October 23RD at 7:30PM – Presented by Natalie Belanger. REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Please join us on Thursday, October 23, 7:30 p.m. for a special fall program. Natalie Belanger from the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History will present “Journeys: Boys of the Chinese Educational Mission.” This will be a ZOOM program that you can enjoy from the comfort of your home.
To receive the ZOOM link please pre-register below.
In the 1870s, 120 boys from China, most of them barely teenagers, came to Connecticut to participate in a groundbreaking scheme: a cultural and educational exchange program. The boys boarded ships and trains, leaving everything familiar, with the expectations of a nation on their shoulders. The story of the boys of the Chinese Educational Mission is a story of hopes, dreams, sacrifice, and the life-changing experience of international exchange.
We were delighted to find that we have in our collection an album that contains autographs of several of the boys of Chinese Educational Mission. The album belonged to Charles Emory Smith who would later become the U.S. Postmaster General (1898-1902).
Natalie Belanger is the Public Programs Manager at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History She holds a B.A. in history from Smith College and an M.A. in women’s history from the University of Maryland. She has worked in museum education for most of her career, and teaches history courses at Manchester Community College.