Laura Rocklyn, MFA
Maria Weston Chapman: Yours in the Cause
In this living history program, the year is 1855 and Maria Weston Chapman is preparing to return to her home in Weymouth, MA after seven years in Europe. During those years abroad, she has seen her children complete their education and marry, and she has found powerful new international allies for the cause that is so dear to her heart: the Abolition of Slavery. The preparations prompt memories of her childhood, and of the turbulent early days of her involvement in the Abolition Movement in Boston. Maria revisits the triumphs and fears that came with her work with the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. She reflects on how her strength in the face of violence, and her passion for the cause to which she has devoted her life, took her from Boston to New York and Philadelphia and, eventually, to the capitals of Europe in pursuit of justice.
Laura Rocklyn, MFA (LauraRocklyn.com), has performed with theaters across the country and worked as an historical interpreter at museums throughout the East Coast. She has authored several articles in Brontë Studies and The Revere Express, a short story “The Woman on the Point,” and several plays including “Charlotte Brontë: To Do More & Better Things” (2021), “Clover” (co-written with Ty Hallmark, 2017), and “Emma is Presented in Washington City” (2016). She is a Museum Educator at the Paul Revere House Museum, a Member of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, and an Acting Troupe Member with History At Play.
