Connecticut Landmarks’ Hempsted Houses Host Writers Block, Ink

Connecticut Landmarks’ 75th Anniversary Event featuring Excerpts from The Secret Wells Behind These Walls


New London, CT - Connecticut Landmarks’ Hempsted Houses will host a special 75th Anniversary event on Saturday, October 8th, from 1 – 3 pm, featuring Writers Block, Ink, who will present excerpts from their original production of The Secret Wells Behind These Walls. An original work created and written by the students of the Writers Block, Ink, The Secret Wells Behind These Walls was inspired by the Joshua Hempsted House and the Judy Dworin Performance Project’s In This House (coming to The Garde Arts Center October 13, 2011). Writers Block, Ink were recently selected by the multi-platinum singer-songwriter Josh Groban to receive a donation from his new Find Your Light Foundation. This free community event will also feature hearth cooking in the Nathaniel Hemspted House and refreshments.

The Secret Wells Behind These Walls incorporates the history of New London’s Joshua Hempsted House into a modern-day story of a family who now lives in the neighborhood. During the course of the play, ancestral family secrets are revealed and tear the family apart. At stake for the family are issues of identity and race, the capacity to forgive and to love and the ability to move beyond the past, live in the present and make a difference for the future. The production features music, dance and poetry for an exhilarating theatrical performance.

The mission of The Writers Block, Ink is to arm young voices with the power of pen, poetry and prose, reinforcing teamwork, accountability, and responsibility – igniting social change on the page and the stage. The Writers Block Ink was started in 2003 as a 501c3 non-profit organization to encourage youth to use writing and performance as tools to address personal and social challenges on the community stage. Students from The Block create original plays with a strong emphasis on spoken word poetry and have performed on stages across Southeastern Connecticut. Courses are structured to guide students to improve skills in the performing arts including writing, acting, singing and dance, as well as to build self-confidence, leadership, and teamwork. The students conceive of an idea, develop a plot, create characters and evaluate character conflict, then write a final script, cast themselves, market, and ultimately perform their work for the community. The Writers Block, Ink's overall purpose is to empower youth to advance key skills through all aspects of the performing arts in order to enhance their lives, communities and the world. For more information go to www.writersblockink.org.

The Hempsted Houses are located at 11 Hempstead Street in New London and will be open for regular tours from May 29th - October 10th. September and October hours are: Saturday & Sunday from 1 – 4 pm. Admission is $7 for adults; $6 for students, teachers, and seniors; $4 for children age 6-18; children under 6 and Connecticut Landmarks members are free. Families (2 adults with unlimited children) are $15, groups of 10 or more are $5 each. For school groups and special curriculum-based programming, or to reserve tours for groups of 10 or more, please contact the education department at (860)247-8996 x 14. For groups of 10 or more, please call the Hempsted Houses at (860) 443-7949.

 

 

About The Hempsted Houses

The 1678 Joshua Hempsted House in New London is one of New England’s oldest and most well documented dwellings. Adjacent to the Joshua Hempsted House is a rare stone house built in 1759 by Nathaniel Hempsted. Both structures survived the 1781 burning of New London and stand today as testaments of 17th and 18th-century daily life. The Hempsted Houses are open from May to October for drop-in visitation and offer youth-based and public programs.

Joshua Hempsted the second was born in 1678 in the house that bears his name. From 1711 until his death in 1758, Joshua kept a diary, which today is one of the best sources about life in colonial New London. Joshua’s diary provides hundreds of pages of valuable information, as well as his insight about early New London people and activities, including the life of enslaved African-American, Adam Jackson. Tours of the Joshua Hempsted House bring to life this diary, engaging visitors with Joshua’s struggle to provide for his family and juggle his many responsibilities.

The stone Nathaniel Hempsted House was constructed for Joshua’s grandson Nathaniel Hempsted. He was a merchant and one of three rope makers in maritime New London.

 

 

About Connecticut Landmarks

Founded in 1936 as the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society, Connecticut Landmarks is the largest state-wide heritage museum organization in Connecticut. The historic, landmark properties span four centuries of Connecticut history and include: the Amasa Day House, Moodus; the Amos Bull House, Hartford; the Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, Bethlehem; the Butler-McCook House & Garden and Main Street History Center, Hartford; the Buttolph-Williams House, Wethersfield; the Hempsted Houses, New London; the Isham-Terry House, Hartford; the Nathan Hale Homestead, Coventry; the Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden, Suffield.

Connecticut Landmarks’ mission is to inspire interest and encourage learning about the American past by preserving selected historic properties, collections and stories and presenting programs that meaningfully engage the public and our communities. For more information, please visit www.ctlandmarks.org.

Photos: The Hempsted Houses in New London. Photo by Nick Lacy, courtesy of Connecticut Landmarks.