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Speaker Laini Farrare presents her master’s thesis, “Blowin’ in the Wind: The Hidden Hands of East Hampton” on May 11 at East Hampton Library. COURTESY EAST HAMPTON LIBRARY
An 1811 from the Trustees of East Hampton to Isaac Plato, recording his payment for work with chestnut rails. Plato is one of several African American craftspeople who helped shape East Hampton's built environment that researcher Laini Farrare will speak about in her presentation. EAST HAMPTON LIBRARY LONG ISLAND COLLECTION
The East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection will present an illustrated lecture on Saturday, May 11, at 11 a.m. when Laini Farrare, a scholar from the University of Delaware’s Winterthur Program in American Material Culture will present her master’s thesis, “Blowin’ in the Wind: The Hidden Hands of East Hampton.”
The lecture will delve into the intricate landscape of East Hampton during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, by examining the 1795 Gardiner’s Island windmill built by Nathaniel Dominy V. The legacy of the windmill technology Farrare will discuss is tightly linked to Black and Indigenous labor. While Dominy may have supervised construction of the windmill, the significant contribution of the “hidden hands” of these laborers who did the actual work was often overlooked. The presentation will also discuss the life and work of Isaac Plato, a free Black man who lived and worked in East Hampton in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
This is a free event. Advanced registration is requested (but not required) at eventbrite.com. The lecture will also be livestreamed via Zoom and recorded. For more information, visit easthamptonlibrary.org. East Hampton Library is at 159 Main Street in East Hampton.
Staff Writer on May 6, 2024