Documenting Venture Smith Conference

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Program

Conference
Co-Hosts

Beecher House Center
for the Study of
Equal Rights

Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and
Emancipation

Program
line
One or two presenters listed may be participating via teleconference.

Friday, December 4 (Session One) - CT DEP, 79 Elm St., Hartford, CT
	9:00am	Registration & Coffee
	9:30am	Opening Remarks by co-directors of the Documenting Venture Smith Project David Richardson, Director Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation Chandler B. Saint, President Beecher House Center for the Study of Equal Rights
	10:00am	Hidden in Plain Sight: Solving the Mystery of Venture's "Lost" Land in Stonington Marta Daniels and Nancy Byrne A case study in documenting an 18th c. land purchase by Venture Smith, using deed research, computer mapping, and field surveying to locate and verify a rare land purchase by a free black in pre-revolutionary New England
	11:45am	Lunch Box Lunches & Informal Discussions Book sales with author signings
	1:15pm	To All on Equal Terms: The Life and Legacy of Prudence Crandall. Screening of the new film on Prudence Crandall, with an introduction by Karin E. Peterson, Museum Director, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism
	2:00pm	Panel Interpreting the Narrative; Using the Time Line and the map Venture Smith in America Chandler B. Saint, Historian Trust and Violence in Atlantic History: The Economic Worlds of Venture Smith Biblical References in the Narrative of Venture Smith Robert P. Forbes, University of Connecticut New England Whaling with Venture, and religious references in the Narrative. Keeping His Word: Money, Love, and Privacy in the Narrative of Venture Smith Anna Mae Duane, University of Connecticut
	4:00pm	First Session of Conference Concludes
Friday, December 4 (Reception) - The Lyceum, 227 Lawrence Street, Hartford, CT
	4:00pm	Reception for conference attendees and fundraiser for the Documenting Venture Smith Project Remembering Marget "Meg" Smith - born circa 1730 - died December 19, 1809 Wine and beer with light hot and cold refreshments Launching the program to give the reprint of Venture's Narrative and the CD of the reading of the Narrative to public libraries and school libraries. Meet the scholars, authors, Venture Smith (aka. Robert L. Hall) , and descendants. Preview the new panel exhibit Making Freedom - Venture Smith 1728-1805 being developed for opening February 2010 at The Museum of Connecticut History at the Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT, and at WISE, Oriel Chambers, Hull, UK
	8:00pm	Reception Concludes
Saturday, December 5 (Session Two) - The Lyceum, 227 Lawrence Street, Hartford, CT
	9:00am	Registration & Coffee
	9:30am	Opening Remarks James Brewer Stewart, National Board Chair Beecher House Center for the Study of Equal Rights
	9:45am	A Note on the Voyage of Venture Smith and the Historical Record of Transatlantic Slave Trading David Eltis and Paul Lachance, Emory University Besides their paper they will also be showing how to use the new website SlaveVoyages.org. This site documents 35,000 slave voyages from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries compiled from The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database
	10:45am	Venture Smith Interview Robert L. Hall, Notheastern University George R. Krimsky, Journalist Professor Robert L. Hall, as Venture Smith, in clothes made from the description in the April 1, 1754 runaway ad in The New-York Gazette: or The Weekly Post-Boy, interviewed by journalist and author George A. Krimsky
	11:45pm	Venture Smith, May I Introduce The Fishers Island School: An Educational Approach to the Life of Venture Smith. Sarah Gordon, Educator Elizabeth Sawyer, Student Ian Timmons, Student Talk on the play they produced for their school on Fishers Island, the island where Venture was enslaved by the Mumford family for almost 15 years
	12:00pm	Lunch Box Lunches & Informal Discussions Book sales with author signings
	1:15pm	Venture and Oliver: From Owned and Owner to Equals and Associates in Commerce Chandler B. Saint, Historian and author
	2:30pm	Panel Discussion moderated by... Part one: Discussion led by Florence P. Warmsley, 8th generation descendant, with other descendants on what it means to be a descendant, and the family's role in preserving Venture's legacy and sharing it with the public. Part two: A second group will join the descendants. This group includes a descendant of the families that owned Venture and students. It will be led by Carl Westmoreland, Senior Historian at the National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center, Cincinnati, OH
	4:30pm	Conference Concludes