Zoom webinar registration: https://bit.ly/4eeRQxG

In this talk, Jennifer Coggins will note some highlights from the library’s extensive collections related to Noah Webster, his life, family, and work. The talk will also preview the library’s annual Dictionary Day event, this year in conjunction with the New Haven Museum and the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society.

Born in what is now West Hartford in 1758, Webster is best known today for his contributions to the standardization of American English through his dictionaries, the “Blue-Backed Speller” with which millions of children learned to read and spell, and other textbooks. However, Webster was a polymath, writing prolifically and influentially on topics including American independence and politics, slavery, public health, and Christianity. He also lobbied for copyright legislation in the United States and founded a number of newspapers. A graduate of Yale, Webster lived much of his life in New Haven and is buried with his wife, Rebecca Greenleaf Webster, in the Grove Street Cemetery.

Mondays at Beinecke online talks focus on materials from the collections and include an opening presentation at 4pm followed by conversation and Q & A beginning about 4:30pm until 5pm.