Come join us as the Director of the Westfield Athenaeum, Guy McLain discusses the growth of American industry and wealth in the late 19th century, and how that led to the formation of a number of cultural institutions. Guy will talk about the artists, writers, and composers who studied their craft in Europe and brought back their work to the United States. He will also discuss the creation of certain American museums, such as the Smith Art Museum in Springfield, which is the work of George Walter Vincent Smith, who spent six years in Europe collecting the art and bringing it back to Springfield.

Cosponsored by the Longmeadow Historical Society, Bay Path University, and Storrs Library