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Pilgrim Presents at Mark Twain House and Museum as it Hosts 'Hateful Things' Exhibit

David PilgrimDavid Pilgrim, vice president for Diversity and Inclusion at Ferris State University, and founder and curator of its Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, visited the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Conn. this week to deliver a presentation.

This summer, the Mark Twain House and Museum is hosting the Jim Crow Museum’s “Hateful Things” traveling exhibit. Pilgrim visited the museum to speak as part of the “Huck, Jim and Jim Crow” National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture Summer Teacher Workshop. The first session, attended by Pilgrim, was scheduled for July 9-13 while the second session is set for July 23-27.

Having previously spoken at a workshop hosted by the museum in April, as he addressed high school Social Studies and English teachers from Hartford Public Schools as part of a professional development day, Pilgrim returned to Connecticut for this latest talk. His plan was to guide approximately 40 educators through the “Hateful Things” exhibit, which is on loan this summer to the Mark Twain House and Museum. Pilgrim planned a group tour of the exhibit to demonstrate how its artifacts can be used to provide historical context and to educate students about tolerance.

The NEH is an independent grant-making agency of the federal government. As part of the agency’s “We the People” initiative, it offers Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers. The workshops provide the opportunity for K-12 educators to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics in American history and culture.

The stated mission of The Mark Twain House and Museum strives to foster an appreciation of Mark Twain’s legacy as one of our nation’s defining cultural figures, and to demonstrate the continuing relevance of his work, life and times The Mark Twain House and Museum has restored the Twain’s Hartford, Connecticut home, where the author and his family lived from 1874 to 1891. Twain wrote his most important works during his years in the house, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.