Library to host author discussion

SALISBURY — Geoffrey Brown, author and historian, will discuss his book, “The Lakeville Crucifix, a tale of prejudice and nativism,” Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. at the Scoville Memorial Library. The story relates the historical conflicts that occured in one small Connecticut town. The event is a collaboration of the Salisbury Association Historical Society (SAHS) and the Scoville Memorial Library

In the summer 1882 the rector of the recently built St Mary’s Church erected a life-sized crucifix on the front lawn of the church. By 1883 events in Lakeville became so controversial that they made the front page of The New York Times” and the Hartford Courant, and appeared in papers across the United States. The Times’ page one headline read “Lakeville Crucifix” and local historian Geoffrey Brown used it as the title of his new book about what has been called a “religious war.”

Brown unearths the history behind this long forgotten occurence and outlines the series of events that comprised the Lakeville Crucifix incident. According to Brown, “The most interesting aspects of the incident, were not the events themselves, but instead the collision of trends and movements taking place in Northwest CT and elsewhere in the United States during and prior to the incident.”

Brown recovers and re-publishes local history from New England and the Northeast, and first began doing so in the 1980s while he was employed at CitiBank.

For information and to attend, call the library at 860-435-2838 or visit ScovilleLibrary.org.