Ocean State Libraries

In 1637, Anne Hutchinson, a forty-six-year-old midwife who was pregnant with her sixteenth child, stood before forty male judges of the Massachusetts General Court, charged with heresy and sedition. In a time when women could not vote, hold public office, or teach outside the home, the charismatic Hutchinson wielded remarkable political power. Her unconventional ideas had attracted a following of prominent citizens eager for social reform. Hutchinson

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"Recounts the story of the Puritan woman who was banished from her colony for being outspoken against the religious leaders there." --

"The purpose of this booklet is to organize some of the ideas and comments of consequence that members from the various communities made during the discussion period following each of the fifteen performances that were held throughout Rhode Island. This small volume is based on notes taken by a member of RIFT during each of the fifteen performances." --

A fictionalized episode from the life of Anne Hutchinson, who arrived with her family in Massachusetts in 1634, but was soon banished for holding religious meetings and teaching ideas with which Puritan ministers disagreed.