Granite State treasure trove

On Saturday, Feb. 29, at 2 p.m., there will be an interpretive lecture, “Abby Hutchinson’s Sweet Freedom Songs: Songs and Stories of the Struggle for Abolition and Women’s Suffrage.” Deborah Anne Goss appears as Abby Hutchinson Patton, recalling mid-19th-century U.S. and New Hampshire history and performing rousing anthems, heartfelt ballads, and humorous ditties sung during the struggles against antislavery and for early women’s rights. In the 1840s and 1850s the Hutchinson Family Singers strongly influenced the opinions of the era with their popular songs, promoting healthy living and social justice, most prominently the abolition of slavery. Participants are encouraged to join in the singing of the choruses or to read aloud a poem or political diatribe of the time. This is a free presentation as part of the Humanities to Go program, made possible with the help of New Hampshire Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.