Understanding George Washington Through a Contemporary Lens on May 19

Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum Hosts Washington 2.0 Symposium – Understanding George Washington Through a Contemporary Lens on May 19

WETHERSFIELD — The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum will host a day-long conference, led by esteemed historians and scholars, offering a new perspective on the nation’s first president, George Washington. Washington 2.0 Symposium – Understanding George Washington Through a Contemporary Lens will be held on Thursday, May 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Museum’s Holcombe Education Center and Webb Barn. The Symposium is sponsored in part by a grant from The Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Connecticut.

The Symposium will include a keynote address by Russell Shorto, author of the national bestselling books The Island at the Center of the World and Revolution Song, as well as presentations by Walt Woodward, Connecticut State Historian, Francis Coan, Tunxis Community College History Professor, and Jessie MacLeod, Associate Curator at Mount Vernon. Topics covered are Connecticut and the Revolution, How Troops Moved Logistically, Washington and Slavery, and Washington/Venture Smith.

“We are delighted to be hosting this exciting, insightful new Symposium on George Washington,” said Joshua Campbell Torrance, Executive Director of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum. “Our panel of experts will shed new light on Washington and Connecticut’s role in the American Revolution for our guests.”

Tickets for the Washington 2.0 Symposium are $55 / Museum and NSCDA-CT members and $65 / general public. Price includes continental breakfast, lunch, an informal tour of the Museum’s three historic houses and exhibitions, and a wine and cheese reception. Service fees apply. To purchase tickets, visit https://www.simpletix.com/e/washington-symposium-2-0-understanding-was-tickets-104794.

The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum is located at 211 Main Street, Wethersfield, Connecticut. For additional information, call (860) 529-0612 or visit webb-deane-stevens.org.

Russell Shorto is the author of Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob, and of six earlier books, including Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City and the national bestseller The Island at the Center of the World. He is the Executive Director of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Institute at the New-York Historical Society, a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine, and Senior Scholar at the New Netherland Institute in Albany, New York. From 2007 to 2013 he was Director of the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam. In 2009 he was awarded a knighthood from the Dutch government for his work in increasing historical understanding between the Netherlands and the United States. In 2018 he was inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame.

Walt Woodward is the State Historian of Connecticut and an Associate Professor of History at the University of Connecticut. He is the narrator and producer of Today in Connecticut History and Grating the Nutmeg: The Podcast of Connecticut History (with Connecticut Explored magazine). He also writes the “From the State Historian” column in Connecticut Explored. Prof. Woodward is the fifth person to hold the position of State Historian, created in the 1930s in preparation for Connecticut’s 300th anniversary. He is a scholar of Early American and Atlantic World history, with an emphasis on Connecticut and New England. His research interests cover a variety of subjects, including witchcraft, alchemy and the history of science, the use of music in Early America, and environmental history. Prof. Woodward is the author of five books, the most recent of which is Creating Connecticut: Critical Moments That Shaped a Great State (Globe Pequot Press, 2020).

Francis Coan, Ph.D. is a Professor of History, President of the Tunxis Professional Staff Organization (PSO), and College Representative, Board of Regents Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) at Tunxis Community College in Farmington.

Jessie MacLeod is an associate curator at Mount Vernon, where she has worked since 2012. She received a B.A. in history from Yale University and an M.A. in public history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Jessie has curated numerous exhibits, including Mount Vernon: The Story of an American Icon (2022) and the award-winning Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington’s Mount Vernon (2016–2021). She was also a contributor to the Lives Bound Together exhibit publication. As a member of the curatorial team, she conducts research on Mount Vernon’s collection of fine and decorative arts and contributes to refurnishing projects in the Mansion and outbuildings.