Elizabeth Normen will present “The Central Role of the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound in the Life of Venture Smith” on Thursday, Feb. 23 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Connecticut River Museum on 67 Main Street in Essex.

The event is open to everyone. It is free for members, and there is a $5 charge for non-members.

Normen will discuss the central role that river and sea, specifically the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound, played in Venture Smith’s quest for freedom.

Normen is the founding publisher, now retired, of Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut history, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary; and editor and co-author of African American Connecticut Explored, Where I Live: Connecticut, and Venture Smith’s Colonial Connecticut for grades five through eight.

Using Smith’s narrative published in 1798, Normen discusses the central role that river and sea, specifically the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound, played in the colonial-era life of Venture Smith. Smith was kidnapped as a child in West Africa and enslaved in Southeastern Connecticut until he bought his freedom in 1765. As a free man, he settled along the Salmon River in Haddam Neck. Find out how water and the southern New England maritime economy were inextricably linked to his quest for freedom.

Books will be available for sale. Venture Smith’s Colonial Connecticut was a 2020 finalist for the Connecticut Center for the Book, Spirit of Connecticut award.

Upcoming talks at the Connecticut River Museum include on March 21: Steve Taylor, Connecticut Valley Agriculture: A Continuum of Change; on April 18: Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes, Maritime History: Indigenous & African American; and on May 17: Michaelle Pearson and Jim Lampos: Remarkable Women of Old Lyme.