Ira Allen: A Biography – Conversation with Author, J. Kevin Graffagnino

Vermont historian J. Kevin Graffagnino will give a special presentation as part of our local America 250 events in commemoration of America’s Semiquincentennial next year.

Based on his new book “Ira Allen: A Biography,” Graffagnino’s lively talk evaluates Allen’s checkered career and makes the case for including him in the picture of Vermont’s formative decades. According to the author’s press release, “Land speculator, revolutionary, pamphleteer, politician, and empire-builder, Ira Allen was a key figure on the late eighteenth-century Green Mountain frontier.”

The author will be bringing signed copies of his book for purchase.

Based in Essex, Vermont, Graffagnino is the author or editor of more than a dozen books on Vermont history. Over the years, he has served as the executive director of the state historical societies in Vermont and Kentucky, and as director of the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan.

This talk is brought to our community through a joint effort of the Brattleboro Literary Festival, Brattleboro Historical Society, Brooks Memorial Library, and ‘Examining American Identity and Leadership in a Changing World’, a collaborative initiative working to support America 250 events in this region. The event is free and open to the public, with light refreshments to be served.