BICENTENNIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The following report, with additions and edits by Communications Assistant Carla Gomez,  was prepared by Bicentennial Coordinator Reverend Dorothy Emerson to recap the events which have taken place thus far as part of the Bicentennial Celebration.  At the report's conclusion, please look for the exciting upcoming events to add to your calendar.

RECAP

The celebration of Margaret Fuller’s Bicentennial is now in full swing. We have held the first five of our series of Conversations. The programs have been publicized to all of you via our newsletters and web site, as well as through the Mass Humanities website, Facebook, and press releases.  The traveling display, “Why Margaret Fuller Matters,” has been shown in twelve locations in Massachusetts, including four of the Conversations programs. 

The first Conversation, “Why Margaret Fuller Matters,” was held at the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House (her birthplace) on Saturday, May 15. As participants entered, they had an opportunity to see the traveling display in the library where Margaret read her first books. We were welcomed by Barbara Kibler, executive director, who told us about the facilities and programs the House provides for the community today. The program was moderated by project director, Dorothy Emerson, who presented a biographical sketch of Margaret’s life, focusing on her life in that house and on her growing up and young adult years in Cambridge. Our project Humanities Scholar, Laurie Crumpacker, Professor of History at Simmons College, then spoke about Margaret Fuller’s work, especially her front page articles in the New York Tribune, of which she had brought samples for us to see. A lively discussion followed. Refreshments were provided by the co-sponsor, the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House.

The second Conversation, “Margaret Fuller in Groton: Shaping a Life, Framing a Mind,” was held on Sunday, May 16, at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Groton, which co-hosted the event and provided refreshments. We were welcomed by the Rev. Elea Kemler, who explained that this was the church attended by the Fuller family while they lived in Groton. The program was moderated by Dorothy Emerson, who began with a biographical sketch of Margaret Fuller’s life focusing on her time in Groton. Marcia Synnott, Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, spoke about the importance of Margaret’s work and ideas, and Fritz Fleischmann, Professor of English at Babson College, spoke about Margaret’s time in Europe and the significance of her reports to the American public published in the New York Tribune. Another lively discussion ensued.

 The third Conversation, "Portraying Margaret Fuller and Friends Onstage," was held on June 19 at the First Church in Belmont.  In conjunction with one of the evening productions of the play, “The Margaret Ghost.” The author of the play, Carole Braverman, had been scheduled to speak but was called away by a medical emergency. Instead, Dorothy Emerson read portions of the playwright’s essay, “Searching for Margaret Fuller: Dramatizing Literary History.” Elizabeth Hunter, director of Theatre@First, spoke about her experience of producing the play several years ago and again this year as part of the Bicentennial. Actor Andrea Humez shared her experience of portraying Margaret. This event was also a fund-raiser, with refreshments donated by Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s (Alewife stores).

The fourth Conversation was the memorial service Margaret Fuller never had. Held in Bigelow Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery on July 18, this “Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli” was co-sponsored by the cemetery, which provided refreshments and donated a wreath for the celebration. The program was conducted by the Rev. Rosemarie Smuzinski and featured remembrances by key friends of Fuller, who appeared in historical dress.  Rob Velella researched and prepared the script based on what these people wrote about her.  Actress Jessa Piaia, dressed as Margaret Fuller, also wrote and delivered remarks regarding Margaret's "Premonitions."  Wendell Refior appeared as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Smith as Henry David Thoreau, Rob Velella as James Freeman Clarke, Dorothy Emerson as Elizabeth Peabody, and Deb Goss as Julia Ward Howe. A pilgrimage to the Fuller Family Lot followed the service. The wreath was laid there, and Jessica Lipnack invited participants to come forward, take a flower, lay it on the cenotaph (monument), and share reflections on what Margaret Fuller means to them today.

The fifth Conversation took place on August 19 at the Old Manse in Concord. The program featured a dramatic dialog between Margaret Fuller and Edgar Allen Poe, portrayed by Jessa Piaia and Rob Velella. The Trustees of Reservations held special tours of the Manse, led by the co-sponsors, focusing on Margaret’s visits to the house. The dramatic presentation was followed by a question and answer session, with time at the conclusion for refreshments and casual conversations with attendees, staff, and performers.

 The programs have been a resounding success. Charles Capper, Fuller biographer, stated that this is the largest and most comprehensive bicentennial ever held for an American author.  We are grateful to Mass Humanities for supporting these programs as part of this amazing Bicentennial year.

SAVE THE DATE

Thursday, October 21, 2010, 7:30 PM, at First Parish in Concord, Unitarian Universalist.  “Margaret Fuller in Italy,” lecture and slides by the Rev. Jenny Rankin, who traveled to Rome to research Margaret Fuller's experiences in Italy and retrace her steps. Co-sponsored by First Parish and the Transcendentalist Council of First Parish.

Sunday, November 7, 2010, 3 PM, at Arlington Street Church, Boston. “Margaret Fuller’s Network: How Politics, Literature, and Art Crossed in the World Around Her,” with John Matteson, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father and Associate Professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY; Daniel McKanan, Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, and author of forthcoming book featuring Margaret Fuller’s friendship with Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini; with an introduction by the Rev. Dr. Dorothy Emerson, coordinator of the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial, and author/editor of Standing Before Us: Unitarian Universalist Women and Social Reform 1776-1936; and moderated by the Rev. Kim Crawford Harvie. Co-sponsored by Arlington Street Church.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010, 12 noon at the Boston Athenaeum. Program has changed. Check back for details.

 [1] Charles Capper, in a panel presentation at the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, Minneapolis, MN, June 25, 2010.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 6:00 p.m.

Thanks to all of you who participated in making the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial a year to remember.  It has been a wonderful year!

To bring Fuller’s bicentennial year to a close, we will be enjoying one last celebration of her legacy, and invite you to join us at the Peabody Book Room at 13 West Street in Boston on her 201st birthday. 

A special dinner at the site of Fuller’s famed Conversations. Fuller offered these “Conversations” for women (and later men) in Boston in the late 1830’s and early 1840’s.

We are pleased to have as our keynote speaker:

Phyllis Cole, author of Mary Moody Emerson and the Origins of Transcendentalism, which was named Finalist (second place) for the James Russell Lowell Prize of the Modern Language Association. This engaging work reveals a well-spring of Emerson’s ideas and has revolutionized the study of his works.  Dr. Cole’s fields of specialization include American Transcendentalism and nineteenth-century American women writers.  She has served as President of the national Ralph Waldo Emerson Society.    

Special remarks will also be made by:

Megan Marshall, author of The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism.  Marshall is Assistant Professor at Emerson College, where she teaches narrative nonfiction writing and the art of archival research in the MFA program.  She is the author of The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism, winner of the Francis Parkman Prize, the Mark Lynton History Prize, the Massachusetts Book Award, and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography.  She is currently at work on a biographical study of Margaret Fuller, The Passion of Margaret Fuller: A Biographical Romance to be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 

This event is part of the Bicentennial’s Conversations Series, supported by a grant from Mass Humanities and should be an evening to remember.  The event is  sponsored by the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial Committee, and is part of a year-long series of events celebrating Margaret Fuller’s life and work.

CELEBRATE THE 201st BIRTHDAY OF MARGARET FULLER:
AN INSPIRATION TO GENERATIONS OF WOMEN

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 6:00 p.m.

On May 25th at 6:00 p.m., join us for a dinner and “Conversation” marking the close of the18 month- long bicentennial celebration of Margaret Fuller’s life and legacy.  The event will be held at Max and Dylan’s Restaurant at 13 West Street in Boston, the former Peabody Book Room, where Fuller offered several of her famed “Conversations” for women (and later men) in the early 1840’s.   The evening will begin with a cocktail hour during which Lynn Hyde, rogue preservationist, will give an update on efforts to preserve the Book Room. Reverend Dorothy Emerson, Margaret Fuller Bicentennial Committee coordinator, will recap the bicentennial and share news about ongoing events and resources.  A delicious dinner will be served at 7:00 during which Margaret Fuller will stop in for a visit, portrayed by actress Jessa Piaia.  The main program will open with remarks by author Megan Marshall about Elizabeth Peabody, Fuller and the “Conversations.” She will share Book Room lore about Peabody, Fuller, and the "Conversations."  The evening will culminate with a presentation "What Margaret Fuller Did For Feminism" by our keynote speaker, professor and author, Phyllis Cole.

The Peabody Book Room, built around 1824, was the home of the Peabody family during the 1840s.  Daughter Elizabeth broke the proscribed roles for women by turning the downstairs of the house into a business: a circulating foreign language bookstore and library. This venture filled an important need in the literary and intellectual community, and as such became a kind of Transcendental Central for such patrons as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Theodore Parker and George & Sophia Ripley – founders of the Brook Farm community.  Margaret Fuller staged many of her “Conversations” for women here, and as a wedding venue, the house is famous for hosting sister Sophia Peabody’s marriage to Nathaniel Hawthorne and sister Mary Peabody’s marriage to educator Horace Mann.  The Book Room packs a lot of history into a few square feet.

Professor Phyllis Cole of Penn State - Brandywine, our distinguished keynote speaker, is the author of Mary Moody Emerson and the Origins of Transcendentalism, which was named Finalist (second place) for the James Russell Lowell Prize of the Modern Language Association. This engaging work reveals a well-spring of Emerson’s ideas and has revolutionized the study of his works.  Dr. Cole’s fields of specialization include American Transcendentalism and nineteenth-century American women writers.  She has served as President of the national Ralph Waldo Emerson Society.   
Opening remarks will be made by another distinguished presenter, Megan Marshall.  Ms. Marshall is Assistant Professor at Emerson College, where she teaches narrative nonfiction writing and the art of archival research in the MFA program.  She is the author of The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism, winner of the Francis Parkman Prize, the Mark Lynton History Prize, the Massachusetts Book Award, and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography.  She is currently at work on a biographical study of Margaret Fuller, The Passion of Margaret Fuller: A Biographical Romance, to be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Tickets cost $50. The program is suitable for adults and children 14 or older.

This event is part of the Bicentennial’s Conversations Series.  It is sponsored by the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial and supported by a grant from Mass Humanities.

On May 25th 2011 a lively group gathered to celebrate Margaret's birthday in the Peabody Book Room in Boston, the very location of many of her famous "Conversations."   The keynote speaker, author and professor,  Phyllis Cole, engaged us with her talk: "What Margaret Fuller Did For Feminism."  Professor Cole was introduced by her colleague, author and assistant professor Megan Marshall.

Some photos of Margaret Fuller.

• Conversations with Goethe in the Last Years of His Life (translated by MF into English)
• "The Great Lawsuit: Man vs. Men Woman vs. Women," published in the Dial magazine
• Summer on the Lakes, in 1843
• Woman in the Ninteenth Century and Kindred Papers Relating to the Sphere, Condition and Duties, of Woman.

On May 23, I’ll follow my annual routine for that day: I’ll wait for the gates to open at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., park in a Visitor spot, then head toward the hill about a quarter-mile on. I’ll take a right on Pyrola Path, pass by McGeorge Bundy’s simple headstone, and climb a small rise to the left. There, I’ll enter the Fuller family lot.

Yes, geodesic-dome inventor Bucky Fuller lies there, his gravestone etched with his most famous invention. He shares a marker with his wife, Anne Hewlett, most appropriate as they died within hours of each other a quarter-century ago. Seeing their headstone alone is worth the visit. But on this day, I’ll pay homage to a different family member, Bucky’s great-aunt, on her 199th birthday.

Read more ...

Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
c/o Stamp Development
U. S. Postal Service
1735 North Lynn St., Suite 5013
Arlington, VA 22209-6432
March 26, 2009

Members of the Committee:

Despite the late notice, we hope you will consider an honorary stamp on behalf of MARGARET FULLER (1810-1850) to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of her birth in 2010.

Despite a lack of formal education, Fuller became one of the leading minds of her generation.  A founding member of the Transcendentalism movement, she was the first editor of their literary voice, The Dial. Her career as a journalist later brought her to New York, where she became the first woman to be a full-time book critic anywhere in the world. Her connection to Horace Greely’s New York Tribune next brought her to warn-torn Italy, where she became the first American woman to be an overseas correspondent as well as the first to serve during wartime. While overseas, she joined in the cause of Italian revolution.

By this time Fuller had already published Woman in the Nineteenth Century – a book considered by many to be the first major work of feminism in the United States. In it, she asked Americans to redefine gender roles by opening more doors for women. In particular, Fuller promoted access to higher education and political rights as well as employment opportunities. To further her message, she took it upon herself to help women who had been denied access to proper formal education by presenting a series of “Conversations” for women to discuss college-level topics.

Her interest in reform, however, was not wholly focused on women. She was also an ardent abolitionist, referring to the “cancer of slavery.” She also sought reform in prisons and called attention to those who were poverty-stricken. She drew attention to the Native Americans who had so recently been displaced and consider these people an important part of the nation’s heritage. In writing a book on Native Americans, she used the library at Harvard University for research – the first woman allowed to do so.

In the nineteenth century, Fuller was admired by the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, George Eliot and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Awed by her assertiveness, Edgar Allan Poe came to believe that there were three types of people in the world: “Men, women, and Margaret Fuller.” After her tragic death by shipwreck in 1850, Fuller’s later admirers included Susan B. Anthony, who considered her the “precursor of the Women’s Rights agitation” and that she “possessed more influence upon the thoughts of America, than any woman previous to her time.”

For a woman of the nineteenth century, Margaret Fuller was clearly ahead of her time. Using both her voice and her pen, she attempted to redefine the roles of women and earn respect and equality for all Americans. Now, 200 years after the birth of Margaret Fuller, her messages still stand. We, the undersigned, represent only a small faction of people who believe her memory should be honored by the tribute of a federal postage stamp. Thank you for your consideration.

With sincerity and gratitude,
Representatives of the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial Committee

Harvard University Library, Open Collections Program
Women Working, 1800-1930.

http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/

Woman in the nineteenth century: and kindred papers relating to the sphere, condition and duties, of woman. Margaret Fuller Ossoli; edited by her brother, Arthur B. Fuller, with an introduction by Horace Greeley.

Boston : J. P. Jewett ; Cleveland, Ohio : Jewett Proctor & Worthington ; New York : Sheldon, Lamport, 1855. 428p.

Link: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:777414

Margaret Fuller Ossoli. Thomas Wentworth Higginson.

Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1884. 323p.

Link: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:700820

Margaret Fuller (Marchesa Ossoli). by Julia Ward Howe.

Boston: Roberts Bros., 1890. 298p.

Link: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:769132

Margaret Fuller: a psychological biography. by Katharine Anthony.

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920. 223p.

Link: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:648927

Women who have ennobled life. by Lilian Whiting.

Philadelphia: The Union Press, 1915. 260 p

Biographies: Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 1806-1861; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice, 1820-1905; Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888 Fuller, Margaret, 1810-1850; Lyon, Mary, 1797-1849; Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896; Willard, Frances Elizabeth, 1839-1898; Hosmer, Harriet Goodhue , 1830-1908; Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910.

Link: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:700821

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 15, 2010   

Contact: Alida Bailey  W 978/369-3909  |  C 978/399-8229

Exploring the mystery of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Fuller in the year of her bicentennial.
Charles Capper, Boston University professor of history and author of award winning Fuller biography, to speak at Concord's historic Colonial Inn in partnership with The Old Manse.

Concord, MA - 2010 will mark the 200th year since the birth of Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli, better known as Margaret Fuller - journalist, women's rights activist and intellectual. Many events, discussions, exhibits and presentations will take place across the US and throughout the year, though her actual birthday is the 23rd of May.

The Old Manse, in conjunction with the Colonial Inn, will host Professor Charles Capper, author of the impressive two -volume biography,  "Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life, " as he discusses the
potent connection between Margaret and Nathaniel Hawthorne, especially during his years at The Old Manse (1842-1845).

Prof. Capper will also highlight the particular impact of Fuller's literary criticism in regards to Hawthorne's fiction, and the strangely harsh appraisal which came from Nathaniel after Margaret's dramatic death by shipwreck in 1850.

"What's unique about this talk, in a year of Fuller bicentennial celebrations, is the attention that will be paid to a major literary character within her orbit" says Capper.  "Also, the powerful influence Fuller and Hawthorne had on each other, both public and private."

And yet, one needn't be entirely familiar with Fuller or her works to thoroughly enjoy Capper's discussion on her life.

"This event is for anyone who has an interest in Hawthorne, Fuller, transcendentalism, women's rights, early American literature or all of the above" says Tom Beardsley, Site Director of the Old Manse. " We're looking to reach a diverse crowd of history and literature enthusiasts with this exceptional and entertaining evening."

The event will be held on Thursday, March 4th, at the Colonial Inn, Concord. The $15 ticket price will include a special Fuller/Hawthorne-focused tour of the Manse, a pre-talk social hour with light refreshments and a cash bar, and of course, Capper's lecture.

In addition, every attendee will receive a dining gift certificate from the Colonial Inn, and $10 off a Trustees of Reservations Membership if purchased at the Old Manse before the 30th of March, 2010.

The Old Manse tour will begin at 5:00 pm, lasting for about 45 minutes. This is an optional portion of the event and can be taken on a later date. Beginning at 6:00 pm, attendees can make their way to a private room at the Colonial for socializing and meeting staff from The Old Manse. Capper's talk will begin at 7:00 pm.

To reserve a ticket (space is limited) please contact the Old Manse before the 4th of March at 978-369-3909 or email oldmanse@ttor.org.

For those traveling from out of town, reserve a room at the Colonial Inn by calling 800-370-9200 or book online at www.concordscolonialinn.com

About Charles Capper

Charles Capper came to Boston University in 2001 after teaching fifteen years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His scholarship focuses on American intellectual life in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is the author of a two-volume biography, Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life (Oxford University Press, 1992-2007), the first volume of which won the Bancroft Prize. He is now working on a book on the Transcendentalists and the birth of Romantic democratic culture in America. He coedited Transient and Permanent: The Transcendentalist Movement in Its Contexts (1999), a collection of new scholarship on his book's central circle. He also coedited The American Intellectual Tradition, 2 vols., 6th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2010). He has received Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Humanities Center, and Charles Warren Center fellowships. He is the coeditor of the journal Modern Intellectual History published by Cambridge University Press.

About the Colonial Inn

Concord's Colonial Inn, which has a long and distinguished history, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The original structure was built in 1716, and the property been operating as a hotel since 1889. Situated on Concord's town common, now known as Monument Square, the Inn is surrounded by many landmarks of our nation's literary and revolutionary history. Contact the Colonial at 800-370-9200 or visit them online at www.concordscolonialinn.com.

About the Old Manse

The Old Manse is a property of the Trustees of Reservations.
"The Trustees of Reservations preserves, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic, and ecological value in Massachusetts." 
The Old Manse is located at 269 Monument St., Concord, adjacent to the North Bridge.

For more information, contact the Old Manse at (978) 369-3909
Find us on Facebook as Old Manse
Twitter @OldManseConcord
or visit our web site at: www.oldmanse.org

###

In 2010-2011, the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial offered the Conversations Series, modeled after the "Conversations" that Margaret Fuller offered for women (and later men) in Boston in the late 1830s and early 1840s. Each focused on a different aspect of Fuller’s thinking and took place in a venue connected with her.

Time for conversation followed the presentations. The goal of the series was to engage people in thinking about how the issues that concerned this trailblazing woman relate to our lives today. The traveling display, “Why Margaret Fuller Matters,” was available for viewing at most of the Conversations.

These programs were supported in part by grants from Mass Humanities and the Fund for Unitarian Universalism.

Saturday, May 15, 2010, 2 PM. “Why Margaret Fuller Matters to Young Women Today” at Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House, where Fuller was born, with Laurie Crumpacker, Professor of History and Department Chair, Simmons College. Co-sponsored by Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House and the Cambridge Women’s Heritage Project.

Sunday, May 16, 2010, 2 PM. "Margaret Fuller in Groton: Shaping a Life, Framing a Mind" at First Parish Church, Unitarian Universalist, Groton, which is co-sponsoring the event. Panel discussion with Marcia Synnott, Professor of History, University of South Carolina; the Rev. Dr. Dorothy Emerson, co-chair, Margaret Fuller Bicentennial; and Fritz Fleischmann, Professor of English, Babson College.

Saturday, June 19, 2010, 6:30 PM. “Portraying Fuller and Friends on Stage” at The First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist. Gala Reception and Conversation, preceding a performance of the play “The Margaret Ghost.” Conversation with playwright Carole Braverman, director Elizabeth Hunter, and Andrea Humez, who portrays Fuller in the play. $25 ticket includes the Gala, Conversation, and the play. Co-sponsored by Theatre@First.

Sunday, July 18, 2010, 1 PM. “A Celebration of the Life of Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli” at Mount Auburn Cemetery Bigelow Chapel. Reception, Memorial Service, and Wreath-Laying, with appearances by Jessa Piaia as Margaret Fuller, Wendell Refior as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rob Velella as James Freeman Clarke, Dorothy Emerson as Elizabeth Peabody, Richard Smith as Henry David Thoreau, and Deborah Goss as Julia Ward Howe. Co-sponsored by Friends of Mount Auburn. July 19 is the anniversary of Fuller’s death.

Thursday, August 19, 7 PM.  “Margaret Fuller and Edgar Allan Poe: A Conversation” at the Old Manse, in Concord, with Jessa Piaia as Fuller and Rob Velella as Poe. Co-sponsored by the Old Manse. $5 admission.

Thursday, October 21, 2010, 7:30 PM. “Margaret Fuller in Italy” at First Parish Unitarian Universalist in Concord. Lecture and slideshow presented by the Rev. Jenny Rankin, based on her travels to Rome to research Margaret Fuller’s experiences in Italy and retrace her steps. Co-sponsored by First Parish and the Transcendentalist Council of First Parish.

Sunday, November 7, 2010, 3 PM. “The Radicalization of Margaret Fuller” at Arlington Street Church, Boston. “'Clouded by Secret Sin': Margaret Fuller and the Darker Side of Woman in the Nineteenth Century;” with John Matteson, Professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, and Pulitzer Prize winning author of Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father; “Margaret Fuller and 1848: Forging a United Radical Tradition” with Daniel McKanan, Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity at Harvard Divinity School and author of a forthcoming 200 year history of religion and radical politics in the United States, which includes Margaret Fuller’s friendship with Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini; Rev. Kim Crawford Harvie, Moderator. Co-sponsored by Arlington Street Church.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010, 12 Noon. “‘My own path leads a different course’: Margaret Fuller and her Boston Conversations” at the Boston Athenaeum, with Megan Marshall, Assistant Professor at Emerson College, and author of The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism.
Co-sponsored by the Boston Athenaeum.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 6 PM. “What Margaret Fuller Did for Feminism” at Max & Dylan’s Restaurant, 13 West Street, Boston, former site of the Peabody Book Room where Fuller held her Conversations. Keynote speaker is Phyllis Cole, Professor at Penn State, Brandywine, and author of Mary Moody Emerson and the Origins of Transcendentalism. Opening remarks by Megan Marshall, Assistant Professor at Emerson College, with an appearance by Jessa Piaia portraying Margaret Fuller, a slide show by Lynn Hyde “Preservation of the Peabody Book Room,” and a review of the 18-month Bicentennial by Dorothy Emerson. Dinner tickets, $50.

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 6, 2010  

Woman in the 21st Century: Margaret Fuller and the Sacred Marriage

 The Pierre Menard Gallery 

May 23^rd –June 20^th, 2010 

Opening Reception: Sunday, May 23^rd, 2010, 6:00pm    

Pierre Menard Gallery is pleased to announce Woman in the 21^st Century: Margaret Fuller and the Sacred Marriage, a groundbreaking multimedia group exhibition held in conjunction with the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial. 

The exhibition runs from May 23^rd – June 20^th with a reception and celebration of Fuller’s 200^th birthday on Sunday, May 23, at 6:00 pm, including a Mask Tale Performance by Suzanne Benton.  

What does the female prototype of the 21^st century look like?  What are her characteristics?  How will we recognize her presence in our lives?  

Woman in the 21^st Century: Margaret Fuller and the Sacred Marriage seeks to answer these questions as it explores the coding and iconography surrounding the re-emergence of the “sacred marriage” (hieros gamos) archetype foreseen by Margaret Fuller in Woman in the Nineteenth Century.  “This exhibition is a culmination of a decade spent chronicling a new movement,” says curator Lisa Paul Streitfeld, a former newspaper critic.  “I want to share with the public my surprise and delight of Margaret Fuller’s genius in placing the “sacred marriage” archetype into the American canon.  She broke through the barriers of time in order to make an empowering mythology real for women.” 

Fuller’s trademarked "Conversations" will be revived in the gallery as a method of chronicling the historicity and living presence of this 21^st century icon: 

                June 05, 4pm; Kate Millett The Sacred Marriage in the American Canon 

                June 11, 7pm; Jessica Lipnack: The Sacred Marriage in the 1960s

                June 12, 4pm; Elinor W. Gadon The Sacred Marriage in Antiquity

                June 19, 4pm; Aldo Tambellini: The Sacred Marriage in the 21^st Century 

There will be a Collaborative Performance Painting at the closing reception on June 20, from 2 – 5 pm. 

The exhibition will include 32 artists covering a full range of media: Carl Apfelschnitt, Josef Astor, Vincent Baldassano, Suzanne Benton, Dianne Bowen, Dove Bradshaw, Laurel Jay Carpenter, Walter M. Crump, Linda DiGusta, Rikki Ducornet, Harlan E. Gruber, Heide Hatry, Selma Karaca, Renee Kahn, Marni Kotak, Yuliya Lanina, Michael Manning, Kate Millett, Richard Move, Francine McGivern, Aaron Olshan, Tanya Ragir, Grace Roselli, Daniel Rothbart, Carolee Schneemann, Nancy Spero, Tatyana Stepanova, Aldo Tambellini, Marina Tsesarskaya, May Wilson, Martha Wilson and Mark Wiener. 

Pierre Menard Gallery                                                                                                                       10 Arrow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138                                                                                             617-868-2033                                                                                                                                          pierre@pierremenardgallery                                                                                                                www.pierremenardgallery.com

Gallery Director: Andrea Kalinowski          

12 ARROW STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MA 02138

www.pieremenardgallery.com

pierre@pierremenardgallery.com

617.868.2033