Tag: Quarry Farm

Relive Twain’s Summer of 1884 with the Final Lecture of the “Trouble Begins” 2018 Season

Posted on by Joe Lemak

The fall portion of the 2018-2019 The Trouble Begins Lecture Series, presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies, concludes Wednesday, November 7 when presenter John Bird takes the audience through Twain’s summer of 1884 at Quarry Farm.  The final fall lecture begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Barn at Quarry Farm.  The lecture is free and open to the public.   Bird, emeritus professor of English at Winthrop University, will […]

Updated Virtual Tour of Mark Twain’s and Family’s Gravesite Now Available

Posted on by Joe Lemak

CMTS has updated its virtual tours of both Quarry Farm and the Langdon/Clemens plot on Woodlawn Cemetery (Elmira, New York).  The virtual tours now include a number of Points of Interests.  These “POI” include images and text that will help viewers explore and learn about the house where wrote a number of his iconic works and his final resting place. CLICK HERE FOR THE VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE LANGDON/CLEMENS PLOT […]

2018 Quarry Farm Weekend Symposium Recap

Posted on by Joe Lemak

Last weekend (October 5-7. 2018) CMTS hosted the 2018 Quarry Farm Weekend Symposium “American Literary History and Economics in the New Gilded Age.” The economic expansion of the U.S. during Mark Twain’s lifetime was unprecedented, in this country or any other. Twain was fascinated by the technological innovations that transformed commerce and industry, the volatile financial markets that strained to keep up with the demands of entrepreneurs and investors, the infamous […]

150 Years of Mark Twain in Elmira: Dickens Holidays, The Gospel of Revolt, & The Quarry Farm Style

Posted on by Matt Seybold

2018 marks the sesquicentennial anniversary of Mark Twain’s first visit to Elmira, the town where he would meet his wife, spend many of his summers over the remainder of his life, write several of his most acclaimed books, and finally be laid to rest. In the following essay, Dr. Seybold commemorates the occasion by offering his estimation of what Elmira meant to Mark Twain.  January 26, 1905 It was the 30th birthday […]

CMTS Launches the Quarry Farm Preservation Campaign – and Needs You!

Posted on by Joe Lemak

My name is Joe Lemak and I am the Director of the Center for Mark Twain Studies. I’d like to welcome all of you, not only the familiar faces who are already part of the CMTS community – You know who you are! – but also all the people who are new to CMTS and Quarry Farm. We hope that you will join us as we grow our services for […]

CMTS’ Fall 2018 Trouble Begins Lectures Series Set

Posted on by Joe Lemak

The fall portion of the 2018-2019 The Trouble Begins Lecture Series presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies features four lectures, with the first event set for Wednesday, October 10 in The Barn at Quarry Farm.  All four lectures begin at 7:00 p.m., and are free and open to the public. Wednesday, October 10 in The Barn at Quarry Farm 7 p.m. “Getting to Know Mark Twain through the Eyes of Grace […]

Dispatches From Quarry Farm: Autumn Arrives

Posted on by Steve Webb

Caretaker Steve Webb and his son are the only year-round residents of Quarry Farm. Steve provides us with occasional, not always altogether reliable, updates from the premises. The turning of the seasons, the first little taste of Fall, begins at night. Suddenly you can sleep. The humidity, those dog days—and nights—make for a wide open, coverless, sleepless state from July to September.  Then suddenly your slumber is deep and dreaming. The […]

Nathaniel Ball, CMTS’ Archivist, Reveals Rare Photos of Quarry Farm in Upcoming CCHS Talk

Posted on by Joe Lemak

The 2018 Mark Twain Lecture Series, hosted by the Chemung County Historical Society and the Center for Mark Twain Studies, continues on Thursday, August 16 at the Chemung Valley Museum (415 East Water St., Elmira).  The lecture begins at 7:00 p.m., and is free and open to the public. “Through the Lens of the Langdons: Capturing Elmira, 1889-1891” Nathaniel Ball, Elmira College George Eastman’s invention of the Kodak Series 540 in 1888, […]

CFP: Special Issue of Mark Twain Annual & 2019 Quarry Farm Symposium – “Mark Twain & the Natural World”

Posted on by Ben Click

CALL FOR PAPERS SPECIAL ISSUE: MARK TWAIN AND THE NATURAL WORLD   The Mark Twain Annual is seeking article-length submissions that examine aspects of Twain’s work that comment on the relation between human beings and the natural world. This broad scope allows for critical examinations of Twain’s writing about the natural world in any number of ways: as nature writing; as a form of environmentalism; as commentary on animal welfare, […]

Quarry Farm Carpet Leaves For Thirty Years, Goes To Turkey, and Comes Back Home

Posted on by Frances Millard

Here is the story of a 15′ x 11’6” Mahal Carpet once belonging to the Langdon family, how it came to me, and how it was restored through the generosity of Charlotte and Leo Landhuis. In 1988, I was cleaning and restoring carpets for Elmira College. A former employee of the College was volunteering at Quarry Farm and asked if I would offer any advice on the rugs and carpets […]