Wild Unrest at Pasadena Museum of History April 10

“WILD UNREST”

The Story Behind Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s

Gothic Horror/Feminist Masterpiece, The Yellow Wallpaper



Tuesday, April 10, 7:30 pm

Pasadena Museum of History

470 W. Walnut St., Pasadena 91103



Depression, confinement, powerlessness, repression – leading to madness? Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote her gothic horror/feminist masterpiece The Yellow Wallpaper in June 1890 in Pasadena. The home she shared with her husband, artist Walter Stetson, was literally across the street from what is now Pasadena Museum of History. The PMH property was the site of the Channing residence – home of Charlotte’s best friend, Grace Channing, who clearly was “playing both sides” and later would become Walter Stetson’s second wife.



As this late 19th century Pasadena-based melodrama played out, Gilman wrote a story that has come to be regarded as one of the most important early works of feminist literature, shedding light on 19th century attitudes towards women and their mental and physical health. For fans of gothic horror stories it is, above all, a masterfully chilling tale.



Catalyst or Coincidence? What role did Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s life in Pasadena play in the writing of her most famous short story? Can we see in the work some of the complications of her life in Pasadena, or does the story emerge from aspects of her earlier life in Providence, Rhode Island? If so, what is the part Pasadena played in the story’s writing and publication?



Join Helen Horowitz, author of the Charlotte Perkins Gilman biography Wild Unrest, on Tuesday, April 10, 7:30 pm for an exploration of the story behind The Yellow Wallpaper and imagine yourself in this same spot in the 1890s. Ticketholders are invited to a complimentary wine and cheese reception with the immediately prior to the lecture. Books will be available for purchase in the Museum Store.



Doors open at 6:30 pm for viewing of the Museum’s exhibition galleries, now showing the invitational, juried art exhibition Contemporary Masters: Artistic Eden III.



Tickets: Museum Members $10; Non-Members $15. Reservations: 626-577-1660, ext. 10.