The Silenced Muse: Emily Hale, T. S. Eliot, and the Role of a Lifetime (Main)
In January 2020, the largest and most eagerly awaited cache of new materials written by the Nobel-Prize-winning poet T. S. Eliot was finally opened: the 1,131 letters he sent Emily Hale, his little-known American love, over the course of their lifetimes. Their relationship was, in their own words, an “unnatural” love affair, one that began in Cambridge in 1913, when Eliot was a graduate student at Harvard and Hale, an aspiring amateur actress, and that played out in Boston, England and California over the years.
Named as one of its "Fifty Notable Non-fiction Books of 2024" by the Washington Post, Fitzgerald's biography of Hale is based on the embargoed letters and extensive research into Hale’s life and times. Hale was much more than just a muse to a literary celebrity. She overcame personal hardship to pursue a career as a professor of speech and drama at prominent American women’s colleges and schools, including Simmons and Smith Colleges and Abbot and Concord Academies. She was a talented amateur actress and director, who performed at many Boston area theaters and later guided Eliot as he tried his hand at playwriting. But in the end, Eliot disavowed her, sending a secret letter to Harvard in 1960 that claimed his love for Hale was that of “a ghost for a ghost,” and confirming that he had arranged for Hale’s side of their 27-year correspondence to be destroyed. In the words of The Washington Post reviewer, “Missing letters, a secret love affair, a famous poet, a beautiful actress—what else could you possibly want in a story?"
Sara Fitzgerald is a retired journalist whose career included fifteen years as an editor and new media developer for The Washington Post. In 2020, she also published The Poet’s Girl: A Novel of Emily Hale and T. S. Eliot. Since then, her essays about Hale have appeared in multiple volumes of the Journal of the T. S. Eliot Society and the T. S. Eliot Studies Annual. She has presented at the annual meetings of the Modern Language Association, the American Historical Association, the International T. S. Eliot Society, and at the T. S. Eliot Summer School at Oxford. She is also the author of the biography, Elly Peterson: “Mother” of the Moderates and Conquering Heroines: How Women Fought Sex Bias at Michigan and Paved the Way for Title IX.
Jungle Animal Masks (Collins)
Need an accessory for a costume? Decorate a mosaic mask to disguise yourself as a jungle animal. Recommended for children ages 4-10 with a caregiver.
Summer Reading: Cyanotype Nature Printing (Main)
Bring your own bits of nature to experiment with cyanotype printing. Recommended for ages 7 and up. This program is weather permitting, the rain date will be Friday, August 14th at 2 p.m. No registration required.
Adult Gaming: Unplugged (Main)
Are you suffering from chronic information overload? Feeling overwhelmed by too much technology in your life? Join us for an evening of old school board gaming! Relax and recharge your internal battery with one of our classic board games or bring your own personal fave. Adult Gaming: Unplugged takes place on the first Monday of the month from 6:00 -- 7:30 PM in the Rossi Room. Be there or be square!
For the month of April, Adult Gaming: Unplugged will be held on Monday, April 9th, 2026. It will return to its first Monday of the month schedule on May 4th (Star Wars Day!) 2026.
Mental Health First Aid (Main)
Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course that teaches participants to identify, understand and respond to mental health and substance use challenges. The course will cover risk factors and warning signs, an understanding of the impact on individuals, family and community and an overview of treatment interventions. Participants will have an opportunity to learn and practice a five-step action plan to assess a situation, implement interventions and secure appropriate care for the person experiencing a crisis.
Registration info – Registration is now full
For questions or further information please feel free to contact Patty Contente pcontente@cambridgesafety.org 617-528-8726