In this talk, John Hanson will share verses on old stones in Longmeadow and discuss their sources, including Scripture, hymnody, poetry, and original poetry composed. The talk will consider how 18th c. Longmeadow residents might have accessed the source texts and incorporated them into their spiritual lives and what these early New Englanders’ very personal choices of memorial verse tell us about their attitudes towards life, death, and eternity. A Williamstown native, Hanson now lives in Cambridge and the Berkshires. He received an AB in Literature from Harvard; is the author of Reading the Gravestones of Old New England (McFarland, 2021); and has published and spoken extensively on this topic. LOCATION: Betty Ann Low Meeting Room Registration available through this link: https://www.eventkeeper.com/code/ekform.cfm?curOrg=STORRS...

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