Allegra di Bonaventura will speak at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m.  A scholar and author, di Bonaventura speaks about her book, “For Adam’s Sake,” which began as a simple study of a New London shipwright’s colonial diary.

Spanning 47 years, the Joshua Hempstead diary led her to discover an intimate world of interlocked families that traversed slavery and freedom, wealth and poverty — each one fighting for survival during the first century of English settlement.  Spoiled sons squandered family fortunes, mothers struggled to protect children from enslavement, and religious radicals fought for self-determination.  Each conflict brought lingering doubts about what early America would become.

A book signing concludes the event.

Admission to the book talk is $7.  Register at 860-434-5542 x 111 or FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org.