pulling at the roots: three plays about northampton history
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Circling Suspicion
by Talya Kingston |
Rose
by Jasmine Rochelle Goodspeed |
The Optimist's Razor
by Patrick Gabridge |
Pulling at the Roots is a series of three site-specific plays that
move the audience through three centuries of Northampton history.
move the audience through three centuries of Northampton history.
Staged in the historic Shepherd Barn and on the grounds of Historic Northampton
at 46-66 Bridge Street, Northampton, MA 01060
Commissioned by Historic Northampton, the plays are produced by Plays In Place,
a Florence, Massachusetts theatre company that brings historic stories to life with site-specific plays.
a Florence, Massachusetts theatre company that brings historic stories to life with site-specific plays.
The Optimist’s Razor
by Patrick Gabridge
Set in 1841
Set in 1842, The Optimist's Razor shows abolitionists David and Lydia Maria Child
confronting a decision that threatens their careers and marriage.
by Patrick Gabridge
Set in 1841
Set in 1842, The Optimist's Razor shows abolitionists David and Lydia Maria Child
confronting a decision that threatens their careers and marriage.
Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880): Born in Medford, MA, she was the author of popular novels and The Frugal Housewife, a home advice book for mothers, as well as the founder and editor of The Juvenile Miscellany, the first monthly publication for children in the United States. Her book, An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans, launched her into the world of abolitionist writers, and she was actively engaged in the struggle for abolition and for women’s rights.
David Lee Child (1794-1874): Born in West Boylston, MA, he was a Harvard educated lawyer who was deeply committed to the cause of abolition. He published and edited The Massachusetts Journal until it went bankrupt and also lectured on the topic of abolition. In 1838, after conducting research in Europe, he moved to Northampton with his wife to grow sugar beets, in an effort to replace slave-grown sugar with sugar grown with free labor.
David Lee Child (1794-1874): Born in West Boylston, MA, he was a Harvard educated lawyer who was deeply committed to the cause of abolition. He published and edited The Massachusetts Journal until it went bankrupt and also lectured on the topic of abolition. In 1838, after conducting research in Europe, he moved to Northampton with his wife to grow sugar beets, in an effort to replace slave-grown sugar with sugar grown with free labor.
Recent Biographies of Lydia Maria Child
- Lydia Maria Child: A Radical American Life by Lydia Moland (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2022). Now available as an audio book on Audible, Nook, Google Play, Storytel, and other places.
- The First Woman in the Republic: A Cultural Biography of Lydia Maria Child by Carolyn L. Karcher (Durham: Duke University Press, 1994).
- Crusader for Freedom: A Life of Lydia Maria Child by Deborah Pickman Clifford (Boston: Beacon Press, 1992)
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The National Anti-Slavery Standard of May 20, 1841,
the first issue to appear with Lydia Maria Child's name on the masthead. Photograph by Bill Holloway. |
The full page of the May 20, 1841 edition of the National Anti-Slavery Standard.
Photograph by Bill Holloway. |
In 1994, David B. Dill, Jr. wrote this short sketch of Lydia Maria Child's time in Northampton and Florence.
In late May, 1836, a rather unusual couple came to town and rented a back room in Deacon Enos Clark's Elm Street boarding house. Both were already known in Northampton, Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) as America's most popular woman writer, and David Lee Child (1794-1874) as the man who had promised to turn the town into a prosperous producer of beet sugar. But a warm welcome soon evolved into a distinct coolness, as townspeople took alarm on learning that Maria (as she preferred to be called) and David Child were among Boston's most radical advocates of the immediate abolition of slavery. Here, sentiment was much milder, and even proslavery supporters could be found. Even so, the two activists persisted in circulating handbills and raising their voices at meetings.
At the same time, the pair labored mightily to grow sugar beets and build an experimental refinery which would provide an alternative to slave-produced sugar and strike a blow for emanicpation. The climate and soil conditions were just right in Northampton for a sugar industry, but the technology was complex, and David Child, a lawyer and tinkerer, was no entrepeneur. Financial backing evaporated. Nevertheless, in the third season the refinery produced 3,000 pounds of sugar, the first significant (although far from commercial) production of beet sugar in the United States.
By May of 1841, her book royalties totally submerged in the venture, Maria Child desperately needed employment. After a residence of three years, she left Northampton to become the editor of the National Anti-Slavery Standard in New York. David Child remained, believing he had not yet given the beet sugar experiment a fair try. He finally gave up the venture the following year.
In late May, 1836, a rather unusual couple came to town and rented a back room in Deacon Enos Clark's Elm Street boarding house. Both were already known in Northampton, Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) as America's most popular woman writer, and David Lee Child (1794-1874) as the man who had promised to turn the town into a prosperous producer of beet sugar. But a warm welcome soon evolved into a distinct coolness, as townspeople took alarm on learning that Maria (as she preferred to be called) and David Child were among Boston's most radical advocates of the immediate abolition of slavery. Here, sentiment was much milder, and even proslavery supporters could be found. Even so, the two activists persisted in circulating handbills and raising their voices at meetings.
At the same time, the pair labored mightily to grow sugar beets and build an experimental refinery which would provide an alternative to slave-produced sugar and strike a blow for emanicpation. The climate and soil conditions were just right in Northampton for a sugar industry, but the technology was complex, and David Child, a lawyer and tinkerer, was no entrepeneur. Financial backing evaporated. Nevertheless, in the third season the refinery produced 3,000 pounds of sugar, the first significant (although far from commercial) production of beet sugar in the United States.
By May of 1841, her book royalties totally submerged in the venture, Maria Child desperately needed employment. After a residence of three years, she left Northampton to become the editor of the National Anti-Slavery Standard in New York. David Child remained, believing he had not yet given the beet sugar experiment a fair try. He finally gave up the venture the following year.
