Become a member and save up to 33% on your program registration price! Join today If you are already a member, log in to access your member price. Anne Hutchinson: Fighter for Religious Freedom Evening Lecture/Seminar Thursday, July 23, 2026 - 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. ET Code: 1CV090 Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Registration Options $20 Member $30 Gen. Admission Log in to register for this program or to add it to your wishlist! Log in Resize text The Trial of Anne Hutchinson, illustration by Edwin Austin Abbey, 1901 Anne Hutchinson can be regarded as the founding mother of religious freedom in America, says historian and author Fred Zilian. In the 1630s, her outspoken theological views brought her into conflict with the Puritan leadership of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Tried for sedition and heresy in 1637–38, she was excommunicated from the church and banished from the colony—an extraordinary punishment for a woman in early New England. Zilian traces Hutchinson’s life and legacy, beginning with her early years in England, her marriage, and her journey to New England. The lecture explores the religious meetings that led to her prosecution, the dramatic civil and church trials that sealed her fate, and her banishment and settlement on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island. Zilian then turns to her later years in New Amsterdam and her enduring legacy as a powerful voice for conscience, dissent, and religious liberty in early America. General Information View Common FAQs and Policies about our Online Programs on Zoom.
