The Pirate’s Wife: The Remarkable True Story of Sarah Kidd

Join us for a talk by historian and journalist Dr. Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos on her compelling portrait of Sarah Kidd in The Pirate’s Wife: The Remarkable True Story of Sarah Kidd. Before he was executed in 1701, Captain William Kidd was one of the most notorious privateers on the seas. But few know of his wife Sarah, whose life is a lesson in survival, resilience, and resourcefulness. Operating within the structures of polite society in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New York and the limitations placed on women, Sarah aided and abetted her husband, fighting alongside him against his accusers: she helped construct the narration he presented in his defense, ensured he was taken care of in jail, tirelessly worked to help secure a pardon, and even tried to help plot an escape. Dr. Geanacopoulos offers a fascinating glimpse into the golden age of piracy from the perspective of a historical figure who navigated tragic and turbulent events, managing to always find her own agency within the oppressive structures of colonial America.