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It's Positively Medieval!

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 426457
Text with placemarkers and rubric; miniature showing man being stoned. Image ID: 426457

Journalists and politicians habitually employ the term "medieval" as a derogatory adjective, indicative of regress and utter lack of civility. While common belief does identify this period of history with pestilence, lawlessness, excessively harsh punishment, brutal combat, and lack of personal hygiene, historians of the period never cease to remind us that the Middle Ages gave us Magna Carta, universities, and produced a number of spectacular architectural masterpieces.

According to Carolyne Larrington, an Oxford scholar of medieval texts, the current cinematic trend is beginning to attract more people towards the literature and history of this period. Viewers of popular television series, such as Game Of Thrones, wish to know how their favorite shows compare to real life during the Middle Ages. If you like watching or reading the Game Of Thrones, reading historical fiction, or simply wish to know more about the tumultuous events and achievements of the period, take a look at the titles in this post.

This weekend Fort Tryon Park will be celebrating rich and glorious heritage of the Middle Ages. NYC's annual Medieval Festival offers New Yorkers an exciting opportunity of being transported into the era of jousting, colorful costumes, handmade artifacts, and guiltless consumption of fried dough. To see how our version of a medieval village compares to the authentic one, download The Time Traveler's Guide To Medieval England: A Handbook For Visitors To The Fourteenth Century.

History

1381 The Year Of The Peasant's Revolt
What century is best characterized by deadly pandemics, disastrous weather, dishonest marketing methods, shameless profiteering, increased taxation, an exceptionally competitive job market, wars of conquest, excessive alcohol consumption, pop songs with bawdy lyrics, incessant warnings of authority figures against the loosening of morals, social unrest and rebellion? You are right, if you guessed the fourteenth! Juliet Barker's masterfully told and meticulously researched book is focused on the causes and consequences of the Peasant's Rebellion of 1381. In that fateful year long-suffering peasants of Kent learned of the new poll tax. Organized by a rebel priest, they managed to reach London and present their demands to Richard II. Check this book out of Mid-Manhattan library to find out if this first popular grassroots uprising in England reached its goals.
 
Blood Royal

Blood Royal: A True Tale of Crime and Detection in Medieval Paris by Eric Jager
While the discovery of the science of detection is frequently attributed to a fictional character, a leading protagonist of this true crime in fourteenth century Paris exhibits amazing powers of deduction and the skillful use of forensic evidence. When mad king's lustful and scheming brother is brutally slain in the middle of Paris, there is no shortage of suspects. The task of locating the guilty party is entrusted to the provost of Paris, Guillaume de Tignonville, a paragon of erudition, who is determined find out the culprit. The author's meticulous research is evident in his thorough knowledge of medieval Paris. He magically transports the readers into this city's narrow dangerous alleys, igniting readers' imaginations with the putrid smell of the rotting corpses of criminals on display, the crows feeding on their purple flesh, and the mournful cries of relatives.

Last Duel

The Last Duel: A True Story Of Crime, Scandal, And Trial By Combat In Medieval France by Eric Jager
In the year of 1386 Jean de Carrouges accused his former friend of violating his wife. The dispute was to be resolved by the ancient custom of trial by combat. If Jean de Carrouges was to be killed in the battle for the truth, Lady Marguerite de Carrouges and their unborn child would be lose their lives as well. Written with the same attention to historical details and vividly imagined scenes as Blood Royal, Last Duel is even more exiting than a work of fiction.

 

 

 

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages by Johannes Fried; translated by Peter Lewis
German historian Johannes Fried argues against the commonly held belief that intellectual life during the Middle Ages was stunted and stagnating. He does not tire of reminding us that this historical period produced Magna Carta, the printing press, universities, and spectacular works of architecture.

 

 

 

 

Magna Carta

Magna Carta: The Birth of Libertyby Dan Jones
Eight hundred years ago a king called John signed a certain charter, a document better known to us by its Latin name. His signature under the articles of Magna Carta signified a tremendously important development in the history of modern government. Dan Jones takes us back to the year 1215 and shows us how Magna Carta forced a king to recognize the existence of ancient liberties, limited his ability to raise taxes, and reasserted legitimacy of due process.

 

 

 

World Lit Only  by Fire

A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind And The Renaissance: Portrait Of An Age by William Manchester
William Manchester, a great historian of the twentieth century, truly believed that the Middle Ages deserved their ignominious reputation. His popular history of Renaissance and Reformation begins with a bleak and vivid description of the era that preceded it.

 

 

 

Distant Mirror

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuckman
Enguerrand de Cloucy VII, a member of nobility and a participant of every major event of interest during the fourteenth century, is the hero of Barbara Tuchman's historical narrative on a grand scale. Tuchman's masterful narrative accurately portrays the brutish moral and physical circumstances of that time.

 

 

 

 

 The Fight For France

Agincourt: The Fight For France
This past October marked the 600th anniversary of one of the greatest battles of the Hundred Years War, the battle of Agincourt. Agincourt is the very battle that was immortalized by Shakespeare in his Henry V.Ranulph Fiennes, the only man alive ever to have traveled around the Earth's circumpolar surface, is the author of this historical narrative. What qualifies this legendary explorer for the job of a historian? Sir Ranulph Fiennes's ancestors commanded both the French and the English armies and were closely related to royalty on both sides of this battle.

 

 

Historical Fiction

Company of Liars

Company Of Liars by Karen Maitland
A motley group of fugitives is attempting to outrun the fast approaching pestilence, foul weather, forces of Inquisition, and dark and mysterious forces of evil. Each member of this vagabond crew is harboring a deep dark secret that might prove to be their undoing.

 

 

 

 

in The Name Of A Rose

The Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco
A brilliant intellectual mystery, this award-winning novel presupposes a good deal of knowledge or willingness to obtain it from outside sources. The rewards of reading it are entirely worth the effort.

 

 

 

 

Katherine

Katherine by Anya Seton
Was there truly room for any romance during the Middle Ages? Alison Weir is convinced that the story of Katherine and John was "the greatest and one of the most poignant love affairs in English history." Her biography of Katherine, Duchess of Lancaster, is available at Mid-Manhattan library. John and Katherine, who happen to be the forebears of both the Tudor and Stuart dynasties, are the main characters of Anya Seton's Katherine.

 

 

 

Corner that held them

The corner That Held Themby Sylvia Townsend Warner
This work of historical fiction describes a cloistered community of nuns, struggling to survive the tumultuous events of the fourteenth century. Several generations of women have called the convent of Orby in Norfolk home. Located on an island, Orby has very tenuous connections with the rest of the world. When visitors bring Black Death to its door, the nuns must muster all their resilience to survive.

 

 

 

Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follett
Set in the twelfth century community of Knightsbridge, this epic tale is centered around a quest to build a cathedral. The lives of a naive and idealistic prior, a visionary master builder and his family, and a ruthless, power-hungry bishop are tied to the fortunes surrounding the building site of a magnificent cathedral.

 

 

 

Morality Play

Morality Play by Barry Unsworth
A penniless cleric on the run stumbles on a funeral in the woods. He is grateful for a spot among a troupe of traveling actors. After this group dares to perform a play based on the murder committed in town, the true circumstances of the crime come to light and endanger their lives.

 

 

 

Children's Books

good Masters Sweet Ladies

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices From A Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz; illustrated by Robert Byrd

What was it like to be 10 in 1255 ? Read this Newbery Award-winning book to find out.

 

 

 

 

 

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

Chaucer's Canterbury Talestold and illustrated by Marcia Williams

Intimidated by Chaucer? This excellent illustrated selection of nine selected tales is accessible and entertaining. Stories are interpreted and summarized, but remain true to their spirit. Colorful illustrations allow everyone to visualize the narrative.

 

 

 

Crispin

Crispin: The Cross Of Lead by Avi

This Newbery Medal winner follows the life of an outcast on the run for his life. Recently orphaned, Crispin has been declared a Wolf's Head, someone who is no longer human. Accused of a crime he did not commit, he is forced to flee his village with his only possession, a cross of lead. After the secret of his identity is revealed, he knows he must get as far away as he can, as fast as he can.


Remembering Edward Albee

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On September 16, 2016, the playwright Edward Albee died in Montauk, New York. He will be remembered for his contributions to American drama, particularly Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf which was, in 1963, recommended to the Pulitzer Prize committee and rejected on the grounds of vulgarity. A play telling the story of a brutally unhappy couple, George and Martha, its psychological acuity, wit, and despair are characteristic of Albee's work. In celebration of one of the great dramatists of the twentieth century, we're rewatching this video from Albee's 2010 appearance at the Library with Will Eno.

albee

Edward Albee in conversation with Will Eno, 2010

Edward Albee and Will Eno in Conversation


The Plays
Perhaps as is true of any writer, one of the best ways to remember Albee is to revisit his work. The author of over thirty plays, including adaptations of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, James Purdy's Malcolm, Carson McCullers' The Ballad of Sad Cafe, and Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's, Albee won the Pulitzer Prize three times and the Tony Award twice. We urge you to join us in enjoying some of Albee's most beloved plays.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
who's afraid of virginia woolf
1963 Tony Award winner

The Play about the Baby
the play about the baby
2001 Pulitzer Prize nominee for Drama

The goat, or, Who is Sylvia?
the goat
2002 Tony Award winner for Best Play

Three Tall Women
three tall women
1994 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama

A Delicate Balance
a delicate balance
1967 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama

Tiny Alice
tiny alice
1965 Tony Award nominee for Best Play and Best Author of a Play

Seascape
seascape
1975 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama

Several typescripts, proofs, and handwritten revisions are currently held at the New York Public Library's Billy Rose Theatre Division at the Library for the Performing Arts. 

Attack of the Killer Bs: B-Movies and Cult Films

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B-movies, cult films, midnight movies, guilty pleasures; call them whatever you like. There are the Oscar winners, there are the summer blockbusters and then there are these: the films that are so bad, or just plain weird, that they become absolutely hysterical. They're best when watched with good friends or at big parties (maybe while having a few beers), so everyone can laugh together at the sheer insanity of it all. This post is dedicated to any and all films cheap, campy, incomprehensible and/or ridiculous. Here are just a few of them:

Troll 2

Troll 2 may well be the Holy Grail of bad movies. Despite its title, this low-budget Italian film features absolutely no trolls at all anywhere in its 94-minute running time; instead, it pits a family of four (plus their dead grandpa!) against an army of evil vegetarian goblins. What's more, this film was actually notorious enough to merit its own documentary, aptly titled Best Worst Movie.

Pink Flamingos

"If someone vomits while watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation," wrote John Waters in his book Shock Value. He probably got just the response he was hoping for when he made Pink Flamingos. The plot, which involves drag queen Divine's mission to protect her title of "Filthiest Person Alive," is really just an excuse to string together some of the most outrageous (unsimulated) acts ever caught on film, including the (in)famous ending involving a dog and... well, I've said too much already.

The Wicker Man

The original British film The Wicker Man is widely agreed to be a landmark horror film, eerie and gripping. Neil Labute's American remake, also called The Wicker Man, is, well... something else entirely. For one thing, it stars Nicolas Cage as a loner cop on the trail of a missing child in a pagan colony. Roger Ebert said it well in his review of Drive Angry: "Cage is a good actor in good movies, and an almost indispensable actor in bad ones. He can go over the top so effortlessly he rests up and makes lemonade for everybody." He certainly doesn't disappoint in The Wicker Man.

The Holy Mountain

Chilean-born filmmaker and magician Alejandro Jodorowsky could fillthislistbyhimself. In the interest of space, we shall list only one of his movies: The Holy Mountain. Ostensibly, it's about an alchemist who trains ten disciples to overthrow the gods and seize immortality. But that doesn't begin to describe the experience of actually seeing this movie. Where else are you going to find toads dressed up like Spanish conquistadors? Or arms dealers who sell guns shaped like crucifixes and menorahs? There's nothing like this film; accept no substitutes.

Altered States is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination (its writer was three-time Oscar winner Paddy Chayefsky), but it delivers weirdness in spades. William Hurt stars as a scientist who believes in other states of consciousness, and tries to access them using a combination of drugs and sensory deprivation. From there, he spirals headlong into bizarre hallucinations... and even stranger things.

Yor

The Official Razzie Movie Guide names Yor the Hunter from the Future as one of the "100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made". This 90-minute film was adapted from a four-hour sci-fi Italian television series. The star, American actor/footballer Reb Brown, has apparently made a career out of cheesy movies; he was also in Space Mutiny, a movie you may remember courtesy of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Highlights of Yor include: man-eating Triceratops dinosaurs, blue-skinned mutants, killer robots and a Razzie-Award winning rock theme song.

A B-movie making its way into the Criterion Collection? Sounds crazy, but the Japanese horror film House did just that. A satire of American slasher films done in a uniquely Japanese style, the film revolves around a group of girls on a weekend retreat in the country. Of course, things get weird. Pieces of furniture get possessed and start eating people. A man goes crazy for no reason and starts yelling about bananas. The girls all have names like Kung Fu, Prof, Fantasy and Gorgeous. Do you really need to know more?

Showgirls

What can be said about Showgirls that really does the film justice? This picture, from the director-screenwriter team who brought you Basic Instinct, died at the box office but went on to become the highest-grossing NC-17 movie of all time. Saved By the Bell's Elizabeth Berkley plays a drifter trying to make it big in the apparently cut-throat world of Vegas showgirl dancing. The result is over two hours of excessive nudity, melodrama, dance numbers and Joe Eszterhas's incredibly vulgar dialogue, delivered with straight faces all around.  

Rocky Horror Picture Show

No blog post about cult films would be complete without giving a mention to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the original midnight movie. When two straightlaced lovers get lost on the road and end up trapped in the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania," lots of singing, dancing, partner-switching and fainting ensue. Let's do the Time Warp again!

The Inwood Library is paying a tribute to B-movies and cult films all throughout the month of October! We'll be screening a different oneevery Thursday evening at 7 PM. If you want to learn about more movies we love to hate, never fear; there are guides galore! You might want to check out The Official Razzie Movie GuideMike Nelson's Movie Megacheese or Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies, and the scathing reviews collected in Roger Ebert's I Hated Hated Hated This Movie are almost as funny as anything you'll ever see on the screen!

Finding George R.R. Martin's Earliest Work

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NYPL Digital Collections ID 407623
NYPL Digital Collections Image ID: 407623

Many readers are aware—perhaps painfully aware—that George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series has been a decades-long undertaking. The first book, A Game of Thrones, was first published twenty years ago in 1996. What many may not realize is that Martin’s writing career dates back to 1971, with his first short story, “The Hero.” Or, that before becoming a household name in fantasy, Martin began as a science fiction writer, also dabbling in other genres like horror. Finding these early works can be challenging—visiting the bookstore or searching by author in our catalog will only get you so far—because Martin’s short stories, novellas, and novelettes were often published in pulp magazines.

Pulp magazines, so-named for the poorer quality wood pulp paper on which they were usually printed, were a vehicle for short-form fiction from genres like science fiction, fantasy, horror, and detective fiction. With colorful, eye-catching, and sometimes racy covers, these magazines introduced readers to the likes of Isaac Asimov, Fritz Leiber, and Ray Bradbury. Pulp magazines reached a publishing golden age in the 1930s and continue to be produced today. The New York Public Library has collected pulps in both print and, more often, microfilm formats. While some stories were republished in collections or expanded novels, many appear solely in pulps. Fittingly, these humble issues are now time machines in themselves, transporting us back to the hopes, fears, and wildest imaginings of an earlier era of speculative fiction.

Through the Library’s pulp magazines, we can trace the development of talents like George R.R. Martin from the beginning of their careers. Oh, and also read some good, freaky scifi.

Magazine cover and first page of George R.R. Martin's short story, "The Hero"
Magazine cover and first page of George R.R. Martin's short story, "The Hero"

George R.R. Martin’s first published piece was “The Hero,” which appeared in the February 1971 issue of Galaxy. A soldier who is matter-of-fact and accomplished in the field, yet politically naïve? Readers might see some hints of Ned Stark in the story’s protagonist.

Opening pages of George R.R. Martin's novelette, "A Song for Lya"
Opening pages of George R.R. Martin's novelette, "A Song for Lya," from microfilm

“A Song for Lya,” originally appearing in Analog Science Fiction and Fact’s June 1974 issue, won Martin his first Hugo award—a mere three years after “The Hero.” Its two main characters are Robb and Lyanna, which should ring bells for any fans of House Stark out there. Prior to 1960, Analog went by the title Astounding Science-Fiction. John W. Campbell, Jr., its editor from December 1937 to 1971, helped foster science fiction’s Golden Age by publishing authors like Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and A.E. van Vogt.

First page of George R.R. Martin's novelette, "Sandkings"
First page of George R.R. Martin's novelette, Sandkings

Martin’s Triple Crown, the novelette “Sandkings” won him Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. It was first published in 1979 and collected five years later in Omni magazine’s first anthology. It was later adapted into an episode of The Outer Limits, which, by the way, you can check out from the Library.

Magazine cover and opening pages of George R.R. Martin's novelette, "Portraits of His Children"
Magazine cover and opening pages of George R.R. Martin's novelette, "Portraits of His Children"

“Portraits of His Children,” is a horror/suspense narrative that takes place not in deep space or Westeros, but on our very own Earth—Iowa, in fact. This cautionary tale warns of what happens when a writer values his fictional characters over his real-life family. It appeared in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine in November 1985 and won a Nebula for Best Novelette the same year.

Opening pages of George R.R. Martin's novelette, "The Glass Flower"
Opening pages of George R.R. Martin's novelette, "The Glass Flower"

Before the game of thrones, Martin introduced us to the “game of mind.” He penned “The Glass Flower” for Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine’s September 1986 issue. In this story, a narrator known by the honorific Wisdom seeks to prolong her life, grappling internally with issues of moral relativism and externally with her traitorous council of Apostles. All this before the arrival of the mysterious cybernetic organism Joachim Kleronomas. As Martin says, “there are cyborgs and then there are cyborgs.”

First page of George R.R. Martin's novella, "Under Siege"
First page of George R.R. Martin's novella, "Under Siege"

“On the high ramparts of Vargön, Colonel Bengt Anttonen stood alone and watched phantasms race across the ice. The world was snow and wind and bitter, burning cold.” In 1985’s “Under Siege,” collected here in Omni’s seventh science fiction anthology, Martin hints at his master page-turning abilities with a dynamite first sentence. The worldbuilding here also sounds like he is beginning to imagine life beyond the Wall.

To find the pulp magazines included in the Library’s collections, the best way to search the online catalog is by journal title or by one of the subjects below. This will help you uncover print, microfilm, and online issues.

Fantasy fiction -- Periodicals.

Science fiction -- Periodicals.

To see where your favorite authors have been published, first check to see if there is a bibliography of their works. This might be provided on an author’s website, or you might be lucky enough to find a published bibliography like Phil Stephensen-Payne’s George R.R. Martin: The Ace from New Jersey. If no such bibliography exists, a great resource is the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (think IMDB, but for fantasy, scifi, and horror). The Library also holds many print indices, which can be found under subjects like:

Science fiction -- Bibliography -- Periodicals.

Science fiction -- Indexes -- Periodicals.

Science fiction -- Periodicals -- Indexes.

Fantasy fiction -- Periodicals -- Indexes.

New York Times Bestseller Read Alikes: September 25, 2016

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Three new titles enter the top five this week! If you are among the masses who read and enjoyed these bestsellers and are left wanting more, here are a few suggestions. 

Apprentice in Death

#1 Recommendations for readers who enjoyed Apprentice in Death by J.D. Robb, more suspense mixed with romance novels, try these authors:

Linda Howard

Anne Stuart

Maya Banks

 

 

 

The Girl on the Train

#2 Recommendations for readers who enjoyed The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, more stories told from multiple perspectives:

And Then There Was Oneby Patricia Gussin

Murder on the Orient Expressby Agatha Christie

Fates & Furies by Lauren Groff

 

 

 

The Light Between Oceans

#3 Recommendations for readers who enjoyed The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, more historical fiction with a strong sense of place:

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Orchardistby Amanda Coplin

The Sandcastle Girlsby Chris Bohjalian

 

 

 

Razor Girl

#4 Recommendations for readers who enjoyed Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen, more offbeat novels:

The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson

Gone With the Mindby Mark Leyner

Sweet Lamb of Heavenby Lydia Millet

 

 

 

Downfall

#5 Recommendations for readers who enjoyed Downfall by J.A. Jance, more atmospheric mysteries:

The Water’s Lovely by Ruth Rendell

The Pines by Blake Crouch

Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

 

 

 

 

Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!

Disposessing Loyalists and Redistributing Property in Revolutionary New York

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The American Revolution was a civil war. It may have given rise to a republic in which the foundation for government legitimacy is a democratic citizenry offering its voluntary consent to law. But that was the hard-won outcome of a violent conflict during which loyalty to the Revolutionary cause was often coerced at bayonet point. Revolutionary governments likewise met non-allegiance with punitive measures. The lingering effects of coercive state policies enacted in the 1770s and early 1780s muddled the transition to consensual government. Nothing makes this clearer than the widespread seizure of property owned by known loyalists.

List of loyalists against whom judgments were given under the Confiscation Act
Front page of "List of loyalists against whom judgments were given under the Confiscation Act". Image ID: 5848802

In New York, the loyalist “problem” occupied state officials into the nineteenth century. The Library recently digitized a manuscript List of loyalists against whom judgments were given under the Confiscation Act, which documents judgments made against loyalists between 1780 and 1783. It includes the name of the loyalist, their occupation, town or county of residence, date of indictment, and date of judgment when signed. Curiously, though, crossed out on the first page is a note that this manuscript list was actually created in 1802, twenty years after the judgments were made. Recent research into the collection suggests that 1802 date is actually correct. Why was New York State dealing with seizures of loyalist property two decades after the Revolution ended?

Confiscation Laws

During the American Revolution, many states passed laws allowing them to seize the property of known loyalists. So-called “confiscation laws” effectively criminalized dissent against the American Revolution. The seizure and sale of loyalist property also raised revenue for the state by redistributing property from Loyalists to the rest of the community. Many new states’ established their legitimacy in the eyes of their constituents by depriving certain people of their right to property.

New York built one of the most robust property confiscation regimes. In fact, New Yorkers started seizing loyalist property even before the state ratified its Constitution. In March of 1777, the Provincial Convention—a provisional government—created in counties under Patriot control “Committees of Sequestration,” which seized property abandoned by Loyalists, auctioned it off, and sent those funds to the state treasurer.

New York’s most aggressive confiscation law was passed in October of 1779, entitled “An Act for the Forfeiture and Sale of the Estates of Persons who have adhered to the Enemies of this State, and for declaring the Sovereignty of the People of this State, in respect to all Property within the same,” though it is commonly called the Forfeiture Act (New York Laws, 3rd session, Ch. 25). It included a list of New Yorkers who remained loyal to Great Britain and provided that these “offenders” had forfeited their right to property and were banished from the state. It also empowered the state to seize and sell their forfeited property.

List of loyalists against whom judgments were given under the Confiscation Act
First page of names. Beginning of the "A's" is missing. Image ID: 5848805

The law allowed for further indictments, though these later “offenders” were not subject to banishment. To carry out the 1779 law, three “Commissioners of Forfeiture” were appointed in each of New York’s four districts—the southern district encompassed New York, Kings, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk, and Westchester counties; the middle district included Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster counties; the western district was made up of Albany and Tryon (renamed Montgomery, in 1784) counties; and the eastern district, which covered Charlotte (renamed Washington) County, as well as Gloucester and Cumberland counties, though the latter two were part of Vermont, which had seceded from New York in 1777. Given the dates (1780-1783) of the confiscations described in this list, and that it contains judgments against New Yorkers from many counties, it likely document judgments made under this 1779 act. We know with certainty that a number of the people on this list had their property confiscated by Commissioners of Forfeiture.

What happened in 1802?

In 1802, the State Legislature passed “An Act to facilitate the discovery and sale of the estates of attainted persons” (New York Laws, 25th session, ch. 82). The act provided that any New Yorker to “discover and disclose” and provide evidence to the Surveyor-General of an attainted estate—property forfeited and seized effectively for treason—that had not been sold, would receive 25% of the value when it was sold. If the land was vacant, the person could opt to receive one quarter of the land in lieu of cash. The act also laid out rules by which the state would determine the value of forfeited estates on which people lived, and procedures by which occupants could purchase them from the state.

The execution of the 1802 law was under the auspices of the Surveyor General, which provides further evidence that the judgments documented in this list stem from the 1779 Forfeiture Act. The Commissioners of Forfeiture were charged with carrying out the 1779 Act. But in 1788, the state abolished the office of Commissioner of Forfeitures, transferring their power over forfeited property to the Surveyor-General. Since this list very likely resulted from the 1802 law, then the judgments described were those overseen by the surveyor general, and those judgments were inherited from the Commission of Forfeitures, which was created by the 1779 Forfeiture Act.

The Significance of Confiscation

Alexander Hamilton made his legal career by representing former loyalists in lawsuits where they tried to reclaim seized property. Many of the loyalists Hamilton represented were quite wealthy, and Hamilton believed these men, and their capital, would prove critical for building the United States. He wanted them to reintegrate into American society. Resolving disputes over property confiscation was a critical first step in accomplishing that goal, and enabling the broader transition from violent revolution into routine civil government.

Hamilton won in New York. Most other states also successfully reintegrated loyalists. The United States Constitution even includes a clause prohibiting bills of attainder, the broad category of laws under which confiscation acts fell. It took away from democratic state legislature this coercive and punitive power to enforce political conformity.

At some level, Americans successfully reintegrated the loyalists and completed the transition out of civil war. Compared with many other Revolutions, Americans stuck the landing. Yet, the fact remains that in 1802, New Yorkers still had not entirely dealt with the fallout of confiscation. This simple list, then, testifies to the long-lasting significance of property confiscation, social upheaval in revolutionary America, and the very real difficulty New Yorkers had in “ending” their Revolution.

Further Reading

On property confiscation in New York, see Howard Pashman, “The People's Property Law: A Step Toward Building a New Legal Order in Revolutionary New York,” Law and History Review Vol. 31, no. 3 (August 2013): 587-626. On loyalist reintegration and the Bill of Attainder clause of the Constitution, see Brett Palfreyman, “The Loyalists and the Federal Constitution The Origins of the Bill of Attainder Clause,” Journal of the Early Republic, Vol. 35, no. 3 (Fall 2015): 451-473. On loyalists and the Revolution in New York more generally, see Ruma Chopra, Unnatural Rebellion: Loyalists in New York City During the Revolution (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011); Philip Ranlet, The New York Loyalists(Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1986); Edward Countryman, A People in Revolution: The American Revolution and Political Society in New York, 1760-1790 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981); Alexander Clarence Flick, Loyalism in New York During the American Revolution (New York: Columbia University Press, 1901).

About the Early American Manuscripts Project

With support from the The Polonsky Foundation, The New York Public Library is currently digitizing upwards of 50,000 pages of historic early American manuscript material. The Early American Manuscripts Project will allow students, researchers, and the general public to revisit major political events of the era from new perspectives and to explore currents of everyday social, cultural, and economic life in the colonial, revolutionary, and early national periods. The project will present online for the first time high quality facsimiles of key documents from America’s Founding, including the papers of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Drawing on the full breadth of the Library’s manuscript collections, it will also make widely available less well-known manuscript sources, including business papers of Atlantic merchants, diaries of people ranging from elite New York women to Christian Indian preachers, and organizational records of voluntary associations and philanthropic organizations. Over the next two years, this trove of manuscript sources, previously available only at the Library, will be made freely available through nypl.org.

NYPL Now: Events at the Library September 19-October 3, 2016

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 Nicholson Baker and Katherine Lanpher
LIVE from the NYPL: Nicholson Baker and Katherine Lanpher on September 20, 2016

Welcome to NYPL Now, a biweekly update on events happening during the next two weeks at the Library. With 92 locations across New York City, a lot is happening at The New York Public Library. We're highlighting some of our events—including author talks, free classes, community art shows, performances, concerts, and exhibitions—and you can always find more at nypl.org/events. We look forward to seeing you at the Library.

CEO Series: This series of speakers, hosted by the Science, Industry, and Business Library, features esteemed CEOs in a variety of industries  who are also acclaimed authors and speakers in their own right. Attend a free lecture by altMBA founder Seth Godin, networking and people skills expert Dave Kerpen, or entrepreneurial expert Marie Forleo. Tuesdays, September 20, September 27, and October 4, at 6 PM; Science, Industry and Business Library.

LIVE from the NYPL: Nicholson Baker and Katherine LanpherJoin us for an illuminating talk on the state of public education today at our next LIVE from the NYPL event. InSubstitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids, Nicholson Baker embeds himself in an ordinary public school district and transforms each classroom’s daily events—overdue assignments, lesson plans, time-outs—into an elegant and compelling examination of education in America. On the LIVE stage, Baker will be joined by prizewinning journalist and veteran interviewer Katherine Lanpher. Tuesday, September 20, 2016, at 7 PM; Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

Resume WorkshopIf you're having trouble writing, formatting, or editing your resume, you can get help at the Sedgwick Library resume workshop before passing your resume on to a potential employer. Make sure you have a digital draft of your resume (either in your email, or on a USB drive) to bring to the library to get your document edited properly and professionally. Wednesdays, September 21 and September 28, at 11 AM; Sedgwick Library.

The Thalia Follies
Cast rehearsal photos from the Thalia Follies production "Primary Colors."

The Thalia Follies Return: A Tribute to Isaiah Sheffer's Political CabaretFor ten seasons, Isaiah Sheffer's political cabaret, "The Thalia Follies," entertained and provoked New York’s Upper West Side audiences with songs and skits that were irreverent, erudite, and acerbic, ranging from the wacky to the unexpectedly moving. In a tribute to Sheffer, longtime Follies' producer and writer Martin Sage presents an evening of "Thalia Follies" memories, songs, and sketches, featuring writer Calvin Trillin, jazz legend Jay Leonhart, and Thalia Follies cast members Ivy Austin, David Buskin, Mary Brienza, Sidney J. Burgoyne, Natalie Douglas, Kathryn Markey, and Eric Poindexter. Thursday, September 22, at 6 PM; Library for the Performing Arts.

Free English Classes Information Session: The Library offers free English classes for adult students at over 40 libraries in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, and the fall series of classes begins soon. Classes are offered for non-native English speakers who want to learn English as a second language, as well as for students who already speak English but want to improve listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Registration is required. To register, prospective students must attend an information session. You can find a list of upcoming information sessions here.

Financial Planning Day: The Science, Industry, and Business Library is hosting their annual Financial Planning Day, with classes all day in investing, healthcare, resume writing, tax planning, and much, much more. Workshops on valuable business and financial databases will also be offered, as well as free sessions with financial counselors on a variety of topics. Friday, September 23, at 10 AM; Science, Industry, and Business Library.

Inclusivity and Indie Authors: The Case for Comm unity-based Publishing: Zetta Elliott, an independent author who publishes under her imprint Rosetta Press, discusses the importance of community-based publishing in a landscape increasingly dominated by large publishing houses, which fail to represent diverse perspectives. Authors of color who are excluded from the traditional publishing industry are increasingly turning to self-publishing, which in turn generates more stories for those who have been marginalized or misrepresented in mainstream literature. Monday, September 26, at 6:30 PM; Mid-Manhattan Library.

Apophis Near Miss
Apophis Near Miss, 2009, oil on linen, 61 1/2" x 156 3/4" - Triptych. Collection of the artist, Karen Gunderson.

The Dark World of Light: Join us for a conversation between acclaimed artist Karen Gunderson and critic and art historian Michael Brenson, in celebration of the publication of Karen Gunderson: The Dark World of Light. Widely collected in Hollywood and New York, Gunderson is best known for her work since the 1980's, when she transitioned from painting in color to working only in shades of black. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing after the event. Wednesday, September 28, at 6 PM; 53rd Street Library.

Between the Lines: Kia Corthron and Margo Jefferson: Playwright and The Wire writer Kia Corthron will discuss her new book, The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter, with former New York Times theater critic Margo Jefferson at the Schomburg Center. Corthron's book tells a sweeping story of American history from 1941 to the 21st century through the lives of four men—two white brothers from rural Alabama and two black brothers from small town Maryland—whose journey culminates in an explosive and devastating encounter between the two families. Wednesday, September 28, at 6:30 PM; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Resource and Career Fair for Entrepreneurial Performing Artists: An informational fair about the latest programs and resources available for performing artists is taking place at the Science, Industry, and Business Library. Take this opportunity to talk to organizations from across the New York metro area about how you can get help with your small business, production, or artistic endeavor. Friday, September 30, at 10 AM; Science, Industry, and Business Library.

Want NYPL Now in your inbox? Sign up for our biweekly e-newsletter and get even more updates on what's happening at the Library. Plus, you can follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Note: Visit nypl.org/events or call ahead for the latest information, as programs and hours are subject to change or cancellation.

Podcast #130: Alan Cumming on Memory, Gore Vidal, and Monica Lewinsky

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Subscribe on iTunes.

Alan Cumming is one of the great character actors alive today. He is also the author of Tommy's Tale: A Novel and Not my Father's Son: A Memoir. His newest book is called You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams, a collection of photographs and essays. For this week's episode of the New York Public Library Podcast, we're proud to present Alan Cumming on memory, Gore Vidal, and Monica Lewinsky.

Alan Cumming LIVE from the NYPL
Alan Cumming LIVE from the NYPL

Cumming spoke of the way in which, though he has now written two books that might be construed as memoir, he is slightly resistant to indulging in memory:

"I think when you are a person that when you are that person, especially now in the digital age we live in, the public have access to some many things of you, I feel like I just want to be going on to the next thing and I don't want to always be talking about the past. I like talking about the past, but I don't want to have to look at it all the day. I'd rather it's my memory of it. My book is a book of memories and it's snapshots. I wanted to give people literal and figurative snapshots of my life."

Cumming spoke about the writer Gore Vidal. He said that he even considered titling his book after Vidal:

"I have mixed feelings. I love him and I hate him, but I don't think that's ambivalent. I think ambivalent is like not sure. I'm totally sure. I'm not an ambivalent person actually. But I did love Gore [Vidal.] I really did, but I also felt. I was flattered that he liked me, but I was saddened. When I got to know him, I really was saddened. I didn't think he was a very nice person. I think he was witty and brilliant and all of those things and great fun to be with... I wanted to call my book I Am Writing This Because Gore Vidal Told Me To, but they wouldn't let me. My lovely publishers are here. I get it. It's too long a title to put on the thing."

Cumming spoke of a conversation he once had with Gore Vidal shortly after the Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton  scandal:

"Monica is a very dear friend of mine. There's a picture of her in my book actually. I've always thought that one of the worst things about thatthere's many things about that Monica-Clinton thing that I find so upsetting, the way that the most powerful man in the world and this twenty-three year old girl who was in love with him. This thing happened. This unfortunate thing happened. Yet she was the one, the 'weak one,' the one whoI think he was the one who abused his power. And she was the one who was chastised and denigrated and whose life was made a misery, and he was kind of reinvented. That I think is an interesting sort of template of what is wrong with the sexual relations or the gender relations in this country."

You can subscribe to the New York Public Library Podcast to hear more conversations with wonderful artists, writers, and intellectuals. Join the conversation today!


BBB Live Consumer Education Program: Bilingual Volunteers Needed

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On November 16, 2016, from 12 noon to 9 PM, the Metro New York Better Business Bureau Foundation will present its eighth "BBB Live" consumer education program, with generous support from Univision. The 2016 program will focus on consumer protection issues related to medical debt.  BBB will provide Spanish-speaking callers with BBB tips about making wise medical payment choices and locating legitimate sources of help, through a special call-in hotline promoted by Univision 41 A Tu Lado.

bbb

Fully bilingual Spanish-English speaking volunteers are needed to help callers on Wednesday, November 16, 2016.  BBB is seeking at least 25 fluent Spanish speakers per shift, in three shifts of 4 hours each, including training.  BBB asks that volunteers commit to participating in at least one of the three shifts: 

  • Train at 12 noon, call answering from 1 to 4 PM
  • Train at 3 PM, call answering from 4 to 7 PM
  • Train at 5 PM, call answering from 6 to 9 PM

Volunteers for the third evening shift are especially needed, as many callers try to reach BBB after Univision conducts a live evening news broadcast from the call center.

Calls will be conducted in Spanish.  BBB will train call handlers briefly, and provide a briefing guide in English and Spanish.  Training will be in English.  Call handling and training will be done at the BBB's Manhattan offices, located at 30 East 33rd Street , 12th Floor, between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue.

Please contact Christie Bowers at 212-358-2829 or email cbowers@newyork.bbb.org to get additional details or to register as a volunteer or a group of volunteers. Please let BBB know in advance which shift (s) you are choosing, so that BBB can assure full staffing of phone banks throughout the call-in day.  Feel free to share this message with other bilingual professionals who may be interested in participating.

New York Comic Con at the New York Public Library

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The New York Public Library in partnership with First Second and New York Comic Con (NYCC) present two #NYCC2016 events October 7 and 8—a comics panel for adults and one for kids.

New York Comic Con Invades Greenwich Village!  

Friday October 7 from 7-9 PM at Jefferson Market Library 

FREE ticketed event—please register.

425 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY, 10011

Author Panel from 7-8 PM; signing to follow. 

Box Brown (Andre the Giant, Tetris
Greg Rucka (Wonder Woman, Star Wars, Batman
Marjorie Liu (Montress, Avengers: Confidential, Astonishing X-Men)  
Ryan North (Adventure Time, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl

Moderator: Joshua Rivera, NY Magazine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All-Ages Comic All-Stars

Saturday October 8 from 3-5 PM at 53rd Street Library 

FREE ticketed event - please register.

18 West 53rd Street New York, NY, 10019

Author Panel from 3-4pm ; signing to follow.

Parents and kids join us from 2-3 PM for comics activities in the library, and don't miss our kids cosplay parade from 4-5 PM! 

John Patrick Green (Hippopotamister
Nathan Hale (Alamo All-Stars, The Underground Abductor, The Donner Dinner Party
Rebecca Mock (Compass South
Carey Pietsch (Bee and Puppycat, Marceline Gone Adrift

Moderator: Sean Carroll, Paste

 

 

 

 

 

 

Romantic Interests: Celebrating 30 Years of the Pforzheimer Collection at NYPL

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Splendour among Shadows
2016 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle coming to The New York Public Library. To celebrate the occasion, a small exhibition titled “Splendour Among Shadows” has been mounted in the Schwarzman Building’s McGraw Rotunda.
 
Featuring over a dozen treasures from the Collection, the exhibit includes the manuscript of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s first known extant poem, a lock of Mary Shelley’s hair, and a preliminary design for Lord Byron’s yacht.
 
News of the Collection's arrival at the Library made the front page of the New York Times on December 18, 1986; shortly thereafter a formal presentation ceremony was held at City Hall. Before that, the Collection had spent nearly 30 years as part of the Pforzheimer Library, housed next door to Grand Central Terminal at 41 East 42nd Street, a building demolished earlier this year. Acquired over decades by the financier and philanthropist Carl H. Pforzheimer (1879-1957), the Pforzheimer Library was one of the great American book and manuscripts collections of the twentieth century. It had a Gutenberg Bible and a world-class collection of early English literature; an Americana collection; a children's book collection; and much, much more. Perhaps the most extraordinary of the Library's collections, and certainly one of the richest, was the subcollection known as Shelley and His Circle.
 
Pforzheimer Collection
The Pforzheimer Collection reading room
Pforzheimer acquired his first large tranche of Percy Bysshe Shelley-related books and manuscripts in 1920, at the sale of the library of Harry Buxton Forman, the Shelley collector and editor. By the time of his death in 1957, he had acquired nearly all of Shelley's first editions, and over 200 Shelley manuscripts, mostly letters. Pforzheimer also bought books and manuscripts by the poet's wife, Mary Shelley; her parents, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft; the Shelleys' literary friends , including Byron, Thomas Love Peacock, Leigh Hunt, and many others. In the course of this pursuit, Pforzheimer built the largest and most important collection of British Romanticism outside of England.
 
In its three decades at NYPL the Pforzheimer Collection has grown considerably. It is very much a living collection; new materials are accessioned continually, and researchers come from all over the world to work in its small but accomodating reading room.
 
“Splendour Among Shadows” is on display in The New York Public Library's Schwarzman Building until September 28.

NYPL #FridayReads: The Caffeinated Writer Edition September 30, 2016

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During the week, it can be tough to stay on top of everything. On Fridays, though, we suggest kicking back to catch up on all the delightful literary reading the internet has to offer. Don't have the time to hunt for good reads? Never fear. We've rounded up the best bookish reading of the week for you. 

coffee

We Read...

The Librarian-in-Chief's favorite book for kids. Noam Chomsky and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis talked about the sickest joke in history on the NYPL podcast. On National Coffee Day we hollered at Caffee Reggio where Kerouac, Ginsberg, et. al. hung out. During Banned Books Week and beyond, we love these banned books. What's your patronus? We think a patronus plus these words could turn you into a writer. After Orlando, #LoveisLove comes to comics. Can we get some praise hands for the 11-year-old wunderkind behind #1000BlackGirlBooks who is launching Marley Mag with ELLE? NBD, we've got an adorable book train
 

Stereogranimator Friday Feels

GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator - view more at http://stereo.nypl.org/gallery/index
GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator

TGIF

No need to get up! Join our librarians from the home, office, playground — wherever you have internet access — for book recs on Twitter by following our handle @NYPLrecommends from 10 AM to 11 AM every Friday. Or, you can check NYPL Recommends any day of the week for more suggestions. 
 

View image on Twitter

What did you read?

If you read something fantastic this week, share with our community of readers in the comment section below.

Job and Employment Links for the Week of October 2

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Enrollment Now Open - SAGEWorks Boot Camp,  Sunday, October 2 - October 8, 2016, 8 - 9 am at The SAGE Center, 305 7th  Avenue, New York, NY 10001.  This 2 week training takes place from Monday - Friday, 10/24/16 - 11/4/16, 9:30 am - 2:00 pm. SAGEWorks assists people 40 years and older in learning relevant, cutting-edge job search skills in a LGBT-friendly environment.

Cocktail Kingdom will present a recruitment on Tuesday, October 4, 2016, 10 am - 2 pm, for Shipping Assistant ( 5 Temp-to-Perm openings), at NYC Workforce 1 CareerCenter, 215 West 125th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10027.  By appointment only.

CMA Consulting Services will present a recruitment on Thursday, October 6, 2016, 10 am - 2 pm  for  Sr. Network Security Engineer (1 opening), Dashboard Monitoring Engineer (1 opening), at Lower Manhattan  Workforce 1 Career Center (Varick Street), 75 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013.

Professional Line Painting Co. Inc., will present a recruitment on Thursday, October 6, 2016, 10 am - 2 pm, for Traffic Line Painter (5 Seasonal  openings),  at the Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 E. Fordham Road, Bronx, NY 10458.  By appointment only.  

Spanish Speaking Resume Writing  workshop on Thursday,  October 6, 2016, 12:30 - 2:30 pm. at Flushing Workforce 1 Career Center, 138-60 Barclay Avenue, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355.  All interested jobseekers will learn to organize, revise and update resumes.

Num Pang Sandwich Shop will present a recruitment on Friday, October 7, 2016, 3 - 5 pm, for Counter Associate/Cashier (10 F/T & P/T openings), Kitchen Manager (10 Bilingual English/Spanish F/T & P/T openings), Line Cook (10 F/T & P/T openings), Dishwasher (10 F/T & P/T openings).  Apply in person at Num Pang Sandwich Shop, 148 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036.  Please bring resume. 

Job Postings at New York City Workforce 1.  Job Search Central

Apprenticeship Opportunities in New York City.

Brooklyn Community  Board 14: Available jobs

The New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCE&TC) is an association of 200 community-based organizations, educational institutions, and labor unions that annually provide job training and employment services to over 750,000 New Yorkers, including welfare recipients, unemployed workers, low-wage workers, at-risk youth, the formerly incarcerated, immigrants and the mentally and physically disabled. View NYCE&TC Job Listings.

Digital NYC is the official online hub of the New York City startup and technology ecosystem, bringing together every company, startup, investor, event, job, class, blog, video, workplace, accelerator, incubator, resource, and organization in the five boroughs. Search jobs by category on this site.

St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development provides Free Job Training and Educational Programs in Environmental Response and Remediation Tec (ERRT). Commercial Driver's License, Pest Control Technician Training (PCT), Employment Search and Prep Training and Job Placement, Earn Benefits and Career Path Center. For information and assistance, please visit St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development or call 718-302-2057 ext. 202.

Brooklyn Workforce Innovations helps jobless and working poor New Yorkers establish careers in sectors that offer good wages and opportunities for advancement. Currently, BWI offers free job training programs in four industries: commercial driving, telecommunications cable installation, TV and film production, and skilled woodworking.

CMP (formerly Chinatown Manpower Project) in lower Manhattan is now recruiting for a free training in Quickbooks, Basic Accounting, and Excel. This training is open to anyone who is receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Class runs for eight weeks, followed by one-on-one meetings with a job developer. CMP also provides Free Home Health Aide Training for bilingual English/Cantonese speakers who are receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Training runs Mondays through Fridays for six weeks and includes test prep and taking the HHA certification exam. Students learn about direct care techniques such as taking vital signs and assisting with personal hygiene and nutrition. For more information for the above two training programs, email: info@cmpny.org, call 212-571-1690, or visit. CMP also provides tuition-based healthcare and business trainings free to students who are entitled to ACCESS funding.

Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) trains women and places them in careers in the skilled construction, utility, and maintenance trades. It helps women achieve economic independence and a secure future. For information call 212-627-6252 or register online.

Grace Institute provides tuition-free, practical job training in a supportive learning community for underserved New York area women of all ages and from many different backgrounds. For information call 212-832-7605.

Please note this page will be revised when more recruitment events for the week of October 2 become available.

September 2016 International Fiction Bestsellers: China, Nigeria, Poland, Spain, UAE

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International Fiction Bestsellers September 2016Chinese sci-fi, Japanese and Polish crime novels, Spanish historical fiction, novels of Nigeria, Arabic literary fiction, Harry Potter... 

Do you ever wonder what books are popular with readers in other countries? We do, so we’ve been taking a look at some bestseller lists from around the world to see what people are reading. In May we checked the fiction bestseller lists in Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, and Russia, and in July we looked at bestseller lists from France, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, and Sweden. This month takes us to China, Nigeria, Poland, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. Why not come along? We've been finding an interesting mix of internationally popular authors like JoJo Moyes together with local authors whose work may or may not be available to read in English. 

What country's bestseller lists are you curious about? Do you check any lists from outside the United States? Let us know in the comments section below.

Wherever possible, links to find the bestsellers in different languages in the library catalog are included.

China

The Devotion of Suspect XThree books by popular Japanese author Keigo Higashno are in the top ten on the weekly bestseller list published by China’s Open Book website. 解忧杂货店 / Jie you za huo dian [The Miracle in the Grocery Store] is number one. This book has not been translated into English; it is currently available at NYPL in the original Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Also in the top ten is Higashino’s award-winning thriller, The Devotion of Suspect X, available at NYPL in Japanese, English, Spanish, and Russian.The library also has many other novels by Higashino to borrow in the original Japanese, in English, Chinese, Korean, and a few in Russian and Spanish.

The Three-body Problem [San ti  三体], Liu Cixin’s science fiction novel set during China’s Cultural Revolution is number four on the list. The English translation is by American fantasy writer Ken Liu. The Three-body Problem is currently available to borrow from NYPL in the original Chinese, English, and Korean.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is number two on the list; it is currently available to borrow in English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Italian, and Polish. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (百年孤独 / Bai nian gu du) is also in the top ten. NYPL has copies of the book in the original Spanish,English, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Gujarati.

Also on the list is Rickshaw Boy or Camel  /Luo tuo Xiangzi 骆驼祥子by Lao She, a classic of 20th century Chinese literature. An English translation is available as an e-book from NYPL. You can also borrow the 1982 film adaptation, directed by Zifeng Ling.

Nigeria

Blackass

Our information on bestsellers in Nigeria comes directly from two of the country’s booksellers, Roving Heights Books based in Lagos, and AMAB Books in Minna. Many thanks to the booksellers for sharing their lists and to Zaynab Quadri at Pulse.ng for help with bookseller contacts!

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma was one of the top five fiction bestsellers at both AMAB and Roving Heights books. NYPL has copies of this title to borrow or download in English. The author’s website lists forthcoming translations of The Fishermen in 24 languages!

Other novels by Nigerian authors found on the AMAB and Roving Books bestseller lists and available at NYPL are: Born on a Tuesdayby Elnathan John, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin, Blackassby A. Igoni Barrett, and A Bit of Difference by Sefi Atta. Ghana Must Go by London-born author Taiye Selasi is also on the list.

These posts usually mention fiction bestsellers only, but as the booksellers kindly shared information on nonfiction titles, here are the top two, both by Nigerian authors. The top seller (fiction and nonfiction combined) at AMAB Books was Naija No Dey Carry Last, essays by Pius Adesanmi, published in 2015, and the number one nonfiction title for Roving Heights Books was The "Girl" Entrepreneurs: Our Stories So Far, edited by Ibukun Awosika, published in 2008. These titles are not available to borrow from the library, but The “Girl” Entrepreneurs and several works by Pius Adesanmi are available in the research collection at the Schomburg Center. Neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi’s recent memoir of facing cancer, When Breath Becomes Air, is number two on the Roving Heights nonfiction list. This title is available to borrow or download from NYPL.

Poland

Two Polish authors top this week’s bestseller list at empik.com followed by the world’s favorite wizard. Brud [Dirt] the third novel by Piotr C. is number one followed by  Lampiony [Lanterns], the third book in Katarzyna Bonda’s Cztery Żywioły [Four Elements] crime series. Neither of these authors has been translated into English. NYPL has several of Bonda’s books to borrow in Polish

Cursed Child - PolishNext on the list is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child /Harry Potter i Przeklęte Dziecko (Polish publication date 10/22/16.) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently available only in English at NYPL, but the library has other books in the Harry Potter series to borrow or download in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

American thriller writer Tess Gerritsen is also on empik.com’s bestseller list this week. Her latest novel Playing with Fire / Igrając z ogniem is number five. In addition to the original English versions, NYPL has several novels by Gerritsen to borrow in Polish, many in Russian, and a few in Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, and Korean. Finally another Polish mystery writer is in this week’s top ten. Mock is the seventh title in Marek Krajewski’s historical mystery series featuring detective Eberhard Mock, set in pre-World War II Wrocław (known then as Breslau). The first four Eberhard Mock novels are available to borrow or download in English at NYPL, and Krajewski’s books are also available to borrow in Polish.

Spain

New novels by Spanish authors are at at the top of El Cultural’s Spanish fiction bestseller list this week followed by novels in translation. Los herederos de la tierra [Heirs of the Earth] by Ildefonso Falcones, a sequel to the 2006 bestseller La catedral del mar / Cathedral of the Sea, a dense historical novel set in 14th century Barcelona, is number one. This hasn't been translated yet. Other novels by Falcones are currently available to borrow or download from NYPL in Spanish and English.

Patria [Homeland] by Fernando Aramburu is second on the fiction bestseller list. The library has other titles by Aramburu in the original Spanish. My Name is Lucy Barton, the latest novel by American author Elizabeth Strout is third. This title is currently available to borrow or download in English. Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Olive Kitteridge is available to borrow in Spanish, French, and Arabic, as well as the original English.

BoussoleFrench novelists also appear on El Cultural’s fiction list this week. Brújula / Boussole [Compass] by Mathias Enard, 2015 winner of the Prix Goncourt, France’s top literary award, is number four. An English translation of Boussole is forthcoming from New Directions. The original French is currently available to borrow from the library. Number five, El libro de los Baltimore / Le livre des Baltimore [The Book of the Baltimores] by popular Swiss author Joël Dicker is not yet available in English. NYPL currently has the book in the original French and in Spanish. Dicker’s earlier bestselling thriller La vérité sur l'affaire Harry Quebert / La verdad sobre el caso Harry Quebert  / The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair is available to borrow in French, English, Spanish, Italian, and Korean,

Swedish author Henning Mankell is also in Spain’s fiction top ten this week. Botas de lluvia suecas / Svenska gummistövlar [Swedish Rain Boots], a sequel to Italian Shoes and Mankell’s final novel, is number six. There is no English translation yet, but many of Mankell’s novels are available at NYPL in English and Spanish, as well as a few in Polish, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and Arabic.

United Arab Emirates

The Bamboo StalkMagrudy’s in the United Arab Emirates publishes bestseller lists for both Arabic and English bestsellers. Topping Magrudy’s list of bestsellers in Arabic is The Bamboo Stalk by Kuwaiti author Saud Alsanousi, winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2013. Alsanousi’s 2015 novel Fi’rān ummī Ḥiṣṣah [Grandma Hessa’s Mice] not yet translated into English, is second on the list. The Bamboo Stalk is avaiable to borrow or download in English. Some other titles on the Arabic fiction list are Retaj by Hamad Al Hammadi, a romantic novel set in the context of contemporary political and religious events, adapted into a television show in the UAE, and Hepta, a popular novel by Mohamed Sadek, adapted into a film in 2016. 

When we checked the English fiction bestseller list on the Magrudy’s website this week, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was at the top, followed byAfter You and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger and Golden Lion by Wilbur Smith were also in the top five. Translations of various novels by Jojo Moyes are currently available to borrow from NYPL in Russian, Spanish,Korean, Polish, and Italian. Novels by South African author Wilbur Smith are available in Italian, Hungarian, Russian, and Polish, as well as in English.

That's all for this installment of International Fiction Bestsellers. Check back in November for bestsellers from five new countries!

Sympathy for a Spy

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“Treason of the blackest day,” wrote Henry Dearborn in his journal, “is this day fortunately discovered.” American troops had captured British Army Major John André a few days before Dearborn took note of it in his journal, on September 25, 1780. André was the agent working with Benedict Arnold, the treasonous American general who planned to surrender West Point to British forces.

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Entry from Sept. 25, 1780, in Henry Dearborn Journal, Thomas Addis Emmet collection. Image ID: 4038048

At that moment, André was the second most hated man in the United States. Only Arnold seemed more disdainful. Yet Dearborn, an officer in the Continental Army, mourned André. He described how André “discoverd[sic] great firmness & candor” as he faced his executioners. André, Dearborn noted, “was one of the most promising young gentlemen in the British Army.”

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Entry from Oct. 2, 1780, in Henry Dearborn Journal, Thomas Addis Emmet collection. Image ID: 4038051

Dearborn found much to admire in André. He was cool and collected in the face of being hanged. He carried himself as a gentleman even in his final moments. The night before his execution, André even sketched a self portrait. That he could capably do that, especially at such a moment, only made him look more impressive.

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Facsimilie of John André self portrait. Image ID: 499197

Many other officers shared Dearborn’s sympathy for the executed spy. A few weeks after André was hanged, a letter ostensibly written by an American Army officer appeared in the October 25, 1780 issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette. “There was something singularly interesting in the character and fortunes of André. To an excellent understanding, well improved by education and travel, he united a peculiar elegance of mind and manners, and the advantage of a pleasing person. It is said he possessed a pretty taste for the fine arts, and had himself attained some proficiency in poetry, music and painting. His knowledge appeared without ostentation, and embellished by a diffidence that rarely accompanies so many talents and accomplishments, which left you to suppose more than appeared. His sentiments were elevated, and inspired esteem; they had a softness that conciliated affection.”

Why did these men so admire a British spy? The American officers were all gentlemen on the make. They wanted to be like André, to carry themselves as honorably, even in the face of extreme dishonor. These were men who wanted to distinguish themselves from their fellow citizens, and André embodied the European model of a gentleman to which they aspired.

Dearborn’s journal, which contains his firsthand account of the André’s capture and hanging, also doubled as a commonplace book, a sort of scrapbook in which one compiled quotes, letters, ideas, and knowledge of all sorts. These books were critical for people trying to improve themselves. Dearborn practiced his handwriting in his commonplace book, by repeatedly writing the phrase "Be kind to all People & Remember your god."

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Dearborn Journal, in Thomas Addis Emmet collection. Image ID: 4038164

Dearborn compiled definitions of words in his commonplace book​ and also tried his hand at drawing. It is perhaps telling that on the first page of his journal/commonplace book, he defined the word "aggregate" as the "the whole collective" at the very moment that colonists first tried to join together as Americans.

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Doodle from Henry Dearborn Journal, in Thomas Addis Emmet collection. Image ID: 4038020

Henry Dearborn’s Journal has long been known as a valuable first hand account of service in the Revolutionary War, including accounts not only of André’s hanging, but also the decisive battle and siege of Yorktown a year later. Viewed as an artifact—as both a first hand account of famous moments, and a deeply personal tool for self-improvement—we can learn about Dearborn’s own ambitions. We can find an account describing a spy’s death, and see the author of the account trying to make himself more like that spy. We can understand how this man, and many other who risked their lives to secure their country’s independence, could find something to admire in a spy from an invading Army.

Further Reading

The original manuscript of the Henry Dearborn Journal is available online, along with all of the Library's Thomas Addis Emmet collection. On André's capture, hanging, and the reactions of American soldiers, see Robert E. Cray "Major John André and the Three Captors: Class Dynamics and Revolutionary Memory Wars in the Early Republic, 1780-1831,' Journal of the Early Republic 17 (Autumn 1997): 371-97; and Sarah Knott, "Sensibility and the American War for Independence," American Historical Review 109 (February 2004): 19-40. In 1798, William Dunlap wrote a sympathetic play about André's execution; William Dunlap, André; a tragedy, in five acts: as performed by the Old American Company, New-York, March 30, 1798.(New York: Printed by T. & J. Swords, 1798).

About the Early American Manuscripts Project

With support from the The Polonsky Foundation, The New York Public Library is currently digitizing upwards of 50,000 pages of historic early American manuscript material. The Early American Manuscripts Project will allow students, researchers, and the general public to revisit major political events of the era from new perspectives and to explore currents of everyday social, cultural, and economic life in the colonial, revolutionary, and early national periods. The project will present online for the first time high quality facsimiles of key documents from America’s Founding, including the papers of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Drawing on the full breadth of the Library’s manuscript collections, it will also make widely available less well-known manuscript sources, including business papers of Atlantic merchants, diaries of people ranging from elite New York women to Christian Indian preachers, and organizational records of voluntary associations and philanthropic organizations. Over the next two years, this trove of manuscript sources, previously available only at the Library, will be made freely available through nypl.org.


Searching for Theory in the Performing Arts Archives

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Federal Theatre Project. Image ID: TH-12102

During my residency this summer in The New York Public Library’s Short-Term Fellows program,  I was able to immerse myself in more than forty boxes of materials donated to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts by a rather remarkable woman named Hallie Flanagan Davis, director of the Federal Theatre Project from 1935-1939.

Flanagan Davis appears to be somewhat well-known in the world of theater and performance studies, but has yet to be recognized as the visionary that she was in the realms of civic communication and rhetorical theory. Several scholars in the field of rhetoric, Ann George, Elizabeth Weiser and Janet Zepernick, argue that “women between the wars were not only using rhetoric; they were creating rhetorical theories, enacting them, and even writing them down—but they were writing in ways the mainstream either did not see, or did not acknowledge as ‘theory’” and their theories have been, as such, largely erased from history, (George et al., 13). Flanagan Davis is one such woman, and her recovery as a civic-rhetorician my goal.

While Flanagan Davis published several books and articles that speak to her theories, the theories are often embedded in a story of practice, fragmented, and up to the reader to interpret and stitch together. Fortunately, the materials she donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the Library for the Performing Arts provide a much richer map of her theories, a map with texture that appeared slowly as I read page after page of archival material. I began noticing that there were about 12 phrases that appeared over and over again in different documents: in a Federal Theatre bulletin article, in a speech to Federal Theatre directors, in a letter to a congressman or friend, in her lecture notes. These phrases are consistent in their use of certain sets of terms or metaphors, but the exact wording often changes just slightly, and they very often have different sentences bookending them.

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Federal Theatre of the WPA program. Image ID: 5105187

One example of this is the assertion that the theatre, “to be worth its salt…must have in that salt a fair sprinkling of gunpowder” (Box 24; Folder 2; p. 2). The words “to be worth its salt” and “sprinkling of gunpowder” remain consistent between appearances, but sometimes the sprinkling is described as liberal rather than fair, and sometimes it comes with no descriptor. Sometimes the context is a discussion about how theatre can be dangerous, how it can “shatter accepted patterns”; sometimes a discussion about how theatre should engage current problems and attempt to help remedy them, sometimes the need for theatre and socioeconomic life to interpenetrate one another. Sometimes the word “dangerous” is invoked, other times “explosive.”

These repeated phrases help to reveal the foundational aspects of Flanagan Davis’s theories, both because their repetition over time points to their importance, but also because their slight alterations over time act to clarify the meaning behind the phrases. Some of these repeated phrases can be found in Flanagan Davis’s published works, but they can only be found once, and in one incarnation. Her archival materials, in their overlapping, repetitive nature, reflect her theories as they were being built, organically; the terms and ideas she kept coming back to are the ones that the archivist, too, will keep coming back to, even as she moves forward one box at a time.

The whole process gave new weight to the phrase, what is repeated is important. I had always been taught that phrase in relationship to literary analysis—what is repeated in the text is important—but here it seems the most apt advice for archival recovery of theory as well. The things the theorist dwells on, repeats, comes back to, re-states over and over are likely both of importance and intrigue to her, are likely the cornerstones of her theory. Thus, what the archives, and this fellowship revealed to me was nothing less than that: insights into the cornerstones of Flanagan Davis’s theories, and the chance to more honestly and accurately reflect those theories.

Margaret Atwood: Where to Begin

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This post is part of a series in which Readers Services librarians suggest a good starting place for authors appearing in our LIVE from the NYPL series this fall.

Margaret Atwood will join Fiona Shaw on Friday, Oct. 14, 7-9 p.m. at the Celeste Bartos Forum in NYPL’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Get tickets now.

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The Blind Assassin (2000)

I suggest starting your journey into the fiction of Margaret Atwood with The Blind Assassin. Published in 2000, the novel won the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction.

Like much of Atwood's work, the novel falls into the historical fiction genre and is set in Canada. The novel is so intricately plotted that it involves a novel within the novel, plus a third story entitled, “The Blind Assassin.” The plot revolves around two sisters, Iris and Laura Chase, and is told from the present day looking back on their childhood, young adult, and middle-aged years.

To say it’s full of twists and surprises doesn’t do justice to the impact of the twists and surprises. It is experimental in style, and one of those stories that reveals itself in the most satisfying way. ​—Lynn Lobash

Cat’s Eye (1998)

Atwood is probably most famous for The Handmaid’s Tale, a 1998 dystopian story about a woman forced into servitude in a misogynistic society. And much of her recent fiction —the MaddAdam stories, beginning with Oryx and Crake— has taken a similar turn toward science-fiction with a heavy dose of social justice and moral conscience.

But I suggest starting somewhere closer to her roots: Cat’s Eye, a story about an artist beginning a retrospective both literally and figuratively. When Elaine travels back to her hometown of Toronto, she comes up against memories of her past in a disconcertingly vivid present. Atwood’s knife-sharp prose cuts deep into the illusions we all carry about the innocence of childhood.

Memory and belonging, the cruelty of other people, friendship and love and betrayal… under Atwood’s deft hand, her most enduring themes combine into the singularly delicious brand of literary fiction that belongs to her alone.—Gwen Glazer

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Have other ideas about the best place to start or your favorite book by these authors? Let us know in the comments. And check out more of Atwood’s work from NYPL!

Get tickets to see Margaret Atwood on Friday, Oct. 14.

Schomburg Archivists Take Your Questions On #AskAnArchivist Day

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The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is excited to celebrate Ask An Archivist Day on Wednesday, October 5. Archivists from around the world volunteer to answer questions posed by the public on Twitter. This day is to encourage people to ask archivists questions about their profession and the collections in their institutions.

The Schomburg Center will have two archivists, Miranda Mims and myself, from the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division available to answer all of your burning questions. Start planning your question and don’t forget to log onto Twitter on Wednesday, and direct your inquiries to @SchomburgMARB. We will be live from 11 AM to 2 PM.  Ask us any questions you may have about collections, best practices, and the archival profession.

For a sneak peak, I’ve asked four professionals from various division at the Schomburg Center questions about their specializations. They have shared details on their experience handling unique materials throughout their career.

Kay Menick has been the Digital Curatorial Assistant for the Schomburg Center for the past two years.  She received her MLIS from Pratt Institute. Prior to NYPL, she worked for Art Resource, the New York Philharmonic Archives, the Green-Wood Cemetery Archives, and in publishing.​

What is the role of the Digital Curatorial Assistant?

At its most fundamental: I get things onto NYPL's Digital Collections site. In practice, this means assessing, selecting, and organizing collections, creating metadata, and researching (and sometimes clearing) copyright.

Can you describe the digital collections you’re working on?

​I'm currently working on two main collections: the NYPL Children's Bibliographies & Books, and the Works Progress Administration Photographs.

The first is a series of bibliographies published by the NYPL and a few other organizations, highlighting children's and young adult books featuring African-American protagonists, authors, or subjects, and generally not playing into negative stereotypes. The bibliographies were originally created by Augusta Baker—who worked at what is now the Countee Cullen Library and was the first African-American in an administrative position at NYPL—as Books About Negro Life for Children in 1946. In addition to the bibliographies themselves, we are also digitizing as many of the listed books as we can, copyright allowing.

The second project is the digitization of all the photos from our Photographs & Prints Division that were taken under the auspices of the WPA. These cover a range of subjects, from education, to street scenes, to art and artists, to theater, etc. This project continues my work on the digitization of WPA collections, which began with the Prints from our Art & Artifacts Division, and continued with the Writers' Program from the Manuscripts, Archives, & Rare Books Division.

Bathers, Harlem River
Bathers, Harlm River by Saul Kovner. Image ID: 5179801

Andrea Battleground is the Reference and Outreach Librarian for the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division. She received her MLIS with an emphasis on Digital and Special Collections. She is also a digital content manager, editor, and writer whose cultural commentary has appeared in The A.V. Club, BuzzFeed, and Uncovered Classics.

What experience do you need to help preserve Moving Images and Recorded Sound?

There are several types of positions within audiovisual archives. As with other archival positions, a master’s degree in library or information science, archival studies, or museum studies is often required, but a further level of specialization is also useful. This may be in the form of a certification for media preservation or an additional degree in moving image preservation or media studies. Experience is also an excellent education. My previous experience cataloging and writing for an audiovisual archive, along with my passion for film history was instrumental in obtaining a reference archivist position. As with so many things, what is often the most indelible is a passion for the mission and subject matter.

Most impressive items in your collection?

Wow, where to begin? We have the entire run of the dramatic radio program, New World A-Coming, which aired in the 1940s and featured several actors from the American Negro Theater. We have several of the video interviews used in the film James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket. We have the audio interviews David Levering Lewis conducted as he researched his Harlem Renaissance book When Harlem was in Vogue. The C.L.R. James Lectures and Interviews Collection features talks James recorded throughout the 1960s. Indie filmmaking pioneer William Greaves's collection is here. Another treasure that was uncovered recently is a rare film from 1937, featuring the Schomburg Center’s founding curator, Arturo Schomburg. But it’s also really nice to find commercial items that may have fallen out of print. They were readily available once, but are less accessible now, like the TV productions of The Women of Brewster Place and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide, or films like Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman, or Ava DuVernay’s Black Girls Rock documentary about women in hip-hop, My Mic Sounds Nice. Those were all pretty impressive to me. I’m impressed and inspired here every day.

Megan Williams is originally from the Midwest and moved to the East coast in 2011 to pursue a career in archives and libraries, with a particular focus on visual materials and an interest in modern and contemporary African-American art. She currently serves as the Reference and Outreach Librarian at the Photographs at Prints Division since March 2016.

What do you enjoy most working with photographs and print?

I love to learn the stories behind the images. Some are mysterious and we can only speculate about what they depict, while others arrive in collections that provide plenty of detail and context. Since I am still fairly new, there is so much to discover and with every new researcher comes a different collection to learn about and explore.

What was the most recent collection you assisted as a researcher with?

Earlier this week a scholar was looking for images of Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, from a 1954 visit he made to Harlem and the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church. We have images of this event in our popular Austin Hansen Collection. Austin photographed Harlem life, including its churches, extensively, and in one image, he chronicles a large and expectant crowd waiting for Emperor Selassie outside of Abyssinian Baptist Church.

Crowds gathered outside Abyssinian Baptist Church, in Harlem, New York, during visit of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, 1954.
Crowds gathered outside Abyssinian Baptist Church, in Harlem, New York, during visit of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, 1954. Image ID: 5192965

Natiba Guy-Clement, born and raised in Trinidad, immigrated to Harlem, NY where she began working at the Schomburg Center as a library page in the Jean Blackwell Hutson, Research and Reference Division. She went on to work with the audiovisual collections at the Schomburg, as a Library Technical Assistant.  Her profound interest in Black and Caribbean history and culture and her love for working with special collections motivated her to obtain her MLIS, with distinction, from Pratt Institute.  Currently, Mrs. Guy-Clement serves as the Reference and Outreach Archivist of the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division.

What is your favorite collection you’ve processed?

My favorite collection was also the first collection I ever organized. It was about Father Divine and his "International Peace Mission Movement." Father Divine was an interesting individual and some might say he was a bit controversial. He founded the International Peace Mission Movement which lists among its teachings that Father Divine was God. Father Divine and his movement were quite progressive in its time and did a lot for the community. The collection contained mostly audio material in the form of open reel tapes and wire recordings. There were also some photographs which can be found in the Father Divine Portrait Collection in the Photographs and Prints Division, as well as, transcripts of his sermons and radio programs and letters between Father Divine and one of his disciples which are in the Father Divine Collection housed in the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division. It a very rich collection because of the many different formats. Its a collection that you can hear, see, and read.

What has been the most memorable moment while working at the Schomburg Center? 

I started working at the Schomburg Center in 1999 and I've had so many memorable and amazing moments throughout the years. From chatting with Ruby Dee while she was rehearsing and performing in her one woman play My One Good Nerve right here in the Langston Hughes Auditorium at the Schomburg to listening to Maya Angelou speak about her relationship with James Baldwin when her collection was acquired. There were so many similar moments like this that made me cherish being in a space like this, and getting to spend my day in an archive, with all of its gems, is truly a blessing.  

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Sketch of Father Divine by Wilbur Young. Image ID: 5387139

Podcast #132: Sally Mann on Cy Twombly and the Babushkas Who Saved Russian Art

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Subscribe on iTunes.

In 2001, Sally Mann was named “America’s Best Photographer” by Time magazine. In a career spanning decades, she has exhibited her work at the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has published several books, including Immediate Family and What Remains. On September 22, her exhibition Remembered Light: Cy Twombly in Lexington, which includes black and white photographs of her friend and fellow artist Cy Twombly, opened at the Gagosian Gallery. For this week's episode of the New York Public Library Podcast, we're proud to present Mann discussing Lexington, Kentucky, Cy Twombly, and the Russian babushkas who saved Russian art.

Sally Mann


Mann met Twombly in Lexington, Kentucky, where Twombly kept a studio. She described his work space as a prosaic one transformed when Twombly moved in:

"You would not believe this place. You think of Cy Twombly  what did someone say?  he wanted to live like a prince but in a poor neighborhood or something. So it's sort of like in a rich neighborhood living like a pauper. It was this funny old building that as it turns out used to be the Columbia Gas Offices for Rockbridge County, really just the most humdrum little storefront basically. Glass. You would never, ever think of Cy Twombly working there. You'd think of him as being some poetic, lyrical place filled with ossified Greek heads and this kind of stuff. No, no, no not at all. It was a storefront and it had these shabby little Venetian blinds. I had no idea why he chose them. I never asked them. Someone will know maybe. But when he moved in, it had been the Columbia Gas Offices and then an eye doctor had been in there. And when he moved in, he set up everything perfectly like in little rows and all of his paints from left to right, red orange yellow, green, just right on through the spectrum. All of his brushes were brand new. It was kind of sweet seeing him begin."

Asked about why she and Twombly were attracted to Lexington, Mann described the physical beauty of the geography:

"Geographically, it's just so special. It's right in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley, but in all of the nine hundred miles of the Shenandoah Valley, there's these three mountains that have just erupted like wayward molars in the middle of this big open mall of Shenandoah Valley, and the three mountains surround Lexington so that wherever you are in Lexington, you can not only see the blue ridge on one side and the Appalachians on the other, but there are these three gorgeous mountains, and it's just beautiful there."

Often, Mann would drive Twombly around. She spoke fondly of their sprawling conversations in the car:

"We would drive together a lot. I had a big, old, lazy, old, old, old BMW, and he felt so comfortable in it because he was a big man and he could stretch out, and it was one of those big, sloppy cars that like Bruce Springsteen sings about. Driving down the road, and we would just drive. We would just drive places and talk about Napoleon. I vividly remember this conversation. I was reading this book called The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier. Fabulous books if any of you want to read it. It's a quick read because of course everybody dies. But we got to talking about that then, and he got to talking about his great affection for the Russian babushkas who he felt saved Russian art. We would just leap from that to that. Classical. We spoke a lot about classical nudes. And then it would be Walmart. There was always this strange dichotomy."


You can subscribe to the New York Public Library Podcast to hear more conversations with wonderful artists, writers, and intellectuals. Join the conversation today!

Celebrando el mes de la Herencia Hispana: Biografías

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En honor del "mes de la Herencia Hispana" —el mes del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre dedicado a celebrar las historias, culturas y las contribuciones de los ciudadanos estadounidenses cuyos antepasados vinieron de España, México, el Caribe,  América Central y América del Sur—presentamos a continuación una selección de biografías recientes que esperamos sea de su agrado.

El cerrador

Mariano Rivera con Wayne Coffey

 

 

 

Ritmo al exito: como un inmigrante hizo su propio sueno americano

Emilio Estefan; translated by Karelia Baez

 

 

 


Amando

Adamari López

 


 

Chespirito: vida y magia del comediante ḿás popular de América

Roberto Gomez Bolanos


 

 

No he dejado de soñar: mi largo camino del barrio a los recintos del Capitolo

Luis Gutiérrez, con la colaboración de Douglas Scofield; translated by Carmen Dolores Hernández

 

 

 

Inquebrantable: mi historia, a mi manera

Jenni Rivera; completado con Marissa Mateo

 

 

 

No voy a mentir: y otras mentiras que dices cuando cumples 50 años

George Lopez, con Alan Eisenstock

 

 

 

Momento de gloria

Victor Cruz, con Peter Schrager

 

 

 

Mi mundo adorado

Sonia Sotomayor; traducción de Eva Ibarzábal

 

 

 

El tono universal: sacando mi historia a la luz

Carlos Santana con Ashley Kahn y Hal Miller

 

 

 

Sin miedo: lecciones de rebeldes

Jorge Ramos

 

 

 

Rita Moreno: memorias

Rita Moreno; traducido por María Victoria Roa

 

 

 

 

Comparta sus recomendaciones. ¿Hay algún otro libro que le gustaría compartir con nosotros? Déjenos saber en los comentarios.

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