Events
Boutwell Book Launch
Sunday February 2, 1-4 PM
The Groton Inn, 128 Main Street, Groton
Jeffrey Boutwell, whose biography, “BOUTWELL: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy,” is forthcoming in January, will make Groton among his first stops on his 2025 book tour for a celebratory reception at the Groton Inn on Sunday, February 2, between 1 and 4 pm. Socializing will begin at 1:00 PM, book talk at 2:00 PM, and book signing at 3:00 PM.
**Space is limited and registration is required for this free public event. Register below.**
In “BOUTWELL,” the nineteenth-century statesman and Progressive Republican emerges from the shadows, where his reputation has languished, in what Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer Megan Marshall calls a “richly contextualized and painstakingly researched… political biography.”
Of modest background, with neither fortune nor a college education, George began his illustrious years of public service here in Groton, where he studied law. In 1851, at 33, Boutwell became the youngest governor of Massachusetts, and subsequently held, as Jeffrey observes, “just about every important office in American politics, except the presidency.”
An ardent abolitionist and progressive, Boutwell served under the Lincoln and Grant presidencies. Among the many achievements of his seventy-year career, George facilitated Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and helped frame and enact the Fourteenth and Fifteenth civil rights amendments.
Along the research trail for writer and historian Jeffrey Boutwell, the Groton History Center’s Boutwell family archive, in the Boutwell House on Main Street, with its collection of George’s family and official correspondence, allowed him “a glimpse into George’s personal and professional life, and a good sense of the family dynamics.”
Join us for this gala reception for socializing with beverages and hors d’oeuvres, followed by a multi-media presentation and book talk, and book signing at the Groton Inn on Sunday, February 2.
This free public event is sponsored by the Groton History Center and the Groton Public Library, with support from W.W. Norton & Company.
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