The Medford Historical Society and Museum presents “Susanna Rowson in Medford: Novels, Schools and Scandals in 1799,” a talk by professor Steven Epley of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

Susanna Rowson (1762-1824), an early American best-selling author, ran a girls school in Medford in 1799. Epley will speak on Rowson’s connections to Medford and how she may have used material from a Medford scandal in her novels. Learn about the curious case of Joseph and Mary Wyman and their daughter, Susan Wyman of Medford, who may have been the subject of Rowson’s last novel, “Lucy Temple” (published posthumously in 1828).

Epley, a professor of English, is the author of “Susanna Rowson: Sentimental Prophet of Early American Literature,” published in 2016. Thanks to a grant from Mass Humanities, the MHSM is hosting Epley as a Scholar In Residence from September 5-25.

Cosponsored by the Departments of English and History at Tufts University.