Hartford
Connecticut
The Mark Twain House And Museum Newsletter - November 12, 2023
Arts and Entertainment
November 14, 2023
From: The Mark Twain House and MuseumJon Clinch on THE GENERAL AND JULIA - A Novel with MTH&M Mallory Howard (Virtual)
Thursday, November 16 at 7pm
In this epic and intimate novel, Ulysses S. Grant?reflects on the crucial moments of his life as a husband, a father, a general, and a president while writing his memoirs (published by Mark Twain!) and reckoning with his complicated legacy. Moving from blood-stained battlefields to Gilded Age New York, we follow Grant as his views on race and Reconstruction changed over time. Author Jon Clinch (Finn, Marley) breathes fresh life into an American icon in another work of “must-read modern literature” (Charles Frazier, New York Times bestselling author).
Virtual Event! Choose your own price for non-members. Free for members.
A CLEMENS CHRISTMAS PREVIEW EVENING (IP)
Friday, November 17 from 5:30pm to 9:30pm:
Be one of the first people to see the Mark Twain House newly-decorated for Christmas with our exclusive sneak preview evening!
For the first part of your evening, explore the entire first floor of the historic home at your leisure, with our trained historic interpreters available in each room to answer questions and tell you all about how this family prepared for and celebrated Christmas. Then you’ll return to our museum center to craft some of the same Gilded Age Christmas ornaments and decorations the Clemenses made to adorn their own home and tree.
Our museum store will be open all evening so you can get a jump on your holiday shopping–with a special 20% discount only available to attendees. Festive beverages and snacks will be available to purchase at our museum café. Donate a winter coat to our coat drive and receive a free hot chocolate or soft drink!
Tickets for the evening are $50. Museum member tickets are $40, so consider adding a membership to your cart as you check out! REGISTER HERE.
Ralph Nader on REBELLIOUS CEO - 12 Leaders Who Did It Right with Erica E. Phillips (Virtual)
Saturday, November 18 at 12pm:
Ralph Nader has been Corporate America’s fiercest critic. Supreme Court Justice William Powell singled out Nader in his infamous memo as the “single most effective antagonist of American business… [the] target of his hatred… is corporate power.” But now in?The Rebellious CEO, a book that will surprise both his fans and critics, Nader profiles a small group of CEOs who he believes performed extraordinarily well as business leaders and civic reformers, some well-known, some not, who should be celebrated as exceptions whose life and career should be a course of emulation and inspiration for students of business, executives and the wider citizenry. They give us, Nader writes, “a sense of what might have been and what still could be if business were rigorously framed as a process that was not only about making money and selling things but improving our social and natural world.” Nader will be joined in conversation with Erica E. Phillips, Economic Development Reporter for the CT Mirror.
Virtual: Choose your own price for non-members. Free for members.
Shop at Home with Us on Our New Store Site!
Want to find something for your favorite Twainiac, but can't make it to The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut?
The Mark Twain Store is dedicated to providing unique gifts and one-of-a-kind finds curated for readers, writers, lovers of The Gilded Age, kids, and more. With an expanded selection of novelty items, books, apparel, museum-inspired treasures, and, of course, surprises for your favorite Twainiac, The MTH&M's new virtual museum store is your destination for gifts to delight yourself and others.
Visit our brand new virtual museum store now through November 22 and save 20% sitewide by using code twaintastic20 at checkout.
Click here to view the new online store: https://marktwainhousestore.org
Pick-up or shipping throughout the U.S. are available! Your purchase supports "the loveliest home that ever was."
Celebrate & Network at Twain!
SMALL OFFICE HOLIDAY PARTY (In-Person Event)
December 8 & 9 from 6:30 to 9:30pm
Want to throw your business holiday party in a big way on a small budget?
Join other like-minded businesses at The Mark Twain House & Museum’s Small Office Holiday Party, an evening of food, fun, and festivities. It’s a great way to say “thank you” to important clients, court new business prospects, or simply show gratitude to your hard-working staff.
Simply choose your preferred night - December 8 or 9. Price for table of 10 (including food, beverage, entertainment, and more!) - $2,500.
For RSVP details and to book your table of 10, contact: Pam Amodio, Special Events Manager [email protected] or call (860) 280-3117
Coming Soon!
Tuesday, November 21 at 7pm ET:
Daniel Schulman on THE MONEY KINGS: The Epic Story of the Jewish Immigrants Who Transformed Wall Street and Shaped Modern America with Dan Haar (Virtual)
Daniel Schulman unspools a sweeping narrative that traces the interconnected origin stories of the German-Jewish immigrants with now familiar names like Goldman and Sachs, Kuhn and Loeb, Warburg and Schiff, Lehman and Seligman. He chronicles their paths to Wall Street dominance, as they navigated the deeply antisemitic upper class of the Gilded Age, and the complexities of the Civil War, World War I, and the Zionist movement that tested both their burgeoning empires and their identities as Americans, Germans, and Jews.
Virtual: Choose your own price for non-members. Free for members.
Monday, November 27 at 12pm ET - A Lunchtime Conversation with the author of MAID, Stephanie Land, on CLASS: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education with Sabrina Orah Mark (Virtual)
From the New York Times bestselling author who inspired the hit Netflix series Maid about a struggling mother barely making ends meet as a housecleaner—a gripping memoir about college, motherhood, poverty, and life. Class paints an intimate and heartbreaking portrait of motherhood as it converges and often conflicts with personal desire and professional ambition. In clear, candid, and moving prose, Class grapples with these questions, offering a searing indictment of America’s educational system and an inspiring testimony of a mother’s triumph against all odds.
Virtual: Choose your own price for non-members. Free for members.
Monday, November 27 at 7pm ET: THE TROUBLE BEGINS with Barbara Snedecor on GRAVITY: Selected Letters of Olivia Langdon Clemens with Steve Courtney (In-Person & Virtual)
In this new volume of letters, readers are invited to meet Olivia Louise Langdon Clemens in her own voice—as complementary partner to her world-famous spouse, Mark Twain, and as enduring friend, mother to four children, world traveler, and much more. The frail woman often portrayed by scholars, biographers, and Twain himself is largely absent in these letters. Instead, Olivia (who Twain affectionately referred to as “Gravity”) emerges as a resilient and energetic nineteenth-century woman.
This is a FREE HYBRID event sponsored by CT Humanities and the Center for Mark Twain Studies in Elmira, New York.
Thursday, November 30 at 7pm ET - Film and television star Illeana Douglas on CONNECTICUT IN THE MOVIES: From Dream Houses to Dark Suburbia with Frank Rizzo (In-Person)
Told from the passionate perspective of the author who grew up here and filled with behind-the-scenes stories as well as her own personal snapshots of the places where these films were made, Illeana Douglas takes us on a cinematic road trip through Hollywood history and Connecticut geography.
In-Person Event: $10 for non-members, free for MTH&M Members.
A Special Offer from Connecticut Forum
SAT, NOV 18, 2023 -- 7:30PM
An Evening with Ken Burns
America's storyteller in conversation with journalist Audie Cornish
You’ve seen his documentaries…now see him in person! The Connecticut Forum is excited to present An Evening with Ken Burns: America's storyteller in conversation with journalist Audie Cornish.
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for almost fifty years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Burns has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The War; The National Parks: America’s Best Idea; The Vietnam War; Country Music; The U.S. and The Holocaust; The American Buffalo; and (of course) Mark Twain.
Join the CT Forum for an entertaining fireside chat with the acclaimed documentary filmmaker about his creative process and career. The evening will include clips from Burns' award-winning films and audience questions.
Use code BurnsFilm10 to get 10% off your seat at CTForum.org.
Thursday, December 14 at 7:30pm ET –
Ghost Hunters ADAM BERRY and STEVE GONSALVES in Conversation! (In-Person at Immanuel Congregational Church across the street from The Mark Twain House).
Tickets: $75 includes the talk and a signed copy of both books.
VIP Ticket : $200 includes the talk, both signed books, and a private ghost tour of the Twain House with Adam and Steve before the talk. Extremely limited!
The Deadline Approaches!
Calling All Artists
Poster Art Contest
CT's Historic Gardens is seeking artwork for a poster to advertise the 2024 Connecticut's Historic Gardens Day.
Deadline for submissions is December 1, 2023.
See the website for details: cthistoricgardens.org
Connecting CT's Artists and Historic Gardens.
Upcoming Events
V = Virtual Event; IP = In-Person Event
November 8 - THE TROUBLE BEGINS: The House that Trudeau Built with Chessie Monks-Kelly (IP & V)
November 9 - The Spectacular - A Novel with Fiona Davis & Ann Leary (IP)
November 16 - The General and Julia - A Novel with John Clinch (V)
November 17 - A Clemens Christmas Preview (IP)
November 18 - The Rebellious CEO: 12 Leaders Who Did It Right with Ralph Nader (V)
November 21 - The Money Kings: The Epic Story of the Jewish Immigrants Who Transformed Wall Street and Shaped Modern America with Daniel Schulman (V)
November 27 - Class with Stephanie Land (V)
November 27 - THE TROUBLE BEGINS: Gravity - Selected Letters of Olivia Langdon Clemens with Barbara Snedecor (IP & V)
November 30 - Connecticut in the Movies: From Dream Houses to Dark Suburbia with Illeana Douglas (IP)
December 6 - THE TROUBLE BEGINS: Monadnock: The Mountain that Stands Alone documentary and discussion with Daniel J. White (V)
December 8 & 9 - Small Business Office Party (IP)
December 14 - Ghost Hunters Adam Berry & Steve Gonsalves (IP)
December 16 - GET A CLUE Tours (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!