Anne Hutchinson would have been surprised if she walked into Pell Mansion today. Hutchinson was a very intelligent and strong-willed person, and she was not afraid of speaking her mind and defending her principles in face of stiff opposition. But she may have felt special and become speechless to view the special celebration, which included music, games, crafts, storytelling, madrigals and dances.
But the message is and will always continue to be FREEDOM.
Hutchinson was born in July 1591 to Bridget Dryden and Francis Marbury, Anne Hutchinson grew up in England. Her dad was a deacon at Christ Church, Cambridge and later became the rector of St. Martin's Vintry, St. Pancras, and St. Margaret's.
Francis Marbury was to perhaps have the strongest influence on Anne Hutchinson. He was a principled and outspoken man. He did not hesitate from speaking his mind on things that mattered deeply to him and as it happened there were plenty of things about the Church, its theology and clergy that bothered him and compelled him to speak out against.
Religious tolerance was at an even lower ebb in those days than in the present age. People were routinely killed and tortured for questioning Church diktats. So it required a great deal of courage to speak out the way Francis Marbury did. Not once or twice, but continuously and despite the many times he was arrested and jailed for being seditious. He was a very brave man and his daughter gained his spirit in full.
Education for women was not a burning issue in those times, but Anne Hutchinson was home-schooled and had the free run of her father's extensive library. The more she read, the more she began to examine and question established beliefs.
