Tillie Walden with Alexis Clements | Charity & Sylvia

Author Tillie Walden sits down to discuss her book Charity & Sylvia, a graphic novel depicting the true love story and lives of an openly Lesbian couple surviving and thriving in 19th century Vermont, with writer and filmmaker Alexis Clements.

This event will take place in person and online at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 7th Floor.

The month is February in the year 1807. The place is Weybridge, Vermont: small, cold, lonely, and beautiful. Sylvia Drake is exhausted. As an unwed woman with few prospects, she is residing with and caring for her sister’s rambunctious family. Today the house is abuzz awaiting a guest—Charity Bryant. A friend of the family, she is most known for her elegant letters, with their swoopy and evocative penmanship and carefully chosen prose. But Charity’s visit is a guise, she is coming to Vermont to start over after heartbreak and rumours—so many rumours—that have grown too loud back in Massachusetts. 

Being openly gay in 19th century New England is not an easy row to hoe. But Charity can only be herself, and she immediately catches—and holds—the eye of none other than Sylvia Drake. From this point on, for 44 years, the two would be inseparable, building a life together despite all odds and living as a lesbian couple in small town Vermont. 

The true, exceptional story of these remarkable women is brought to life with humor and passion by the unparalleled and award-winning Tillie Walden (Spinning, On A Sunbeam). We see America grow alongside these women over a period that brings about the railroad, many novels, 14 Presidents, riots, rebellion, plagues, and poetry. Based on extensive archives of their writing, Charity and Sylvia is a groundbreaking biography that is also the story of 19th century America.

To join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

To view the livestream | Whether you're attending in person or online, you must register with your email address. You will need a device with audio and/or video and an internet/cellular connection to view the livestream.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Tillie Walden is a cartoonist and illustrator from Austin, Texas. She is the creator of a number of award-winning graphic novels including On a Sunbeam, Spinning, and the Walking Dead’s Clementine Trilogy. She is a graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont where she now teaches and lives with her wife and son.

Alexis Clements is a writer and filmmaker based in Brooklyn. Her documentary film, All We’ve Got, which focuses on LGBTQ women’s spaces, has screened around the globe and is airing on PBS stations around the US. Her hybrid film & prose project, There Must Be a Word, premiered in fall 2025 and has since shown in galleries and will be part of the inaugural Taos Film Festival, the town where the film was shot. Her podcast, The Answer Is No, focuses on artists sharing stories about the conditions under which they are asked to work. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Los Angeles Review of Books, BOMB, Hyperallergic, and Bitch Magazine, among others. She currently serves as a Coordinator at the Lesbian Herstory Archives, and is a former member of the Executive Board of CLAGS, the Center for LGBTQ Studies at the City University of New York (CUNY).

Books by the Author

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog


• This event will also include signing and sales of the book by our Library Shop.

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ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.


• ASL interpretation and real-time captioning (CART) are available upon request. Please submit your request via this form or contact SNFL at least two weeks in advance.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

Livestream

• ASL interpretation and real-time captioning (CART) also available (see previous).


• Captions and a transcript will be provided.

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All programs are subject to change or cancellation. All events at The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library are subject to recording and photography. 

The 7 Stories Up Series at SNFL is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).