CHICAGO (November 30, 2006) - The Farmer's Almanac is predicting an early, stormy, and cold winter for 2007, so combat those winter doldrums by heading to the Newberry Library for a wide-array of lectures, author signings, musical and theatrical performances, and exhibits.
On January 27, for example, meet members of the Advisory committee to the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission to learn more about the brilliant, troubled human being who was our 16th president. Plan to spend St. Patrick's Day at the Newberry celebrating the return to print after 50 years of James T. Farrell's most autobiographical novels. Come to the Library on March 21 to meet one of the most widely read Tudor historians, Alison Weir, who will read from and discuss Innocent Traitor, a new novel about Lady Jane Grey. And, lastly, learn more about political life in Great Britain after Tony Blair in a Wednesday Club talk and reception on May 2.
General information:
Location: 60 West Walton Street, Chicago IL 60610
Public Information: Call (312) 255-3700 or visit www.newberry.org
Exhibit Hours: Monday, Friday, and Saturday, 8:15 am - 5:30 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 8:15 am - 7:30 pm
January 2007
Ben Hecht: Chicago's Gift to Hollywood
Wednesday, January 10, 6:15 pm
Reception begins at 5:30 pm and includes snacks and refreshments ($9/$6 for Associates of the Newberry Library)
Speaker: Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Film critic Michael Wilmington discusses the career of writer Ben Hecht (1893-1964), one of the great Chicago journalists in the early decades of the twentieth century. After leaving Chicago, Hecht became one of Hollywood's top screenwriters of the Golden Age of the studio system, producing scripts for Scarface, 20th Century, Notorious, and Wuthering Heights, among other notable films.
The Invention and Re-Invention of Borders
Saturday, January 13, 11:00 am
Speaker: Enrique Chagoya, Stanford University
Don't miss the closing talk for the Library's major exhibit The Aztecs and the Making of Colonial Mexico, by the Mexican-born artist Enrique Chagoya. His work features prominently in the exhibit to illustrate the enduring artistic and cultural influence of the Aztecs in the twenty-first century.
A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York.
Wednesday, January 24, 6:00 pm
Speaker: Timothy Gilfoyle, Loyola University Chicago
From Bill the Butcher to Tony Soprano, New York's underworld characters hold a special fascination. Meet George Appo (1856-1930), who grew up in the Five Points neighborhood of lower Manhattan. A pickpocket, con man, and opium addict, he was well acquainted with New York's prison system.
Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words
Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness
Saturday, January 27, 10:00 am
Speakers: Douglas L. Wilson, Knox College, and Joshua Wolf Shenk, Washington College
Abraham Lincoln is now regarded not only as the greatest American President, but also one of the greatest of American writers. Lincoln scholar Douglas L. Wilson demonstrates how the "rail-splitter" developed his writing skills. Yet Lincoln himself acknowledged (and it was widely known among his contemporaries) that he suffered from melancholy. Was his genius contingent on his unhappiness? Joshua Shenk's well-researched and inspiring book reveals that the qualities that made Lincoln-empathy, transcendent humanity, prodigious intellect, and moral clarity-were also the ones that made him miserable for much of his life.
Exploration 2007
The Chicago Calligraphy Collective's 21st Annual Juried Exhibition
January 31 - March 17
The Chicago Calligraphy collective was founded in 1976 to promote the study, practice, and appreciation of calligraphy in all its historical and present-day applications. This juried exhibit of members' work includes handmade artists' books and broadsides as well as three-dimensional works executed in various media and styles, from classical to contemporary.
February 2007
Winter: A Time of Telling
Thursday, February 1, 6:30 pm
The traditional storytelling season for many American Indians falls between the first and last frosts. Join us for the twelfth annual Winter festival with Debra Morningstar-Oneida Storyteller and other Native American story tellers, including emerging talents of the next generation.
Admission is $12; $10 for seniors and students. Free admission for children 12 and under. For tickets, call (312) 255-3700.
Selling the Race: Culture, Community, and Black Chicago, 1940-1955
Saturday, February 3, 11:00 am
Speaker: Adam Green, New York University
Historian Adam Green argues that black Chicagoans in the 1940s and 50s were at the center of a national movement to develop a unified consciousness and culture, fostering ideas of racial identity that remain influential today.
The Art and Life of Isadora Duncan
Tuesday, February 6, 6:15 pm
Reception, 5:30 pm
Speaker: Lori Belilove, Isadora Duncan Foundation for Contemporary Dance
The 2007 Stone-Camryn lecture celebrates the roots of Chicago's modern dance with an illustrated lecture and a demonstration of Duncan's revolutionary work by Lori Belilove, director of the Isadora Duncan Foundation. A wine and cheese reception precedes the lecture. Admission is $15 and reservations are required. Please call (312) 255-3700 for tickets.
African American Music as a Front of the Cultural War
Wednesday, February 7, 6:15 pm
Reception begins at 5:30 pm and includes snacks and refreshments ($9/$6 for Associates of the Newberry Library)
Speaker: Robert Rhodes, Ohio University
Jazz critic Robert Rhodes, Ohio University professor emeritus of African American Studies, will explore the theme of political activism that is expressed by such jazz musicians as Louis Armstrong, Sonny Rollins, and Max Roach.
Newberry Consort: A Portrait of Renaissance Brughes
The lovely city of Brughes was the commercial heart of the Duchy of Burgundy. In the fifteenth century, it became one of the cornerstones upon which the edifice of modern venture capitalism was built. With David Douglass and Mary Springfels, strings; Drew Minter, Mark Rimple, James Ruff, and Richard Wistreich, voice.
Thursday, February 8, 2007, 3:00 PM Open Rehearsal
Newberry Library Ruggles Hall
Friday, February 9, 2007, 7:30 PM
Newberry Library Ruggles Hall
Saturday, February 10, 2007, 7:30 PM
University of Chicago's Fulton Recital Hall
Sunday, February 11, 2007, 3:00 PM
Northwestern University's Lutkin Hall
Researching Brewers and Brewing in Chicago
Thursday, February 22, 6:00 pm
Speaker: Bob Skilnik
Around 1900 breweries flourished in Chicago and a saloon could be found on many street corners. Did any of your ancestors own a tavern or work in a brewery? Learn how to research Chicago's beer-soaked past with Bob Skilnik, author of The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago, 1833-1978.
March 2007
Fifteenth Annual Mystery Book Fair
Friday, March 2, Noon - 6:00 pm
Saturday, March 3, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
The Newberry Library offers two days of sleuthing to find all the hard cover and paperback mysteries you can handle, including true-crime, mystery classics, mysteries of the heart (a.k.a. romance), and science fiction. Admission is free. No reservation is required.
Fathers and Daughters and Wives in Late Shakespeare
Wednesday, March 7, 6:15 pm
Reception begins at 5:30 pm and includes snacks and refreshments ($9/$6 for Associates of the Newberry Library)
Speaker: David Bevington, University of Chicago
David Bevington is professor emeritus in the humanities and a leading Shakespearean scholar. He will explore Shakespeare's fascination with family relationships in his late plays, especially in Othello, King Lear, The Winter's Tale, and the Tempest. This problem of interpretation is especially acute because Shakespeare was so unwilling to talk about himself.
James T. Farrell's A World I Never Made and No Star Is Lost:
Volume I and Volume II of the O'Neill-O'Flaherty Pentalogy
Saturday, March 17, 10:00 am
Speaker: Charles Fanning, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day at a book launch party to commemorate an Irish-American author. Out of print for 50 years, Farrell's five O'Neill-O'Flaherty novels are being republished in spring and fall 2007, with new introductions by former Newberry fellow, Charles Fanning. Set in the Irish South Side of Chicago, the novels are described by scholar Alan Wald as "incontestable masterworks of American culture and a compelling narrative of the emerging consciousness of a truth-seeking intellectual."
Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey
Wednesday, March 21, 6:00 pm
Speaker: Alison Weir
"Alison Weir's hugely popular history books are as gripping as novels," wrote The Times (London), "and now she has stepped effortlessly over the boundary. She revels in the freedom of fiction without sacrificing historical fact." Innocent Traitor, tells a suspense-filled, heart-rending story of the "Nine Days' Queen" -a 15-year-old girl who, following the death of Edward, King Henry VIII's only male heir, unwittingly became the center of a struggle for supremacy fueled by political intrigues and lethal religious fervor.
The Caxton Club/Newberry Library 2007 Symposium on the BookRemodeling the Tower of Babel: The Translator's Role in a Shrinking World
Saturday, March 31, 9:00 am
The challenge of translation has been with us since at least the Middle Ages. Then as now, translators have occupied a central position in fostering progress in literature, science, and society. In this one-day symposium, speakers will demonstrate how understanding the translator's role in the past is fundamental to understanding its importance in public debates on many issues in diplomacy, journalism, economics, art, and pop culture. The Symposium is free, but seating is limited so advance registration is required at (312) 255-3700.
April 2007
An Arctic Odyssey
Wednesday, April 4, 6:15 pm
Reception begins at 5:30 pm and includes snacks and refreshments ($9/$6 for Associates of the Newberry Library)
Speaker: Edmund B. Thornton
During the summers of 1949 and 1950, Edmund Thornton served as a crew member on the Schooner Bowdoin out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine on two expeditions to the Arctic. Please join us for a visually stunning program that will include highlights of Thornton's Arctic experience together with comments on the history and exploration of the Arctic Regions.
Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Saturday, April 21, 10:00 am
Director: Kathy Scambiatterra
Celebrate Shakespeare's birthday with The Shakespeare Project of Chicago's production of the romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing. Young lovers, villains, and a constable prone to malapropisms, complete the cast of one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies.
The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City
Wednesday, April 25, 6:00 pm
Speaker: Carl Smith, Northwestern University
Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago is arguably the most influential document in the history of urban planning. Carl Smith's fascinating history reveals the Plan's central role in shaping the ways people envision the cityscape and urban life itself.
May 2007
After Tony Blair: Constitutional Revolution or Revelation in Britain's Disguised Republic?
Wednesday, May 2, 6:15
Reception begins at 5:30 pm and includes snacks and refreshments ($9/$6 for Associates of the Newberry Library)
Speaker: Martin Meenagh, Worcester College, University of Oxford, and member of the Middle Temple, the Inns of Court (London)
During the Blair years, profound reforms to Britain's unwritten and monarchial constitution have included the human rights act, devolution, the reform of the House of Lords, and the virtual elimination of the mysterious Crown power known as the "Royal prerogative." Has the United Kingdom indeed become, as Walter Bagehot described it in 1873, "a disguised republic"? Do these changes simply ratify and bring into the open Britain's hidden republican settlement? What should foreign observers expect after Blair steps down as Prime Minister?
Newberry Consort: Imperial Entertainments: Music for the Holy Roman emperors
Three generations of Habsburg emperors (Ferdinand II, Leopold I, and Joseph I) were not only lovers of music but composers themselves. Several special guests will join the Consort, along with David Douglass, Mary Springfels, and Richard Wistreich, for a spirited conclusion to the season. For tickets, call (312) 255-3700.
Thursday, May 3, 3:00 pm open rehearsal
Newberry Library
Friday, May 4, 7:30 pm concert
Newberry Library
Saturday, May 5, 7:30 pm concert
University of Chicago's Fulton Recital Hall
Sunday, May 6, 3:00 pm concert
Northwestern University's Lutkin Hall
ABOUT THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY
The Newberry Library is an independent library open to the public for research and reference in the humanities. One of the largest independent research libraries in the United States, the Newberry holds an extraordinary collection of more than 1.5 million books, 5 million manuscript pages and 300 thousand historic maps. As one of the world's leading repositories of a broad range of books and manuscripts relating to the civilizations of western Europe and the Americas, the Library's mission is to acquire and preserve research collections of such materials, and to provide for and promote their effective use by a diverse community of users.