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I wanted to touch on a number of topics relating to education. First, you can see on this page a photograph of 27 bright and proud young students. They were recognized recently in the Fleet Bank Essay Contest, which was also sponsored by the Museum and Research Center and the Connecticut Department of Education. Twelve winners were awarded $500 scholarships. Working from various resources, including materials provided by the museum and teachers, as well as recommended web sites, fifth grade students from five school districts addressed the topic: "What is the importance of elders to Native American tribes of Connecticut: Making comparisons with your own family life."
All of the students who participated, their classmates, teachers, and parents were invited courtesy of Fleet Bank to the Museum for the awards ceremony, lunch and a guided tour of our exhibits. The auditorium was filled with some 300 enthusiastic and respectful young scholars. It was a wonderful day for all involved. The students' well written compositions, which were put on display in the museum and have been published in a commemorative booklet, are a testimony not only to the authors, but to their schools and teachers and their parents. We look forward to participating in similar programs in the future.
Another educational event that I wanted to highlight is the upcoming history conference here on September 20-21. The third such scholarly symposium that we have sponsored, its title is "Eighteenth Century Native Communities in Southern New England in the Colonial Context." Scholars from across the country will be addressing topics that range from evolving land use to social and political tensions and change. One of the presenters, Corinna Dally-Starna, has written an article in this issue on her work translating the diaries of Moravian missionaries who worked among Connecticut's Native peoples from 1740-1765. While her article describes the challenges of deciphering eighteenth-century German script, her talk here on Friday, September 20 at 1:30 p.m. in the Museum Auditorium will focus on what the diaries reveal, as will an article in our upcoming winter newsletter. Full details on the conference appear on page 13 and a complete schedule of presenters can be found on our web site: www.PequotMuseum.org.
I also would like to recommend companion articles in this issue on the "Four Kings," Iroquois sachems who traveled to England in 1710 to meet Queen Anne, to negotiate and, among other adventures, to sit for individual portraits. We have in our collections a set of prints made from the original paintings, and the two authors' approach the topic from distinct but equally engaging perspectives.
I hope you enjoy the fall and have some time to share it with us.
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