Focus on Fairfield: Spring Speaker Series
The course will take place on April 28, May 5, May 26, and June 2 from 6-7:15 pm.
In this 4-session course at the Fairfield Museum, scholars and community leaders will share their perspectives related to diverse aspects of the town’s history. The course will cover pre-contact Indigenous History, and will consider citizen advocacy from the colonial times to the present. It will look at how important events in our history have shaped present democracy, and will consider some of the challenges and opportunities we are facing in the future.
The cost is $15 per session or $50 for all four sessions. Registration is required. Please click here to register.
Dr. Kevin McBride’s “Pequot War History and Archaeology”
April 28 @ 6:00-7:15
Part I: Ever wondered why there are so many things named “Pequot” in Fairfield? Join us for our first session featuring esteemed archeologist and expert on the 17th century Pequot War, Dr. McBride, who will share recent research and exciting archeological discoveries from Indigenous Histories in Southwestern Connecticut. McBride will provide an overview of Native history in the area, and will discuss how the Pequot War and 1637 Great Swamp Fight that occurred in Southport laid the groundwork for the English settlement of this area. He will share newly discovered archeological artifacts discovered from the Great Swamp Fight.
Dr. Kevin McBride is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut. He was the Director of Research at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and has led the Battlefields of the Pequot War project since 2007. He specializes in the Colonial & Native American Archaeology in the Northeast and has focused on applying Battlefield Archaeology and remote sensing techniques to research in the region. Please click here to register!
Jennifer McLaughlin’s “Encounters in Colonial Fairfield”
May 5 @ 6:00-7:15
Part II: 
For our second session, Professor Jennifer McLaughlin will examine the social, economic and political nature of European settlement and development in colonial Fairfield during the 17th and 18th centuries. We will pay particular attention to Fairfield’s ties to the Atlantic World and the impact of slavery, the role of religion in the town’s foundation, gender relations, and encounters with Native Americans.
Jennifer McLaughlin has been a member of the history faculty at Sacred Heart University since 2003. She teaches courses on colonial and Revolutionary America, African-American history, American Environmental History, and the British Empire. She is also the Executive Director of Student Advising and Success at Sacred Heart. Please click here to register!
Dr. Matt Warshauer’s “Copperheads in the Neighborhood: Fairfield County’s Opposition to the Civil War”
May 26 @ 6:00-7:15
Part III: For our third session of the four-part FMHC Spring Lecture Series, Dr. Matthew Warshauer will speak about Fairfield and the Civil War. Warshauer is a professor of history at Central Connecticut State University and served from 2009-2015 as the co-chair of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission. He is the author of numerous articles and books on Connecticut’s experiences during the war and his work on Copperheads, the northern Democratic peace movement, has changed the way national scholars think about Civil War dissent in the North.
From 2003-2011 he was editor of the journal, Connecticut History and created the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission in 2009. Warshauer’s books include Connecticut in the American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice and Survival (2011) and Inside Connecticut and the Civil War: Essay’s on One State’s Struggles (2014). Please click here to register!
Focus on Fairfield: Fairfield to Come
June 2 @ 6:00-7:15
Part IV: For our fourth and final event of the series, the Museum presents “Fairfield to Come.” How is Fairfield emerging Post-Covid? Where are we as a town? Where are we going? In this panel, leaders from Fairfield’s government, business, environmental, and cultural communities will discuss how Fairfield is emerging from the challenges of the past two years and will share some exciting opportunities that lay ahead. We’ll share strategies for how to get involved and make a difference in your town.
This panel discussion will be moderated by Michael Jehle, Executive Director of the Fairfield Museum. Participants include Brenda Kupchik Fairfield’s First Selectwoman, Beverly Balaz, President of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, David Brant, Executive Director, Aspetuck Land Trust, and Scott Jarzombek, Town Librarian. Please click here to register!
