ART WORKS at AVA
A Series of January Programs and Events
Presented in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition THE WAY WE WORKED
On four consecutive Sunday afternoons in January, AVA will be hosting programs by authorities on the history of the industrialization in New England mill towns, including Lebanon. Two of these programs—a lecture and the premiere of a documentary film— are offered in conjunction with Historic New England, one of the sponsors of The Way We Worked exhibition. (Historic New England is the oldest, largest and most comprehensive regional heritage organization in the nation, sharing the region’s history through vast collections, publications, museum properties, archives and family stories that document more than 400 years of life in New England.)
Sunday, January 6, 4pm
The New England Mill Town
Lecture by Jere Daniell, Dartmouth College History Professor Emeritus
Professor Jere Daniell, who grew up in the paper mill town of Millinocket, Maine, has a particular interest in the early industrialization of New England. His talk will range from the first water-powered mills to the flourishing of Lebanon’s textile industry.
Thanks for a great event, everyone!
*
Thursday, January 10, 6pm
Talk and Reading from Never Back Down by Ernest Hebert
”The Web Boy: Jack Landry's Purgatorial Summer Working in Father's Shop”
Ernest
Hebert, whose father worked in a textile mill in Keene, NH for nearly
half a century, will talk about his family’s work ethic. He will also
read a passage from his new novel, Never Back Down, which takes place in
a textile mill in 1957. The novel is based on Hebert’s experience, at
age sixteen, of working a summer as a “web boy” at International Narrow
Fabric Company, the workplace of his father.
Hebert
is the author of eleven published books, including nine novels, and
Professor of English at Dartmouth College. He is also a former AVA board
member.
Thanks for a great event, everyone!
*
Sunday, January 13, 4pm
Connecting the Threads: Overalls to Art—H.W. Carter & Sons Factory
A Documentary Film
This screening marks the premiere of a 35-minute documentary film featuring interviews with former H.W. Carter & Sons factory workers. Among those interviewed is 94-year-old Thelma Follensbee, who worked in the factory from age 16 until it closed in 1985. There are also interviews with relatives of factory owners and managers. Additionally, the film ties the building’s important manufacturing past to its present role as the home of AVA Gallery and Art Center. Several of the subjects who appear in the film will offer remarks following the screening.
A Historic New England/CATV/AVA Co-production.
Thanks for a great event, everyone!
*
Sunday, January 20, 4pm
Voices from the Back Stairs: Domestic Servants in 19th- and 20th-Century New England
Lecture by Jennifer Pustz, PhD, Museum Historian at Historic New England
Focusing on three Historic New England properties, this illustrated lecture will explore the diversity of domestic service in New England, illuminating the lives of servants and their relationships with their employers.
Thanks for a great event, everyone!
*
Sunday, January 27, 4pm
Mill Buildings in Lebanon
Lecture by Robert Welsch, Professor of Anthropology at Franklin Pierce College
Professor Robert Welsch, current Chair of Lebanon’s Heritage Commission and former Curator of Lebanon Historical Society, will discuss the industrial entrepreneurs of Lebanon since the Civil War. His talk will emphasize how the H.W. Carter & Sons factory was not a unique example of Lebanon’s role in industry, but merely one of the more successful ones.
Thanks for a great event, everyone!
