Living Room Learning Lecture by Dr. Melissa Blair (Week 5)

Dr. Melissa Blair takes the stage at McElreath Hall on Monday, February 22, for a lecture titled Women and Work in the New Nation, 1790-1820. It's the fifth installment of the current Living Room Learning series, and it's already sold out.

The talk focuses on women's labor in the early years of the United States, covering the three decades from 1790 to 1820. Blair will be walking through what work looked like for women in that new nation—the roles they filled, the labor they did, and how it fit into the broader picture of the time. If you've ever wondered about the day-to-day economic lives of women in the early Republic, this is exactly that.

For context, Living Room Learning is back for its 58th year. It started with a group of Sweet Briar College alumnae—Atlanta women who held classes in their living rooms after graduating. It grew from a dozen students to hundreds, eventually outgrowing the homes and moving into a formal lecture hall. The Atlanta History Center took over as the host venue in 2013 and now coordinates the whole thing. The series brings in university-level lectures on history, art, literature, and more, with no final exam and speakers that have included some of the finest scholarly minds in Georgia. It runs for seven weeks across the winter, and recordings of each lecture are made available to registered ticket buyers through their Atlanta History Center account.

Blair's lecture is part of that winter run, and since it's already sold out, you'll want to keep an eye on the rest of the series if you're interested in the other weeks. Doors open at 1:30 PM, and the lecture starts at 2:00 PM. Tickets were $150 for Not-Yet Members and $130 for Members and Insiders.