Connie Converse: America's Cassandra

The Walker Lecture Series invites you to

Connie Converse: Concord's Cassandra with Howard Fishman

Concord High School class of 1942 valedictorian Connie Converse could see the future. A trailblazing songwriter, composer, performer, thinker, activist, writer, and community organizer, Converse (1924-?) spent her known life engaged with creative and intellectual pursuits that pointed toward many of today’s cultural preoccupations, including: pioneering the DIY indie musician model; railing against fascism; agitating against institutional racism: exploring the roots of human conflict; and experimenting with alternative methods of public education––all decades before such ideas and practices entered the mainstream. There was only one problem: she was invisible.

Like the mythological Cassandra, the character on whom she chose to base her final known musical project, Converse seemed cursed. Her music was ignored. Her ideas about society, conflict, and race were relegated to niche academic journals and sparsely attended lectures. Her deeply-rooted activism was anonymous. And her stubborn refusal to play by the gender rules of her day made her a misfit.

In 1974, frustrated by her lifelong inability to have her life’s work acknowledged, Connie Converse wrote notes to family and friends that spoke of her need to try to start over, somewhere else, and drove off. She was never seen again.

Fortunately, Connie Converse’s legacy did not disappear along with her. It lives on, preserved in a massive archive she left behind containing letters, diaries, music, artwork, photographs, intellectual projects and writing, and recordings of her music–the basis for Howard Fishman’s book To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse.

Wednesday, November 4, 2026

7:30 PM (Doors open at 7:00)

Free

No tickets or reservations required

All ages welcome

Concord City Auditorium, 2 Prince Street

For a complete season schedule, visit www.walkerlecture.org