Early March 2015 eNews

- EARLY MARCH EVENTS! -

For more details on all our events, please visit our website.

  

 

An Evening with Nell Bernstein - Burning Down The House

Thursday, March 5, 6:30 p.m. 

 

There will be a light supper reception at 5:30 p.m.

 

One in three American school children will be arrested by the time they are twenty-three. Many of these youth will spend time in detention centers that do not incorporate everything we know about how to rehabilitate young offenders. In a candid examination of the American juvenile justice system, award-winning journalist Nell Bernstein shows that there is no right way to lock up a child.  Join Bernstein and WNPR's John Dankosky for a conversation that explores this controversial issue and discusses alternative community programs that support the child and their family. Sponsored with Community Partners in Action, Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance & the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.

 

Tickets are $20 which includes a light supper reception from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. For tickets, please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.

 

 

 

 

The Reformed Whores - Music & Comedy Duo

Saturday, March 7, 7:30 p.m.

  

MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY

They may be dressed in their Sunday best, but don't let their innocent smiles and southern charm fool you! If Tenacious D and Dolly Parton got drunk and had a baby it would be the musical comedy duo Reformed Whores! 

 

Southern bred, but NYC based, Marie Cecile Anderson and Katy Frame deliver hilariously dirty country tunes with a wink and a smile. 

 

Tickets are $20/ $15 for MTH&M members. For tickets, please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.

 

 

 

 

The Trouble Begins at 5:30: Twain, Travel and Prejudice

Wednesday, March 11, 5:00 p.m 


 
A wine and hors d'oeuvres reception will be served prior to the 5:30 discussion.


Continuing the prelude to our exhibit, 'Travel is Fatal to Prejudice': Mark Twain's Journeys Abroad, opening March 19, former Mark Twain House Education Manager Craig Hotchkiss will speak on Mark Twain, Travel  and Prejudice. Hotchkiss shows how, through travel, a boy with a parochial and bigoted upbringing was gradually transformed into a champion of human rights and equality across the globe. 


 

The series is supported by Connecticut Explored magazine, Hot Tomato's restaurant. Big Dollar Liquors of Bristol and The Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum.

 

Suggested donation $5.00. Reservations are recommended.  Please call 860-280-3130 or click here.



 

An Evening of Celtic Magic with 

Daniel GreenWolf

Friday, March 13, 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM


Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, we are delighted to have the incredible illusions, magic and comedic storytelling of Daniel GreenWolf back at The Mark Twain House & Museum, to perform for both young and old! Check out a video of Daniel here.


Tickets are $20/ $15 for MTH&M members. Please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.


 

 


 

TRANScribing: Gender Identity, Self-Expression, and Creativity

Wednesday, March 18, 7:30 p.m.

 


 

The program will feature three transgender authors: Joy Ladin, a poet and the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution, and Tobias Davis, a transgender activist, playwright, and young adult novelist, and Dr. Joe Wenke, a writer, social critic and LGBTQ rights activist.


The panel will discuss their varied journeys and how they create their writings.  Topics will include what audience the authors are writing for, does their transgender status make it hard to get visibility for their work, and how they use their writing as a form of self-expression. The discussion will be moderated by Jacques Lamarre, Director of Communications and Programs at the Mark Twain House.


This is a FREE event.  Reservations are recommended.  Please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.


 


 

Exhibit Opening Reception
'Travel Is Fatal to Prejudice': Mark Twain's Jouneys Abroad

Thursday, March 19, 5:30 p.m.


Mark Twain's first major work was a travel book, The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims' Progress, published in 1869.  In it, he writes: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts." We celebrate three great journeys he took during his lifetime, each of which led to a significant travel book full of humor, wisdom and lyrical description. It is our major exhibition for 2015, and we invite the public to a free wine & cheese reception at 5:30 p.m. on March 19 to welcome it.


The exhibition will include such extraordinary items as Ottoman Turkish garb purchased on the first of these journeys, jewelry and other exotic items purchased on the second, and a rare jade pendant received by Mark Twain's wife as a gift from the Maori people -- along with books, manuscripts and revealing letters. Visitors will enter set-piece scenes from the books that will put them in the traveling spirit -- and provide a spot for a "selfie." 


This exhibition is generously supported by The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company.


 

The opening reception is a free event. Reservations are recommended. Please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.


 


 

 
THANK YOU TO OUR NEW & RENEWING    (January 22 through February 24)
 

Emily Auger

Elizabeth Dee Bailey

Sandra L. Brangiero

Amy Brunelli

Jeffrey & Suzanne Burgess

Joanne Caissie

David Carkeet

Chae Ho Cho

Henry Cohn

Kayla Colbert

Aisling Colon

William A. & Mary Anne DeGrazia

Lillian Donner-Jacobson

Catherine Dunn

Bob Englehart & Pat McGrath

Lynn H. Ferrari

Jean F. Filer

JoAnn Floridia

Jan Fontanella

Donna P. Frank

Alfred & Kathleen Garofolo

Jennifer Glick

Victoria Graves

Daniel Gregg

Mark Haims & Erica Bloch

Linda A. Henriques

Dawn C. Hoffman

Ellen Kalinkat

Roger & Laurel Kirschen


 

 

Lisandra Lassen

William & Ann Lazarek

Beverly A. Loughlin

Louise E. Mann

Bernice Manning

Earl McMahon & Dina Plapler

The Revs. Barry W. & Ann C. Miller

Thomas & Marlee Mooney

Dicie Mueller

Stanley P. Oakley

Doreen Oshinskie

Marcia Parish

Kenneth Przybysz

Michael & Noreen Reuber

John M. Reynolds

Emily Perretta & Nancy Ritter

Mark & Cheryl Roy

Thomas & Wendy Seymour

Larry & Virginia Shobe

Joanne Shulman

David Symonds & Eric Johnson

Karen M. Thomson

Timothy & Katherine Throckmorton

Sarah Townswick

Mr. Charles H. Wheeler

Mary Ellen White

Susan Willard

Deborah Wilson

David J. & Sylvia Jane Wojcik

Xinsheng Zhang

  


 

  
THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS (January 22 through Feb. 24)
 
INDIVIDUAL 


Judith E. Askey

Linda Biancalani

Lesa & Robert Laraia

Mary Jane Converse

John B. De Laney

Joel & Susan Freedman

Helen B. Gray

Richard Heldmann

Alice Hendrickson

Chloe & Wesley Horton

Dan & Lila Kain

Andrea Karanian

Maribel La Luz

Wally & Christine Lamb

Matthew & Ingrid Maclean

H. Richard McLane

Jeffrey & Donna Oller

Carol Olsen

Frederick & Philomena Sawyer

Jeanmarie B. Shea

Brett & Brenda Williams

INSTITUTIONAL 

 

The Bay and Paul Foundations


 

Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum


 

The Hartford


 

The Saunders Foundation


 

United Technologies Corporation



 

IN HONOR OF HAL HOLBROOK ON HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY


 

Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Ph.D.

Dr. Cindy Lovell

Gavin & Linda Wilson


 

  
 
 Make the most of your donation, be sure to ask your employer about matching gifts.

 
RESTORATION NEWS - AND A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS



 

We are thrilled to share the repair and restoration of three items from our Collections, made possible by our generous supporters.


 

Two of the pieces, a Rodgers silver electroplate cake plate with pheasant figures, and a cast metal picture frame are from the same period of time that Twain lived in the Hartford home with his family (1874-1891). Both of these pieces have been returned to the House and are on display for visitors to enjoy.


 

The third piece, a Persian or mosque lamp, was purchased by Twain and his family for the entrance hall of their Hartford home.  It reflects the exotic d�cor from the 1881 redecoration of the home's public spaces by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Associated Artists. The lamp was damaged in a fall several years ago, and required complicated repairs. It will be on display to the public in The Mark Twain House and Museum's upcoming exhibition, Travel is Fatal to Prejudice which opens March 19, 2015. Following the exhibition closing in 2016, the Persian lamp will be rehung in the House.


 

All of these pieces are significant to the interpretation of the Mark Twain House, and we are pleased to have them restored and on display for the museum's thousands of visitors. We look forward to welcoming you among those visitors.


 

Our deepest thanks to The Ahearn Family Foundation for providing significant funding, as well as Atessa Afshar, Michael & Keri Beck, Edward & Sally Carrier, John Groo, Craig & Jeanne Hotchkiss, Betty J. LaChapelle, Cindy Lovell, Nancy O'Neil, Charles & Carol Paydos, and Anonymous Donors. 





Writers' Weekend 2015!

April 17-19


 

Our Annual Mark Twain House Writers' Weekend is back for our 4th year! 

 

This year, our keynote speakers are Dani Shapiro, best-selling author of Devotion and Still Writing, and 

Random House employees Ann Kingman & Michael Kindness, hosts of the Books On The Nightstand podcast. 

 

Peek into the inner lives of the region's best writers; hone your craft with workshops on fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and storytelling; learn the publishing industry's secrets on pitching, agents, and publicity; meet other writers; and read your work aloud at our closing event. Tickets are available for the whole weekend or just one day.  Become a better writer at the home of one of the best writers in American history--it's a weekend of inspiration and hard work, bound to get you on the right path to the next stage of your writing life. 

 

For reservations, please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.

  

 

 


 

Mark Twain House & Museum: Spring Writing Classes & Workshops


Be the writer you've always wanted to be-- study at the home of America's greatest writer!

 

6-Week Classes ($265):

Historic Fiction

Memoir

Children's Lit

Political Poetry

Self Publishing

Humor

Fiction

Writing for the Web


4-week Class ($199):

Writing from found texts



 

One-Day Workshops ($40):

Freelancing

Getting Started

Memoir

Writing for Young Adults

 

 

Don't miss out -- for the schedule of classes and workshops, or to register, please visit www.marktwainhouse.org or call (860) 280-3130

 

Questions? Email [email protected]

 



 

MARK TWAIN STORE 
FEATURED ITEM OF THE MONTH

Travel is Fatal to Prejudice Deluxe Travel Mug - $18.98

 

"Travel is Fatal to Prejudice" stainless steel travel mug. 12 oz. spill proof lid.

Pick one up in the store or order online here.



JOIN The Mark Twain House & Museum!

 

Enjoy the special insider benefits of membership in The Mark Twain House & Museum. And there's the sheer joy of being part of the legacy of Mark Twain, whose wit and insight remain alive today in 2014 -- over 150 years after Sam Clemens took on his famous pen name and entered history.

 

Submit our easy-to-use, secure online membership form or simply call 860-280-3112.

 

Make a DONATION Today!

 

Your donation to The Mark Twain House & Museum has a major impact on our ability to preserve this beautiful home, provide crucial educational programs for thousands of schoolchildren, offer mind-stimulating and spine-tingling events for adults, and welcome thousands of visitors each year. 

 

 ...and make your donation count double: Find out if your employer has a Matching Gift program.

 

Donate online, call 860-280-3112, or send your donation to: The Mark Twain House & Museum, Development Department, 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut 06105.

 

Join the FRIENDS!

 

The Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum offer wonderful speaking events, social gatherings, and fun volunteer opportunities. Pony up $30 and you'll get it all, too!

 

It's the volunteer organization that has supported the museum for more than 50 years. To join, call Membership Co-Chairs Chuck Paydos, 860-242-4825, or Dee Peters, 860-233-4066.

 

 

The Mark Twain House & Museum has restored the author's Hartford, Connecticut, home, where the author and his family lived from 1874 to 1891. Twain wrote his most important works there, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In addition to providing tours of Twain's restored home, a National Historic Landmark, the institution offers activities and educational programs that illuminate Twain's literary legacy and provide information about his life and times. The house and museum at 351 Farmington Ave. are open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, 11:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. For more information, call 860-247-0998 or visit us online. Programs at The Mark Twain House & Museum are supported by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and the Greater Hartford Arts Council's United Arts Campaign.

 

David Cash, Publicist and Publications Editor

The Mark Twain House & Museum