Wilton Library and the Wilton Historical Society are pleased to announce their tenth season of Scholarly Series collaborations, “Finding Our Place: Evolving an American Identity,” with the first lecture of the series beginning Sunday, Jan. 29, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Wilton Library. The five-part series will focus on the global perspective and the United States’ place in the world, specifically World War I and its aftermath. The popular lecture series will feature four new speakers and one returning lecturer who will wrap up the sessions in April. In recognizing the many contributions to the town of Louise and the late Fred Herot, principal sponsors for the series are the Democratic Town Committee, the Republican Town Committee and a group of unaffiliated voters.
Louise Herot, committee chair over the past nine seasons, remarked, “We are pleased with this year’s offering. ‘Finding our Place: Evolving an American Identity’ focuses on how the events and decisions of the past have shaped our present. As we begin 2017 with a new president, it is fitting that we examine our American identity from many perspectives, just as our young nation searched for its identity in a rapidly changing world.”
All of the lectures are on Sundays, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and are free. Registration is strongly recommended for this popular series. Informal receptions will be held after each lecture. Attendees are asked to register separately for each of the sessions which are held either at the library or the Historical Society.
The dates, topics and speakers are as follows:
Sunday, January 29, 2017 Speaker John Tully--American Identity and the ‘American Century’: How US Foreign Policy in the 20th Century Shaped and Reflected American Values –Wilton Library. Professor John Tully will kick off the series by introducing the audience to the global perspective and the place of the United States in the world. Professor Tully will be discussing the ways that American foreign relations in the 20th century were both affected by and shaped American values. From the expansion at the turn of the century, through WWI and WWII, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and 9/11, the ways that Americans have responded to world events has shaped its national identity and its national memory. John Tully received his B.A. from Boston University in 1989 and his M.A. from Central Connecticut State University in 1995. From 1998 until 2004 he was the founding director of the Harvey Goldberg Program for Excellence in Teaching at The Ohio State University. He received his Ph.D. from Ohio State with a concentration in the history of American Foreign Relations in 2004 and joined the CCSU history faculty that year. The lecture is sponsored by an anonymous donor; the moderator is Max Gabrielson.
Sunday, February 26 Speaker: Amy Trout—Connecticut and the Federal Art Project: Idealism and Identity During the 1930s - Wilton Library. Museum Curator Amy Trout will focus on community identity expressed in and shaped by art. By examining the artwork created by Connecticut artists for the Federal Art Project (1935-1941), Ms. Trout will discuss Connecticut's identity during the decade of the Depression. Did the artwork reflect the harsh reality of the times or was it an idealized version of the past? Amy Trout has been the Curator of the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, Connecticut since 2008. Previously, she spent twenty years at the New Haven Historical Society (now known as the New Haven Museum) where she first began her study of the Federal Art Project in Connecticut. The lecture is sponsored by Lila and Buck Griswold; the moderator is Steve Hudspeth.
Sunday, March 12 Speaker: Emery Roth—Finding Brass Valley, a Place in Time that Has Almost Vanished - Emery Roth --Wilton Library. Emery Roth will focus on place in society defined by work, specifically the Connecticut brass industry and its collapse. Connecticut’s Naugatuck River valley was where the brass industry thrived until the last factory closed in 2013. The talk is derived from Roth's book, Brass Valley: The Fall of an American Industry (Schiffer Books, 2015). The book tells the story of the last working brass mill, how Brass Valley came to be, the men and communities that made Brass Valley and the culture that is the American Dream. There will be a Q&A and book signing after. Emery Roth, Southwest CT Arts Council, has been shooting photographs since childhood. He studied both design and language arts at Carnegie-Mellon University, simultaneously earning degrees in architecture and literature. The lecture is sponsored by Janice and Michael Hess; moderator is Max Gabrielson.
Sunday, March 26 Speaker: Julia Adams --Navigating the New Digital Landscape of Knowledge - Wilton Historical Society—Professor Julia Adams will highlight the role of women in 'tech culture' within our emergent digital environment. Drawing on her research on Wikipedia and academic knowledge, and on the uses of journalism and fake news in the recent presidential election, Professor Adams will discuss the promise and peril in the emergent digital landscape of knowledge. Julia Adams is Professor of Sociology and International and Area Studies and Head of Calhoun College at Yale University. At Yale she has chaired the department of Sociology, directed the Division of the Social Sciences and the International Affairs Council. She currently codirects YaleCHESS (Center for Historical Enquiry & the Social Sciences). The lecture is sponsored by Elaine Tai-Lauria and Phil Lauria; moderator is Steve Hudspeth.
Sunday, April 2 Speaker: Matthew Warshauer—9/11 and America's World View – Wilton Historical Society. Professor Matthew Warshauer returns to the Scholarly Series for the fifth time. His talk will summarize the series, focusing specifically on two themes: who are we now and who can we expect to be? In his lecture, Dr. Warshauer will reflect on America's response to the 9/11 attacks. He will also examine the nation’s memory of the tragedy as well as where America is today more than 15 years later. Dr. Warshauer received his B.A. in history from Central Connecticut State University in 1990. He completed his M.A. (1993) and Ph.D. (1997) in American Studies at Saint Louis University. He joined the faculty at CCSU in the fall of 1997 and has served as editor of Connecticut History from 2003 to 2011. The lecture is sponsored by Chris and Dan Delmar; moderator is Max Gabrielson.
Elaine Tai-Lauria, executive director of Wilton Library commented, “It is such a pleasure to bring this quality series to the community year after year. It is part of what makes Wilton’s identity such a strong one for enriching the lives of those who live, work, and visit here.”
Leslie Nolan, executive director of the Wilton Historical Society noted, “We are looking forward to a wonderful series because we know how important it has become to the community that looks forward to this college-level course right in its own neighborhood.”
Wilton Library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton. The Wilton Historical Society is at 224 Danbury Road in Wilton. For more information about the series topics and speakers, directions and to register for each of the lectures, visit www.wiltonlibrary.org or call 203-762-6334.