William Apess, Native American Activist Born in Colrain

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Business meeting at 7:00 p.m., Program at 7:30 p.m

In the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House 

at 8 Main Road, Colrain

William Apess (1798–1839), also known as William Apes before 1836-1837.

William Apess was Colrain’s little-known but remarkable Native Son. Born in 1798 of mixed racial lineage and living here for only a few years, Apess survived a childhood marked by severe deprivation. He fought in the War of 1812 and went on to become an itinerant preacher, author of the first book-length autobiography by a Native American, and a lecturer in support of Native American rights in New England. He delivered his first sermon as an “Indian preacher” in the Catamount Hill schoolhouse in the 1820s.

Apess will be the subject of a program at the meeting of the Colrain Historical Society Thursday, June 11, in the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House at 8 Main Road. The program at 7:30 p.m. will follow a business meeting at 7:00.

Speaker Drew Lopenzina is researching a book about Apess. A native of western Massachusetts, he teaches Early American Literature at Old Dominion University in Virginia.

Drew Lopenzina

The meeting is open to the public, and refreshments will be served. For more information call Belden at 624-3453.