Vacation Program: Busy Parents Short Story Club

If you’ve been wanting to join a book club, but worried about the time commitment and childcare, this group is for you. Adults will get to discuss short stories that have a connection to our exhibits, while CMCH staff leads your kids in crafts and stories of their own. Coffee and tea (for grownups), juice (for kids), and treats (for everyone) will be served!

For our first meeting, we will be discussing the short story “The New Mirror,” written by Ann Petry. While the grown-ups are chatting, museum educators will lead children in reading Faith Ringold’s Tar Beach, and creating their own memory quilt square to bring home.

Afterward, you can take a walk through our exhibition Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow, and see how the story connects to the larger context of the struggle of African Americans for full citizenship and racial equality.

“The New Mirror” can be found in Petry’s published collection of stories, Miss Muriel and Other Stories. Check your local bookseller or library. The Research Center at CMCH owns a non-circulating copy as well.

Cost: free for CMCH members, $8 per family for non-members

This is a drop-in program, but we welcome RSVPs to help us better serve our visitors. Please email rsvp@chs.org or call 860-236-5621 ext. 238 with the number of people attending and the ages of your children. Questions? Please contact Taylor McClure, Interim Coordinator of Youth & Family Programs, at taylor_mcclure@chs.org.