Thursday, December 21 at 3pm ET
Tim Rayborn on SCARY BOOK OF CHRISTMAS LORE: 50 Terrifying Yuletide Tales from Around the World with J.W. Ocker (Virtual)

’Tis the season! Whether you are a fan of history and folklore or love learning about different cultures, The Scary Book of Christmas Lore is for you. You won’t find dancing sugar plums here, but you will find beasts that threaten to cook children into stew and sinister crones who snatch little ones from their beds. Outside of the heartwarming Christmas tales we all know and love, there are an abundance of frightening stories to chill all who hear them to the bone. These tales are sure to leave you wishing for the Grinch. 

Virtual: Choose your own price for non-members. Free for members. 

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE. 

Friday, December 22 at 7pm ET
Dr. Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar on AMERICA'S BLACK CAPITAL: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy with Kimberly Kersey (In-Person)

Atlanta is home to some of America’s most prominent Black politicians, artists, businesses, and HBCUs. Yet, in 1861, Atlanta was a final contender to be the capital of the Confederacy. Sixty years later, long after the Civil War, it was the Ku Klux Klan’s sacred “Imperial City.”?America’s Black Capital chronicles how a center of Black excellence emerged amid virulent expressions of white nationalism, as African Americans pushed back against Confederate ideology to create an extraordinary locus of achievement. What drove them, historian Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar shows, was the belief that Black uplift would be best advanced by forging Black institutions. America’s Black Capital is an inspiring story of Black achievement against all odds, with effects that reached far beyond Georgia, shaping the nation’s popular culture, public policy, and politics. 

In-Person Event: $10 for non-members, free for MTH&M Members (please login to access your discount). 

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE. 

Holiday Shopping with Twain

This year, have an unforgettable and Twaintastic Christmas with gifts from The Mark Twain Store!

Discover our delightful December deals ??

* 15% off all online store purchases. Use code NICELIST15.

* 30% off all store items for members!

* Receive FREE SHIPPING with all online orders over $75!

Hurry! These Christmas deals won't last forever. Shop online now at The Mark Twain Store HERE: https://marktwainhousestore.org/

Item pick-up available or just come in and browse!

Help Us Reach Our Goal!

You can play a role in the conservation of two vital pieces in The Mark Twain House & Museum collection!

• Six original woven cord and leather pockets of a Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company billiard table. The table was a gift to Mark Twain from Standard Oil magnate Henry Rogers and his wife. The billiard table is on permanent display in the House, where it dominates the third-floor billiard room. Due to their condition, the museum had them removed and their absence is noticeable to visitors.

• A tooled leather travel trunk with a canvas and leather cover that is stamped S.L. Clemens and that still bears many travel labels, including ones from Paris and New York. The trunk was on display in the visitor orientation exhibition in a section about Twain’s extensive international travels. However, the trunk was removed from the exhibit due to its deteriorating condition.

The Mark Twain House & Museum has received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to conserve these two items. However, the grant only covers half the expense of the conservation and requires that we raise the rest in matching gifts.

The total cost to restore the billiard pockets and travel trunk is over $32,651. The museum is required to raise nearly half that amount: $14,848. To date, we have raised $2,688.41. We still have $12,159.59 to raise to complete this important conservation work!

We hope you will join us in preserving Mark Twain's legacy!

Donate to Our Restoration Fund

Coming Next

Thursday, January 4, 2024 at 7pm ET
Maria Hummel on GOLDENSEAL - A Novel with Barbara Bourland (Virtual)

Set against the vivid landscapes of Los Angeles and unfolding with the evanescence of a dream or a memory, Goldenseal peels away the layers of an intimate female friendship to reveal a stirring and haunting story about the search for connection and the lingering echoes of lost love. Considered a mix of A Gentleman in Moscow and My Brilliant Friend, this “powerful saga of a family’s immigration and reinvention…explores themes of love, betrayal, and reconciliation…and skillfully evokes [a] gilded world of hotels and Hollywood, and deeply explores the women’s fraught friendship from both points of view. Readers will be rapt.” (Publishers Weekly)

Virtual: Choose your own price for non-members. Free for members. 

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE.

Tuesday, January 9 at 7pm ET
Marcia Zug on YOU'LL DO: A History of Marrying for Reasons Other Than Love with MTH&M's Erin Bartram (Virtual)

In this illuminating and thought-provoking examination of the uniquely American institution of marriage, Marcia Zug explores how Americans hold marriage in such high esteem that we push people toward it, reward them for taking part in it, and fetishize its benefits. In You’ll Do, Zug presents “a fresh, engaging social history” (Kirkus Reviews) of marriage, and how we have routinely ignored or excused bad behavior and societal ills in the name of protecting and promoting it.

Virtual: Choose your own price for non-members. Free for members.

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE.

Upcoming Events

V = Virtual Event; IP = In-Person Event

December 19 - Linda Raedisch on The Secret History of Christmas Baking: Recipes and Stories on Tomb Offerings to Gingerbread Boys (V)

December 21 - Tim Rayborn on The Scary Book of Christmas Lore (V)

December 22 - Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar on America's Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy (IP)

January 4 - Goldenseal - A Novel with Maria Hummel (V)

January 9 - You'll Do: A History of Reasons for Marrying Other Than Love with Marcia Zug (V)

January 12 - American Patriots: A Short History of Dissent with Ralph Young (V)

January 17 - Maude Horton's Glorious Revenge - A Novel with Lizzie Pook (V)

January 19 - Born in Blood - Violence and the Making of America with Scott Gac (IP)

January 23 - You Dreamed of Empires - A Novel with Álvaro Enrigue (IP)

February 22 - The Atlas Maneuver - A Cotton Malone Novel with Steve Berry (IP)

To see all event information and registration, CLICK HERE.

To preorder books for our upcoming events, CLICK HERE. Signed books will be mailed after the event. Please note that we cannot ship outside of the U.S. at this time.

Your donation to The Mark Twain House & Museum helps us meet our mission to preserve the home and legacy of Mark Twain. Thank you for your generosity!

Support the House

Author programs at The Mark Twain House & Museum are sponsored by Connecticut Public Broadcasting and the Wish You Well Foundation. Virtual author programs are supported by Suzanne Hopgood in the memory of former MTH&M Trustee Frank Lord.

Activities at The Mark Twain House & Museum are made possible in part by support from CT Humanities; State of CT Department of Economic & Community Development, Office of the Arts; The Hartford; The Mark Twain Foundation; National Endowment for the Humanities; and Travelers Foundation and the Greater Hartford Arts Council.