Upcoming Presentation in Northampton, MA

I hope everyone is feeling well today. I just thought that I'd take this opportunity to let you know that I'll be making a public presentation in Northampton, MA on Sat. October 9 at 5:00 p.m. in the Great Hall at the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, 220 Main Street. This event is co-sponsored by The David Ruggles Center for Early Florence History and Underground Studies and The Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence. The title of the presentation is "Abolition in Black and White: Ruggles, Douglass, and Ralph Waldo Emerson."

David Ruggles was a radical, black abolitionist who once lived in the Florence section of Northampton. He was a friend of Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, and other notable reformers of his day.  In the 1840s and later Florence was known as a community of social activists. As it turns out, I actually grew up in the house that Ruggles lived in until his death in 1849. You can learn more about Ruggles and see a picture of my boyhood home at:

http://davidrugglesinflorence.blogspot.com/2006/07/david-ruggleshannah-randall-house.html

 Needless to say, this revelation about Ruggles and me came as quite a surprise. In a way, it made me wonder if growing up in this house had something to do with my later interest in Emerson and his commitment to the antislavery movement, something that I've written quite a bit about. It made me think that Hamlet was probably right, "There's a divinity that shapes our ends,/  Rough-hew them as we will." The major theme of the talk is how black reformers and white reformers interacted in the pursuit of social justice and an end to the heinous institution of slavery.

You can find out more about this talk at:

http://www.davidrugglescenter.org/?page_id=437

Maybe I'll see you there.