April 16, 1998

Contact:
Helen Dalrymple (202) 707-1940

---

Media Advisory: Events at the Library of Congress: May-June 1998

May - June 1998

(Events Subject to Change)

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

May 1
Friday
CONFERENCE

The European Division and the American Romanian Academy sponsor a one-day conference on "Romanian-American Connections in History and Literature" in the Librarian's Reception Room, LJ 119 of the Jefferson Building, from 10:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. The morning panel discussion focuses on "Imaginative Intercrossings: American and Romanian Literary Dialogues," with four panelists from Romania and the United States; "Historical Connections: Historiography About Romania Before and After 1989" is the topic for the afternoon session with four other panelists. The conference is open to the public with no registration required; however, seating is limited. Public contact: (202) 707-5859

May 1
Friday
EXHIBITION

Opening today in the European Reading Room in the Jefferson Building is "The Romanian Presence in America," a small display of some 25 books, photographs, a map showing the Romanian communities in the United States and other materials from the Library's collections that highlight the history of Romanian-Americans and their contributions to American scholarship and culture. Hours for the display are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, through July 31. Public contact: (202) 707-5859

May 1
Friday
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH EVENT

Lecture and piano performance of music from the Philippines, by Raul Sunico, winner of the silver award in the Viotti International Piano Competition in Vercelli, Italy, and the Henry Cowell Prize at the University of Maryland International Piano Competition, Mumford Room, 11 a.m. Public contact: (202) 707-6668

May 1
Friday
CONCERT

Anthony Braxton brings his "Ghost Trance Music" to the Coolidge Auditorium for an evening that "transcends genre and integrates performance traditions." Winner of a 1994 MacArthur Fellowship, Anthony Braxton is a musical philosopher, saxophonist and master improviser. All Library of Congress concerts are free and begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are required and may still be available at TicketMaster outlets or by calling (202) 432-SEAT. Public contact: (202) 707-5502

May 4
Monday
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH EVENT

Lecture and book-signing by Cynthia Chin-Lee, author of the children's book A is for Asia; who will speak on "An Asian Pacific American's Perspective on Literary Culture," West Dining Room, 1 p.m. Public contact: (202) 707-6668

May 4
Monday
LECTURE

Award-winning American journalist and biographer Susan Quinn will read from her recent work Marie Curie: A Life to commemorate the centenary of the discovery of radium and polonium. Her biography of one of the century's greatest scientists has been nominated for the Fawcett Book Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award and is being translated into seven languages. The program will be held in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 7 p.m. Public contact: (202) 707-8484

May 5-6
Tuesday-Wednesday
CONFERENCE

Leading neuroscientists discuss their research at a two-day conference on "Discovering Our Selves: The Science of Emotion," sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health, with major funding from the Charles A. Dana Foundation. Tipper Gore, the president's mental health policy adviser, will address the conference at 9 a.m. on May 6. The conference, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Public contact: (202) 707-1513

May 6
Wednesday
CONCERT

Versatile violinist, fiddler and composer Mark O'Connor performs a variety of music with five good friends from Nashville in tonight's 8 p.m. concert in the Coolidge Auditorium. The evening's program includes music from his score for the recent six-part PBS series Liberty! The American Revolution as well as selections from his latest CD, Midnight on the Water, and the premiere of a new work commissioned by the Library. "Thomas Jefferson" (actor Clay Jenkinson) will also put in an appearance. See May 1 entry for ticket information. Public contact: (202) 707-5502

May 7
Thursday
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH EVENT

Two films: "Sa-I-Gu" deals with ethnic relations and racism in the United States; "The Bhangra Wrap" is a documentary of a vibrant youth subculture that fuses hip-hop, rap and Bhangra music in a unique blend of old and new, South Asian and American styles, Pickford Theater, noon. Public contact: (202) 707-6668

May 7
Thursday
READING

Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry Robert Pinsky reads from his poems in the Library's final program of the 1997-98 literary season. Featured in this evening's reading is work from The Figured Wheel, which was recently selected for the 1997 Lenore Marshall Prize for the best book of poems for the year. The event will take place in the Montpelier Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 6:45 p.m. Public contact: (202) 707-5394

May 8
Friday
CONCERT

Continuum, led by founding directors Joel Sachs and Cheryl Seltzer, presents an evening of music from the Caucasus republics as well as the world premiere of a Sonata for Violin and Piano by Oleg Felzer, which was commissioned by the Library's McKim Fund. See May 1 entry for ticket information. Public contact: (202) 707-5502

May 11
Monday
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH EVENT

Inspired by Jack Kerouac's novel On The Road, Tajima- Pena embarks on a free-wheeling cross-country mission to survey the changing face of Asian America. Her film, My America (... or Honk If You Love Buddha) features home movies and archival footage from her family's beginnings in L.A., where her grandfather settled, to the present, where she discovers a multicultural landscape populated by colorful characters that is shaped by shared experiences, Pickford Theater, 11:30 a.m. Public contact: (202) 707-6668

May 12
Tuesday
LECTURE

Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, will deliver the keynote address for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at the Library of Congress. Mr. Lee, one of the country's leading civil rights attorneys, will speak in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 10 a.m. Public contact: (202) 707-6668

May 13
Wednesday
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH EVENT

"Bontoc Eulogy," a film directed and produced by Marlon E. Fuentes, Pickford Theater, noon. Public contact: (202) 707-6668

May 13
Wednesday
READING

Greek novelist Nicholas Papandreou reads from his work in the fifth program of the "New Literature from Europe" series in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 6:45 p.m. The program is sponsored by the Office of Scholarly Programs, the European Division, the European Union and the Greek Embassy. Mr. Papandreou's novel, A Crowded Heart, broke sales records when it was published in Greece in 1995; it has since been published in English (Penguin 1996). Public contact: (202) 707-3302

May 16
Saturday
CONFERENCE

The second day of a two-day conference on "Caricature and Cartoon in Twentieth Century America," jointly sponsored by the Library and the National Portrait Gallery, will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building. Topics to be discussed include "The Masses and the Revolution in Cartooning," cartoonists Ollie Harrington and Bill Mauldin, and "Oliphant's Anthem," an exhibition currently on view in the Jefferson Building, with cartoonist Pat Oliphant. The conference is free, but reservations are required. Call the National Portrait Gallery about Friday's program, at (202) 357-1356, and the Library of Congress about the program described above, at (202) 707-9115.

May 16
Saturday
DANCE CONCERT

The Martha Graham Dance Company, directed by Ron Protas, will premiere a new work based on the music of George Gershwin, But Not for Me, by well-known Broadway choreographer Susan Stroman. The work was commissioned by the Library as part of a five-year joint project of the Library and the Graham Trust. Ms. Stroman received the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for the 1993 Broadway show Crazy for You, which is also based on Gershwin music. The evening's second program is a reconstruction of Appalachian Spring, the ballet created for Martha Graham by Aaron Copland, which was commissioned by the Library and which premiered in the Coolidge Auditorium in 1944. The program will begin at 8 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium. See the May 1 entry for ticket information. Public contact: (202) 707-5502

May 19
Tuesday
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH EVENT

"Asian Pacific Americans in Local Politics," a discussion with Delegate David M. Valderrama (D-Prince George's County), Deputy Majority Whip in the Maryland House of Delegates, and Samuel T. Mok (R), Commissioner on the Montgomery County Liquor Board, Dining Room A, noon. Public contact: (202) 707-6668

May 21
Thursday
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH EVENT

"Asian Pacific Americans in Organized Labor," a presentation by Gloria T. Caoile, Special Assistant to the International President, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), sponsored by AFSCME 2910 and AFSCME 2477, West Dining Room, noon. Public contact: (202) 707-6668

May 26
Tuesday
READING

Poetry at Noon presents James Taylor, author of Poetic Knowledge, who will discuss his new book about this form of knowledge, which was prevalent from ancient times until the age of Descartes, when "scientific knowledge" gained the ascendancy. The program will be held in the Pickford Theater, third floor of the Madison Building, at noon. Public contact: (202) 707-1308

May 26
Tuesday
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH EVENT

"Contemporary Issues for Asian Pacific Americans," a discussion with Lena Sun, staff writer for The Washington Post, West Dining Room, 1 p.m. Public contact: (202) 707- 6668

June 4
Thursday
EXHIBITION

A major exhibition, "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic," opens in the Northwest Gallery and Pavilion, Jefferson Building, through Aug. 22. The comprehensive collections of the Library of Congress, which include the major collections of the papers of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, those founders most instrumental in establishing the church-state policy of the new nation, comprise a unique national resource for an exhibition on this topic. Hours for the exhibition are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday. Public contact: (202) 707-8000

June 15
Monday
LECTURE

Writer and historian Taylor Branch talks about his latest book, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-1965, the second volume of a trilogy on the civil rights movement, in a Books & Beyond talk sponsored by the Center for the Book and the Humanities and Social Sciences Division in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, at 6 p.m. Public contact: (202) 707-5221

June 16
Tuesday
READING

R.T. Smith, Michael Collier and Judith Dollenmayer read works about "Voyaging" in the Pickford Theater, third floor of the Madison Building, at noon. Public contact: (202) 707-1308

June 18-19
Thursday-Friday
SYMPOSIUM

A symposium celebrating the opening of the exhibition "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic" will be held in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Jefferson Building from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on June 18, and from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on June 19. Chaired by Jaroslav Pelikan, Sterling Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University, the two- day conference will cover such topics as "Religion in 18th Century America," Thomas Jefferson and the separation of church and state, "Women and Religion in the Early Republic," and "The Influence of Christianity and Judaism on the Founders." Participants, in addition to Dr. Pelikan, are David D. Hall, Harvard Divinity School; John Witte Jr., Emory University School of Law; Thomas E. Buckley, S.J., Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley; Daniel Dreisbach, American University; Michael Crawford, Naval Historical Center; Mark A. Noll, Wheaton College; Catherine A. Brekus, University of Chicago Divinity School; Rosemarie Zagarri, George Mason University; Michael Novak, American Enterprise Institute; Jon Butler, Yale University; and James Smylie, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond. Public contact: (202) 707-5383

June 25
Thursday
EXHIBITION

"From Sea to Shining Sea: An American Sampler of Children's Books from the Library of Congress," Madison Foyer, first floor of the Madison Building, through Jan. 2, 1999. Public contact: (202) 707-8000

NO PUBLIC EVENTS SCHEDULED AT THIS TIME IN JULY OR AUGUST

* * * * * *

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 Ave. S.E., is just south of the Jefferson Building.

Interpreting services (American Sign Language, Contact Signing, Oral and Tactile) will be provided if requested five business days in advance of any public event. Call (202) 707-6362 TTY and voice to make a specific request. For other ADA accommodations contact the Disability Employment Program office at (202) 707-9948 TTY and (202) 707-7544 voice.

Information about events at the Library of Congress is available on the Internet through the World Wide Web at: http://www.loc.gov/.

 

# # #

PR 98-061
4/16/98
ISSN 0731-3527