Executive Director and Curator Robert C. Cheney will speak to the success of Simon Willard (1753 - 1848) and his transformation from simple rural craftsman to horological superstar. While his feat was made possible by leveraging his reputation with high level friends, he cleverly adopted the British methods of division of labor and then engaged in a robust overseas trade with Liverpool.

This is a fascinating entrepreneurial and international trade story based on Robert's thirty years of research.