WINSLOW HOMER’S AMERICA: THE ART OF A NEW NATION  –  NOTE DATE CHANGE FROM OCTOBER 13

Tuesday, November 3
10:00 a.m. at GCC
Program #48252

Cost: $3

Presenter: Bob Potter

The speaker is a graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts.  He was an art director and marketing executive for leading media companies, created arts therapy programs, and was a corporate development officer for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.  He later launched a career development program for art majors at the Lyme Academy of Art and is currently a docent at the Yale Center for British Art.

Program

Through Winslow Homer we see almost everything that defined the human spirit of America in the mid-to-late 19th century. Through his battlefront  paintings of the Civil War, dramatic seascapes of Maine, and the changing lives of Americans from farms to cities, Winslow Homer captured the spirit of an evolving new nation as one of our greatest artists.

TRIP: THE NEW BRITAIN MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

Wednesday, November 4
9:30 a.m. at SGC
Program #48260

Cost: $25

A docent-led tour of the exhibition John Hitchcock: We Are Defined by the Beat.

Across vibrant and varied media, including prints, sculpture and sound, the artist explores the origins of American creativity.

GREAT DECISIONS

Thursday, November 5
9:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. at GCC
Program #48253

Facilitator: Tom Lee

Please refer to October 15

THE MYSTERIES OF KRATOM

Tuesday, November 10
10:00 a.m. at GCC
Program #48261

Cost: $3

Presenter: Steve Hamm

Steve Hamm is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, novelist, and non-fiction book author. He is a New Haven, CT resident.  See his previous documentaries at elmcityfilms.org

Program

Steve Hamm returns to SSILL to present his latest film which explores the world of kratom, a southeast Asian tree whose freshly harvested leaves have been used for centuries to address pain and hot/humid working conditions.  More recently, concoctions made from dried and powdered kratom have become non-regulated cure-alls in the United States and Europe, where people use them for pain, anxiety, and depression, and withdrawal from opioid addiction.

Some people sing kratom’s praises.  Others blame it for addiction, overdoses, and even death.

This documentary looks at the history, the chemistry, and the sociology of kratom at a time when experimentation with unproven cures is exploding in America.

BOOK DISCUSSION: IMMIGRANT WOMEN IN THE LAND OF DOLLARS BY ELIZABETH EWEN

Monday, November 16
10:00 a.m. at GCC
Program #48262

Cost: $3

Facilitator: Pam Asmus, Ph.D.

Pam did her graduate work in American Studies at Brown University with a specialty in American women, American social and intellectual history, and American literature. She has taught at the University of New Haven, SCSU, and Wesleyan University.

Explore the daily lives of Jewish and Italian immigrant women on New York’s lower East Side between 1890 and 1925. The book describes how these women navigated the shift from rural peasant life to industrial urbanization.

PAGE HARDWARE AND APPLIANCE COMPANY: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

Tuesday, November 17
10:00 a.m. at GCC
Program #48263

Cost: $3

Presenter: Andrew Page

Andrew Page grew up working in the family store with his older brothers and other extended family members. After college, he returned to Guilford and formally joined the family business.

Program

This Guilford landmark has remained a fixture on the Guilford Green. How has this local hardware store survived and prospered since 1940?  And, how can an independent hardware and appliance retailer continue to be relevant today? Learn about its history and importance with one of Guilford’s native sons.

WHERE DID WE COME FROM?

Wednesday, November 18
10:00 a.m. at GCC
Program #48264

Cost: $3

Presenter: Carl Zimmer

Carl Zimmer is the science columnist for the New York Times, where he has reported on evolution for over twenty years. His latest book is Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe. SSILL is excited to welcome back this well-known author.

Program

The mystery of human origins has obsessed scientists ever since Darwin’s day. But only now are they finding crucial pieces of evidence to let them solve this great puzzle – from ancient DNA to virtual brain scans of Neanderthals. Based on his reporting for the New York Times, science writer Carl Zimmer will explore millions of years of evolution.

GREAT DECISIONS

Thursday, November 19
10:00 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. at GCC
Program #48253

Facilitator: Tom Lee

Refer to October 15

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THANKSGIVING: MYTHS AND REALITIES OF A BELOVED AMERICAN HOLIDAY

Tuesday, November 24
10:00 a.m. at GCC
Program #48265

Cost: $3

Presenter: Sarah Sportman, Ph.D.

The speaker is the Connecticut State Archaeologist and an Assistant Extension Professor at the University of Connecticut.  Trained as both an archaeologist and a historian, Dr. Sportman has over twenty-five years of experience working in New England archaeology. She is part of the staff of the CT State Museum of Natural History, and serves on the State Historic Preservation Council, the Native American Advisory Board, the CT Geographic Names Committee, and is on the Executive Boards of the Archeological Society of CT, and the Council for Northeast Historical Archeology.  Her work has appeared in numerous publications.

Program

The folklore surrounding the first Thanksgiving obscures the complex relationships between early English colonists and Indigenous peoples in New England. This presentation draws on the archaeological and historical research around one of America’s most cherished origin stories.