Angel of the House: Unorthodox Victorian Approaches to Life and Love

Thursday July 17, 2025, 10-11:30 am

Follen Church Community Hall

735 Mass Ave, Lexington, MA (side entrance)

Cost: Free, donations welcome

Presented by: Amelia Settembre

Advance registration requested

Join Lexington Lyceum intern Amelia Settembre as she explores the norms of Victorian family life, which relegated women to the private sphere and hid away those who did not conform. She will then discuss how certain members of the Robbins family of East Lexington lived lives that broke these norms. Julia Robbins pursued her own career as an artist and carpet designer and married late. Hannah Maria Robbins, Julia’s older sister, who was deaf, remained with her family her entire life at a time when many families relegated disabled, mentally ill, or LGBTQ+ individuals to asylums. Lot Robbins, the uncle of Julia and Hannah Maria, was committed to the asylum for the mentally ill that became McLean Hospital.

What made Julia, Hannah Maria, and Lot’s lives different from the lives of their peers? And how was their unorthodoxy representative  of greater social attitudes at the time? We invite you to join us in exploring these questions.