Lunch and Learn – American Preacher: The Life and Times of the Eccentric Lorenzo Dow

Virtual Presentation!

Long before social media, Connecticut native Lorenzo Dow (1777-1834) mastered the art of getting people’s attention. An itinerant preacher known as “Crazy Dow,” he spent three decades roaming the United States and Britain, preaching, publishing, provoking audiences, and building one of the first truly national celebrity followings in American history.

Join us as Professor Seth Perry examines how Dow built his fame and asks what his remarkable career can teach us about religion, celebrity, and the origins of a very American style of public influence that continues to shape the nation today.

This virtual event is free and open to the public. Get tickets to receive the Zoom link. Questions? Contact Jen Busa, Public Programs Coordinator at jbusa@connecticutmuseum.org.

Thank you to our series sponsors Camille and Gregory F. Servodidio!

About the Speaker:  Seth Perry is Associate Professor of Religion in America at Princeton University. His first book, Bible Culture and Authority in the Early United States (Princeton University Press, 2018) explores the performative, rhetorical, and material aspects of bible-based authority in early-national America. His work has appeared in Church History, Early American Studies, the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the William and Mary Quarterly, Slate, and many other outlets. He teaches courses on religion in early America, theory and method in the study of religion, “scripture” as a genre, and Satan. His second book, American Preacher: The Life and Times of the Eccentric Lorenzo Dow, will be published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in November.

To purchase a copy of Seth’s upcoming book, American Preacher: The Life and Times of the Eccentric Lorenzo Dow, click here.

Image: Book cover, American Preacher: The Life and Times of the Eccentric Lorenzo Dow