Lecture by Wendy Moore: How to Create the Perfect Wife

This is the eighteenth century story of how Thomas Day, a young man of means, decided he could never marry a woman with brains, spirit, or fortune. Instead, he adopted two orphan girls from the Foundling Hospital, and set about educating them to become marriage material. Unsurprisingly, Day's plans did not run smoothly. Scientists and luminaries will feature including Franklin’s friends Erasmus Darwin and Joseph Priestley. Author Wendy Moore will highlight a moment when ideals about human development and child raising underwent radical change.