Date: May 19, 2003

Hartford Public Library Events for June and July

EXHIBIT

June 9 – July 12: Black Historian’s Exhibition, Upon Reflection: A Half-Century of African American Cultural Highlights reflects African American culture through a unique presentation of collectibles, memorabilia and ephemera. Collectors Wallace Branch and Denise L. Smith, who together are known as the Black Historians, organized this exhibit for the purpose of engaging and educating the viewer on some of the more celebratory aspects of African American history, culture and lifestyle. Free and open to the public, Monday– Friday, 12 noon – 5:00 p.m., Hartford Collection Room, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St., Hartford, (860) 695-6324.

INFORMATION FAIR

June 11, 3:00-5:00 p.m., Neighborhood Team Day Open House: information fairs at the Central Library and all branches to provide residents with material on community organizations, volunteer opportunities, city services and government contact information. Free and open to the public, (860) 695-6295.

BLUES CONCERT

June 11, noon-1:00 p.m., Blues on the Terrace: Dan Stevens, acoustic blues artist. The lunchtime concert to include soulful originals and many “bottleneck slide” tunes in the spirit of the legendary blues masters. The concert is one part of the Library’s Neighborhood Team Day celebration. Free, on the terrace of the Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street, (860) 695-6295.

LECTURES / LITERATURE

June 18, 6:30-8:00 p.m., Author Event and Book Signing: join author Sandra Katz to discuss her newly released book Dearest of Geniuses, A Life of Theodate Pope Riddle. Riddle, one of America’s first successful female architects, was a leading educator and founder of the Avon Old Farms School. She designed the school’s campus as well as the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT. Book signing to follow. Free and open to the public, Hartford Collection Room, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St. (860) 695-6342.

June 19, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Chewing the Fat, a series of informal chats on books to savor and web sites with flavor moderated by Elissa Altman, award-winning food writer and frequent contributor to Northeast Magazine. Free and open to the public, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St., (860) 695-6320.

June 19, 6:00-9:00 p.m., Juneteenth Celebration: storytelling, music and refreshments mark the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery. Featuring master storyteller Gwendolyn Quezaire-Presutti. Free and open to the public, Albany Branch of the Hartford Public Library, 1250 Albany Ave., (860) 695-7380.

June 28, 11:00 a.m., Gallery Talk: Denise Smith to speak on the Black Historian’s Exhibition and the importance of collecting. Free and open to the public, Hartford Collection Room, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St. (860) 695-6324.

July 2, noon-1:30 p.m., Author Reading and Book Signing: Author Martha Biondi will read from her newly released book To Stand and Fight: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Post War New York City (May 2003, Harvard University Press). The story of the civil rights movement typically begins with the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and culminates with the 1965 voting rights struggle in Selma. But as Biondi shows, a grassroots struggle for racial equality in the urban North began a full ten years before the rise of the movement in the South. This story is an essential first chapter, not only to the southern movement that followed, but to the riots that erupted in northern and western cities just as the civil rights movement was achieving major victories. Book signing to follow. Biondi is a professor of African American History at Northwestern University. Free and open to the public, Hartford Collection Room, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St. (860) 695-6324.

LECTURES / LITERATURE

July 10, 6:30–8:00 p.m., Dan Stevens, Blues 101: commentary, concert and slide show that traces the history and development of blues from its roots in African American culture and tradition all the way to the popular styles of today’s modern artists. Free and open to the public, Hartford Collection Room, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St. (860) 695-6324.

July 17, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Chewing the Fat, a series of informal chats on books to savor and web sites with flavor moderated by Fran Reale, founder and creative director of the Children’s Culinary Institute of Connecticut, Inc. and voted Hartford Advocate Caterer of the Year 1997-2003. Free and open to the public, Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St., (860) 695-6320.