5th Annual Victorian Tea, Sunday November 4

Mark your calendar for our
5th Annual Victorian Tea
Sunday, November 4 at 3–5 p.m.

“100 kisses”: Letters From Mary Ann Dickinson Smith

Speaker Rachel Moskowitz will lecture on “From Kitchen to Convalescent Camp: A Reevaluation of the Victorian Woman’s Roles and Responsibilities”  based on her senior thesis for honors in American History at the University of Pennsylvania.

Rachel, a Westhill High School graduate, spent much of her research time reading the voluminous correspondence of Mary Ann Dickinson to her husband, United States Senator Truman Smith, found in the archives at the Stamford Historical Society.  The letters cover the period from the 1850s through the 1880s and deal with the life and times of the period in Stamford and our country from this woman’s perspective.  Rachel is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at New York University.

(See also The Stamford Ladies Soldiers' Aid Society in the American Civil War and Anson Dickinson.)

Our special guest will be Mrs. Katharine T. S. Coley, great-granddaughter of Mary Ann Dickinson Smith.  Mrs. Coley is also the niece of Charlotte D. S. Cruikshank, a benefactor of the Stamford Historical Society.  Mary Ann Dickinson Smith was Charlotte Cruikshank’s grandmother.

The lecture begins at 3 PM, followed by our traditional tea and raffle for tea baskets.

Admission of $15 includes the lecture, Victorian Tea and entrance to our current exhibit, Digging Up Stamford. 

For reservations call (203) 329-1183. 

Please make your check payable to The Stamford Historical Society and send to the Society at 1508 High Ridge Road, Stamford, CT 06903.