Mark Twain lecture series kicks off in May at Elmira's Quarry Farm: What to know

Jeff Murray, Elmira Star-Gazette
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For most of the year, Quarry Farm — the former summer home of famed author Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain — is reserved for Twain scholars.

But in the spring and fall each year, the property on a hill overlooking Elmira, where Twain wrote most of his major works, is open to the public for a chance to learn more about the legendary writer and humorist, and the environment that fostered his creativity.

The Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College will hold its annual "Trouble Begins at Eight" lecture series with four public events in May.

The title comes from a handbill advertising Twain’s Oct. 2, 1866 lecture presented at Maguire’s Academy of Music in San Francisco.

Joseph Lemak, director of the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, stands in front of Quarry Farm, Twain's summer home in Elmira. The center will host a series of public lectures on Twain in May.
Joseph Lemak, director of the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, stands in front of Quarry Farm, Twain's summer home in Elmira. The center will host a series of public lectures on Twain in May.

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Quarry Farm was originally owned by the prominent Langdon family of Elmira, and Twain became part of that circle when he married Olivia Langdon.

"This is an opportunity for people to come to Quarry Farm and explore the grounds before the lectures, and at the same time, learn a little bit more about Mark Twain and the Langdon family," said Joseph Lemak, Center for Mark Twain Studies director.

Mark Twain lecture series dates, what to expect

Here is the lineup for the spring lecture series:

  • May 10: Steve Courtney, author of several books about Twain and his associates, will discuss two of Twain's close friends, prominent 19th Century Elmira minister Thomas Beecher, and the Rev. Joseph Hopkins Twichell of Hartford, Connecticut.

  • May 17: Jessica Jordan, a Ph.D. candidate in English at Stanford University, will talk about novelist Bella Zilpha Spencer, a contemporary of Twain's, who like him was a master at using the American subscription book market to promote her works.

  • May 24: Ann M. Ryan, professor of American Literature at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, will discuss the dichotomy between those who believe Twain was a racial progressive and those who criticize Twain’s love of racial caricature and racist vocabulary.

  • May 31: Lawrence Howe, professor emeritus of English and Film Studies at Roosevelt University, will focus on Twain's exploration of poetry early in his career, and how his foray into the highly compressed and structured form of writing compares to the later prose works he is more famous for.

All lectures are free, and will start at 7 p.m. at the Quarry Farm Barn.

"This is the place where Mark Twain wrote 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' and 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,' Lemak said. "As a member of the Elmira community, I think that's something we can all be proud of."

For more information, go to marktwainstudies.com/events/the-trouble-begins-at-eight.

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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Mark Twain lecture series opens his summer home Quarry Farm to public