The public is invited to join the family of Caroline Rittenhouse and the Stonington Public Library on Friday, September 4 from 3:00-4:00 for a reading and reception to celebrate Maine women and the life, passion, and writing of Rittenhouse.
The Lives of Strong Stonington Women: A Reading Featuring the Works of Caroline Smith Rittenhouse will feature a reading by family and friends of Rittenhouse from An Island Woman: Salome Sylvester Sellers, which highlights the history of strong Maine women on the island in honor of Rittenhouse and her contributions to documenting the history of Deer Isle and its residents.
Rittenhouse built her second community in Stonington in the 1990s, where she lived until her passing in June. She was dedicated to uncovering the stories of women who lived on Deer Isle and volunteered extensively with the Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society. During this time, she wrote and edited four books about the area: An Island Woman: Salome Sylvester Sellers, 1998, Stonington Scraps, 2001, Phenie Warren Bray Remembers South Deer Isle and Burnt Cove, 2006 and Deer Isle and Stonington, Arcadia Postcard History Series 2008.
A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Rittenhouse became interested in oral history, which led to her writing Like Good Steel: The China Letters of Margaret Bailey Speer, published in 1994.
The event is free to the public and refreshments will be provided.