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mods: Wit and wisdom the forgotten literary life of New England villages Radner, Joan Newlon creator author. text bibliography History. mau 2023 monographic eng print xiii, 254 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm "The lyceum movement gained momentum in the decades preceding the Civil War, presenting members the opportunity to participate in literary life and discuss the issues of the day. While urban lyceums played host to a who's who of nineteenth-century intellectual life, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Frederick Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony, literary societies also cropped up in thousands of villages across the nation, acting as influential sites of learning, creativity, and reform. In rural New England, homegrown lyceums brought together ordinary men and women, young and old, farmers and intelligentsia, selectmen and schoolchildren to write and perform poetry and witty parodies and debate major issues-including slavery, women's rights, temperance, migration, and more. Having uncovered dozens of newspapers produced by village lyceums across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts, Joan Newlon Radner takes readers inside this long-forgotten tradition, offering new access to the vibrant voices, surprising talents, and understated humor on display on many a cold winter's night"-- Prologue : the treasure in the attic -- Introduction -- "Report of Last Lyceum" : discovering a forgotten institution -- "A crown of wisdom weave" : the rural lyceum tradition -- "The great work of self-culture" : learning through debate -- "The ladies have nobly responded" : women in the lyceum -- "Who will sustain the paper?" : the work of editing -- "Effulgent in wisdom and sparkling with wit" : exploring the papers -- "Read by so many eager subscribers" : the press as model -- "The speaking eye and the listening ear" : performing the papers -- "How shall we win back lost ground?" : the end of an era -- Epilogue : "coming here among strangers" -- …