MIDDLEBURY — Physician and former six-term governor of Vermont Howard Dean will present the talk “What Do the Midterms Mean for American Democracy?” this Thursday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in Middlebury. The public is welcome to this free event at Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society at 2 Duane Court.

Dean is a prominent political leader in the state of Vermont, a former head of the Democratic National Committee and at one point a front runner in the 2004 campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.

This presentation is jointly sponsored as a community program by the Henry Sheldon Museum and the Hawthorne Club, both long associated with the history of Middlebury and Addison County. The Hawthorne Club was founded in 1877 to establish closer relations between members of the Middlebury College community and citizens of the town.  It is named for Nathaniel Hawthorne, a national literary hero whose talks at the college made him a local celebrity. The Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History was chartered in 1882 as an art museum, storehouse of archeological information and historical society; the institution continues to fulfill roles associated with those fields. Amongst its holdings are the archives of the Hawthorne Club.

The two organizations formed a partnership in 2015 to offer annually to the public at large a talk by a recognized specialist. The organizations have welcomed Judge William K. Sessions III (2015), who reflected upon his judicial career and philosophy, and Jay Parini (2016), who detailed his Hollywood experiences when his books were made into movies. In 2017, Alex Wolff, veteran Sports Illustrated journalist, examined the recent history of the Olympic Games, and in 2018, Jane Lindholm, radio journalist, host and commentator, reflected on her years with VPR’s “Vermont Edition.”

This year, Gov. Howard Dean will provide insight into the relationship between the democratic political process Democracy in the United States today.