Cliveden Conversations
Join Cliveden for thought-provoking discussion.
Thank you for attending our 2023 Cliveden Conversations!
Stay tuned for upcoming Cliveden Conversations in 2024. Below, please enjoy some recordings of past programs.
Past Cliveden Conversations
Finding Black Families: Stories from the Chew Family Papers
Monday, February 28, 2022
On Tuesday, February 22nd, Cliveden, the African American Genealogy Group, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania presented Finding Black Families: Stories from The Chew Family Papers via Zoom detailing the research, digitization work, and how to use various kinds of documents to trace their family history. Andrew Williams, Digital Archivist at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Adrienne Whaley, Programming Chair and former President of the African American Genealogy Group; and Carolyn Wallace, Education Director at Cliveden, were the program speakers.
This project was funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Interpretation and Education Endowed Fund that was made possible by a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Reconstructing Black Families: Stories from the Chew Papers
Wednesday, April 18, 2023
Spread throughout the 288.5 linear feet of the Chew Family Papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania is the evidence of the lives of early American families of African descent, both free and enslaved. Recent digitization work and research by the African American Genealogy Group (AAGG) has started to re-create family groups from the Mid-Atlantic region. Hear from members of AAGG on their findings and learn from Cliveden staff about the impact this work has on the interpretation at a local historic site.
This project was funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Interpretation and Education Endowed Fund that was made possible by a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Habit Forming: Drug Addiction in mid-19th century Philadelphia
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 at 7pm
Dr. Kelly Gray explored the history of habitual drug use, focusing on opiate use and addiction in mid-19th century Philadelphia. Our current exhibit at Cliveden, The Turmoil of Transition, discusses how addiction affected the lives of those at Cliveden during the mid-19th century. Dr. Gray is a professor of history at Towson University and author of the new book Habit Forming: Drug Addiction in America 1776-1914 which explores the history of habitual drug use the era when drug sales were almost entirely unregulated and how racism and classism shaped perceptions of drug use and addiction.
This program is generously supported by The Haley Foundation.
Behind the Doors: Uncovering the Stories of Domestic Laborers at Cliveden
Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 at 7pm
Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz led a talk introducing the essential roles that both enslaved and paid domestic workers played in maintaining the household at Cliveden and why we should pay more attention to these histories. This was the first lecture in a series of the Transcending Thresholds project funded by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz is the Vice President of Collections and Public Engagement at Stratford Hall, a Visiting Scholar in the Department of African American Studies at UC Berkeley, author and public historian dedicated to researching and elevating the history of enslaved African Americans and amplifying the need for acknowledgement and reconciliation.
Transcending Thresholds emphasizes the lives of and labor of those enslaved and in service at Cliveden. The project will create exhibits and reimagine Cliveden’s tour program in the kitchen and colonnade spaces to include the complexity of human relationships, dealing with power, economics, intimacies, boundaries, and family. Transcending Thresholds will explore how the physical and metaphorical thresholds between people who labored at Cliveden and the Chew family reveals the history of class-based social relationships that relate to conflicts and tension in American culture today.
Transcending Thresholds is supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
