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LITCHFIELD HISTORICAL COUNTY SOCIETY LECTURE JUNE 6

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LITCHFIELD, CONN. — The Litchfield Historical Society will present the final lecture of a four-part series on Friday, June 6, as part of the society’s yearlong celebration of Litchfield County Furniture and Furniture Makers. Briann Greenfield will offer “Inventing American Antiques: The Origins of Furniture Collection in 20th Century New England.”

The lecture begins at 5:30 pm at St Michaels Church house, 25 South Street. The society will hold a reception at the museum following the lecture; registration is required. For reservations, 860-567-4501.

Greenfield is assistant professor of American history and public history program coordinator at Central Connecticut State University. She wrote her dissertation on public memory in Salem, Deerfield, Providence and the Smithsonian Institution. Greenfield will examine the role of Jewish immigrants who, as antique dealers and pickers, propelled the antique trade from a hobby to a legitimate business in the early years of the Twentieth Century.

The lecture series is designed to complement the Litchfield Historical Society’s latest exhibition, “To Please Any Taste: Litchfield County Furniture and Furniture Makers, 1780–1830,” on view through November 30. This exhibit not only focuses on identifying style, construction techniques and regional attributes, but also interprets the furniture as a reflection of the rapid economic and social changes in Litchfield.

In addition to the lecture series, the Litchfield Historical Society will host a symposium to accompany the exhibition on Friday, October 17. This one-day symposium will bring together some of the country’s most respected furniture scholars to discuss new scholarship in furniture making in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island between 1780 and 1830.

The speakers will include Edward S. Cooke Jr, Charles F. Montgomery professor of decorative arts at Yale; Brock Jobe, professor of American decorative arts, Winterthur program in early American culture; Patricia Kane, curator of decorative arts, Yale University Art Gallery; Robert Trent, independent furniture scholar; and Derin Bray, American consultant Northeast Auctions.

For additional information, www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org or 860-567-4501.