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Connecticut River Museum Talks: Elizabeth Normen, “Venture Smith”
February 23 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
CRM Talks – Elizabeth Normen
“Venture Smith”
Thursday, February 23, 2023
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Members FREE
Non-Members $5.00
Elizabeth Normen presents: The Central Role of the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound in the Life of Venture Smith
Join us as Elizabeth Normen discusses the central role that river and sea, specifically the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound, played in the quest for freedom of Venture Smith.
Normen is the Founding Publisher (retired) of Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut history celebrating its 20th anniversary; and editor or co-author of African American Connecticut Explored (Wesleyan University Press, 2014), Where I Live: Connecticut for grades 3 & 4 (Connecticut Explored, 2017), and Venture Smith’s Colonial Connecticut for grades 5 – 8 (Connecticut Explored, 2019).
Using his narrative published in 1798, Elizabeth Normen discusses the central role that river and sea, specifically the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound, played in the colonial-era life of Venture Smith. Smith was kidnapped as a child in West African and enslaved in Southeastern Connecticut until he bought his freedom in 1765. As a free man, he settled along the Salmon River in Haddam Neck. Find out how water and the southern New England maritime economy were inextricably linked to his quest for freedom.
Books will be available for sale. Venture Smith’s Colonial Connecticut was a 2020 finalist for the Connecticut Center for the Book, Spirit of Connecticut award.
Image Courtesy of Elizabeth Normen
CRM Talks 2023:
February 23, 2023: Elizabeth Normen, Venture Smith
March 21, 2023: Steve Taylor, Connecticut Valley Agriculture: A Continuum of Change
April 18, 2023: Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes, Maritime History: Indigenous & African American
May 17, 2023: Michaelle Pearson and Jim Lampos: Remarkable Women of Old Lyme
