Book Discussion
To celebrate Black History Month, the Friends of the Millicent Library will sponsor a discussion of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Percival Everett’s James. We will meet in the auditorium of the Millicent Library, 45 Center Street (Walnut Street entrance) at 6:30 on Monday, 2/24.
In 1884, Twain published the story of Huck Finn, his friend Tom Sawyer, and the fugitive slave Jim as they dodged danger and death on the Mississippi River. The book has remained popular, though controversial, ever since.
In 2024, Percival Everett retold their adventures from the point of view of James — as the fugitive slave prefers to be called. This prize-winning novel is as difficult to put down as the original.
You are welcome whether you’ve read one book, both books — or are just curious.
Free Film
Join the Millicent Library and the Unitarian Universalist Society of Fairhaven for a special Movie Night during Black History Month! We’ll be screening Sweet Freedom — a powerful 28-minute historical drama set in 1839 New Bedford, directed by Fairhaven’s own Alyssa Botelho. Thurs., 2/27, 6:30–7:30 p.m., in the UUSF auditorium, 102 Green Street across from Millicent Library.
Witness the incredible story of Mary “Polly” Johnson, an Afro-Indigenous confectioner and Underground Railroad station master who risked everything to protect freedom seekers, including Frederick Douglass.
Following the screening, stay for a conversation and Q&A with Alyssa and historian Lee Blake. They’ll dive into the film’s historical accuracy, its ties to the region, and the importance of honoring unsung heroes like Polly.
Author Event
Captain Paul Cuffe, Yeoman, A Biography by Jeffrey A. Fortin, 2PM Saturday February 22, Westport Free Public Library, 408 Old County Road, Westport MA 02790
Meet the author of a new book on Paul Cuffe published by University of Massachusetts Press. Jeffrey A. Fortin has crafted a beautiful, moving portrait of this important maritime figure. Suggested donation $5.
Paul Cuffe is best understood as a member of the Black founding fathers — a group of pre-eminent African Americans who built institutions and movements during the first decades of the United States.
Drawing on pamphlets, letters, and other documents, and painstakingly reconstructing his genealogy, Fortin vividly describes Cuffe’s experiences and places them within the broader history of the Early Republic to help reveal the central role of African Americans in the founding of the United States. Fortin situates Cuffe within an Atlantic world where race and identity were fluid, and Africans and African Americans sought to build and govern a free Black nation in West Africa.
Jeffrey A. Fortin is associate professor of history at Emmanuel College.
Movie
The following event is at the Acushnet Public Library, 232 Middle Road. Visit https://acupl.org
Movie Matinee Mon., 2/24, 2–4 p.m Join us in the Community Room for a movie. Please bring a covered beverage and a snack if you wish. The Movie Matinee is for ages 18+. This month’s movie is Hidden Figures.
As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians who were the brains behind one of the most significant operations in U.S. history. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines. In contrast, their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished by the human race, firmly cemented them as true American heroes in U.S. history.
StoryWalk and Black History Party
We will have a party at MLT MUNRO Preserve Property at 11:00 AM Sat., 2/22, Mattapoisett near the Town Wharf.
There will be speakers, materials, free books, and refreshments plus Hot Chocolate. Please join us and share stories or poetry about black heroes of your own!
Remarks by: Mike Huguenin, President MLT; Connor Gaudet, Curator, Mattapoisett Museum; Moise St Louis, PhD, Assistant Dean;, Director of the Frederick Douglass Unity House Lecturer, Department of Black Studies; Alison Noyce, President TTAR; John Santos, TTAR Director of Business Partnerships
Weather permitting, we will start at MLT Munro Property for the StoryWalk and move over to the Mattapoisett Museum at 5 Church Street for Remarks and Refreshments.
Storywalk: “There Was a Party for Langston,” by Jason Reynolds, a snappy, joyous ode to Word King, literary genius, and glass-ceiling smasher Langston Hughes and the luminaries he inspired.
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