Norman K. Dann Ph.D., program and book signing, “Passionate Energies: The Gerrit and Ann Smith Family Through a Century of Reform” on June 22 at 6 pm at the Madison County Historical Society.

On June 22 at 6:00 pm, the Madison County Historical Society welcomes Norman K. Dann, Ph.D. who will present a program and book signing for his latest work, “Passionate Energies: The Gerrit and Ann Smith Family Through a Century of Reform.”

Members of the Smith family were nationally known for their work in either human rights or science. The program will examine the Reform Era in which they lived that made their achievements plausible and effective and the issues that each of them pursued. Starting in the 1820s and continuing through the 1920s, the Smith family of Peterboro led the way in some of the greatest reform efforts in the nation’s history. Their work encompassed the abolition of slavery, women’s rights, and woman suffrage, as well as dress reform, the preservation and study of the animal world, and initiatives in politics and religion that still affect our modern world.

Norman K. Dann, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus at Morrisville State College, where he taught Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Environmental Science from 1966 – 1999. Living in a cottage formerly on the Gerrit Smith Estate, Norm is a Gerrit Smith scholar and author of several other books including biographies of the Smith family of Peterboro. He is the head docent at the Gerrit Smith Estate and a founder of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum.

There will be an opportunity to purchase copies of “Passionate Energies: The Gerrit and Ann Smith Family Through a Century of Reform” and to request the author’s signature at the program held at the Madison County Historical Society located at 435 Main Street in Oneida.There is a suggested donation of $5 for this program. For more information, please contact the Madison County Historical Society, 315-363-4136, or history@mchs1900.org.The Madison County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization that operates both a museum and the Mary King Research Library. The Madison County Historical Society continues to preserve, collect, promote, and exhibit the history of Madison County and its fifteen towns and one city through the development of programs that enhance Madison County’s heritage. The historical society’s headquarters are housed in an 1849 Gothic Revival Villa that is listed on the State and National Registry of Historic Places.