The year was 1838 and Amanda Stanwood Babson was 28 years old, the mother of two little girls and the wife and daughter of merchant captains who spent long months at sea away from their families. Using Amanda’s diary and letters, CAM Archivist, Stephanie Buck offers a look at how the women of Gloucester’s merchant middle class spent their lonely days—the pleasures, the disappointments, and the scandals.

This program is free for members or with Museum admission.

Image: Daguerreotype of Amanda Stanwood Babson (1811–1857), c.1840. Unknown photographer. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum.