March 31, 1995

Contact: Helen Dalrymple (202) 707-1940

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Media Advisory: Public Events at Library of Congress May - August 1995

May 1
Monday

EXHIBITION
The work of children's book writer and illustrator Vera B. Williams is featured in an exhibition that opens today in the Mumford Foyer, sixth floor of the Madison Building. Among the 50 works of art on display are paintings, sketches and original art for a number of Ms. Williams's children's books such as A Chair for My Mother (1982), "More More More" Said the Baby: 3 Love Stories (1990), and Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea (1988). The exhibition will be on view through July 14.

LECTURE
His Excellency Boris Biancheri, the Ambassador to the United States from Italy, will speak on "The Legacy of Machiavelli" in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 6:30 p.m. The program is sponsored by the Library's Rare Book and Special Collections Division, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Embassy of Italy, and the National Italian American Foundation.

May 2
Tuesday

LECTURE
Rep. Patsy Mink presents the Keynote Address for the celebration of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month at the Library of Congress in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, 10 a.m.

May 3
Wednesday

LECTURE
The Near East Section of the Library of Congress presents a Turkish lecture in celebration of the section's 50th anniversary. Professor Serif Mardin, Chairman of Islamic Studies, American University, speaks on "Some Approaches to the Social Reality of Modern Turkish Intellectuals," in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 7 p.m.

May 4
Thursday

READING
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove, the Library's Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, closes the Library's literary season with a reading of her poems. The program coincides with W. W. Norton's publication of "Mother Love", Ms. Dove's new collection of poems. The evening also marks her final official appearance at the Library of Congress as Poet Laureate. The event will be held in the Montpelier Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 6:45 p.m.

May 5
Friday

EXHIBITION
For the past 100 years Americans have turned to the "funny pages" of their favorite newspaper for a daily dose of humor, drama, romance and adventure. "Featuring the Funnies: One Hundred Years of the Comic Strip" celebrates those 100 years of cartoon art in the first floor foyer of the Madison Building. The exhibition presents selected original comic strip drawings along with commentary that documents their relationship to contemporary events, diverse political ideologies, and trends in fine art and popular culture. It will remain on display through August 12.

May 9
Tuesday

LECTURE
Author and lecturer Betty Bao Lord presents a lecture as part of the Library's celebration of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 10 a.m.

READING
The Poetry at Noon program focuses on "Travels and Journeys," with readings by Jean Johnson, David McAleavey, and Anne Sheldon. It will be held in the Pickford Theater, third floor of the Madison Building, at noon.

May 15
Monday

SYMPOSIUM
The Center for the Book sponsors a symposium on the historical novel in honor of Herman Wouk, who will be one of the participants. Other participants include David McCullough, Robert Caro, Emilie Buchwald, Alan Cheuse, Christopher Collier, George Garrett, Martin Gilbert, Darden Asbury Pyron, Mary Ann Settle, and James West III. The event will take place in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, from 2 to 5 p.m.

May 18
Thursday

CONCERT
The American Folklife Center presents its second outdoor noontime concert, featuring Frankie Manning and New York Style Lindy-Hop from the Savoy Ballroom of the 1930s, on the Neptune Plaza, west front of the Jefferson Building, from noon to 1 p.m.

May 18
Thursday

LECTURE
The fifth annual Carl Schurz lecture at the Library of Congress will be given by Charles Maier, Center for European Studies, Harvard University, on "Fifty Years On: Defining Moments in the German-American Partnership" in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 6:30 p.m.

May 23
Tuesday

CONFERENCE
The Office of Scholarly Programs and the Everett McKinley Dirksen Congressional Leadership Research Center are sponsoring a research conference titled "Leaders of the House Over Two Centuries." Special guests include former President Gerald R. Ford, who will speak on "The Congressional Leadership from a White House Perspective" during the morning session, and former House Republican Leader Robert H. Michel, who will appear on the afternoon program. Scholars will discuss congressional leaders of the 19th and early 20th centuries in the two morning panels, and mid-20th century leaders are the topic for the afternoon panel. The all-day program, which is subject to change, will be held in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, beginning at 8:30 a.m. "It is open to the public but seating is limited."

May 25
Thursday

CONCERT
"'S Wonderful! The Library of Congress Celebrates the George and Ira Gershwin Collection" is a gala free concert at the Warner Theatre. The concert, sponsored by the Music Division of the Library of Congress, will feature familiar tunes from the brothers' many shows as well as seldom heard songs and unpublished melodies, including several that will be heard for the first time at this concert. Andrew Litton, conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, is the Musical Director for the evening. Special guest stars for the concert are singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli and two-time Grammy-award winning operatic soprano Dawn Upshaw. Other performers are singers and dancers from the Broadway and concert stage.

Free tickets for the concert (two per person) will be distributed to the public on a first-come, first- served basis as long as they last on Monday, May 15, at the Warner Theatre box office, beginning at 10 a.m.

All seats for this concert are reserved, and there will be no exchanges of tickets.

June 8
Thursday

LECTURE
The Near East Section of the Library of Congress presents an Arabic lecture in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Near East Section. Prof. Leila Fawaz, Chairman, Deptartment of History, Tufts University, will speak on "The Role of Arab Women in Social Change," in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 7 p.m.

June 9/10
Friday/Saturday

SYMPOSIUM
"Pioneers, Passionate Ladies, and Private Eyes: The Library of Congress Symposium on Dime Novels, Series Books, and Paperbacks," sponsored by the Library's Rare Book and Special Collections Division and the Center for the Book, will explore the historical development of mass-produced popular fiction in America -- from the rise of the dime novel in the years following the Civil War to the current dominance of paperback publishing. Author Madeleine B. Stern will speak at Friday's plenary session on "Dime Novels by the `Children's Friend' (Louisa May Alcott)." The symposium will be held in the Library's Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.

June 15
Thursday

CONCERT
Laurie Lewis and the Grant Street Band play bluegrass music outdoors on the Neptune Plaza in a noontime concert presented by the American Folklife Center. The concert will take place on the west front of the Jefferson Building, beginning at noon.

June 29
Thursday

EXHIBITION
To commemorate the Fourth of July, a special display of Thomas Jefferson's "rough draft" of the Declaration of Independence will be shown for only five days in Madison Memorial Hall, first floor of the Madison Building. Also on view will be a fragment in Jefferson's hand of the very first draft of the Declaration of Independence, never before exhibited to the public, as well as two copies of the final printed version of the Declaration, known as the Dunlap Broadside, and an 1826 letter written by Jefferson just 10 days before he died, reflecting on the meaning and purpose of the American Revolution.

(The exhibition will be open on Tuesday, July 4, although all the other buildings and facilities of the Library of Congress will be closed that day.)

July 7
Friday

LECTURE
Prof. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, University Professor of Islamic Studies, George Washington University, gives a lecture on Persia in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Library's Near East Section titled "The Components and Aspects of Persian Culture." The lecture will be presented in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 7 p.m.

July 20
Thursday

CONCERT
The American Folklife Center presents an outdoor concert on the Neptune Plaza, west front of the Jefferson Building. Featured will be MÇta, an instrumental group from Hungary that plays traditional music; traditional Hungarian dances will also be performed. The concert will begin at noon.

August 10
Thursday

EXHIBITION
"Women Come to the Front" profiles eight female journalists who struggled in a male-dominated field to contribute their "brains and talent" to recording the effects of World War II. The exhibition focuses on eight women whose personal collections are held by the Library of Congress and draws on their private correspondence, unpublished writings, photographs, diaries, and broadcast transcripts to tell their story. "Women Come to the Front," on the first floor level of the Madison Gallery in the Madison Building, will be on view through November 18.

August 17
Thursday

CONCERT
The American Folklife Center outdoor concert presents the Inspirational Singers, an a capella gospel group from Washington's Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, on the Neptune Plaza, west front of the Jefferson Building, beginning at noon.

The Library of Congress occupies three buildings on Capitol Hill. The Thomas Jefferson Building is the original Library of Congress building; it is located at 10 First Street S.E., across First Street from the U.S. Capitol. The John Adams Building is directly behind the Jefferson Building to the east on Second Street S.E.; and the James Madison Memorial Building, at 101 Independence Avenue S.E., is just south of the Jefferson Building.

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PR 95-041
3/31/95
ISSN 0731-3527