 14 Beacon Street in Boston\, provided an opportunity for participants to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the history and legacy of the Afro-Christian Convention as the fifth stream of the United Church of Christ (UCC). It was designed for church and community leaders as well as anyone interested in the history of this important\, and until recently overlooked\, Christian tradition within the UCC. \nLed by Dr. Julia Speller\, Professor Emerita in American Religious History and Culture at Chicago Theological Seminary\, the workshop highlighted key spiritual values that sustained the Afro-Christians throughout their journey\, revealed the close connection between these values and the UCC’s founding commitments as a united and uniting church\, and examined ways individuals can more deeply embody these values and commitments\, as they prepare for the important work of justice at such a time as this. \nIn addition to the small-group discussion with contributing author and educator Julia Speller\, participants received a copy of the recent publication Afro-Christian Convention: The Fifth Stream of the United Church of Christ (Pilgrim Press\, 2023) and a brownbag lunch. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Julia Speller is Professor Emerita in American Religious History and Culture at Chicago Theological Seminary where she served for 25 years. Prior to and concurrent with that time\, she served as the director of Christian Education for Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago where she has been a member for over five decades. Julia is currently a member of the United Church of Christ Historical Council and has been engaged in the work of several UCC committees over the years. She also serves on the Congregational Library & Archives Board of Directors. She is the author of Walkin’ The Talk: Keepin’ the Faith in Africentric Congregations and holds a BS in Business Administration from Chicago State University\, an MA in Religious Education from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary\, as well as an MA and a PhD in the History of Christianity from the University of Chicago.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/acc-workshop
LOCATION:Congregational Library & Archives\, 14 Beacon Street\, Boston\, MA\, 02108\, United States
CATEGORIES:Congregational Story,Diverse Voices
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/SpellerCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250305T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250305T140000
DTSTAMP:20260302T172007Z
CREATED:20260209T130507Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260302T172007Z
UID:9048-1741179600-1741183200@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Belonging: An Intimate History of Slavery and Family in Early New England
DESCRIPTION:ACCESS VIDEO TRANSCRIPT + RESOURCES\nThis talk celebrated the release of Belonging: An Intimate History of Slavery and Family in Early New England with author Dr. Gloria McCahon Whiting. \nNew England is often considered a cradle of liberty in United States history\, but it was also a cradle of slavery. From the earliest years of colonization\, New Englanders bought and sold people\, most of whom were of African descent. In Belonging\, Gloria McCahon Whiting tells the region’s early history from the perspective of the people\, like Jane and Sebastian\, who belonged to others and who struggled to maintain a sense of belonging among their kin. Through a series of meticulously reconstructed family narratives\, Whiting traces the contours of enslaved people’s intimate lives in early New England\, where they often lived with those who bound them but apart from kin. Enslaved spouses rarely were able to cohabit; fathers and their offspring routinely were separated by inheritance practices; children could be removed from their mothers at an enslaver’s whim; and people in bondage had only partial control of their movement through the region\, which made more difficult the task of maintaining distant relationships. \nBut Belonging does more than lay bare the obstacles to family stability for those in bondage. Whiting also charts Afro-New Englanders’ persistent demands for intimacy throughout the century and a half stretching from New England’s founding to the American Revolution. And she shows how the work of making and maintaining relationships influenced the region’s law\, religion\, society\, and politics. Ultimately\, the actions taken by people in bondage to fortify their families played a pivotal role in bringing about the collapse of slavery in New England’s most populous state\, Massachusetts. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Gloria McCahon Whiting is E. Gordon Fox Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison\, where she has received numerous teaching awards for her courses on early American history. Her scholarly work has been featured in a variety of journals\, including the Journal of American History\, the William and Mary Quarterly\, and Slavery & Abolition. She recently launched a public-facing digital humanities project on slavery\, liberty\, and the American Revolution\, which can be found at freedom-seekers.org. And her first book\, titled Belonging: An Intimate History of Slavery and Family in Early New England\, was published in August of 2024 by the University of Pennsylvania Press.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/belonging
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Book Talks,Diverse Voices
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Belonging25Carousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250220T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250220T140000
DTSTAMP:20260228T150412Z
CREATED:20260209T115023Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T150412Z
UID:9040-1740056400-1740060000@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Enslavement in the Puritan Village: The Untold History of Sudbury and Wayland\, Massachusetts
DESCRIPTION:Colonial Sudbury\, Massachusetts (modern-day Wayland and Sudbury)\, was designated the quintessential “Puritan Village” by author Sumner Chilton Powell in his 1964 Pulitzer Prize–winning history of the town’s founding in 1638. \nYet this quiet rural village\, like many others in New England\, also had a darker history that is often overlooked. Sudbury’s early puritan inhabitants\, including some of the most prominent citizens in town\, held and sold enslaved Black people throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. \nNever before published\, these stories from preserved records highlight the lives of men\, women\, and children held in bondage\, including a court case involving an enslaved boy repeatedly beaten and left scarred by his master less than thirty years after the town’s founding\, as well as the bill of sale for Phebey\, age two\, to a woman in another town. \nThe accounts of life in colonial Sudbury and its residents’ interactions with nearby towns\, including bills of sale\, marriages\, medical\, and military records\, expand the knowledge of enslavement and its pervasive impact\, yet unquestioned acceptance\, in Sudbury and similar pre-Revolutionary New England villages. \nIn this virtual book talk\, author Jane Sciacca shared the hidden side of suffering in a New England town that she uncovered through her research into local history materials. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nJane Sciacca is a retired national park ranger with a degree in history education from Simmons University. Her work as an interpreter for the National Park Service in Concord\, Boston and Cambridge led to her interest in researching enslavement and abolition in her own community of Wayland\, where she has lived with her family for more than fifty years. As chair of the Wayland Historical Commission\, she oversaw the 1981 publication of the first history of Wayland as a separate town\, The Puritan Village Evolves.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/enslavement-puritan-village
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Book Talks,Congregational Story,Diverse Voices
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/EPVCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250212T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250212T140000
DTSTAMP:20260228T150210Z
CREATED:20260209T114825Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T150210Z
UID:9036-1739365200-1739368800@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:"The Four-Fold Line of Mathers" +One: Hannah Mather Crocker in Words\, Deeds\, and the Archival Record
DESCRIPTION:Our third annual Cotton Mather Lecture was presented by Dr. Alea Henle and sponsored by New England’s Hidden Histories\, a digital project of the Congregational Library & Archives. \nRichard\, Increase\, Cotton\, Samuel\, and Hannah. The last of Samuel Mather’s children\, Hannah\, born in 1752\, lived in the shadow of her Mather forebears. An advocate for women’s intellectual equality\, she established a women-only Masonic-equivalent lodge in post-Revolutionary Boston\, raised a large family\, and authored several treatises published after the death of her husband\, Capt. Joseph Crocker. \nHer many pseudonyms attest to her varied interests and priorities; these include: Prudencia\, Increase Mather Jr. of the Inner Temple\, and H. Mather Crocker. This talk will explore Hannah’s life with particular attention to her investment in her paternal male line’s place in history . . . and her own. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Alea Henle is a librarian and historian who serves as Head of Access and Borrow and Associate Librarian at Miami University (Ohio). She has presented on historical and library topics for numerous organizations and currently serves as Chair of the American Library Association’s Library History Round Table. The talk draws in part from research for her book\, Rescued from Oblivion: Historical Cultures in the Early United States (UMass Press\, 2020).
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/four-fold-line-mathers
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Cotton Mather Lecture,NEHH,Women's Voices
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250205T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250205T140000
DTSTAMP:20260228T145941Z
CREATED:20260209T114626Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T145941Z
UID:9031-1738760400-1738764000@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Acquisitions Afternoon 2025: Building a Library of Puritan History with Dr. Frank Bremer
DESCRIPTION:This special virtual event was held in honor of the generosity of collector-donors and the launch of the CLA’s 2025 Adopt-a-Book program. \nThe Congregational Library & Archives’ collection began in 1856 when eight donors contributed items from their personal collections that they believed to be important to understanding and interpreting the Congregational story. 171 years later\, the CLA’s collection numbers over 225\,000 print and manuscript works\, many of which were donated from private collectors. The collection continues to grow each year. \nThis program began with Dr. Francis Bremer discussing the library of British and North American puritan scholarly books and microfilm he recently donated to the Congregational Library & Archives. After a short Q&A session with Dr. Bremer\, staff members wrapped up the discussion by sharing some of their favorite books up for adoption this year. \nSee the items that were up for adoption in our 2025 Adopt-a-Book program. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Francis J. Bremer has been a student of puritanism in England and New England for over fifty years. Over the course of that time he has taught at various institutions\, retiring from Millersville University of Pennsylvania in 2011. He has held fellowships at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England and at Trinity College in Dublin\, Ireland. He was also a scholar in residence at Queen’s College in Belfast\, United Kingdom. Dr. Bremer served as Editor of the Winthrop Papers for the Massachusetts Historical Society. He has published nineteen books and numerous articles in the field and continues to be active\, currently working on four other projects. He served two terms on the Board of the Congregational Library & Archives.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/acquisitions-afternoon-25
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Public Programs
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250122T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250122T140000
DTSTAMP:20260228T150645Z
CREATED:20260209T114410Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260228T150645Z
UID:9029-1737550800-1737554400@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:New England Congregationalists and the American Revolution: A Virtual Book Talk with Katherine Carté
DESCRIPTION:This was the first talk in our Religion of Revolution lecture series with historian\, Dr. Katherine Carté. \nThe Revolutionary War transformed religious life in America\, not just for New England\, but everywhere.  Remembering New England’s important role in this national tale shows just how revolutionary—and how conservative—the era was. \nFor most of the eighteenth century\, British Protestantism was driven neither by the primacy of denominations nor by fundamental discord among them. Instead\, it thrived as part of a complex transatlantic system that bound religious institutions to imperial politics. As Katherine Carté argues\, British imperial Protestantism proved remarkably effective in advancing both the interests of empire and the cause of religion until the war for American independence disrupted it. \nThat Revolution forced a reassessment of the role of religion in public life on both sides of the Atlantic. Religious communities struggled to reorganize within and across new national borders. Religious leaders recalibrated their relationships to government. If these shifts were more pronounced in the United States than in Britain\, the loss of a shared system nonetheless mattered to both nations. \n  \nThe Congregational Library & Archives newest digital exhibition\, Religion of Revolution: Congregational Voices on Liberty\, is free to visit anytime at https://congregationallibrary.quartexcollections.com/online-exhibits/revolution. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Katherine Carté is a Professor of history at Southern Methodist University. She is the author\, most recently\, of Religion and the American Revolution: An Imperial History\, published by the University of North Carolina Press for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture in 2021\, which won the Albert W. Outler Prize from the American Society of Church History.  She is currently studying the role of religion\, trust\, and partisanship in revolutionary-era Savannah\, Georgia.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/ne-cong-amrev
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Book Talks,Religion of Revolution,Revolutionary Stories
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NECongsAmRevCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241211T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241211T140000
DTSTAMP:20260211T172142Z
CREATED:20260209T114138Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T172142Z
UID:9024-1733922000-1733925600@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Protestant Modernist Pamphlets: Science and Religion in the Scopes Era
DESCRIPTION:This virtual book talk celebrated the release of Protestant Modernist Pamphlets with author\, Dr. Edward B. Davis. \nIn the years surrounding the Scopes trial in 1925\, liberal Protestant scientists\, theologians\, and clergy sought to diminish opposition to evolution and to persuade American Christians to adopt more positive attitudes toward modern science. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and many leading scientists\, the University of Chicago Divinity School published a series of ten pamphlets on science and religion to counter William Jennings Bryan’s efforts to ban evolution in public schools. \nIn Protestant Modernist Pamphlets\, Davis\, who discovered these pamphlets\, reprints them with extensive editorial comments\, annotations\, and introductions to each. Based on unpublished correspondence and internal Divinity School documents\, these introductions narrate the origin of the pamphlets\, as well as their funding sources and how readers reacted to them. Letters from dozens of top scientists at the time reveal their previously unknown views on God and the relationship between science and religion. Viewed together\, the pamphlets and Davis’ critical assessment of their historical importance provide an intriguing perspective on Protestant modernist encounters with science in the early twentieth century. \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Edward “Ted” Davis is Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at Messiah University and a Fellow of the International Society for Science & Religion. An expert on Robert Boyle and the Scientific Revolution\, he also writes about Christianity and science in America since 1800\, including the history of creationism and a study of modern Jonah stories featured on two BBC radio programs. His latest book\, Protestant Modernist Pamphlets: Science and Religion in the Scopes Era (2024)\, reprints ten rare pamphlets on “Science and Religion” from 1922 to 1931\, with three chapters about the Protestant modernist encounter with science. Ted was an advisor for recent exhibits about science and religion at the National Museum of American History and the Museum of the Bible.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/protestant-modernist-pamphlets
LOCATION:Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/PMPCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241209T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241209T130000
DTSTAMP:20260211T172052Z
CREATED:20260209T113936Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T172052Z
UID:9022-1733745600-1733749200@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Handling History: An Intern's Reflection on the Archival Process – A Brown Bag Lunch Talk with Kat Kowlayck
DESCRIPTION:In this hybrid brown bag program\, Kat Kowlayck reflected on the three small collections she processed during her time with the CLA as an archives intern. She discussed her biggest takeaways from each step of the archival process and the unique challenges each collection brought to the table. \nAttendees followed along as she explored how she preserved scrapbooks from the Hyde Park\, MA Clarendon Congregational Church Records\, found the history behind the WWI-era Congregationalist in the War Surveys\, and sorted through the Greater Boston Federation of Churches Committee Records. \n\n  \n\nSPEAKER BIO \nKatrina (Kat) Kowalczyk is a Master of Library Science (MLIS) student from Simmons University’s School of Library & Information Science (SLIS). As the CLA’s fall 2024 intern\, she has had the opportunity to work hands-on with archival materials which has been a great complement to her classroom learning.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/handling-history
LOCATION:Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/KowlayckCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241207T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241207T153000
DTSTAMP:20260211T172020Z
CREATED:20260209T113740Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T172020Z
UID:9018-1733580000-1733585400@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Christmas with the Congregationalists 2024: A Collections Tour
DESCRIPTION:We celebrated the season at 14 Beacon Street with an in-person viewing of materials in the Congregational Library & Archives’ collection related to Christmas with Executive Director Dr. Kyle Roberts and Librarian Meaghan Wright. \nChristmas was not always a widely celebrated holiday by Congregationalists. The Massachusetts Bay General Court banned the observance of the holiday in 1659 and ministers\, such as Cotton Mather\, spoke out against yuletide reveling. Congregational practices started to look more familiar by the nineteenth century\, as congregations put on Christmas plays and publishing houses\, like the Pilgrim Press\, printed holiday gift books featuring lovable characters like Winky the Christmas Cat. \nAttendees saw these holiday-themed treasures from the collections first-hand\, learned about (and took home a copy of) a new edition of The Christmas Cat\, shared their own stories about how Congregationalists celebrate Christmas\, and got into the holiday spirit. \nSPEAKER BIOS \nDr. Kyle Roberts was appointed the Executive Director of the Congregational Library & Archives in 2022. He received his BA in American Studies from Williams College and his PhD in History from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to coming to the CLA\, he was Associate Director of Library & Museum Programming at the American Philosophical Society and Associate Professor of Public History and New Media and Director of the Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities at Loyola University Chicago. \nA scholar of Atlantic World religion\, print\, and library history\, he is the author of Evangelical Gotham: Religion and the Making of New York City\, 1783-1860 (Chicago\, 2016)\, the co-editor\, with Stephen Schloesser\, of Crossings and Dwellings: Restored Jesuits\, Women Religious\, American Experience 1814-2014 (Brill\, 2017) and\, with Mark Towsey\, of Before the Public Library: Reading\, Community\, and Identity in the Atlantic World\, 1650-1850 (Brill\, 2017). \nKyle is an accomplished public historian and digital humanist whose collaborative projects include the Jesuit Libraries Provenance Project\, the Maryland Loyalism Project\, and Dissenting Academies Online: Virtual Library System. In addition to being the consultant for numerous digital and public history projects\, he sits on the executive committees of the American Catholic Historical Association\, the New England Historical Association\, the Urban History Association He is on the editorial and advisory boards for American Catholic Studies\, Early American Studies\, and portal. \nMeaghan Wright earned her Bachelor’s degree in History and English from the University of Durham and leveraged her love of history\, literature\, and organization towards the library arts. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a Masters in Librarianship with High Honors. Before coming to the CLA\, Meaghan worked as a reference librarian at the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum for over six years\, honing skills in research and reference\, cataloguing\, statistics\, social media\, and exhibitions. She was an active member of both the staff-led Climate + Environment Ideators and DEIA Working Group at PEM\, and remains committed to sustainability and DEIA. She has attended five classes at the Rare Book School on book production and design and served as a subcommittee chair for the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the American Library Association’s Climate Readiness Task Force from 2020-2022. In her capacity as Librarian\, she looks forward to expanding access to the collection through improved description\, data tracking\, and outreach.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/christmas-congregationalists-24
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ChristmasCongs24Carousel400_0.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241204T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241204T190000
DTSTAMP:20260211T171933Z
CREATED:20260209T113416Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T171933Z
UID:9015-1733333400-1733338800@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Congregationalists and the American Revolution: A Virtual Collections Tour
DESCRIPTION:Congregational churches could be found in nearly every town across New England in the 1770s. The stories of Patriot ministers who inspired their congregations to Revolution have long been told. Increasingly we are learning more about the experience of the people sitting in the pews and how being part of a Congregational church community shaped their experience of the celebrated ideals–and the sometimes harsh realities–of the revolutionary cause. Printed sermons\, pamphlets\, and histories; manuscript church and association records; and even paintings in the CLA’s collection help tell a story that is both familiar and not. \nIn December 2024 we reprised our popular tour of original materials related to the American Revolution with Executive Director Dr. Kyle Roberts and New England’s Hidden Histories Project Director Dr. Tricia Peone. Recognizing that not everyone can make it to 14 Beacon Street for an in-person viewing\, this tour was hosted on Zoom\, with registration limited to small group of attendees. \nParticipants saw Revolutionary-era treasures from the collections\, heard stories about how Congregationalists experienced the period leading up to\, during\, and immediately following the war\, and reflected on what this pivotal event means 250 years later. \nThis program was part of Revolutionary Stories\, New England’s Hidden Histories’ ongoing series on the American Revolution and the Congregational experience. \nSPEAKER BIOS \nDr. Kyle Roberts was appointed the Executive Director of the Congregational Library & Archives in 2022. He received his BA in American Studies from Williams College and his PhD in History from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to coming to the CLA\, he was Associate Director of Library & Museum Programming at the American Philosophical Society and Associate Professor of Public History and New Media and Director of the Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities at Loyola University Chicago. \nA scholar of Atlantic World religion\, print\, and library history\, he is the author of Evangelical Gotham: Religion and the Making of New York City\, 1783-1860 (Chicago\, 2016)\, the co-editor\, with Stephen Schloesser\, of Crossings and Dwellings: Restored Jesuits\, Women Religious\, American Experience 1814-2014 (Brill\, 2017) and\, with Mark Towsey\, of Before the Public Library: Reading\, Community\, and Identity in the Atlantic World\, 1650-1850 (Brill\, 2017). \nKyle is an accomplished public historian and digital humanist whose collaborative projects include the Jesuit Libraries Provenance Project\, the Maryland Loyalism Project\, and Dissenting Academies Online: Virtual Library System. In addition to being the consultant for numerous digital and public history projects\, he sits on the executive committees of the American Catholic Historical Association\, the New England Historical Association\, the Urban History Association He is on the editorial and advisory boards for American Catholic Studies\, Early American Studies\, and portal. \nDr. Tricia Peone joined the CLA in 2022 as the Project Director for New England’s Hidden Histories. Prior to joining the CLA\, she was a research scholar at Historic New England for the Recovering New England’s Voices project. She has also previously worked as the public programs director at New Hampshire Humanities\, a university lecturer teaching classes on the Salem witch trials\, early New England\, and public history\, and as a researcher for cultural heritage organizations. She holds a PhD in history from the University of New Hampshire with a specialization in the early modern Atlantic world and history of science.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/virtual-amrev-collections-tour
LOCATION:Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/VIRAmRevCTCarousel400_0.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241120T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241120T140000
DTSTAMP:20260211T183450Z
CREATED:20260209T113148Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T183450Z
UID:9013-1732107600-1732111200@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Sharing Your Story: Using the Archives to Write Your Church’s History
DESCRIPTION:Whether or not your church has an upcoming anniversary\, it is still important to consider how to share your church’s history with the wider world. Church histories are not only of interest to today’s congregants\, but to members of a church’s community\, genealogists\, family historians\, local history enthusiasts\, archivists writing historical notes\, and prospective church members. Fortunately\, many of the tools necessary to research your church’s history can be found within your archive. \nIn this webinar\, CLA archivists Billy McCarthy and Zachary Bodnar explored the types of records that appear within church archives and how they can be used to write a church’s story. They discussed options for writing community-focused histories that focus on people and celebrate a church’s accomplishments\, overview practices of reparative history\, and consider how churches should write about the portions of their past that may not reflect their current beliefs or values. \nSPEAKER BIOS \nZachary Bodnar graduated with a Masters of Library and Information Science from Simmons University\, with a concentration in archives management\, in 2018. Prior to his work at the CLA\, Zachary worked at the Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden archive\, the Vassar College Special Collections\, the Harvard Law School Library\, and the Harvard Botany Libraries. Zachary joined the CLA as an Archives Assistant in 2017\, helping to prepare materials for digitization through the New England’s Hidden Histories program. In 2018\, he took on the title of Archivist. His professional interests include metadata collection and management\, digital archiving\, audio/visual preservation\, and archives management. \nBilly McCarthy graduated with a Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) at Simmons University with a concentration in Archival Management. He started working at the CLA through a graduate internship and was hired full-time as an Archivist in 2018. Billy is the Head of Reader Services\, helping the CLA’s visitors with reference requests and facilitating in-person research. Billy also serves as the collection manager for the archives\, working with CLA’s offsite vendor to protect and maintain the organization’s archival records. Some of his professional interests include increasing access\, collection management\, processing of complex materials\, and facilitating research.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/sharing-your-story
LOCATION:Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SharingStory400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241114T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241114T190000
DTSTAMP:20260211T171757Z
CREATED:20260209T112942Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T171757Z
UID:9011-1731607200-1731610800@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Colonization and the Wampanoag Story: A Virtual Book Talk with Linda Coombs
DESCRIPTION:When you think about the beginning of the American story\, what comes to mind? Three ships in 1492\, or perhaps buckled hats and shoes stepping off the Mayflower\, ready to start a new country? But the truth is\, Christopher Columbus\, the Pilgrims\, and the colonists didn’t arrive to a vast\, empty land ready to be developed. They arrived to find people and communities living in harmony with the land they had inhabited for thousands of years\, and they quickly disrupted everything they saw. \n\nFrom its “discovery” by Europeans to the first Thanksgiving\, the story of America’s earliest days has been carefully misrepresented. Told from the perspective of the New England Indigenous Nations that these outsiders found when they arrived\, Colonization and the Wampanoag Story tells the true story of how America as we know it today began. \nThis virtual book talk with Linda Coombs (Aquinnah Wampanoag) focused on her book in the Race to the Truth series\, a book line for young adults that aims to correct common falsehoods and celebrate underrepresented heroes and achievements. \nSPEAKER BIO \nLinda Coombs is a citizen of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe on Martha’s Vineyard and has lived in Mashpee for more than 40 years. She has worked for 49 years as a museum educator\, spending 11 years at the Boston Children’s Museum; 30 years in the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at Plimoth Plantation; and 9 years at the Aquinnah Cultural Center\, one of the old homesteads in the Aquinnah community that was built by an Aquinnah Wampanoag man and is now a museum of Aquinnah Wampanoag history. \nShe has been an interpreter\, artisan\, and researcher; led workshops and teacher institutes; written children’s stories and articles on various aspects of Wampanoag history and culture; and developed and worked on all aspects of a wide variety of exhibits. \nLinda has worked extensively with her own Wampanoag communities as well as with the public. The goal of her work continues to be communicating accurate and appropriate representations of the history\, cultures\, and people of the Wampanoag and other Indigenous nations.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/colonization-wampanoag-story
LOCATION:Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/WampanoagStoryCarouselNEW400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241112T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241112T140000
DTSTAMP:20260211T183911Z
CREATED:20260209T112725Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T183911Z
UID:9009-1731416400-1731420000@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Squanto: A Native Odyssey
DESCRIPTION:This virtual book talk celebrated the upcoming release of Squanto: A Native Odyssey with author Dr. Andrew Lipman. \nAmerican schoolchildren have long learned about Squanto\, the welcoming Native who made the First Thanksgiving possible\, but his story goes deeper than the holiday legend. Born in the Wampanoag-speaking town of Patuxet in the late 1500s\, Squanto was kidnapped in 1614 by an English captain\, who took him to Spain. From there\, Englishmen brought him to London and Newfoundland before sending him home in 1619\, when Squanto discovered that most of Patuxet had died in an epidemic. A year later\, the Mayflower colonists arrived at his home and renamed it Plymouth. \nPrize-winning historian Andrew Lipman explored the mysteries that still surround Squanto: How did he escape bondage and return home? Why did he help the English after an Englishman enslaved him? Why did he threaten Plymouth’s fragile peace with its neighbors with a daring plot that shocked colonists and Natives alike? Was it true that he converted to Christianity on his deathbed? Drawing from a wide range of evidence\, Lipman reconstructed Squanto’s upbringing\, his transatlantic odyssey\, his career as an interpreter\, his surprising downfall\, and his enigmatic death. The result was a fresh look at an epic life that ended right when many Americans think their story begins. \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Andrew Lipman is associate professor of history at Barnard College\, Columbia University. His first book\, The Saltwater Frontier: Indians and the Contest for the American Coast (Yale University Press\, 2015) was a winner of the Bancroft Prize in American History. His second book\, Squanto: A Native Odyssey\, was published by Yale University Press in 2024.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/squanto-native-odyssey
LOCATION:Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/SquantoCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241102T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241102T190000
DTSTAMP:20260211T183301Z
CREATED:20260209T112501Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T183301Z
UID:9007-1730566800-1730574000@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Congregational Library & Archives Open House 2024
DESCRIPTION:At our 2024 Open House\, we celebrated the launch of our new online exhibition\, Religion of Revolution: Congregational Voices on Liberty\, with an in-person display of materials from Revolutionary America and a special performance by Norumbega Harmony. \nCongregationalists interpreted liberty through their own religious framework\, which included principles of autonomy\, fellowship\, and consensus. The exhibition highlights what Congregationalists had to say about liberty as documented in important printed works of the period as well as manuscript church records\, letters\, and sermon literature from the CLA’s collections and the New England’s Hidden Histories project. \nNorumbega Harmony is one of the largest and most active groups of Sacred Harp and shape-note singers in New England. Its repertoire consists of music from the colonial and Revolutionary era of New England as well as music from the Sacred Harp and other American folk-hymn traditions.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/congregational-library-archives-open-house-2024
LOCATION:Congregational Library & Archives\, 14 Beacon Street\, Boston\, MA\, 02108\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/OHCarousel24-400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241025T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241025T140000
DTSTAMP:20260211T171407Z
CREATED:20260209T112052Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T171407Z
UID:9000-1729861200-1729864800@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Office Hours with the Archivists
DESCRIPTION:We celebrated Archives Month 2024 by hosting this special open office hour with the Congregational Library & Archives archivists’ Zachary Bodnar and Billy McCarthy. \nDo you want to ask about best practices for storing your materials? Learn more about which records you need to keep and for how long? Find out what a finding aid is and whether or not you should create one for your church’s records? Our archivists discussed these topics and more in this special program. \nZachary and Billy answered your archival questions and followed up on a few audience questions they did not have time to answer in previous Church Stewardship Initiative programs. \nSPEAKER BIOS \nZachary Bodnar graduated with a Masters of Library and Information Science from Simmons University\, with a concentration in archives management\, in 2018. Prior to his work at the CLA\, Zachary worked at the Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden archive\, the Vassar College Special Collections\, the Harvard Law School Library\, and the Harvard Botany Libraries. Zachary joined the CLA as an Archives Assistant in 2017\, helping to prepare materials for digitization through the New England’s Hidden Histories program. In 2018\, he took on the title of Archivist. His professional interests include metadata collection and management\, digital archiving\, audio/visual preservation\, and archives management. \nBilly McCarthy graduated with a Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) at Simmons University with a concentration in Archival Management. He started working at the CLA through a graduate internship and was hired full-time as an Archivist in 2018. Billy is the Head of Reader Services\, helping the CLA’s visitors with reference requests and facilitating in-person research. Billy also serves as the collection manager for the archives\, working with CLA’s offsite vendor to protect and maintain the organization’s archival records. Some of his professional interests include increasing access\, collection management\, processing of complex materials\, and facilitating research.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/office-hours-archivists
LOCATION:Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ArchivistsOHCarousel400.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241016T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241016T140000
DTSTAMP:20260211T171329Z
CREATED:20260209T111633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T171329Z
UID:8995-1729083600-1729087200@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:The Stones Cry Out: Early New England Epitaphs in Context
DESCRIPTION:This virtual program discussed the ways that epitaphs give voice to eighteenth-century Congregationalists’ changing attitudes towards dying and death. \n\nUsing illustrations of gravestones and transcriptions of the epitaphs\, John Hanson explored the ways these monuments provide evidence of the gradual shift in early Congregationalists’ attitudes towards salvation from pious doubt\, to reasonable hope and comfortable assurance. \nEpitaphs provided a means for bereaved survivors to summarize their lived experience of dying and death. They focused on themes that characterized the Congregational worldview\, including death’s constant presence in their lives; the imperative to sanctify the event for one’s spiritual benefit; the ritual of deathbed confession\, repentance\, and reconciliation; the importance of resigning oneself to God’s sovereign will; and the consoling belief that death was a welcome release from the troubles and infirmities of this world. \nSPEAKER BIO \nJohn Hanson has been collecting and analyzing early New England epitaphs for years\, examining where the verses originated\, how their source texts were accessed\, and the cultural and religious context in which they were chosen and carved on gravestones. He is the author of Reading the Gravestones of Old New England (McFarland\, 2021) and has published and spoken extensively on his research. He received his AB cum laude in English and American Literature from Harvard and is a member of the American Antiquarian Society. John is from Massachusetts and currently lives in Boston and the Berkshires.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/stones-cry-out
LOCATION:Virtual
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240925T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240925T140000
DTSTAMP:20260211T171228Z
CREATED:20260209T111246Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T171228Z
UID:8990-1727269200-1727272800@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Christianity and Comics:  Stories We Tell about Heaven and Hell
DESCRIPTION:The Bible has inspired Western art and literature for centuries\, so it is no surprise that Christian iconography\, characters\, and stories have also appeared in many comic books. Yet the sheer stylistic range of these comics is stunning. They include books from Christian publishers\, as well as underground comix with religious themes and a vast array of DC\, Marvel\, and Dark Horse titles\, from Hellboy to Preacher. \nChristianity and Comics presents an 80-year history of the various ways that the comics industry has drawn from biblical source material. It explores how some publishers specifically targeted Christian audiences with titles like Catholic Comics\, books featuring heroic versions of Oral Roberts and Billy Graham\, and special religious-themed editions of Archie. But it also considers how popular mainstream comics like Daredevil\, The Sandman\, Ghost Rider\, and Batman are infused with Christian themes and imagery. Comics scholar Dr. Blair Davis pays special attention to how the medium’s unique use of panels\, word balloons\, captions\, and serialized storytelling have provided vehicles for telling familiar biblical tales in new ways. Spanning the Golden Age of comics to the present day\, this book charts how comics have both reflected and influenced Americans’ changing attitudes towards religion. \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Blair Davis is a Professor in the College of Communication at DePaul University in Chicago. His books include Comic Book Women\, The Battle for the Bs\, Movie Comics: Page to Screen/Screen to Page\, and Comic Book Movies\, all from Rutgers University Press.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/christianity-and-comics
LOCATION:Virtual
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240918T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240918T140000
DTSTAMP:20260211T183746Z
CREATED:20260209T111045Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T183746Z
UID:8985-1726664400-1726668000@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Celebrating Your Church’s Anniversary: Tips and Tricks for a Memorable Commemoration
DESCRIPTION:Whether your church is celebrating 25 or 250 years\, an anniversary offers opportunities to make meaningful and creative connections with your congregation’s mission and story–past\, present\, and future. It is a time to learn more about the people who founded and led your church and about the events that have shaped its unique identity. \nThis roundtable discussion featured people from across the continental United States and Hawai’i who had recently helped to plan and lead church anniversary celebrations. They shared their experience and advice on how to research your church’s history\, balance planning and implementation\, and engage your church and broader community. \nThis program offered both inspiration for your church’s next anniversary and a great opportunity to hear some ways Congregational churches are celebrating their community histories! \nSPEAKER BIOS \nKeiko Denbeau is a grandmother and retired Army officer who has been a member of Kawaiahaʻo Church for 40 years. Between volunteering at her church and working on a federally-funded grant (also at her church)\, Keiko spends her time making memories with her children and grandchildren. \nRev. Norm Erlendson has been pastoring Congregational churches in Washington State and Connecticut since 1990. Norm was the pastor of the First Congregational Church of Snohomish\, WA during its Centennial Celebration in 2003. He is currently the pastor of First Congregational Church of Stonington\, CT\, (The Road Church)\, which is in the midst of a year-long celebration of its 350th anniversary that began in June 2024. \nLinda Lacy received an interdisciplinary BA degree with emphases in Art\, Education\, and Communications from Chadron State College. As an Artist in Residence with the Nebraska Arts Council for the past 25+ years\, Linda has instructed numerous painting and pottery workshops for children and adults in schools and communities across Nebraska. She has also been a member\, treasurer\, and landscape manager of Ashby Congregational Church for the last eight years.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/celebrate-church-anniversary
LOCATION:Virtual
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240808T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240808T140000
DTSTAMP:20260211T183840Z
CREATED:20260209T110819Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T183840Z
UID:8980-1723122000-1723125600@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Cotton Mather and the Salem Witch Trials: Separating Fact from Fiction
DESCRIPTION:Cotton Mather is perhaps most famous for his role in the Salem witch trials. He was also the minister at Boston’s North Church (Second Church) and a prolific writer with a transatlantic audience. Mather has often been portrayed as an instigator of the trials and a witch hunter. But what exactly did he do\, and why has he been such a polarizing figure? \nThis virtual roundtable discussion featured Salem witch trials historian Marilynne Roach (author of The Salem Witch Trials and Six Women of Salem)\, Rachel Christ-Doane (Director of Education at the Salem Witch Museum)\, and Tricia Peone (Project Director of New England’s Hidden Histories at the Congregational Library & Archives). \nThe discussion focused on Cotton Mather’s writings about witchcraft\, misconceptions about his role in the Salem witch trials\, and his legacy today. \nSPEAKER BIOS \nMarilynne Roach is a writer\, researcher\, illustrator\, and lecturer who has so far written nine books on topics ranging from Thoreau at Walden to the Salem witchcraft trials. She was an associate editor on the definitive Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt and a member of the Gallows Hill Project that proved the correct location of the 1692 hangings (included in Archaeology Magazine’s list of the world’s ten most important discoveries of 2016). Roach’s The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege is considered the bible of the Salem witch trials. \nRachel Christ-Doane is the Director of Education at the Salem Witch Museum. She holds a BA in History from Clark University and MA in History and Museum Studies from Tufts University. As Director of Education she trains museum docents\, works with students and teachers\, creates educational programming\, oversees exhibit curation\, and engages in a range of research. Her recent publications include\, “The Salem Witch Trials Memorial: Finding Humanity in Tragedy” (Smithsonian Folklife\, 2022) and “The Untold Story of Dorothy Good\, Salem’s Youngest Accused Witch” (American Ancestors\, 2023). \nDr. Tricia Peone joined the CLA in 2022 as the Project Director for New England’s Hidden Histories. Prior to joining the CLA\, she was a research scholar at Historic New England for the Recovering New England’s Voices project. She has also previously worked as the public programs director at New Hampshire Humanities\, a university lecturer teaching classes on the Salem witch trials\, early New England\, and public history\, and as a researcher for cultural heritage organizations. She holds a PhD in history from the University of New Hampshire with a specialization in the early modern Atlantic world and history of science.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/cotton-mather-and-swt
LOCATION:Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMSWTCarousel400.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240806T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240806T180000
DTSTAMP:20260209T154521Z
CREATED:20260209T154521Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260209T154521Z
UID:9311-1722960000-1722967200@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:NACCC Ministers & Members Reception 2024
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/naccc-reception-24
LOCATION:Congregational Library & Archives\, 14 Beacon Street\, Boston\, MA\, 02108\, United States
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240627T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240627T140000
DTSTAMP:20260211T170919Z
CREATED:20260209T110547Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T170919Z
UID:8978-1719493200-1719496800@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:The Quebec Act at 250
DESCRIPTION:In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Quebec Act\, Dr. Brendan McConville explored the significance of the inclusion of the formerly French province into the British North American colonies—and why it made Congregationalists so profoundly uncomfortable. \nIn June 1774\, Parliament incorporated the formerly French province of Quebec into the British Empire. With that move\, the governor and his council at Quebec continued to legislate\, Roman Catholicism could be openly practiced\, and French civil law continued. In addition\, the territory between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers now came under the control of the governor of Quebec. \nWatch the video from this excellent discussion to learn more about how these developments\, occurring a little over a decade following the end of a major war with France\, caused alarm among British North American colonists already unsettled by other acts of Parliament. \nThis program was part of Revolutionary Stories\, New England’s Hidden Histories’ series on the American Revolution and the Congregational experience. \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Brendan McConville is Professor of History at Boston University and Director of the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society. His research focuses on the intersection of politics and social developments in Early America. He is the author of These Daring Disturbers of the Public Peace (Cornell\, 1999\, paperback University of Pennsylvania\, 2003)\, The King’s Three Faces: The Rise and Fall of Royal America\, 1688-1776 (OIEAHC-UNC Press\, 2006)\, and The Brethren: A Story of Faith and Conspiracy in Revolutionary America (Harvard\, 2021).
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/quebec-act-250
LOCATION:Virtual
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240619T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240619T140000
DTSTAMP:20260608T132434Z
CREATED:20260209T110341Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260608T132434Z
UID:8973-1718802000-1718805600@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:A Theology of Brotherhood: The Federal Council of Churches and the Problem of Race
DESCRIPTION:ACCESS VIDEO TRANSCRIPT + RESOURCES \nA Theology of Brotherhood explores how the national umbrella Christian organization\, the Federal Council of Churches\, acted as a crucial conduit and organizational force for the dissemination of “progressive” views on race in the first half of the twentieth century. \nDrawing on years of archival research\, Dr. Curtis J. Evans shows that the Council’s theological approach to race\, and in particular its anti-lynching campaign\, were responsible for meaningful progress on racial issues in some white Protestant churches. The book highlights the contributions that their religious vision made in expanding and propagating a civic nationalist tradition that was grounded in a “universal brotherhood” and belief in the equality of all human beings\, over and against a racial nationalist ideology that conceived of America in ethno-racial terms. \nIn this program\, Dr. Evans focused on the work of Dr. George Edmund Haynes\, an African-American Congregationalist who was the Executive Secretary of the FCC Commission on Church and Race Relations during the 1920s and 1930s. A graduate of Fisk and Yale\, Haynes was one of the first African Americans to receive a PhD from Columbia University. He co-founded and served as the Executive Director of the National Urban League before playing a pivotal role in the Federal Council of Churches. \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. Curtis J. Evans is Associate Professor of American Religions and the History of Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is also the author of The Burden of Black Religion.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/theology-brotherhood
LOCATION:Virtual
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END:VCALENDAR