May 7
American Affections: The Life, Loves, and Letters of Mary Fish with Professor Serena Zabin
Wed, May 7, 2025
• 7:30pm
- 8:30pm (1h) • The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Carls in the Los Angeles area
are invited to
American Affections:
The Life, Loves, and Letters of Mary Fish
with Professor Serena Zabin
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Time
7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Location
The Huntington Library
Education and Visitor Center, Rothenberg Hall
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Serena Zabin, professor of history at Carleton, discusses the life of Mary Fish, who composed an essay called “A Portrait of a Good Husband,” which described her marriages, her widowhoods, and the epic crises of the 18th century.
In 1773, just months before colonists dumped tea in Boston Harbor, 37-year-old Connecticut widow Mary Fish Noyes Silliman Dickinson (1736–1818) composed an essay called “A Portrait of a Good Husband.” Interwoven with the personal dramas of her three marriages and her three widowhoods were the epic crises of the 18th century: the American Revolution, contests over slavery, the creation of the United States, religious revivals, and the acceleration of Native land dispossession. In addition to her essay, Fish left behind nearly 1,000 letters that testify to her ability to write the stories of both her life and the life she dreamed of.
Cost
This program is free and open to all. Advance registration required.
Registration
For more information and to register, visit the Huntington Library website.
Parking and Transportation
Parking is free but space is limited; carpooling is strongly encouraged. There are two entrances to the parking lot: Oxford Road and Allen Avenue. Accessible parking and bicycle racks are conveniently located in the south end of the lot.
Serena Zabin is the Stephen R. Lewis Jr. Professor of History and the Liberal Arts at Carleton. Her research focuses on families, gender, and politics in the era of the American Revolution. She is the author of Dangerous Economies: Status and Commerce in Imperial New York and the prizewinning The Boston Massacre: A Family History. At Carleton, she has served as the chair of the history department, the director of the American studies program, and the Broom Fellow for Public Scholarship. In that last role, she and her students crafted civic engagement projects in partnerships with public history organizations in Minnesota, Boston, and Washington, DC. In 2024–25 she was awarded the Robert C. Ritchie Distinguished Fellowship in Early American History at the Huntington Library to work on her new research project, American Affections: The Life of Mary Fish Noyes Silliman Dickinson, 1736–1818.
Questions?
Contact Alumni Relations via email at alumni-office@carleton.edu or 800-729-2586.
Event Contact: Krista Herbstrith