Celebrate Charity & Sylvia Week at the Ilsley Public Library!

October 20-24, 2026 is officially Charity & Sylvia Week at the Ilsley Public Library! Read on to find out more about these fascinating women, and how you can celebrate with us at the Ilsley. Thank you to the Henry Sheldon Museum and Vermont Humanities for their support!

    

Who were Charity & Sylvia?

Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake lived in Weybridge, Vermont in the early 1800s and are considered one of the first documented same-sex couples in the United States. Charity & Sylvia worked and lived together as partners for many years, and are buried together in Weybridge where a historical plaque has recently been erected in their honor. Many of the couple's surviving papers and artifacts are in the care of the Henry Sheldon Museum in Middlebury.

Two fascinating books have been written about Charity & Sylvia - Rachel Hope Cleves' Charity & Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America, first published in 2014 by Oxford University Press, and this year's Charity & Sylvia, a graphic novel by Vermont cartoonist Tillie Walden published by Drawn & Quarterly. We recommend both of these texts to anyone wanting to learn more about this fascinating couple!

 

How can I participate in Charity & Sylvia Week at the Ilsley?

Pick up a Charity & Sylvia Week passport from the Ilsley Public Library or Henry Sheldon Museum beginning October 12, and then attend our three Charity & Sylvia Week signature events happening at the Ilsley Public Library on October 20-24, 2026! Participants who attend all three events and get their passport stamped at each one will be entered in a raffle for a Charity & Sylvia gift basket!

Signature Events:

  • Tuesday, October 20 @ 6:30pm (Ilsley Community Room): "Pins and Pies, Linens and Lamps: Imagining the World of Charity & Sylvia" with Coco Moseley & Dr. Ellery Foutch 
    • The publication of Tillie Walden’s recent graphic novel Charity & Sylvia–and its selection as the 2026 “Vermont Reads”–was a wonderful impetus for the Henry Sheldon Museum to rethink how we might feature the story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake in the museum galleries. While we’ve long treasured the Charity and Sylvia archives– their letters, poems, diaries, and the like– their story hasn’t been visible in the museum itself.  In curating Drawing on the Archive, we built a collaborative curatorial team where Tillie Walden’s contemporary illustrations could converse with 19th century objects and archival materials, and interpretation was shared among museum staff and community curators.
  • Wednesday, October 21 @ 6:00pm (Ilsley Conference Room): Discussion of Tillie Walden's Charity & Sylvia
    • Join other community members for a discussion of the 2026 Vermont Reads book Charity & Sylvia by Vermont cartoonist Tillie Walden! Free copies are available to borrow (as supplies last) at the Ilsley circulation desk.
  • Saturday, October 24 @ 1:00pm (Ilsley Community Room): "Illustrating Vermont History" Panel Discussion
    • Join us for a conversation between some fabulous comic artists, graphic novelists, and faculty at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction: Dan Nott, Daryl Seitchik, and Tillie Walden. Their conversation will be moderated by Middlebury Professor of History Rebecca Bennette. This panel will explore how three Vermont artists and creators draw inspiration from one another as they craft unique and compelling stories. Through their conversation, audience members will gain insight into the creative process and discover how art and storytelling can deepen our engagement with the histories, communities, and stories that surround us.

Questions?

Feel free to email Jennifer Johnson, Adult Programming Librarian, at jennifer.johnson@ilsleypubliclibrary.org.