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Gore Place will offer a free webinar about the author, abolitionist and domestic servant Robert Roberts.
On Thursday, June 25 at 7 pm and Saturday, June 27 at 3 pm, Gore Place historian Diann Strausberg will lead a webinar entitled, The Butler Takes Charge. In his how-to manual entitled The House Servant’s Directory, Robert Roberts wrote that large dinner parties were the most challenging of all a butler’s duties. For Roberts, a quiet activism was woven through everything—your work, your speech, your behavior—and managing a successful dinner party could do more than just demonstrate a servant’s job mastery. Join this special, live presentation with Q & A as we explore the quiet activism of Robert Roberts. For the past three years, Diann has been researching Robert Roberts and his various roles as author, abolitionist and leader in Boston’s free Black community in the early 1800s. This event features real-time captioning. This event is free with a suggested donation of $10.
Sign-up now:
Thursday June 25 at 7 pm
Registration link
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aU139StnSLeDnsjLf3_Q6A
Saturday June 27 at 3 pm
Registration link
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__2PL6DMrQ2KxClsXHtko9w
For the past three years, Gore Place Historian Diann Ralph Strausberg has worked on a project to reinterpret Robert Roberts. As Project Scholar, she led the creation of a new public program on Roberts, funded by a Mass Humanities Project Grant. In Fall 2019, Diann presented a portion of her Roberts’ work at Historic Deerfield’s Symposium “Wined and Dined: Setting the New England Table,” and she is working on a new edition of Roberts’ The House Servant’s Directory. Prior to Gore Place, as assistant manager at Concord’s Old Manse, Diann conducted historical research and developed new programming, including a project to interpret “servitude, slavery, and antislavery” at the Manse. She collaborated on programming with the Robbins House, Concord’s Center for African American History, and served on their Advisory Board. Diann’s education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology with high distinction from Indiana University, and a Master of Liberal Arts with a concentration in History from Harvard University’s Extension Studies Program.
Cost: This event is free with a suggested donation of $10.
