Learning Our Story

Join Dr. Julie Hughes and the Rev. Dr. Meg Stapleton Smith for a fascinating forum after church on 1/29. Learn about life in Wilton and in Connecticut before the end of slavery. Learn about the Underground Railroad here and in Ridgefield. Listen to stories of people whose lives intersected with St. Matthew’s. Learn about the theological grounding of this work and why it’s important in our life together. Join us as we explore together these stories that are all part of God’s story. All are welcome.


Dr. Julie Hughes is the archivist for the History Room and Brubeck Collection both in the Wilton Library. She has a PhD in South Asian history from the University of Texas at Austin and has published on Harvard University Press, various academic journals and in popular press on subjects ranging from tiger hunting in colonial India to Black history in Wilton. She is a trustee of the Wilton Historical Society and volunteer archivist for Gilbert and Bennet Mfg. Collection in Redding and the Lyme Local History Archives. She is originally from Seattle and now lives in Newtown in a ca. 1800 colonial with her husband and slightly too many cats.

The Rev. Dr. Meg Stapleton Smith is a Transitional Deacon in The Episcopal Church and a Lecturer in Theology at Fordham University. Rev. Meg holds a PhD in Theological and Social Ethics from Fordham University. She graduated from Yale Divinity School in 2016 with a M.A.R. in Ethics, and holds a B.A. in Theology from Boston College with concentrations in Faith, Peace, and Justice Studies and Catholic Studies. While at Boston College, Rev. Meg studied abroad in both El Salvador and Rome. After graduating from Boston College, and prior to her time at Yale Divinity School, she was Director of Campus Ministry and a Religion teacher at Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School in Lawrence, M.A.