Centennials

1. Centennials What do we learn? What do they accomplish?

2. What ought to be done to the man who invented the celebrating of anniversaries? A mere killing would be too light.

3. A Lot has Changed In 1910- 47 was the average life expectancy Pneumonia and Influenza top 2 causes of death 95 percent of babies born at home 237 murders in all America Tallest building in NYC was 700 feet tall

4. A Lot was Changing The World was changing 100 years ago. It’s was the “Progressive Era” Transportation | Communication Electricity | Politics Medicine | Business

5. 1905-1911 1905- Concentrated Media Ownership.1906- New Jersey requires driver’s licenses. Long distance phone service from NYC to SF perfected.1907- Peak year for U. S. Immigration. 1908- Ford Model T; F.B.I. Established; G.E. patents electric iron & toaster; 1909- N.A.A.C.P. Founded; The “Uprising of 30,000 garment workers” (80 percent women) They win. 1910- Electricity Standardized; $600 million spent in advertising. 1911- Over 181,000 cars sold; First Indianapolis 500; Air Conditioning; Women in California can vote.

6. Centennials What Do We Learn? We re-connect with the past. We re-examine the present. We re-discover the goal(s) of those who led our society/association/group.

9. Centennials What Do They Accomplish? We re-discover the long forgotten. We re-evaluate our mission(s). We close open “loops” We “open” new ones.

10. Centennials Help Us Focus Because we *make* time to seek out connections with the past during Centennial celebrations, we find things that have been long overlooked. Sometimes the connections we make are extraordinary…

12. Over 11 Million Copies!! The Kelly’s decide to tour Europe and Russia. The highlight of the Kelly’s trip was an afternoon in Moscow’s Lenin Library where they found the catalog files on Mark Twain’s works to 8 inches thick… At that time, books, pamphlets & articles on Twain covered hundreds of titles and over 11 million copies of Twain’s books had been translated into 25 Russian languages.

13. Centennials What Do They Accomplish? Brad Kelly died in 1968 so this project was pretty much forgotten. But books from Russia would arrive at the Mark Twain Library into the 1980’s.

14. The Mystery of the Russian Books “When prowling around my new library building, I discovered many boxes still waiting to be unpacked – most of them stored in the musty basement of the original old building. I realized some had been there for many years, and one of my discoveries was a small collection of books, by and about Mark Twain, that had been translated into Russian. I looked them over, intrigued, but with much else to do, I placed them in a cupboard, and almost forgot them.” -Heather Morgan, Director of the Mark Twain Library

15. In May of 2010, a request for presentations came from Boston University. The topic? Twain and Tolstoy. I immediately thought of Kelly and his Russia book exchange project.

16. Slide from Our Presentation: What’s truly amazing with this project is that this year, the 100th anniversary of Twain’s passing, Heather and her staff have cataloged this very special Russian collection and made it available to the General Public. Kelly had hoped that the book exchange would continue and grow and here today at this symposium we are here to make more people aware of their existence.

18. Twain’s ConnecticutThere’s more to it than you think.

19. Project Goals The ultimate goal of this project is to make Connecticut a destination for Mark Twain tourism and research in the future. By merging information about Twain with information about the “Connections to Twain" in the many towns and cities that have a Twain Connection is a great way to promote local pride and Connecticut tourism in the future.

20. Project Benefits Increase the chances of a significant Mark Twain Conference/Convention being held here in Connecticut. Increase the foot traffic to Connecticut museums, libraries, and public buildings. Provide a tourism program that can be expanded upon in the future. i.e. 'Connecticut's Greatest Residents'.

21. The Connections are all over the State!

22. Fairfield County Redding, Connecticut- Twain arrived in Redding on June 18th, 1908 and departed on April 21, 1910. Easton, Connecticut- Helen Keller; Ida M. Tarbell. Bridgeport Connecticut- P.T. Barnum was mayor of Bridgeport. Westport, Connecticut- Edgar "Ned" Wakeman was born in Westport, Connecticut. Ridgefield, Connecticut- Edward W. Kemble and Edward M. Knox

24. Twain vs. Barnum February 3, 1875: “My Dear Barnum… of all the amazing shows that ever were conceived of, I think this of yours must surely take the lead! Barnum replied in March of 1875: “You did a big thing with the Comet & perhaps sometime another chance may turn up.”

25. Coastal Areas New Haven, Connecticut- Yale University, New London, Connecticut- Fort Trumbull via Twain's Short Story “A Curious Experience” Old Lyme, Connecticut- Willard L. Metcalf and Twain were members of The Players club in NYC. The Florence Griswold Museum houses a large collection of Metcalf's paintings. Saybrook , Connecticut- Fenwick (Hall) Hotel where some believe he began writing Tom Sawyer.

27. Warner T. McGuinn- Yale “I do not believe I would very cheerfully help a white student who would ask a benevolence of a stranger, but I do not feel the same about the other color. We have ground the manhood out of them, and the shame is ours, not theirs, and we should pay for it.” Letter to Dean of Yale Law School December 24, 1885

28. New Haven- Yale “It pleased me beyond measure when Yale made me a Master of Arts, because I didn't know anything about art.” Yale's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library holds 2,000+ Mark Twain related archives.

29. “Who got this book from Poor Edward & Charles?”

30. Greater Hartford Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford CT Asylum Hill Church, Hartford, CT Windsor, Connecticut- Elisha Bliss, Jr. ofAmerican Publishing Company. Wethersfield Prison- Where the Stormfield Burglars ended up. Simsbury, Connecticut- Talcott Mountain. Manchester, Connecticut- The Monday evening club at Charles Cheney mansion.

31. Monday Evening Club The Monday Evening Club was an organization which included the best minds of Hartford. Dr. Horace Bushnell, Prof. Calvin E. Stowe, and J. Hammond Trumbull founded it back in the 1860’s. Rev. Dr. Parker, Rev. Dr. Burton, Charles H. Clark, of the Courant and Joe Twichell were members. The club met alternate Mondays, from October to May. There was one paper for each evening, and, after the usual fashion of such clubs, the reading was followed by discussion.

32. Monday Evening Club Clemens attended the meeting of February 17, 1873 and heard Congregational clergyman Nathaniel J. Burton read an essay entitled “Individualism.” The first paper Twain read was on the "License of the Press." Members of that time agree that Mark Twain`s association with the club had a tendency to give it a life, or at least an exhilaration, which it had not previously known.

33. Monday Evening Club April 1880 • Hartford, Conn. To the Monday Evening Club: An amusing announcement of a meeting of the Monday Evening Club at Twain’s Hartford house. The subject for discussion? “The Decay of the Art of Lying.”

34. Decay of the Art of Lying “Children and fools always speak the truth. The deduction is plain: Adults and wise persons never speak it.”

35. Points in-Between East Granby, Connecticut- Roswell Phelps who was paid as a stenographer on Twain’s 1882 trip on the Mississippi River. Southington, Connecticut- Joseph Hopkins Twichell was born in Southington, Connecticut. Unionville, Connecticut- The Platner & Porter Manufacturing Company. Twain used their paper for personal letters and literary manuscripts. Sharon, Connecticut- Frank J. Sprague. The “Father of Electric Traction” Close friend of Twain.

36. Points in-Between Sharon’s Twain Connection- Frank J. Sprague Sprague is a surprise all around. I never expected to make a “Twain Connection” in Sharon. Sprague truly embodies the qualities of an extraordinary person and he’s a very solid “Twain Connection”. His inventions led to: Electronic Motors, Trolley car systems, Electrified railways, and Electric elevators. Inventions that ultimately made cities possible. New York City and Sprague go hand and hand.

37. So…What’s My Connection?

38. Twain’s time in Connecticut It was significant!!

39. From 1871 to 1885 is a whirlwind of success for Mark Twain. Where did he live? Connecticut!

40. In 1871, moves to Hartford CT. Continues his lecture tours and visits England for the first time. 1872: Roughing Itpublished. Susy Clemens is born. 1873: The Gilded Age published. 1874: Hartford house completed. Clara Clemens is born.

42. 1876: Publishes The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Starts to work on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 1880: Publishes A Tramp Abroad.Jean Clemens, is born. 1881: Publishes The Prince and the Pauper. Hires Louis Comfort Tiffany to decorate public rooms of Hartford home.

43. 1883: Publishes Life on the Mississippi.Finishes Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 1884: Founds Charles L. Webster Publishing and Co. Lectures throughout United States. Final edits to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1885: Publishes Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Charles L. Webster and Co. issues first volume of Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant.

44. What about? Redding?!

46. Rear view of Stormfield

47. Twain’s Bedroom Bed oddly positioned so he could look out the window from bed.

48. Twain arrived in Redding in June 1908 and passed away in Redding in April 1910. If you subtract the time he spent in Bermuda during 1909 & 1910… he’s in Redding: 1 Year and 6 Months. So what? Who cares?

49. #1: He Founds, Funds, and Fills a Public Library with books for the residents of Redding. Later funding a building dedicated to his daughter Jean. No other library in the World was founded, funded and supplied with books under the direction of Mark Twain.

50. The Chapel that was used as the first Mark Twain Library