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For the past two Saturdays, I've had the delight of visiting small history museums in Connecticut. I visited Branford's Harrison House, which is a colonial home and museum, and wrote it up for my column in Branford Patch. The following Saturday, I headed out with my friend TJ to New London's Nathan Hale Schoolhouse, where a young Nathan Hale taught. I will admit that I know more about Nathan Hale since I started reading Lora Innes's The Dreamer than I had prior, in part because she inspired me to grab some revolutionary history off the bookshelves at the library and look him up. The reason we hiked out to New London on Saturday was because Lora was there in person, doing a presentation on her new graphic exhibit featured on the museum's walls. Lora talked about how historical fiction is a gateway into history (clearly, it worked for me).
The Schoolhouse is small -- only two rooms -- but it's recently been restored, so it gives a feel for just how it would have been when Hale was teaching, and discovering his love for teaching. In the (very warm) upstairs room, the previous exhibit about spies during the American Revolution held our attention while we waited for the exhibit opening to begin. Of course, the Culper Ring (one of the most important spy rings of the Revolution) was mentioned, so I texted Arielle Kesweder, who, along with being one of my first-readers, is a in tune with all things geek culture, and asked her in what comic I'd heard of the Culper Ring before. (Answer: Y: The Last Man -- which further proves Lora's point about fiction opening doors to history.) The upstairs also revealed chalk drawings dating back to the Revolutionary period, including this one that is likely of the privateer ship, Nancy.
The presentation began promptly at two with an introduction from state historian Walt Woodward, who celebrated the exhibit team's (Jennifer Eifrig, Stephen Shaw, Rachel Smith, and Lora Innes) approach to introducing Nathan Hale as a human, rather than a hero. A lot of people only bother to remember Hale for his failed spy mission and subsequent execution, but insight into his days in New London show a man who would have been a teacher, a husband, and a father had he lived long enough. Lora was up next, discussing how fandom brings a huge amount of enthusiasm not just for media, but for history. In fact, several other The Dreamer readers were there, including a librarian from just a few towns over (Lora introduced us and gave the two of us a chance to bond as grown up comic readers and history nerds).
I took many photos, but instead of uploading them all here behind a cut, I've put them up over at my facebook page -- they include some nifty images of Lora, the Dreamers, the exhibit team, and New London's very cool historical monuments. I hope you'll check them out, but in the meantime, will leave you with this image:
Happy Fourth of July!
The Schoolhouse is small -- only two rooms -- but it's recently been restored, so it gives a feel for just how it would have been when Hale was teaching, and discovering his love for teaching. In the (very warm) upstairs room, the previous exhibit about spies during the American Revolution held our attention while we waited for the exhibit opening to begin. Of course, the Culper Ring (one of the most important spy rings of the Revolution) was mentioned, so I texted Arielle Kesweder, who, along with being one of my first-readers, is a in tune with all things geek culture, and asked her in what comic I'd heard of the Culper Ring before. (Answer: Y: The Last Man -- which further proves Lora's point about fiction opening doors to history.) The upstairs also revealed chalk drawings dating back to the Revolutionary period, including this one that is likely of the privateer ship, Nancy.
The presentation began promptly at two with an introduction from state historian Walt Woodward, who celebrated the exhibit team's (Jennifer Eifrig, Stephen Shaw, Rachel Smith, and Lora Innes) approach to introducing Nathan Hale as a human, rather than a hero. A lot of people only bother to remember Hale for his failed spy mission and subsequent execution, but insight into his days in New London show a man who would have been a teacher, a husband, and a father had he lived long enough. Lora was up next, discussing how fandom brings a huge amount of enthusiasm not just for media, but for history. In fact, several other The Dreamer readers were there, including a librarian from just a few towns over (Lora introduced us and gave the two of us a chance to bond as grown up comic readers and history nerds).
I took many photos, but instead of uploading them all here behind a cut, I've put them up over at my facebook page -- they include some nifty images of Lora, the Dreamers, the exhibit team, and New London's very cool historical monuments. I hope you'll check them out, but in the meantime, will leave you with this image:
Happy Fourth of July!
