Tomorrow is a big day in the Aperio project! We’ll meet at 9 at the Bun Shop, then put in a day of work at MDHS (I’ll be there to work with Sydney on some stuff for the first 30 min. or so), and then at the end of the day, we have our walking tour in Bolton Hill.

I’ve lined up Rev. Grey Maggiano, rector of Memorial Episcopal Church, to take us on a tour of the neighborhood, highlighting some of the prominent residents during the period we’re studying. I’ve also asked a neighbor up the street from me at 1220 Bolton, John Hurd, who will give us a tour of his house, which is done up in “period style.” And of course I’ll let you run through my house & meet my dog, Lucy. Possibly we’ll be joined by my husband Matt at some point.

I’d also like to walk you by a couple of places before we meet up with John & Grey, so could we start our tour at 3:30 at my house (1203 Bolton St.)? That will give us time to see my house, the site where Lydia Crane’s house once stood, the site of the Altamont Hotel, and Sidney Lanier’s house, before we meet up with John at 4pm. The idea with this walking tour is to not just get information about people & places, but to be bodily present for history, so that you can get a better sense of what these women’s lives were like.

On a practical level, wear cool clothing for the tour and good walking shoes, and bring layers to mitigate the chill of the MDHS reading room.

But before all that, I look forward to having coffee with you tomorrow morning, showing you my Very Large Map, and hearing about your research and your thoughts about McGerr’s A Fierce Discontent and Parker’s essay on women in the 1890s. See you at 9 tomorrow morning!