VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Rienzi and Bayou Bend host a history book discussion series about life in America and Europe in the 1700s and 1800s. Meeting alternately at Rienzi and Bayou Bend, this book club offers free discussion on the second Wednesdays of every month at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

In February's selection, The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth (2001), Pulitzer Prize winner and Harvard University professor of history Laurel Thatcher Ulrich uses fourteen historic objects as the center and inspiration for her study of women and textiles in early New England, and the ways in which that history has been retold and used over time.

Dr. Ulrich weaves many historical strands, from craft technique, to politics and economics, to the history of blacks and Native people, into her narrative which provides an unprecedented look at women’s lives in New England over two hundred years.

Our discussion will focus on Chapter 1 and Chapters 3–6, touching on other chapters if time allows. Our special guest will be Dr. Rebecca Goetz, Assistant Professor of History at Rice University, who studied under Dr. Ulrich at Harvard University at the time the book was being written and assisted her with the research.

For more information or to reserve your discussion seat, please call 713.639.7800 or 713.639.7759.