Exploring, Interpreting, and Conserving the Historic Stone Walls of New England

Join the Sherman Library and the Sherman Conservation Commission for Exploring, Interpreting, and Conserving the Historic Stone Walls of New England, an illustrated talk on Thursday, April10th at 7:00pm on Zoom presented by Robert Thorson.

Professor Thorson will explain the origin of New England walls, why they are the binding threads of New England's rural interior landscape, why they are important for us today, and what visual clues are most critical for drawing information from silent stones. He will also outline his published approach for conserving stone walls based on his recent articles in The Public Historian and Historical Archaeology.  Towns, agencies, and land trusts are joining the cause.  

Robert Thorson is a Midwestern native turned Northwestern geologist turned Northeastern academic. His recent essay in Smithsonian “How Stone Walls Became a Signature Landform in New England”, was cited by the History News Network for its lists "Best History Writing of 2023."  

As a Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Connecticut, he commutes to work on a woodland path and across UConn's Great Lawn, a former pasture.  He's the author of seven books dozens of technical articles, and ~500 essays and columns.  Since the publication of Stone Wall Secrets in 1998 (a Smithsonian Notable Book for Children) Robert Thorson has been been a stump evangelist for the appreciation, investigation, and conservation of New England's stone walls who spoke in Sherman years ago.  As a scholar, he's interested in the inter weave between environmental history, literature and science.  

This remote program via Zoom is free and open to all. Registration is required. To register online go to shermanlibrary.org/registration-dropdown, email slprograms@biblio.org or call 860-354-2455.