When two of journalism's most accomplished brothers sit down together, the conversation promises a rare blend of firsthand global insight, incisive analysis, and thoughtful perspective shaped by decades at the highest levels of international reporting and editorial leadership. Join Historic Stonington at the La Grua Center in Stonington for a history making conversation with brothers, David and Adi Ignatius on...

Presented in partnership with The La Grua Center, Rhetoric and Reason pairs historically significant speeches by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. and more with musical selections that amplify the emotional and historical impact of their words. These speeches demonstrate the power of the spoken word as a means of protest and civil discourse, and highlight the significance of civic participation in matters of society, politics, ethics and legislation. This event will showcase the voices of women and people of color in juxtaposition to those who have typically held positions of power. Rhetoric and Reason provides an opportunity to explore oration as a form of activism, and the timelessness of certain sentiments that are echoed across decades, race, gender and ability. We encourage the public to think critically about how these speeches impacted our country.

Using personal recollections, interviews with family and friends, local and national archives, Rollie McKenna: Life and Photography explores the unconventional life and career of Rollie McKenna (1918–2003). McKenna documented an entire generation of American arts and culture thanks to her prolific career as a photographer, which afforded her both personal and professional independence. Photography allowed McKenna to travel the world and cultivate her craft free from the typical expectations of American women in the mid-twentieth century. It also offered her access to a privileged circle of authors and artists. Her subjects included Dylan Thomas, T.S. Eliot, Derek Walcott, Robert Frost, Edith Sitwell, Elizabeth Bishop, James Merrill, Alexander Calder, Helen Keller, and Robert Graves, to name just a few. Her local photographs document the local landscape of Stonington Borough as a colorful fishing village populated with artists and academics. Life and Photography will appeal to audiences interested in 20th century literature, local history, portrait photography, architecture, literary history, popular culture, queer culture, feminist culture, and poetry.