In commemoration of Black History Month, please join members and friends of the Museum of Newport Irish History for the fourth lecture of our 21st Annual Lecture Series. Guest speaker, Maureen D. Brady, will give a talk titled, "Sarah Parker Remond: A Black Abolitionist in Ireland, 1859."
The lecture will be presented virtually, via Zoom, at 6:00 pm. There is no fee, but reservations are required to receive the login information.
The lecture is made possible by a generous gift from Virginia Pittsley, given in memory of her husband, Bill Pittsley and their son, Jay Pittsley.
CLICK to Reserve: https://tinyurl.com/yck98pcf
Questions? Please call Ann at (401) 841-5493 or write to: NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com
TALK OVERVIEW:
Sarah Remond was the free-born daughter of activist parents who owned successful businesses in Salem, MA, where she was born. When the Salem school board implemented segregation, Sarah was duly dismissed, persuading her parents to move to Newport to enable their daughter to attend a well-regarded private school for Black children. The family resided in Newport for six years (1835-41), and re-established their business while Sarah received an education during her formative pre-teen and teenage years. This educational foundation would prove invaluable to Sarah’s later life when she became a devoted abolitionist and dynamic agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1859, Sarah traveled to Ireland on a lecture tour, presenting to standing-room-only crowds, becoming the first African American woman to speak publicly in the country. Like her friend Frederick Douglass, her time in Ireland was transformative, changing the trajectory of her life’s work. She never returned to America,choosing self-imposed exile over socially-imposed inequality, achieving successes that would have been impossible in the land of her birth, while establishing herself as a civil rights activist, feminist, and international champion of justice.
SPEAKER BIO:
Maureen D. Brady holds a Master of Arts (MA) in Irish and Irish American Studies from New York University’s Glucksman Ireland House, including coursework and research at Trinity College Dublin. She is a faculty member at the lifelong learning programs of Rutgers University’s Osher Institute and Brookdale Community College, where she teaches courses in Irish literature and Irish history. In 2022, Brady was chosen as a “Top 100 Irish American Leader” in New Jersey by insidernj.com and was the winner of the Marlene Pomper Distinguished Teacher Award at Rutgers University. Brady also served as a Steering Committee member and Marketing Director for the Irish American Cultural Institute. We are delighted to welcome Ms. Brady to this, her first lecture for the Museum of Newport Irish History
ABOUT THE PHOTO:
Photo of Sarah Parker Remond taken in 1865.
From the collections of the Peabody Essex Museum.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
The Museum of Newport Irish History, a volunteer-driven, non-profit 501c3 organization, was founded in 1996 and now boasts over 900 members. In addition to operating an Interpretive Center on Lower Thames Street (currently closed for the season and under renovation), the organization sponsors numerous educational, cultural, social, and fundraising events throughout the year, including its popular annual lecture series, now kicking off its 21st season. The organization also restored and maintains the historic Barney Street Cemetery at the corner of Barney and Mt. Vernon Streets, steps from Washington Square. It is the final resting place of many of Newport’s earliest Irish residents and was the cemetery established to support Rhode Island’s first Roman Catholic parish, the forerunner of the current Saint Mary’s Church at the corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard.
To learn more or to join the Museum, please visit www.NewportIrishHistory.org or write us at newportirishhistory@gmail.com