In 1822, Dr. Charles Wild, a Harvard-educated homeopathic physician, and his wife Mary Johanna Wild, built a home, still standing today, at the foot of Brookline’s Aspinwall Hill. The Wild's son, Edward Augustus Wild, also a doctor, served as a medical officer in the army of the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War and, during the American Civil War, commanded Union troops made up of freed slaves in North Carolina.

As told by Ken Liss, head of the Brookline Historical Society (and a former BC librarian) the Wild family — and the world of mid-19th century Brookline — emerges through letters, ledger books, and, especially, the 1851-1865 diary of Mary Wild, acquired by the Burns Library and transcribed and annotated by Liss and Brookline volunteers.

Refreshments available at 6pm, Lecture begins at 6:30 pm