Simmons College to Host Noted Artist and Author Ann Fessler: "The Girls Who Went Away"
BOSTON (January 22, 2008) — Simmons College presents "The Girls Who Went Away," a lecture and
film screening by noted artist and author Ann Fessler, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. The event, which is
free and open to the public, will be in the Linda K. Paresky Conference Center, Main College
Building, 300 The Fenway, in Boston. A reception will follow.
Fessler will screen her film "Along the Pale Blue River," followed by a lecture on her work
including a discussion of her book, "The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who
Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade." In conjunction with the
current gallery exhibit "Lost in Place," the Trustman Gallery at Simmons College is hosting this
special evening with Fessler.
(Reporters, note to arrange an interview with Ms. Fessler, contact Marcia Lomedico at
617-521-2268 or marcia.lomedico@simmons.edu)
Published by The Penguin Press in 2006, "The Girls Who Went Away" immediately garnered
considerable critical praise from publications as diverse as "The Atlantic Monthly," the
"Washington Post," the "San Francisco Chronicle," and "People Magazine." In 2006, the book was
a finalist for the Circle Award for Nonfiction by the National Book Critics, and in 2007 it
received the Media Award from the American Adoption Congress.
Fessler is the chair of the photography department at Rhode Island School of Design. Her
credits as an artist include having work in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art and The
Whitney Museum of American Art, among many others. She resides in Rhode Island.
The lecture is co-sponsored by the Simmons Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences as part of the "Careers in the Liberal Arts" series.
Due to construction, parking is limited. For alternative options, visit Off-Campus Parking.
Exhibit hours are from 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The gallery is free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible. For more information, contact Marcia Lomedico at 617-521-2268.