Monday, September 21, 2009.
6:30 pm
Bristol Community College, Fall River, MA
Building C, room 111
NOTE: Last week’s lecture was standing room only, so please arrive early!
Bonnie Mendes, Director of the Somerset Public Library and Ann Rockett-Sperling, educator
Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River
Readings from the Fall River Historical Society’s upcoming publication
Relying on an extensive number of previously unpublished manuscripts and diaries, including a plethora of material gleaned from private collections, Parallel Lives provides unprecedented insight into Lizzie’s world, into Her Fall River. Researched and written for the Society by its curatorial staff, Parallel Lives uses the time span of the family of Andrew Jackson Borden as the framework around which the story unfolds. No attempt is made to retell the story of the Borden murder case, but, rather, a picture is painted of the Fall River Lizzie knew. It was a city of sharp contrasts, where a privileged few, entrenched on “the Hill,†lived their lives surrounded by the factories and laborers that were their lifeblood, with one unable to exist without the other. Fall River is brought to life: the people, the sounds, and the events that formed its history. Parallel Lives takes the reader back in time and provides a never-before-seen look at her life, and the environment in which she lived it. Here we meet a flesh and blood Lizzie in full color—a woman who was anything but the icon created by those who did not know her personally. Those who did painted an entirely different picture of the mistress of Maplecroft—and the stories they had to tell are here collected for the first time in Parallel Lives.
As the Library Director of the Somerset Public Library, Bonnie Mendes is well known in the local community. A Somerset native, she attended Fitchburg State College, obtaining her degree in English with a concentration in American Literature. After graduation, she began work in the Reference Department of the Fall River Public Library, thus sowing the seeds of her passion for Fall River history. She attended the University of Rhode Island, graduating with a Masters in Library and Information Science in 1986, and at that time began work as the Reference Librarian at the Somerset Public Library. She currently holds the position of Library Director, and is a candidate in the American Library Association’s Certified Public Library Administrator program. An avid reader, she is involved in a number of professional library associations as well as many community organizations. Visit the website for the Somerset Publc Library!
Ann Rockett-Sperling, a retired elementary educator in the Fall River Public School System, is an active member of the Fall River Historical Society.
