First Settlers of New-England by Lydia Maria Child
Boston: Printed for the Author by Munroe and Francis, 1829
Pequot Library Special Collections
First Settlers of New-England is on view in our current exhibition, Alphabets, Bedtime Stories, and Cautionary Tales: Children's Books and the Shaping of American Identity, on view through May 6, 2023.
Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, and opponent of American expansionism. She founded the magazine The Juvenile Miscellany and served as editor until 1834, when public hostility towards her publication titled "An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans" forced her to resign.
In the preface to First Settlers of New-England, Child states that she wishes “to prove, from the most authentic records, that the treatment [Indians] have met with from the usurpers of their soils has been, and continues to be, in direct violation of the religious and civil institutions which we have heretofore so nobly defended, and by which we profess to be governed.”
In the format of a conversation between mother and child, daughter Caroline asks, “Is it not generally believed, mother, that the Indians are a vagrant, idle race…?” Mother answers: “The Indians have been strangely misrepresented, either through ignorance or design, or both; and men have given themselves little trouble to investigate the subject. People seldom forgive those whom they have wronged, and the first settlers appear to have fostered a mortal aversion to the Indians, whom they had barbarously destroyed.
Lydia Maria Child
Correspondence between Lydia Maria Child and Gov. Wise and Mrs. Mason, of Virginia
New York: Published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1860
Pequot Library Special Collections
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
Tuesday, March 21 at 7:00 p.m.
In partnership with book influencer Robin Kall Homonfoff of Reading with Robin, Pequot Library is pleased to welcome powerhouse authors Heather Webb, Lauren Willig, and Sarah Penner—whose latest book has just become an instant New York Times bestseller—for an engaging conversation moderated by Robin. Proceeds from this fundraiser will benefit Operation Hope and Pequot Library.
VIP REGISTRATION + MINGLING: $75 | Includes priority seating, exclusive VIP reception meet and greet with the authors at 6 p.m., light bites and wine, book signing, and Meet the Authors program
GENERAL ADMISSION REGISTRATION: $20 | Includes Meet the Authors program only (arrive starting at 6:45 p.m.) Click here to purchase your tickets!
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