Sister Sailors of Stonington

JOIN US:  7:30pm, Wednesday, November 19, 2025

The Latham/Chester Store, 108 Main Street, Noank

Join Chelsea Mitchell, the Director of the R.W. Woolworth Library & Research Center at Historic Stonington as she discusses the “Sister Sailors of Stonington”, exploring the brave and passionate women who went to sea with their husbands in the 19th century. Defying traditional expectations of a woman’s duties, these pioneering women traveled thousands of miles on voyages that lasted years at a time, to the very edges of the known world. Learn how women like Abby Jane Morrell and Mary Burch Brewster navigated the forces of love and duty aboard ship; and how those same forces were tested by both nature and society.

Chelsea Mitchell lives in Pawcatuck with her husband. She received her MLIS from the University of Rhode Island, and has been at Historic Stonington (formerly the Stonington Historical Society) for nearly a decade. Chelsea has a special interest in women’s history, and sharing the lesser known stories of Stonington’s past in an effort to humanize our ancestors.