Fall 'Trouble Begins' Lecture Series Begins October 9
Elmira, NY (09/24/2019) — The fall portion of the 2019-2020 The Trouble Begins Lecture Series presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies features four lectures, with the first event set for 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday, October 9 in The Barn at Quarry Farm. All four lectures are free and open to the public.
The first lecture, "Mark Twain Invades Washington," will be presented by Alan Pell Crawford, author and independent scholar. Before he was a famous novelist, Mark Twain lived and worked in the Nation's Capital, first as an aide to Senator William Stewart of Nevada-he was quickly fired-then as a lobbyist and Washington correspondent. These early experiences gave Twain a unique perspective on American politics, and in later years he became a fierce critic of war and imperialism. In Mark Twain, A Biography he is quoted as saying "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." What would he say today?
On Wednesday, October 16, the Series continues at 7:00 p.m., in Cowles Hall on the Elmira College campus with "'He ain't a-comin' back no mo': Huck Finn as an American Myth," presented by Tim DeRoche of Redtail Press. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a rousing adventure, a realistic depiction of American boyhood, a satirical critique of American society, and a foundational text for all of modern American literature. But part of what makes the story so transcendent and enduring is that Huck Finn is also a myth. In this story of two fugitives fleeing down a river, Mark Twain taps into universal themes and tropes that recur in fairy tales, folklore, and religious narratives.
The Series continues in The Barn at Quarry Farm at 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday, October 23 with "'We found we had a little cash left over..': Sam and Livy's Hartford Dream House and Its Architectural Roots," presented by Pieter Roos, executive director of the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. Just as would be the case today, Sam and Livy Clemens embarked on an adventure in building a new house. Like any young couple, having the dream, selecting an architect, and seeing a project through to the finish is always a challenge. This lecture looks both at the Clemens' personal journey in construction and the architectural roots of a remarkable and iconic building and what made it the singular example of the Stick Style that it became and remains today.
The fall portion of the Series wraps up on Wednesday, October 30 in The Barn at Quarry Farm with "Sociable Sam: Mark Twain Among Friends," presented by Judith Yaross Lee of Ohio University. Samuel Clemens joked in one of his lectures that he had met "uncommonplace characters . . . Bunyan, Martin Luther, Milton, and . . . others," but it's not stretching much to say that he knew just about everyone famous between the Civil War and World War I. This illustrated lecture traces the impact of that sociability on some of his most important works.
About The Trouble Begins Lecture Series
In 1984, the Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies initiated a lecture series, The Trouble Begins at Eight lecture series. The title came from the handbill advertising Mark Twain's October 2, 1866 lecture presented at Maguire's Academy of Music in San Francisco. The first lectures were presented in 1985. By invitation, Mark Twain scholars present lectures in the fall and spring of each year, in the Barn at Quarry Farm or at Peterson Chapel in Cowles Hall on Elmira College's campus. All lectures are free and open to the public.
Media Attachments
The fall portion of the 2019-2020 The Trouble Begins Lecture Series presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies features four lectures, with the first event set for 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday, October 9 in The Barn at Quarry Farm. All four lectures are free and open to the public.