Katharine Cornell and the Vineyard, presented by Bow Van Riper

Promotional photograph of Katharine Cornell as
Countess Olenska in the Broadway production of
The Age of Innocence. Source: Wikimedia Common

The Vineyard Haven Library is pleased to welcome local historian Bow Van Riper for a presentation on Katharine Cornell and the Vineyard. This event will be held at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, September 23rd at the Katharine Cornell Theatre, located at 51 Spring Street in Vineyard Haven (above Tisbury Town Hall). Free and open to the public. No registration required.

Katharine Cornell's connection to the Island began as a child when she visited the Innisfail hotel at the headwaters of the Lagoon with her parents. Bow will present an overview of Cornell's life and career, focused primarily on her lifelong love of the Island, her contributions to it, and her part in the Island "celebrity culture" of the 1940s. 

“Katharine Cornell and the Vineyard” is the final in a three-part series of talks relating to the Katharine Cornell Theatre and presented by Bow Van Riper in 2025. On May 27th, Bow delivered a presentation entitled, “Association Hall and the History of Vineyard Haven,” and on July 22nd, he presented “History on Plaster: The Stan Murphy Murals.”  

A historian for 40 years, A. Bowdoin "Bow" Van Riper received his BA from Brown University and his MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. He taught at the college level for more than 20 years and is the author, editor, or co-editor of 22 books and over 100 articles. He has been Research Librarian at the Martha's Vineyard Museum since 2014.

A third-generation washashore, Bow first came to the Island in 1963, at the age of 3 months, and moved here permanently in December 2011. He lives on the shores of Vineyard Haven Harbor in a 19th century house where, as far as he can tell, nothing of historical significance ever happened.

For more information, please contact the library at (508) 696-4211 or vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org, or consult the library website: https://www.vhlibrary.org.