Tea, Sympathy & Opium: A Lecture

The city of New Haven’s multi-faceted and long-standing connection with China traces back to trade during the age of sail and continues today. Evidence of the short-lived but lucrative China Trade exists in the collection of the New Haven Museum, where significant pieces of Chinese porcelain reveal the international connection made centuries ago. This connection has inspired a series of programs to be offered by the New Haven Museum during the month of January celebrating Chinese culture and history in New Haven.

On Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 7 PM, Professor Ron Heiferman of Quinnipiac University will present “Tea, Sympathy, and Opium: Russell and Company in China,” a talk about Russell and Company, the largest American trading company in China for much of the 19th century and founded by Samuel Wadsworth Russell of Middletown, Connecticut. Professor Heiferman is an Associate Fellow at Berkeley College at Yale University, and has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books and essays. His new book, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and China, will be published in 2013. Refreshments will be served. The talk is free and open to the public.

The New Haven Museum is located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Avenue. For more information, contact Michelle Cheng, Director of Education at (203) 562-4183 ext. 11 or education@newhavenmuseum.org.