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The Library of Virginia e-Newsletter
August 2012

News
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Constitutional Experts to Explore Relevance of Virginia's Constitution on Sept. 21

A. E. Dick Howard is the go-to person on all things related to Virginia's Constitution, advising governors and legislators. He served as the executive director of the commission that drafted Virginia's current constitution and directed the successful referendum campaign for its ratification. He is the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. A Rhodes Scholar, he was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black.

On September 21 at 5:30 PM, Howard will lead a spirited discussion that traces the evolution of Virginia's constitution up to the most recent revision (1971) and explores its applicability to its citizens' needs in the present day. Joining him will be Virginia Supreme Court Senior Justice Elizabeth B. “Liz” Lacy, the first woman on the Virginia Supreme Court, and H. Lane Kneedler, partner at Reed Smith LLP and former chief...

Virginia Memory Repeats on Family Tree Magazine's Top Genealogy Website List

The Library of Virginia has retained its spot on Family Tree Magazine's list of best genealogy websites. In recognizing Virginia Memory, the magazine said, “This Library of Virginia site stands out for the richness and genealogical usefulness of its digital collections. Local history lessons are nice, but what we love are the real records found here: Revolutionary War land bounties, court records, family Bibles, Civil War...

The Virginia Literary Festival Returns in October

The Virginia Literary Festival, a week-long series of book talks, workshops, celebrations, and literary events for readers and authors, returns to Richmond October 17–21. We've prepared a full schedule of events for readers and writers of all ages. Don't miss the Literary Luncheon—featuring Tom Robbins, 2012's Literary Lifetime Award Recipient—and 15 other Virginia authors, including Adriana Trigiani, David Baldacci, and many others. It all culminates with the 15th annual Library of Virginia Literary Award...

Governor Appoints Sofia Starnes Poet Laureate of Virginia

Sofia Starnes, a resident of Williamsburg, has been named to a two-year term as Poet Laureate of Virginia by Governor Bob McDonnell. As poet laureate she will promote poetry and the written word and will be available for speaking and reading engagements across the state. Starnes is the author of five books of poetry and her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies. She is the recipient of the Transcontinental Poetry Prize (Editor's Choice), The Whitebird Poetry Series Prize, the Rainer Maria Rilke Poetry Award, the Marlboro Review Prize for Poetry (Editor's Choice), and the Christianity and Literature Poetry Prize, among...

Public Library Directors to Meet at LVA in September

Public library directors from across the state will gather here on September 20 and 21 for the 2012 Virginia Public Library Directors' Meeting, presented by the Library of Virginia. Directors will receive updates from Librarian of Virginia Sandra Treadway and from Library Development and Networking staff on issues and projects for the coming year.

Maurice Coleman and Paul Signorelli will give a joint keynote address focusing on two approaches to the future of libraries on September 20...

Database Spotlight: American Periodicals Series Online

Proquest's American Periodicals Series Online (APS) database features digitized copies of more than 1,500 periodicals published from colonial times to the mid-twentieth century. Titles range from Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine and America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository, to popular magazines such as Vanity Fair and...

Library Cardholders Can Tap into a Wealth of Resources to Help with School

Students and teachers returning to school need look no further than their local public library to gain access to invaluable databases. The good news is that this free service is provided by the Library of Virginia, supported by federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The collection of databases known as Find It Virginia provides free, 24/7 access to resources such as newspapers, magazine and journal articles, and books such as encyclopedias. Materials are available for all age ranges and interests.

Resources for elementary school students are grouped under "Kids Infobits" and feature reference materials, magazines, newspapers, maps, flags, charts, and images with reading levels clearly noted. Resources...

Join us on October 3 for "A Woman's Place Is in . . . the Voting Booth!: A History of the Woman Suffrage Movement

The Library of Virginia, Maymont Foundation, and the League of Women Voters team up for a rousing rally at noon on October 3 that is sure to inspire everyone to cast their vote on Election Day! Costumed interpreters bring the struggle for woman suffrage to life as Librarian of Virginia Sandra G. Treadway describes the victories and setbacks of the determined female citizens who sought the right to vote during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The program shows that although most southerners were not sympathetic to woman suffrage by the start of the 20th century, this attitude was changing. In 1909 the Virginia Equal...

The Amazing Raise Is Coming Sept. 19th and 20th!

The Amazing Raise, sponsored by the Community Foundation serving Richmond and Central Virginia, is a chance to turn your $50 gift into up to $20,000 in matching prizes for the Library of Virginia Foundation. Last year the Library was the top earning cultural organization, with $12,500 raised in just two days. We would love to repeat that honor! Be sure to...

Proposals Sought for 2013 Virginia Forum

The eighth annual Virginia Forum will be held on the campus of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, March 21–23. The Virginia Forum brings together historians, teachers, writers, archivists, museum curators, historic-site interpreters, librarians, and others engaged in the study and interpretation of Virginia...

Fireside Chat on the Emancipation Proclamation to Be Held on September 21

The preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln on September 22, 1862, five days after the bloody Battle of Antietam. It became effective January 1, 1863, as the nation entered its third year of conflict, forever changing the course of the Civil War. Without question, the Emancipation Proclamation is one of the great American documents of freedom.

Join the nation's foremost Lincoln scholars on the evening of September 21 at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, as they gather to...
Fun & Free at the Library
All events are free and take place from noon until 1 PM in the conference rooms at the Library of Virginia unless otherwise noted.
 
Virginia PhotosFriday, September 7, 2012
First Fridays East
The Spirit of Virginia: Photographs for the 1939 New York World's Fair
Time: 5:30 PM–6:30 PM
Place: Lobby
Richmond's popular arts and cultural program First Fridays Art Walk makes a special expansion east with "First Fridays East" to connect the Library of Virginia with the University of Richmond Downtown. See photographs of Virginia scenes that were displayed in the Virginia Room at the 1939 World's Fair. The photographs provided an "infomercial" for the state, promoting it as a place not just of historic shrines and natural beauty, but as one of scientific, artistic, and intellectual sophistication, a modern state of concrete highways, world-class museums, and business-friendly public policies. The program features Depression-era music and light refreshments in the main lobby of the Library of Virginia (5:30–6:30 PM), followed by the opening of the exhibition in the UR Downtown exhibition gallery with gallery talk by exhibition curator Hayley Harrington at 7:00 PM. Light refreshments will also be available at UR Downtown.

The Testament of Judith BartonWednesday, September 12, 2012
"Books on Broad" Featuring Wendy Powers & Robin McLeod
The Testament of Judith Barton
Time: 5:30–7:30 PM
Imagine the cinematic masterpiece Vertigo retold by its tragic heroine. As Wicked does for The Wizard of Oz, this novel reveals the secret history behind a classic story from a mysterious woman's point of view. Light refreshments (wine and cheese) will be served (5:30–6:15 PM), followed by author talk (6:15–7:15 PM), and book signing (7:15–7:30 PM).

The Right Hand ShoreThursday, September 13, 2012
The Right-Hand Shore
Christopher Tilghman will discuss the culture of the Eastern Shore and how it is reflected in his new novel, The Right-Hand Shore. Set in Maryland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Tilghman's story explores the desires that drive people to try to overcome the past. Their efforts are all the more difficult because they keep looking back on the paths already traveled instead of the ones ahead of them.

Friday, September 21, 2012
"The Earth Belongs Always to the Living Generation": The Constitution of Virginia–Past, Present, and Future
Place: Lecture Hall
Time: 5:30–7:30 PM
The quotation in this program's title was written by Thomas Jefferson to James Madison in 1789. It begins, "No society can make a perpetual constitution or even a law. " Jefferson staunchly believed that no government was set in stone, and the history of Virginia's constitution amply demonstrates that maxim. It was enacted in 1776 and, since then, it has been revised five times. A. E. Dick Howard, professor of law and public affairs at the University of Virginia and an internationally recognized expert on constitutional law, will lead a spirited discussion that traces the document's evolution up to the most recent revision (1971) and explores its applicability to its citizen's needs in the present day. This program complements the Library's latest exhibition, You Have No Right: Law and Justice in Virginia. Style Weekly is the media sponsor for programming for You Have No Right: Law and Justice in Virginia.

Monday, September 24, 2012–Saturday, May 18, 2013
You Have No Right: Law and Justice Exhibition
Place: Lobby and Exhibition Gallery
Time: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Using Virginia cases—and the stories of the people behind them—You Have No Right: Law and Justice will demonstrate how the law affects individuals directly and how people have used the law to achieve political and social goals. Using original records and electronic resources to convey the themes of human rights, citizenship, and the rule of law in a lively and engaging presentation, visitors will explore questions about citizenship, marriage rights, eminent domain, and why prosecutors have to prove guilt and defense lawyers don't have to prove innocence.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Documentary Film Screening: Rothstein's First Assignment
Place: Lecture Hall
Time: 5:30–7:30 PM
In 1935, Arthur Rothstein was sent to the mountains of Virginia to photograph the residents of the Appalachian backwoods and hollows before they were displaced to make room for Shenandoah National Park. Together with Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, Rothstein produced some of the most important and moving images of America's Great Depression. Director Richard Robinson retraces Rothstein's steps by interviewing descendants of the mountain people, which he beautifully weaves together with a 1964 audio interview of Rothstein and archival newsreel and film footage. During the course of his research, however, Robinson discovered evidence that Rothstein's images were not pure documentation, but often staged for the camera. Digging beneath the official story, the film unearths an unsettling link between propaganda and documentary, and raises troubling questions about the photographer's complicity in the displacement of thousands of people for “progress.” Robinson's most chilling discovery, though, is the forced institutionalization and sterilization of mountain residents as part of Virginia's eugenic program, which sterilized more than 8,000 individuals. This fascinating film challenges the viewer to consider the complexity behind images that are viewed as historical truth. A Q&A session with Robinson and assistant producer Katrina Powell will follow the screening, and the Library of Virginia's exhibition You Have No Right: Law and Justice in Virginia will be open for viewing. Style Weekly is the media sponsor for programming for You Have No Right: Law and Justice in Virginia.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
“A Woman's Place Is in . . . the Voting Booth!: A History of the Woman Suffrage Movement”
Place: Lecture Hall
The Library of Virginia, Maymont Foundation, and the League of Women Voters team up for a rousing rally that's sure to inspire everyone to cast their vote on Election Day! Costumed interpreters bring the struggle for woman suffrage to life as Dr. Sandra Treadway, Librarian of Virginia, describes the victories and setbacks of the determined female citizens who sought the right to vote during the 19th and early in the 20th centuries. In addition, documents and materials related to the League of Women Voters' predecessor—the Equal Suffrage League—will be on display. This program complements our exhibition You Have No Right: Law and Justice in Virginia. Style Weekly is the media sponsor for programming for You Have No Right: Law and Justice in Virginia.

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