2020 NEA BIG READ: Attleboro – Celebrating Women’s Suffrage and More!
BARBARA BERENSON
ATTLEBORO – The women’s suffrage movement, ancient Greek temples and “Ugly Truths” are all featured the week of Sept. 14 in the NEA Big Read program’s celebration of the novel “Circe.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, author Barbara Berenson will deliver a lecture at 7 p.m. via Zoom on Massachusetts’ leading role in the right of women to vote. Female independence and strength is a major theme in Madeline Miller’s “Circe.” Her talk is scheduled to end at 8:30 p.m. Registered attendees will receive a Zoom link to connect to the lecture.
Barbara F. Berenson is the author of Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers (2018), Boston in the Civil War: Hub of the Second Revolution (2014), and Walking Tours of Civil War Boston: Hub of Abolitionism (2011, 2d ed. 2014). She is the co-editor of Breaking Barriers: The Unfinished Story of Women Lawyers and Judges in Massachusetts (2012). Barbara earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her law degree from Harvard Law School, and until recently worked as a Senior Attorney at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. She is on the boards of Boston By Foot and the Royall House & Slave Quarters. Learn more by visiting her website at
Monday through Friday, Sept. 14-18, children 3 years old and up can register for a materials kit to build an ancient Greek temple in 15 minutes. Email attleborokids@sailsinc.org or call 508-222-7820.
The Circe exhibit, “Scylla: The Ugly Truth Revealed,” original works by local and regional artists, continues through Friday, Sept. 18, at The Attleboro Arts Museum on Park Street. The show can be seen on line at
There will also be numerous book club discussions for adults and children. A full list of events in September and October is at
Attleboro1abc.org
There will also be numerous book club discussions for adults and children. A full list of events in September and October is available online at
To help fund Big Read programming, Attleboro’s 1ABC Committee has received a $15,000 NEA Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Also contributing funding for the two months of events in September and October are Bristol County Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, the Attleboro Cultural Council, Friends of Attleboro Public Library, Rotary Club of Attleboro and the Trustees of the Attleboro Public Library.
NEA Big Read: Attleboro partners include the Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro Area Industrial Museum, Attleboro Farmers Market, Attleboro Land Trust, Attleboro Public Library, Attleboro Public Schools, Bishop Feehan High School, Bridgewater State University, Bristol Community College, Community VNA, DoubleACS, The Literacy Center, and The Sun Chronicle.
For more information and to register for events, visit attleboros1abc.org or call the Attleboro Public Library at 508-222-0157.
NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. It encourages residents of a community to read the same book at the same time and enhance the shared experience through local arts and culture activities.