The MDI Historical Society's book club will be reading LaRue Spiker’s unpublished manuscript "The Mantle of Elijah." Written in the 1950s, the manuscript is part of the Historical Society's archives. LaRue Spiker (1912-1995) was a social, political, and environmental advocate on MDI as well as an accomplished journalist and writer.

The manuscript follows the career of Reverend Elijah P. Lovejoy, a graduate of Waterville College (now Colby College) who immigrated west as a young man. Lovejoy became an abolitionist printer, who was murdered by a pro-slavery mob while defending his printing press in Alton, Illinois in 1837. His progression from a newspaper contributor to fervent abolitionist to martyr reflects the growing divisions and violence surrounding the issue of slavery during the 1830s and influenced other anti-slavery activists like William Lloyd Garrison and John Brown.

Part 1 of the book discussion will be December 9th at 6 pm and will conclude with part 2 in February (date TBD.)

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