What was it like in New York City for women during the 1790s? We’ve explored this question through the diary of an elite woman named Elizabeth De Hart Bleecker. But as Women’s History Month 2017 comes to an end, I wanted to draw attention to the stories of less privileged women who occupied the same New York City as Bleecker. Stories of poor and marginalized women who otherwise left few, if any, traces in written records, are strewn throughout the Minutes of the Commissioners of the New York City Almshouse and Bridewell (1791-1797). The Commissioners oversaw “poor relief” both inside the Almshouse and Bridewell Prison, as well as “outdoor relief” through the City; they were in charge of what we today call welfare. The women who the Commissioners oversaw were poor, sometimes abandoned, and, by virtue of being “wards” or “objects” of the Almshouse, always dependent on others. Their situation coupled with the prevailing gender norms of the period meant they had limited mobility or opportunities to improve their station. Since the collection has been digitized, it is available in its entirety, but here are a few of their stories.

Margaret Lord was “an object of the Almshouse, [who] hath constantly and faithfully exerted herself, in the capacity of an assistant to our school-master, in bringing forward the younger children, Therefore Resolved that” some of the commissioners “furnish her, by way of a gratuity, for her faithfulness, & further encouragement, with such articles of clothing, as she may chuse[sic], over and above what the house ordinarily affords, to the amount of forty shillings.”  Lord’s story is one of a person forging a meaningful life in the most trying of circumstances. She must have known she might reap some reward for her hard work. As the commissioners described: “Whereas among other ordinances and bye laws relating to the good government of the house, it is provided that such persons who behave themselves orderly, and perform their tasks faithfully shall be entitled to some rewards.” The Board’s pride in Margaret Lord’s work is apparent, but the meager “reward” they offered suggests the limits of what she could gain by dint of “hard work.” 

“Sarah Gilmore wife of Robert Gilmore representing to this Board that her Husband had left her and was settled in Marlborough, County of Ulster, and that she was unable to support herself. Alderman Beekman was requested to attend to her case.”  A week later, at the Commissioner’s next meeting, the board noted they had received “a warrant from the Mayor, and Aldm. Beekman, requiring us to deliver her to the overseers of the poor of the County of Ulster, where her husband resides.” A commissioner “was therefore appointed, and directed to take charge of the said Sarah Gilmore, and deliver her accordingly.” A city marshal ended up bring her north. The only time we hear Gilmore’s voice, even second hand, is when she testifies that her husband left her. There is no indication that Gilmore wanted to follow her husband, who abandoned her, north to Ulster County. If she was from New York City, might she have wanted to stay there? The Board does not seem to ask. Here, “the system” clearly operated on Sarah Gilmore, leaving her with minimal power to make decisions about her life. 

“Jane Green, a poor girl, was bound apprentice to the widow Mary Sword of this City,” which means Green was contracted to labor for Sword for a term of years in exchange for food, shelter, clothes, and often remedial education.  This was not an uncommon arrangement for children from impoverished families. But Green’s “mother having lately enter’d complaints, that the girl was very ill used by her mistress, and a committee having been appointed to enquire into the the matter, now reported, that the complaints of the mother were not well founded--that altho the girl had several times been corrected, she had undoubtedly deserv’d it, for her frequent running away, and other misdemeanors.” The Commissioners responded to Green’s mother’s complaints and looked into her daughter’s situation. Though clearly in a subordinate position, the Greens had recourse to remedy a perceived injustice. The Commissioners, though, ruled against her. They could tolerate more stringent discipline than the Greens thought fair. Jane Green was stuck with Swords, against her will, until the term of the contract finally expired. 

Unnamed daughter of Duncan McMullen: ​​"Duncan McMullen, an object of the Almshouse begging for leave to go to Philadelphia to fetch his daughter, who upwards of 8 years ago we had [inked out] bound to col Alex Hamilton now of that City, and who he is afraid keeps her ignorant in regard to her time being fulfilled, consented that the old man may go for his daughter, and that the clerk furnish him with a certified copy of his indenture; and also write to her late Master signifying our expectations of his delivering the girl to her father in a situation agreeable to his contract.” Yes, that Alexander Hamilton kept a young woman past the expiration of her contract. McMullen’s daugher was taken advantage of even while living in the home of one of the most visible public figures in the United States. Young women bound out to families had little power over their situation. Indeed it took Duncan McMullen, a man who could not even get from New York to Philadelphia without permission and a loan, to seek redress for his daughter. McMullen’s story reminds us that while poverty in early national America was a harsh experience, women, in particular, lacked power. 

Each year, Women’s History Month offers a chance to reflect on the full range of women’s historical experiences in the United States. The digitization of early American manuscript sources is making that increasingly possible for researchers to accomplish.  Recently digitized sources shed light on the historic and often overlooked contributions women made to early American life in spite of strict gender norms that sought to circumscribe their influence. At the same time, these materials help us uncover the equally important stories of less fortunate women who remained constrained by those same forces.

Further Reading

For more on the experiences of poor women in early national America generally, and of their expereinces in Almshouses specifically, see the essays by Gloria L. Main, Ruth Wallis Herndon, Monique Borque, Tim Lockley, Katie M. Hemphill, and John E. Murray in the Fall 2012 special issue of the Journal of the Early Republic.

About the Early American Manuscripts Project

Mad, bad, crazy and sad. Those are the labels given to trailblazing women throughout history who denied and defied the rigid roles society set for them—whether it was simply getting an education, breaking into male-dominated professions, ruling empires or fighting for the right to vote/human right/women's rights/civil rights/the environment/ or lesbian gay bisexual transgender (LGBT) rights.

Here's a list of books filled with profiles of notable women from ancient times to today and an essay compilation for teens and young adults on the current multifaceted feminist scene. Get inspired by all these "poorly-behaved" women who ignored the naysayers, forged ahead and made their mark on the world.

Fight Like a Girl: 50 Feminists Who Changed the World, by Laura Barcella, illustrated by Summer Pierre

Consider this compendium a primer on feminist heroes from the past and present. These short biographies cover well-known women's advocates, such as writer Mary Wollstonecraft and abolitionist Sojourner Truth, alongside more contemporary feminists, such as singers Beyonce and Madonna; writers Judy Blume, Sandra Cisneros and Alice Walker; and activist Malala Yousafzai. Portraits of less familiar though equally important activists are included, such as lawyers Pauli Murray and Florynce Kennedy as well as transgender activist and communist writer Leslie Feinberg. Some of these biography subjects might not consider themselves feminists and others might bristle at the idea of being included in this book. One thing holds true for each of these women—they all lived (or are living) colorful, eventful lives that have an impact way beyond themselves.  
 

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World, written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofky

Astronauts, biologists, computer programmers and more. The whole wide world of science is well-represented in this lively biography collection and the contributions women scientists have made to the discipline have been invaluable, such as the discovery of radioactivity, nuclear fission, the shape of DNA and sex chromosomes. The achievements of many of these scientists are even more impressive considering the difficulties they overcame to do their work, such as discrimination in education and/or the workplace, limited finances for research, little to no professional recognition, and, in two notable cases, their scientific pursuits inadvertently contributed to their deaths. Some of the scientists profiled in the book are world-renown, such as chemist/physicist Marie Curie, biologist/conservationist/writer Rachel Carson and primatologist/anthropologist Jane Goodall. Others, on the other hand, may be less well-known, though their contributions have been influential as well, such as mathematician/writer Ada Lovelace, the first person to create a computer program; physicist/mathematician Katherine Johnson, who calculate the flight path for NASA's first moon mission and worked on subsequent space projects; and ophthalmologist/inventor Patricia Bath, who invented a device that dramatically improved cataract surgery and restored eyesight to many patients. Children and teens looking for female STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) role-models have plenty of choices in this tome, and many readers can expand their knowledge of women scientists.

Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World, edited by Kelly Jensen

Teens and young adults looking to better understand what it means to be a feminist today can find a lot to love in this scrapbook-style anthology of essays, interviews and artwork by 44 contemporary writers, actors, artists and activists. The articles and artwork within this collection include many diverse voices and cover a gamut of topics, such as the history of the women’s rights movement, beauty standards and body images, the representation of women in popular culture, gender and sexuality, and relationships.  This book offers sound advice for teens and young adults looking to “chose their own adventure” in exploring feminism and includes lists of other feminists novels, comics, non-fiction books, films, songs and websites for further reading/viewing.  Notable contributors include young adult novelists Laurie Halse Anderson, Kody Keplinger, Malinda Lo and Daniel Jose Older; essayist and author Roxanne Gay; politician Wendy Davis and actresses Laverne Cox, Mindy Kaling and Amandla Stenberg. 
 

Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World, by Ann Shen

"Bad" has many meanings, and, in this case, the word is synonymous with being daring and determined. The international cast of "bad girls" highlighted in these essays strove to be more than just demure daughters, mothers, sisters or wives. Readers can chose to learn more about historical leaders, early and contemporary activists for civil rights and women's rights, professional trailblazers in the arts, fashion, entertainment, science, politics, writing and journalism, and adventurers who set new records for flying airplanes, swimming in oceans, climbing mountains and venturing into space. Age is only a number in this volume - some of the profiled women achieved greatness (or infamy) in their teens and twenties while others only became accomplished in their forties, fifties or sixties. Many popular women's history figures make appearances, such as fighter/saint Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth I of England, suffragist Susan B. Anthony, escaped slave/anti-slavery leader Harriet Tubman, disability-rights activist Helen Keller and modern-nursing founder Florence Nightingale. Current feminist icons, such as media mogul Oprah Winfrey, Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg and comedian Tina Fey, are included along with some more obscure and unconventional choices, such as Mongolian princess and wrestler Khutulun, cookbook author Fannie Farmer and Annie Edison, a daredevil who survived riding over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Shen wrote in the introduction that she became inspired by "this daring tribe of women" while researching and writing her book, and she realized that "I need to use my voice to do better in this world. [and] I hope that in some small way this book changes you too."

Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves and Other Female Villains, by Janet Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple, illustrated by Rebecca Guay

Why should “good girls” have all the fun and be the only focus when it comes to women's history? Authors Yolen and Stemple, a mother and daughter team, write short biographical sketches about 26 notorious royals, pirates, criminals and other historical figures from pre-Biblical times to the 21^st century. The profiled rogues include Cleopatra, Salome, Anne Boleyn, Catherine the Great, Calamity Jane, Lizzie Borden, Typhoid Mary, Mata Hari and Bonnie Parker. Throughout the book, Yolen and Stemple question whether all of these women were really “bad,” penalized for making decisions/taking actions that went against society’s view of women, scapegoats for others or just simply misunderstood. Readers can decide for themselves just how evil these "bad girls" really were.  

Catherine, Cat, Cath... whatever you call her, she is terrified of Zero... Zero breathing down her neck...Zero and approaching D Day...Zero threatening to end everything. Catherine has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and she is struggling with the stigma, struggling to understand it.

After her hospitalization and the suicide attempt, Cat's mother banned lithium from the house. That was what the girl overdosed on, after all. She still sees her psychiatrist, and he recommends an intensive outpatient program. It all seems difficult and horrible to endure, but at least she finds a comrade in fellow group-therapy participant, Kristal. Her new friend agrees that all of the treatment is lame.

Cat's mother is working two jobs to pay for all of the mental health assistance. Cat does her best to hide all of this from her classmates. Michael emerges as an interested party, and they give a relationship a go. Amidst all of the typical high school activities, the permanence of the psychological disorder lodges deeply in Catherine's mind.

The Weight of Zero by Karen Fortunati, 2016

Books about bipolar disorder

Karen Fortunati's web site

When Henry David Thoreau set out for a life of isolated self-sufficiency by Walden Pond, he made an account of all the necessities he bought for his time there: food, clothing, farming needs, and even the materials he used to build his own house. But something has been strangely omitted: a writing utensil, which he must have had in order to write the memoir later published as Walden. In fact, despite all the mentions in Walden of his reading and writing, Thoreau never mentions using a pencil -- quite odd, considering that before Henry David Thoreau was a famous writer, philosopher, and key player in the Transcendentalist movement, he was actually a brilliant pencil maker who revolutionized the way pencils were manufactured in the United States. 

March 30th, which is National Pencil Day, commemorates the day in 1858 when Philadelphia immigrant Hymen Lipman patented his invention for a pencil with an eraser on top, creating the conveniently-designed pencil we know and love. But just decades before Lipman's design, American pencil-making was in sorry shape. Poor materials made domestic pencils smudgy and frail in comparison to their superior British counterparts, which were made of purer graphite. In France, an inventor named Nicolas-Jacques Conté came up with a method to make high-quality pencils out of impure graphite by mixing it with clay, but this process was not known across the Atlantic. 

That's when Thoreau comes into the picture. Seeking employment after studying at Harvard, he worked at his father's pencil factory, which Edward Emerson -- son of Ralph Waldo Emerson -- recalled as being somewhat better than the typical American pencil factory at the time. Still, Henry David Thoreau aspired to improve the family business, so he hit the books at the Harvard College library to find out more. 

We're not sure what Thoreau learned, but according to engineering historian Henry Petroski in his thorough history of pencil making, it was "highly unlikely" that Thoreau had access to information about the Conté process, nor a similar method for pencil making that was employed in Germany at the time. It's possible that Thoreau was inspired by a different process using a mix of graphite and clay -- which was used for coating crucibles -- but in any case, he began to experiment. Having no knowledge of chemistry, Henry David nevertheless came up with a formula to make a pencil rivaling that made in Europe. It was the first of its kind in America.

Soon, Thoreau pencils were taking over the market, and the family's business grew and grew. Thoreau pencils were awarded twice by Mechanic Associations and gained a local reputation in Boston for their quality. Ralph Waldo Emerson himself praised them. News of Thoreau's pencils spread quickly, and soon, Petroski writes, they were "without peer in this country." 

But of course, Thoreau did not feel that pencil-making was in the cards for him -- shortly after the boom in the family business, he left for Walden Pond, beginning the journey that led him to philosophy and literature. As Edward Emerson notes, many people in Concord criticized Henry David for leaving behind a profitable enterprise to "idle in the woods." Indeed, Thoreau did not achieve notoriety in his lifetime; his books did not sell well and he had to make a living as a land surveyor. He returned to the pencil business later on, but notably, he rarely wrote about pencil-making in spite of his miraculous scientific achievements in the field and the years he dedicated to the craft.

As technology threatens to render longhand writing completely obsolete, Thoreaus' dual careers as a pencil-maker and an advocate for simple, minimalist living seem perfectly in synch, albeit by coincidence. The pencil made by Thoreau, housed in our collections, is a product of Thoreau's engineering brain, but it's also a testament to his connection with nature and his commitment to self-sufficiency -- not only did he make his own shelter and food, he made his own means to write. In our own special way, the Library has subtly commemorated Thoreau's dual contributions to "writing" in this plaque on Library Way:

Happy National Pencil Day, everyone!

Works Cited

Henry Thoreau as Remembered by a Young Friend, Edward Emerson.

The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance, Henry Petroski.

Walden, Henry David Thoreau.

Welcome to The Librarian Is In, The New York Public Library's podcast about books, culture, and what to read next.

Subscribe on iTunes | Get it on Google Play

Reena Glazer of the Pro Bono Institute joins Frank and Gwen to talk about lawyers in the library and recommendations for great nonfiction about pro bono legal work. Plus: Purple diaries, yellow cable cars, and colorful characters.

What We're Reading Now

Mary Astor's Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936 by Edward Sorel

Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner

Maybelle, the Cable Car by Virginia Lee Burton

Paterson by William Carlos Williams

Guest Star: Reena Glazer

The Pro Bono Institute 

Stand Tall: Fighting for My Life, Inside and Outside the Ring by Dewey Bozella with Tamara Jones

The Innocence Project

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

13th by Ava DuVernay

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

Prudential: Everybody's Doing It (video)

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

Non-Book Recommendations

Gwen: Loud In the Library and Pro Bono Happy Hour

Frank: '70s game shows

Reena: Iris

---

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Find us online @NYPLRecommends, the Bibliofile blog, and nypl.org. Or email us at recommendations@nypl.org!

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Are you interested in what people around the world are reading? Travel the bestseller lists with us! This month we checked out bestsellers in Colombia, Egypt, Greece, Ireland, and Malaysia. Here's what we found.

Colombia

British writer Fiona Barton’s acclaimed thriller The Widow / La viuda was at the top of Planeta de Libros Colombia’s bestseller list when we checked on Monday, March 27. This title is currently available from the Library in English and Spanish. Primero estaba el mar / In the Beginning Was the Sea, the debut novel by Colombian writer Tomás González, originally published in 1983 and reissued in 2015, is also high on the list. An English translation by Frank Wynne was published in 2014. 

Other titles on the list include a historical novel, A flor de piel [Skin Deep], by Spanish author Javier Moro, which tells the story of the Balmis Expedition, a mission to vaccinate millions against smallpox in the early 1800s, and Lo que no te mata te hace mas fuerte / The Girl in the Spider’s Web, David Lagercrantz’s continuation of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, which is available from the Library in English, Spanish, Polish, and Hebrew. The children’s classic, The Little Prince / El principito by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is also near the top of the fiction list. The Little Prince is available to borrow from the Library in the original French (Le petit prince), in English, Spanish, Japanese, and Russian.

Egypt

We checked the bestseller lists on two bookseller sites in Egypt this week, Alef Bookstores and Diwan. Both list bestselling books in Arabic and in English. The Spy / Paulo Coelho’s novel about the legendary World War I spy Mata Hari is a bestseller at both. The novel is currently available from the Library in the original Portuguese, in English, Spanish, Korean, and Russian. Gone Girlby Gillian Flynn and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs are bestsellers on the Alef site. The English translation of the Turkish novel The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak is also listed as a bestseller on the Diwan site. Some of Shafak’s books are available from the Library in Russian, Polish, Chinese, and English.

Arabic fiction titles that appear on both bestseller lists include a historical thriller, Tadhkirat Wahidat Lilqahira [One Way Ticket to Cairo] by the Egyptian author and judge, Ashraf El-Ashmawi and ‘An Tabqaa [To Stay] by Tunisian writer Khawla Hamdi. One of El-Ashmawi’s previous novels, Toya, was longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2013. Another novel by Hamdi, Fi Galbi Ontha Ibreya [In my Heart is a Jewish Girl] is also on the Alef bestseller list. A short excerpt has been translated on this blog and it is mentioned on this list of 8 Tunisian Books to Read Before You Die. This might be difficult, however, as neither of these bestselling authors has been translated into English yet. The latest novel by the 2009 International Prize for Arabic Fiction winner, Egyptian writer Youssef Zeidan is also on the Alef Books bestseller list. Noor is the conclusion of a trilogy that includes the novels Mahal and Guantanamo. Zeidan’s work is not yet available in translation.

Greece

We looked at several bookseller sites in Greece this week, which include a mixture of fiction and nonfiction titles on their bestseller lists. When we checked the bestseller list on the Books.gr site on Saturday, March 25, we found Paul Beatty’s award-winning satirical novelThe Sellout / Ο ΠΟΥΛΗΜΕΝΟΣ in the top ten along with various nonfiction titles and several Greek authors whose work has not been translated into English. A cartoon collection by popular Greek cartoonist Arkas,Ο Φεβρουάριος και οι έντεκα μήνες [February and Eleven Months] and a novel about a rural postman by Greek author Giorgos Papadakis, Ο Ταχυδρόμος Μυθιστόρημα [Postino: A Novel] are also in the top ten.

When we looked at the bestsellers at Politeia and Evripidis, two of Athens’s largest bookstores, we found two fiction titles common to both lists, a coming of age novel, Pou, by Greek author Marialena Spyropoulou, along withThe Hour of the Star by acclaimed Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector. The Hour of the Star /Hora da estrela, originally published in 1977 shortly after the author’s death, is considered by many to be her greatest novel. The first English translation was published in 1986 with a second translation by Benjamin Moser published in 2011. The Greek edition on the bestseller lists—I Ora Tou Asteriou—was published in 2016. Many of Lispector’s novels and collected stories are available to borrow from the Library in the original Portuguese, to borrow or download in English, and we also have a few titles in Spanish.

Many thanks to Tom Nikolaidis at Mid-Manhattan Library for help with researching these Greek bestsellers!

Ireland

Irish authors top the bestseller list for original fiction with a few international powerhouses also in the top ten. When we looked at the bestseller lists for the week ending March 18 on Writing.ie, Orange Blossom Days by Patricia Scanlan, not published yet in the U.S., was number one. NYPL has other novels by Scanlan to borrow or download, including A Time for Friends. Graham Norton’s debut novel Holding(U.S. pub date in August), Jane Casey’s seventh Maeve Kerrigan novel,Let the Dead Speak, and John Boyne’s latest novel, The Heart’s Invisible Furies (U.S. pub date in August), are also in the top ten. Boyne’s earlier books are available to borrow in English and some are available in Spanish.

Jojo Moyes, Sophie Kinsella, and Danielle Steel are also in the top ten withParis for One and Other Stories, My Not So Perfect Life, and Dangerous Games, respectively. These new titles are not available in other languages yet, but many older titles from these bestselling authors are available at the Library.

Jojo Moyes in Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Polish, Italian, and English.

Sophie Kinsella in Spanish, Russian, Italian, Polish,

Danielle Steel in Russian, Spanish, Italian, Albanian, Polish, Hungarian, Hebrew, French.

Malaysia

MPH Online, a large online bookseller in Malaysia, lists both English language and Malay language bestsellers. For the week ending March 26, Sophie Kinsella’s latest, My Not So Perfect Life, is at the top of the English list, followed by Me Before You and After You by Jojo Moyes. Make Me Love You by bestselling romance author Johanna Lindsey, and The Girl with all the Gifts by M. R. Carey are also on the list.

Many of Johanna Lindsey’s romances are also available at the Library in Spanish and Russian.

The poetry collection Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, recently recommended on NYPL’s list of 14 New Poetry Picks for World Poetry Day, was number 4 on the English bestseller list.

The list of local bestsellers includes books in Malay, whose authors have not been translated into English. The top ten books on the list are all novels, of which four are described as mystery/thriller, four as romance, one as Islamic, and one as other. Several novels also appear to have fantasy and mystical elements. The number one title on the current list, Anding Ayangan, by the prolific Malaysian author Ramlee Awang Murshid, is a mixture of suspense and fantasy.

In May last year 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. September took us to China, Nigeria, Poland, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates and November to Canada, Dominican Republic, Israel, Portugal, and Turkey.  In January 2017 we collected bestsellers of the previous year from 10 countries around the world. Do you check the bestseller lists from any other countries? What have you discovered? Any favorite novels in translation or authors you wish were translated? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for Boilermakers Northeast Area, Local Union #5, will conduct a recruitment from April 17, 2017 through March 19, 2018 for five boilermaker (construction ) apprentices.

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow offers a paid 20-week training program that includes business administrative / customer service skills; public speaking and communications skills; college access assistance; job placement assistance; High School Equivalent (HSE) preparation; networking  with corporate executives.  Compensation includes a biweekly stipend and a Metrocard.  For more information call 718-369-0303.

The New York City Labor Market Information Service  released Home Health Aide Career Map in December 2014.  This career map is based on the real-life experiences of people who have worked as home health aides in the New York metropolitan area.  It shows actual career progressions 5 to 10 years and 10 to 15 years after starting work as a home health aide.  You can also view What are the numbers behind it?

Direct Care Professional Training (DPT) is a 100-hour training program that provides students with the knowledge, practical skills , and required certifications to work with children and adults who are developmentally disabled.  This two-month, full-time training program will be held at the New York City College of Technology.

Block Institute will present a recruitment on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, 10 am - 3 pm for Assistant Manager (3 openings), Program Coordinator (3 openings), Residence Manager (3 openings), Relief Worker (3 openings), Direct Support Professional (3 openings), Teacher Assistant (3 openings), Teacher Aide (3 openings), Teacher (Pre-School, 3 openings), ABA Teacher (3 School Age /Pre-School openings) at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Please contact Ms. Diaz at 718-613-3696.

The Fortune Society will present a recruitment on Thursday, April 6, 2017, 12 - 4 pm for Discharged Planner (5 openings), at NYC Workforce 1 Career Center, 215 West 125th Street,  6th  Floor, New York, NY 10027.   Responsible for ensuring continuity of services for city-sentenced individuals being released from Rikers Island  in need of transitional services.  Some degree of higher education preferred.  Experience in counseling and group facilitation of criminal justice involved individuals required.

Job Postings at New York City Workforce 1.  

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 April 2 become available.

Get ready for Spider-Man Homecoming with this list of spider films and graphic novels!

After being bit by “genetically-altered spider” spider Peter Parker gains superpowers and begins his fight against crime.   

• Spider-Man
• Spider-Man 2
• Spider-Man 3

• The Amazing Spider-Man
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2

• The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol 1
• The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol 2
• The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol 3

• Spider-Man : the new animated series. Extreme Threat
• Marvel ultimate Spider-Man: avenging Spider-Man.

• Marvel Masterworks presents the amazing Spider-Man. Volume 1 / writer: Stan Lee ; artist: Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko.
• The amazing Spider-Man : the complete clone saga epic. Book two by Tom Brevoort & Tom Defalco
• Spider-man. The mutant agenda / writers, Steven Grant & Stan Lee
• Spider-Man. Kraven's last hunt : a novel of the Marvel universe / Neil Kleid
• Spider-Man : identity crisis! / writers, Todd Dezago ... [et al.]

• The Amazing Spider-Man/Inhuman/all-new Captain America : Inhuman error  by Jeff Loveness
• Spider-Man : the next chapter. Vol. 2/ by John Byrne ... [et al.] 
• Spider-Man : the next chapter. Volume three byJohn Byrne
• Spider-man : the darkest hours by Jim Butcher ; based on the Marvel comic book.

• ​The Superior Spider-Man. Volume 1 / writers, Dan Slott, J.M. Dematteis, Jen Van Meter
• The Superior Spider-Man. Vol. 2, A troubled mind / writer, Dan Slott
• The Superior Spider-Man. [Vol. 4], Necessary evil / writer, Dan Slott 
•  The Superior Spider-Man : Superior Venom.
• The Superior Spider-Man. Vol. 6, Goblin nation / writers, Dan Slott & Christos Gage.

• The amazing Spider-Man : edge of Spider-Man by VC's Clayton Cowles
• Spider-Verse / writer: Dan Scott [and 11 others] ; penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli
• Spider-verse : Warzones! / writer, Mike Costa with Steven Sanders ; artist, André Araújo ; color artist, Rachelle Rosenberg ; letterer, VC's Joe Caramagna.
• The amazing Spider-Man. Spider-verse / writer, Dan Slott
• Spider-Man 2099 : spider-verse / writer, Peter David ; artist, Will Sliney
• Amazing Spider-Man. 2, Edge of the Spider-verse / writers, Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Joe Caramagna

• Spider-Gwen. Vol. 0, Most wanted? / Jason Latour, writer
• Spider-Gwen. Vol. 1, Greater power / Jason Latour, writer ; Robbi Rodriguez
• Spider-Gwen. Vol. 2, Weapon of choice / Jason Latour, writer ; Robbi Rodriguez, artist ; Rico Renzi with Lauren Affe

• Silk. Vol. 0, The life and times of Cindy Moon / writer, Robbie Thompson
• Silk Vol. 1: Sinister by Robbie Thompson
• Silk Vol. 2: The Negative by Robbie Thompson

• Spider-Woman. Spider-verse/ writer, Dennis Hopeless
• Spider-Woman : Shifting gears. Vol. 1, Baby talk/ writer, Dennis Hopeless
• Spider-woman. Vol. 2, New duds / writer, Dennis Hopeless

• Miles Morales: the ultimate Spider-Man : ultimate collection / writer, Brian Michael Bendis.
• Miles Morales, the ultimate Spider-Man : revelations / writer: Brian Michael Bendis ; artist: David Marquez
• Miles Morales: the ultimate Spider-Man : revival / writer: Brian Michael Bendis.
• Ultimate comics Spider-Man / writer: Brian Michael Bendis

I love attending the annual NYC Teen Author Festival, and, as usual, this year's program did not disappoint. I was only able to attend the afternoon panel at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on March 24, 2017. I was super excited this year to not only see what the organizer and fabulous teen author David Levithan put together, but also to see one of my favorite teen authors, Laurie Halse Anderson. I have read many of both of their books, and they definitely have a unique take on literature and presenting social and psychological issues in a fictionalized format. Caitlyn Colman-McGraw, Teen Programming Specialist for NYPL, introduced David Levithan, who hosts the event, and he also is  an editor for Scholastic. 

Panel on Evil

Tiffany Jackson, Justine Larbalestier, and Laurie Halse Anderson were a wonderful trio in this panel on the dark side of teen literature. All have written teen books that focus on trauma and/or bad behavior. 

Larbalestier asked why people write about the dark side of humanity. 

Jackson mentioned that everything was not great when she was growing up. She wanted to foster empathy in teens towards situations that people have that they may not have experienced directly themselves.

Life Is Not a Cake Walk

Anderson opined that some people want their kids to be raised with rainbows and flowers. This can come from people who live in a "privilege bubble." Kids go through a lot, and even those are well-off have peers who experience a variety of problems. Adults who are fractured have often experienced real hardships while they were growing up. Writing about painful issues offends some people, but it is the duty of teen authors to discuss real issues honestly.

Larbalestier stated that some kids prefer dark material. She has  a niece who loves to be scared of things, and she frequently requests that the adults in her life scare her.

Jackson started watching horror movies at age four. She could not relate to series like The Babysitter's Club because she did not understand houses and lawns. That just seemed like a lot of work to her; she grew up in an apartment. 

Anderson believes that we have some memory for the lives of our ancestors. Storytelling is a medium that people use to understand and deal with life's challenges. 

Larbalestier wrote a book about psychopaths. As a result, readers contacted her about their experiences with dealing with difficult peers, supervisors, family members, etc.

Larbalestier asked Anderson how she creates evil characters and those who go along with the bad behavior without descending into caricature. 

Anderson responded that the people who go along with evil are just like you and me. That is what makes them so dangerous. It would be much easier to detect dangerous if pernicious people had glowing eyes or some highly visible unique characteristic to alert us. People who engage in bad behavior sometimes do not perceive themselves as evil. They engage in elaborate mental gymnastics in order to convince themselves that their victims deserve such treatment, and that they are somehow fundamentally different than themselves. This is how the systemization of evil occurs. 

Larbalestier wrote a book which featured a bad 10-year-old girl named Rose. She was condescending towards everyone, and she perceived her behavior as a sign of superior intelligence, not evil. 

Anderson indicated that horrible people exist in the world, including authors of manuals of how to sexually assault people. Connotations of the word evil differ culturally. In some societies, evil is considered to be supernatural and immortal. The systematization of evil leads to a lack of consequences for such behavior. 

Jackson has absolutely received push-back for writing about pain and darkness. She does not want to sugarcoat reality.

Larbalestier mentioned that we have a rape culture in this country. However, people seem to forget or be unaware of the fact that boys are also molested. 

Jackson mentioned that some girls are in prison for fighting back and killing their abusers, which she finds reprehensible.

Larbalestier thinks that it may be useful to talk about the choices that people make instead of labeling individuals as evil. 

Trauma and Bad Behavior

Anderson suggested that we need to discuss trauma, the cycle of abuse and self-medicating behavior that people engage in. Unfortunately, we do not have a good model for talking about hurtful things in this society. Instead, we live in a consumer-driven culture. Life can be scary, and she believes that kids are hungering for dark material. When faced with parental criticism for the content of her work, she wishes that parents would stop talking for a moment and find ways to really listen to their kids. They need to parent their kids, and spend time with them. They could watch the movies that their progeny enjoys with them and discuss the content. 

Jackson researched her book on female delinquency by interviewing five girls who had been through the juvenile justice system. Social workers became upset about the manner in which they were portrayed in the book. However, each of the girls had their own views about how those professionals operated, and they did not feel that the social workers understood where they were coming from.

Larbalestier wrote about a 15-year-old who had been in the juvenile justice system since the age of nine. Being imprisoned for that long shapes a person's world view. Some people expect teen novels to take a moralistic approach to reality, and this does not always happen. A nine-year-old girl who read her book, Liar, was relieved to discover that she was not the only one who hated her parents. She always finds herself at a loss of how to respond to such communication, but she responded that a larger family can include relatives and close friends.

Teaching Empathy

Anderson appreciates the privilege that it is for her to write for kids and teens. She wants kids who are hurting to feel less alone -- to know that there are people that they can go to and talk about. She thinks of authors as aunties and uncles who care about kids. Sometimes she gets letters from kids who go overboard trying to convince her how great their lives are.

One of Larbalestier's fans informed her that one of her books opened her eyes to the girl who was sitting alone at lunch. She realized that there must be something going on with her, so she sat with her one day. The reader may never understand that girl, but she wants to ensure that she never has to eat alone. 

Jackson wants to encourage her readers to become activists. If she accomplishes that, then all of the hate mail that she receives is worth it.

Larbalestier mentioned that novels encourage good behavior, even if they are not written in a moralistic way (which kids might not read anyway). There has been research on this subject. Novels can teach empathy if kids are reading about people who are not like them and who have had experiences that they lack. Kids and adults need to read outside of their race, culture and sexuality. 

Anderson opined that adolescence is a time for falling flat on your face. Kids go to institutions that are designed to break their spirits. She mentioned that fact that kids hit adolescence right as their parents are going through mid-life crises. Kids are sometimes able to internalize the successes when they see child characters triumph in the literature. Readers learn from the experience of others.

Larbalestier thinks that authors should step out of their comfort zones. Writing dark stories is fun, and she invites anyone to try it.

Anderson wants everyone who has not registered to vote to do so and contact their representatives about issues of importance to them.

Difficult Characters Panel

Kayla Cagan, Lisa Selin Davis, Pete Hoffmeister, AR Kahler, Amanda Pavitch, Alyssa Sheinmel, Catherine Stine discussed characterization with moderator, Melissa Walker.

Many of the authors expressed surprise that the characters in their books were considered to be difficult. They believed that they were simply writing about people and/or people who were in difficult circumstances. All characters should be and are difficult. They wrote about characters with anger management problems. One of the books featured a girl who had a sister who was dealing with a mental illness. They expressed the idea that their stories do not always have happy endings. This is reflective of actual life experiences. In the words of one teen author, "Sometimes things don't get better, and then you die." They write about real, complex people. These authors wrote about a variety of societal issues. One boy was raised in a cult. Someone wrote about a girl whose brother was murdered. Another girl had her face burned in a fire and received a face transplant. Everyone expected her to feel lucky, but that was not her experience.

Writer Panel

Karen Bao, Cathleen Davitt Bell, Aimee Friedman, Kody Kleplinger, Sarah Darer Littman, Shani Petroff, Yvonne Ventresca had a conversation with moderator David Levithan.

To Outline Or Not?

Levithan writes a story to find out what will happen in the story, and he engages in no outlining. He wondered what the writing process of the other panelists looks like.

One of the panelists constructed two separate calendars while writing about two sides of a girl's summer. 

Another writer opined that knowing too much about your story kills your story. She makes outlines, but she does not always stick to them. 

A computer programmer turned author is still trying to figure out the writing process. Sometimes, editors ask authors to outline, and she finds that the pressure of deadlines makes her more productive. 

One of the authors used to love drafting when she wrote fan fiction. Now, she hates drafting. She is an editor who also teaches a children's writing course, and she likes for all of her work to be perfect.

Levithan has already read the first draft of his work, so when he is revising, he feels that he already read the material. 

One writer had many imaginary friends as a child. She feels as though she still has them. Only now, she is writing about them.

Levithan was discussing the writing process with a co-author that he produced a book with. She sees her works as movies, but he does not.

People's brains work in different ways. Some authors gesticulate while writing to work out the physical moves of their characters. 

An author who is legally blind needs to consult with sighted individuals in order to determine how to describe visual phenomenon in a verbal way. For example, she needed to ask people if it is possible to read by moonlight. 

One author wrote a military book that was filled with much hand-to-hand combat. In order to research the book, she took tae kwon do classes, and she was very sore afterward. 

Levithan asked about the authors' favorite and least favorite things to write about.

Someone loved romance scenes; another hated them. Some liked chapter beginnings; others loved chapter endings. A couple of authors stop writing just before the end of a chapter or book in order to regroup and come back with a fresh perspective later. Some loved writing description, others hated it. One author likes writing reverse outlines after she writes passages or first drafts. 

Fan Feedback

Levithan asked for the best compliments and least helpful comments that the panelists had received.

Authors love it when people say that their book created a love of reading in the person. Making the truth more palatable or enhancing clarity of a subject was awesome. Criticism without basis is not helpful. However, some readers have valid criticisms. One reader said that reading her book was better than medication. Comments on the author's religion or race were signs of discrimination which the authors rightfully did not appreciate. One reader commented that the author of Pandemic that she did not kill off enough people with the avian flu. Readers who assume that the author is writing autobiographical work are frequently incorrect. 

One of the authors recommended that aspiring writers read books on writing, of which the library has many. 

The NYC Teen Author Festival is a fabulous week-long event that occurs every March. If you can make any of the events next year, you will experience scintillating discussion of youth literature with the people who create it in a variety of venues. Book signings and readings also are available. 

Books on teen literature

Harley Davidson anybody? Even if you have no interest in motorcycles, you probably know this name. This brand can be traced back to 1897 when George M. Hendee founded a bicycle production company called the Hendee Manufacturing Company. It carried various brands but American Indian, which was shortened to simply “Indian” became its primary brand name. In the early 20th century when Harley-Davidson was an upstart company working out of a shed the Indian was the king of motorcycle manufacturers. For the next 50 years these two companies engaged in a conflict which some refer to as The Harley-Davidson and Indian Wars. 
 

The first Indian Motorcycle was sold to a retail customer in 1902 but it was two years later that the company introduced a deep red called Vermillion, which became better known as “Indian Red.” Racing victories and records helped to solidify its popularity. In 1907 two motorcycle dealers  rode an Indian Motorcycle from San Francisco to New York City in a then-record 31 1/2 days without any mechanical problems. A year later T.K. Hastings rode an Indian Motorcycle to victory in a 1,000-mile reliability trial in England.

During the 1910s, Indian became the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world.  In 1913 sales rose to  32,000 units sold. From 1917 to 1919 the company provided the U.S. military with nearly 50,000 motorcycles, most of them based on the Indian Powerplus model. Indian's most popular models were the Scout, made from 1920 to 1946, and the Chief, made from 1922 until 1953. The name of the company was changed to Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company in 1928. Over the years it published a number of periodicals which popularized its motorcycles including Indian News, Indian Motorcycle News, and The Indian Magazine.

All illustrations below are from 1914 Indian Motocycle catalog, call no. TOR n.c. 29

The company went bankrupt in 1953 but it never quite died thank in part to fanatically devoted enthusiasts who tried to resurrect it for over a half of a century. For Fred Haefele rebuilding a 1947 Indian Chief motorcycle became more then just a restoration project. It was in fact a resurrection of a dream which once completed required a memoir.  The dream was fully resurrected in 2011 when Polaris Industries purchased Indian Motorcycles. Since 2013 it has marketed multiple modern Indian Motorcycles that reflect Indian's traditional styling.

Read more about historical and modern motorcycles in numerous trade publications covering this industry which are available at the Science, Industry and Business Library.

• The Bicycling World And Motorcycle Review, New York, 1885-1915
• American Bicyclist And Motorcyclist, New York, 1906-1993
• Motorcycle Illustrated, New York, 1906-1953
• Motor Cycling, London, 1910-1967
• The Harley-Davidson Dealer, Milwaukee, 1914-1915
• Motocycles; magazine ... illustré de la mode du side-car et du cycle-car, Paris, 1927-1930
• Motorcyclist, Los Angeles, 1934-present
• Rad und Kraftfahrerhilfe, Wien, 1939-1943
• Motocycles, Paris, 1947-1953
• Choppers Magazine, Encino, Calif., 1971-1982
• Cycle World,  New York, 1994-present

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.

We Read...

Elizabeth Adams's letters to Samuel Adams during the Revolutionary War, new poets you need to know, and Irish noir. Mais oui, Patti Smith has purchased the home of Arthur Rimbaud. We're enthralled with Yo Soy Latina recommended reading. One of our librarians remembers helping Mario Vargas Llosa at the Library. When artists are muses. Miles to before we sleep - yeah, we've been there. Books on LGBT activism and black scientists who changed the world keep us inspired. Could someone please translate these 10 Slovak women writers? Flannery O'Connor is utterly quotable. This is what happens when doctors and patients really communicate. Who doesn't love free pictures of puppies?

Join us for #NYPLafterhours tonight!

Join us tonight, March 31, at 7 PM at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (42nd and 5th Ave) for The Library After Hours: Women Marching Through History!

Women Marching Through History will feature:

• One-of-a-kind exhibition of Library holdings, curated just for this evening, featuring feminist manuscripts, rare books, photographs, ephemera, and artwork
• A selection of 16mm films highlighting women’s issues picked from the Library’s archives
• Interactive oral history stations where you can join other guests and record your story about living through this moment in women’s history
• A conversation with Women's March co-president Bob Bland and Janet Mock, advocate and author of Redefining Realness & Surpassing Certainty
• Crafts and other activities
• A quiet room with puzzles, coloring, and games
• Food and beverage available for purchase

Whether dressed as your favorite suffragist, activist, or writer, costumes are encouraged!  Learn More.

Stereogranimator Friday Feels:

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. ​

Tweet us a book you like until 11AM EST and we'll recommend another. Are we up to the challenge? #FridayReadspic.twitter.com/RRa55jdnMy

— NYPL Recommends (@NYPLRecommends) March 24, 2017

@ByErinWeaver Oh yes! Psychological fiction with an unreliable narrator. Me too! Try THE VEGETARIAN by Han Kang #fridayreads

— NYPL Recommends (@NYPLRecommends) March 24, 2017

What did you read?

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

The New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman building opened on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in 1911. One of NYC's iconic landmarks, it welcomes millions of visitors a year to discover its inspiring public spaces, unparalleled research collections, and vibrant programs and exhibitions. But that's not the whole story about the building behind the Library Lions. Did you know...? (All images below are from The New York Public Library's Digital Collections.)

1. At the time it opened in 1911, the Library was the largest marble building ever built in the United States.

2. Fragments of Percy Bysshe Shelley's skull? NYPL has them.

3. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia nicknamed the Library Lions Patience and Fortitude in the 1930s because he felt New Yorkers needed to possess these qualities in order to survive the Depression.

4. NYPL holds locks of hair from the heads of Charlotte Brontë, Walt Whitman, Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Wild Bill Hickok, among others.

5. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, the most valuable volumes and manuscripts at the Library were moved to bank vaults around New York City.

6. Since 1987, the original Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends—Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga, and Tigger—have lived at NYPL.

7. Norbert Pearlroth, the Ripley's Believe It or Not! researcher from 1923 to 1975, found all the information for the newspaper feature using the huge collection in the Library's Main Reading Room.

8. In the collections: Charles Dickens's favorite letter-opener. The shaft is ivory, but the handle is the embalmed paw of his beloved cat, Bob, toenails and all.

9. Along with the iconic Lions, the building's ornamentation also includes dolphins, turtles, birds, bees, catfish, dogs, roosters, eagles, rams, swans, snakes, and oxen.

10. Ghostbusters isn't the only movie to film at NYPL! Spiderman, Ted 2, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and more filmed at NYPL.

11. The Library used 530,000 cubic feet of marble, including exterior marble that is 12 inches thick. The marble floors of the Library were deemed so hard that in 1911 all employees were supplied with rubber soled shoes.

Learn even more facts about The New York Public Library:

• Stephen A. Schwarzman Building Facts
• Movies and Television Shows Filmed at The New York Public Library
• Fun Facts About the Library

Gene Luen Yang is the current National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. It is a two-year job that he began in 2016. We were lucky enough to have him join us on March 31, 2017 at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building for a conversation about comics and his Reading Without Walls challenge. Amie Wright, Coordinator of School Outreach for NYPL, introduced the author.

Yang was entranced with comics when he was a kid. In fact, he is a self-described nerd. When he first visited a comics store, he really wanted a gory comic that promised much adventure, but his mother refused. Instead, she agreed to purchase a Superman comic for him.  After all, this superhero is pretty much the equivalent of a giant boy scout, a sanitized version of a comic book character. Such started Yang's fascination with the stories and art that proliferated inside the covers of graphic novels. 

Writing Comics

In fifth grade, Yang and his friend Jeremy started coming up with stories during lunch period. Together, they created a superhero who was pretty much a rip-off of Robin Hood. He used a Power-Point that included comics to tell the story of his childhood. At some point, he took a hiatus from writing comics in order to explore the social prowess that one of the popular kids from school emanated. This other boy was popular and he had a bubble-gum blowing girlfriend. However, he grew tired of that kind of existence, and he developed a renewed interest in comics in 10th grade. He started collecting comics, and he self-published his first graphic novel after college.

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese became a success beyond Yang's wildest dreams. He had no idea that the novel would become so popular, and it opened up doors for him to further progress as an artist and graphic novelist. Prior to the book's success, he taught high school computer science for 17 years. While, he enjoyed being a teacher, the book's success enabled him to pursue writing comics full time. It still floors him that kids are doing their homework based on a comic that he wrote. Books that influenced him in his writing career include Outside the Paint: When Basketball Ruled at the Chinese Playground by Kathleen Yep and Secret Identities: the Asian American Superhero Anthology, edited by Jeff Yang, et. al.

Yang  is trying to write outside of walls and his comfort zone by writing about basketball, a world that he did not like because balls tended to find a way to hit him in the head during sports activities. However, he came to appreciate the sport by striking up dialogue with a basketball coach at his school. That friendship led to him following the team around and observing games for a season. This was research for his current project, which is writing a basketball comic. 

Yang enjoys being an ambassador for young people's literature, and he believes that comic characters and books are ambassadors as well. He attempts to help people understand the world of books. Especially in this political climate, it is important to read outside of walls. This can be done in a myriad of ways. 

Reading Without Walls

1. Read a book about a character who does not live like you or look like you.

2. Read about a topic that you know little about and do not usually read about.

3. Read a book in a format that you do not ordinarily read (eg. graphic novel, audiobook, nonfiction, fiction, book for teens, adults, kids etc.)

Audience Questions

An audience member asked if he has faced serious racism in his life.

Yang responded that he had been the subject of racism, but that his experience was nothing compared to what people went through in the 1930s. Unfortunately, he internalized the comments and behavior and he came to believe that he was less of a person than others. This was painful as is Hollywood's long tradition of giving Asian roles to white actors, which simply perpetuates a culture that is whitewashed. 

Another person asked about the duties associated with his role as National Ambassador of Young People's Literature.

He stated that he writes a blog, and he is required to conduct four speaking engagements per year of his two-year term. 

A teen asked if he felt pressure to be something that he was not as a kid.

Yang did not have the benefit of protagonists in stories who looked like him as a kid. This made the cauldron of insecurity that is junior high all the more difficult to surmount. 

All in all, this TeenLIVE event was a wonderful evening full of conversation about comics, literature and life. Hopefully, you can join us at the next TeenLIVE event.

Books about Asian Americans

We Need Diverse Books

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.

 

We Read...

All about an Instagram poet and  whisical middle grade books to celebrate the birthday of The Little Prince. Why it can be preferable to read on paper. Just think of this as a 19th century re-Tweet. There are over 100 new spring staff picks. You'll enjoy poetry in a whole new way if you read these poems out loud. What is the new epidemic going to be? Cholera may give us a clue. Tavis Smiley on Maya Angelou is music to our ears. How many of these bestsellers from around the world have you read? Kate Chopin's short stories are a great way to dive into her work.

Stereogranimator Friday Feels:

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. ​

Nothing better on a rainy day than curling up with a good book. HIt us up if you need a recommendation. pic.twitter.com/AHbZh4BQRT

— NYPL Recommends (@NYPLRecommends) March 31, 2017

What did you read?

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

Two years ago, we had a crazy idea: what if we could make the maps of New York City’s past work like the maps of today? Could we create, for example, a searchable atlas stitched together from the pages of old maps—like Google Maps, but with a time slider? A location directory that helps you find historical place names, streets and addresses? A new way to discover our collections in historical and geographic context?

As we thought about it more, we realized that maybe this idea wasn’t so crazy; the Library’s collections, after all, contain all the materials needed—maps, photographs, business directories, census data, oral histories, even menus—to create such a system. Whereas in the past you had to come to the Library in person and schedule an appointment to view all these materials, it’s now possible to browse hundreds of thousands of them online, digitized, in high resolution in our Digital Collections. And we didn’t stop there: items in Digital Collections are still just images, you cannot search their content—labels on maps, names and addresses in city directories or the locations where photos were taken. With online crowdsourcing tools like What’s on the Menu? and Building Inspector, we have created ways to extract information from our collections and turn them into data, for everyone to use.

Only one thing is missing: a system which links all these collections and their data, and makes them searchable and accessible through space and time.

The NYC Space/Time Directory

Thanks to generous funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, we were able to start designing and building this system: the NYC Space/Time Directory, a digital time-travel service for New York City, created using the collections of the Library.

Bringing the NYC Space/Time Directory to life is no easy task, and it won't happen all at once, so we'll be unveiling new tools and features as we develop them. Today we are excited to share with you the first fruits of our labor: Maps By Decade, and a new project website where we are publishing historical open data sets.

Maps by Decade

Maps by Decade is a new way to view more than 5,000 digitized street maps of New York City from our collection, published between 1850 and 1950. Over the past seven years, our librarians and patrons have used Map Warper to place more than ten thousand of our digitized historical maps on the correct location on a map of today’s New York by stretching and rotating them, a process which is called georectification.

With Maps by Decade, finding and viewing georectified maps is easier than ever. Use Maps by Decade to browse and compare the streets of New York City, one decade at a time. See how your neighborhood looked in a hundred years ago, and download maps in high resolution, most of which are available in the public domain.

Historical geospatial open data

Maps by Decade is built using a dataset containing the outlines and location of maps from Map Warper. This dataset, along with many others, can be downloaded from the website of the NYC Space/Time Directory. Historical buildings and addresses from Building Inspector, locations of historical street photography from OldNYC, 18th century ward boundaries: all this data, from different collections and research divisions or the NYPL, is now available in one place, and in one format.

Currently, the NYC Space/Time Directory contains the following data:

• 8,000 maps

• 180,000 historical addresses and buildings

• 40,000 georeferenced photos

• 700 historical streets

• 800 churches

Stay in Touch

Over the coming months, more tools and datasets will be released, as well as tutorials and documentation on how to interact with the NYC Space/Time Directory. Keep an eye on the project’s website or follow NYPL on Twitter to stay up to date. Developers and others interested in the project’s source code can visit GitHub to browse the many open source repositories that make up the NYC Space/Time Directory.

The NYC Space/Time Directory also has its own meetup series: Historical Maps & Data at NYPL. Designers, coders, historians, genealogists, librarians and archivists alike, we're inviting everyone interested in the history of New York City to meet and listen to talks about historical data and the NYC  Space/Time Directory project. So far, we have organized two events: one on city directories and one on historical addresses and buildings; more will follow this spring, summer, and fall. As we schedule new meetups, they will be posted on the project's website and on meetup.com.

Do these datasets and tools help you with research? Explore our collections in new ways? Enable you to make a new app?  Or do you have any questions regarding our datasets? Let us know! We'd love to hear how you're using the NYC Space/Time Directory!

Stage NYC: Line Cook Training Program  is a new, no-cost culinary training program designed to meet the growing demand for qualified kitchen employees in New York City's  restaurants while simultaneously increasing access for young adults looking to start their careers in the culinary arts.  To be considered for this opportunity registration  is required.  If you meet the minimum qualifications for the program, Stage NYC will follow up to provide you with the date, time and location of an orientation session.

The Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for Boilermakers Northeast Area, Local Union #5, will conduct a recruitment from April 17, 2017 through March 19, 2018 for five boilermaker (construction ) apprentices.

The Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for the Finishing Trades Institute of New York will conduct a recruitment from April 10,2017 through April 21, 2017 for 50 glazier apprentices.   Applications can be obtained, in person only, from the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for the Finishing Trades Institute of  New York, 45 - 15 36th Street, Long Island City, NY, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday through Friday, during the recruitment period.

Intro  to Social Media on Monday, April 10, 2017, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.  Get an understanding of social media, and learn how you can use social media sites to help on your job search.  For more information call (718) 613 3811 .

New Partners, Inc. will present a recruitment on Tuesday, April 11, 2017, 10 am - 1:30 pm for Home Health Aide (5 F/T & P/T openings), at Flushing Workforce 1 Career Center, 138-60 Barclay Avenue, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355.  Must be able to communicate in and understand English, take an employment exam, undergo a background check and undergo drug screening.

SAGEWorks  workshop - LinkedIn for Those Not On LinkedIn on Tuesday, April 11, 2017, 11 am - 12:30 pm at SAGE Center, 305 7th Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10011.   For more information call 212-741-2247 x224.  SAGEWorks assists people  40 years and older in learning relevant, cutting-edge job search skills in a LGBT-friendly environment.

SAGEWorks workshop - Empowering Women in the Workplace on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, 12 - 1:15 pm at SAGE Center, 305 7th Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10011.  The topic will be on "Staying Confident and Motivated During the Job Search."  For more information call 212-741-2247 x224.  SAGEWorks assists people 40 years and older in learning relevant, cutting-edge job search skills in a LGBT - friendly environment.

Basic Resume Writing  workshop on Thursday, April 13, 2017, 1:30 - 3 pm at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn  Street,  Brooklyn, NY 11201.  Participants will learn the purpose of a resume, chronological and combination resumes and select the appropriate type for their specific needs.

Job Postings at New York City Workforce 1.  

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  April 9 become available.

On February 27, 2017, Model Behavior, a program featuring a talk between Pat Cleveland and Coco Mitchell, two legendary African American models, was held at the Schomburg Center. The conversation, moderated by author and fashion industry expert Constance C.R. White, was held in conjunction with FIT’s exhibit Black Fashion Designers that runs through May 16, 2017. It was a packed event as audience members listened intently as both women discussed how they were catapulted into modeling, traveled the globe and worked with some of the most influential fashion designers of their time. Although it is was an unforgettable one night only event,  a livestream of the program is available.

The program and FIT exhibit is the perfect opportunity to highlight collections and resources at the Schomburg Center about notable African American designers and models from Cleveland and Mitchell’s era.   

Designers

Read about the continuum of African American designers (from Elizabeth Keckley to Tracey Reese) whose fashions have shaped the look of the U.S. from the 19th century through the early 21st centuries in the book Threads of Time: the Fabric of History: Profiles of African American dressmakers and designers, 1850-2002

From the 1960s onward Jon Haggins’ designs were seen on the covers and inside popular magazines and dozens of other publications and his clothes were also carried at major department stores. In the Jon Haggins Fashion Archive, you will find sketches, correspondence from the publications that featured his outfits, and other items that document his career as a fashion heavy hitter.

Later in life, the multitalented Haggins also performed as a vocalist in New York City’s trendiest night clubs,  writes about travel extensively and hosts a series called Globe Trotter TV. Haggins authored an autobiography, Yes I Can: A memoir,  The African-American Travel Guide To Hot, Exotic, and Fun Filled Places and a follow up book, Chasing Wild ASS

Stephen Burrows was a contemporary of Jon Haggins. He made a splash in the early 1970s as the only Black designer to be selected along with four other American designers—including Bill Blass and Anne Klein—to face off against French designers in a fashion show held as part of the festivities surrounding the restoration of King Louis XIV’s palace in Versailles. The Battle of Versailles recounts this transformative moment in fashion and Burrows’ role in that high stakes competition that revolutionized the industry and launched Burrows to success. Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced  is a companion book to a 2013 Museum of the City of New York exhibit featuring a retrospective of Burrows’ stunning signature creations from 1970s some of which were worn by celebrities including Diana Ross, Susan Sarandon, Cher, Grace Jones, Bette Midler and Pat Cleveland.

Patrick Kelly combined his southern sensibilities with high fashion, and became a smash in the 1980s and his designs were available internationally. The Patrick Kelly Archive provides a window into the world of this genius at the height of his success who made a huge impact in the fashion industry before he died at the age of 35. The Patrick Kelley collection of audio-visual recordings featuring Kelly’s fashion shows and interviews, which are housed in the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, have been digitized. However, researchers may view the these recordings online through NYPL’s Digital Collection portal onsite at the Schomburg Center, or NYPL’s other research and branch libraries only.

The Fashion collection in the Photographs and Prints Division contains photographs of African American designers, including the above mentioned designers (Kelly, Haggins, and Burrows) and more.

Models

Long before Tyra Banks instructed aspiring models on her competitive reality TV series "America’s Next Top Model" on how to smile with your eyes (“smizing”) and putting them through extreme photo shoots challenges, Naomi Sims broke barriers in the 1960s as a successful model turned entrepreneur, author and philanthropist. She penned the 1979 book How To Be a Top Model  in which she offered practical advice to would be models and answered the question, “Naomi, How Did You Do It?"  

As an entrepreneur, Sims developed a line of wigs for African American women and she enlisted her beauty industry cohorts, including Beverly Johnson and Alva Chinn, to model her wigs for advertisements. Sims also wroteAll About Health and Beauty for the Black Woman and All About Success For the Black Woman. The Naomi Sims Papers archival collection contains the research and manuscripts for Sims’ books, correspondence, and 1970s fashion industry ephemera including composite cards of her fellow models.

Pat Cleveland, a ubiquitous presence on runways and fashion magazines during her heyday, got her start as a teen modeling for Ebony Fashion Fair shows which were produced and curated by Eunice Johnson (the wife of the media mogul John H. Johnson whose publications included Ebony and Jet). Cleveland, who lived in Europe for a time also, owned her own modeling agency. Cleveland wrote about her remarkable life in her 2016 memoir Walking With Muses. She’s also a published poet and her book In the Spirit of Grace contains a poem for everyday of the year!  

Like Naomi Sims, the model Beverly Johnson diversified her career by also becoming an author and her books include Beverly Johnson’s Guide to a Life of Health and Beauty: A Plan For Looking Good and Feeling Terrific, True Beauty: Secrets of Radiant Beauty for Women of Every Age and Color and most recently her controversial memoir The Face That Changed It All.

Iman, a peer of Sims, Cleveland and Johnson, also launched a highly successful business after a long career as a model and artist. She tells her story  in the book I Am Iman which contains iconic phots of Iman throughout her career.

Model, recording artist, actor, and fashion icon Grace Jones, who also rose to acclaim in the 1970s, may have turned down multiple offers to write an autobiography, but she finally gave in with I’ll Never Write My Memoirs.

Of course, it would be impossible to discuss fashion without the veteran fashion editor and personality Andre Leon Talley whose memoir A.L.T. details his journey from the American south as a young man to working side by side with Vogue magazine editor Diana Vreeland.

Share who your favorite African American models and designers are from the last three decades of the 20th century and come to the Schomburg Center to find out what's in the collection on them!

Want to learn more about several areas in the Bronx?  Tour through these pictorial works. Included in the Bronx Library Center’s Bronx Collection are books that offer a visual tour of various locations in the borough and contain collections of photographs. Get to know the sights and histories of these locations.  

Manolo Valdés: The New York Botanical Garden
Kosme de Barañano
Photography by James T. Murray
Text translated from the Spanish by Annie Rochfort

Seven sculptures by Spanish artist Manolo Valdés, which were on display in the New York Botanical Garden from September 22, 2012 to May 26, 2013, can be viewed in this collection of photographs. The sculptures depict clusters of shapes and patterns that resemble leaves, butterflies, and other aspects of nature; each cluster surrounds a simple sculpture of a female face. This book’s chapters are divided by season, portraying beautiful photographs of the outdoor sculptures taken during the spring, summer, fall, and winter.      

The New York Botanical Garden
Edited by Gregory Long and Todd A. Forrest
Photography by Larry Lederman
Art direction by Marilan Lund
Editorial direction by Sally Armstrong Leone

This book features stunning photographs of the New York Botanical Garden, while also educating readers about the history of the park and the various types of plants found throughout the garden. A good read for anyone who is interested in learning a bit about horticulture or arboriculture, or who simply wants to enjoy viewing the beautifully designed park scenery. 

Yankee Stadium: a Tribute: 85 Years of Memories, 1923-2008
Les Krantz

Learn about the history of Yankee Stadium and experience exciting moments in baseball while reading this tribute to the famous stadium. This book features numerous photographs as well as commentary by Yankees players. 

North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City
Photographs by Christopher Payne with a history by Randall Mason and an essay by Robert Sullivan

This book features photographs of a secluded and lesser-known wildlife sanctuary, located on an island between the mainland of the Bronx and Queens. Although the island is closed to the public, Christopher Payne was granted permission by New York City’s Parks & Recreation Department to photograph the area.  Formerly a hospital island—where individuals including the infamous “Typhoid Mary” were sent—North Brother Island is now full of abandoned buildings and overrun vegetation, which can be seen in these haunting photographs. 

City Island and Orchard Beach
Catherine A. Scott

Black-and-white photographs from the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century display the history of City Island and its residents. Family portraits and pictures of landmarks, streets, and shops from the era are presented throughout this book.  Included with each photo is a brief description of historically relevant facts about the photograph’s subject.    

What is grooved media? The Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound defines groove as "The track inscribed in a cylinder or a disc by the cutting stylus." The most well-known grooved format is the vinyl, long-playing disc (LP), whose resurrection challenged the MP3 as the preferred audio format with audiophiles and fans of bygone times, excited by the soft crackle heard when the stylus and disc meet.

There are, however, several other types of grooved media that are as interesting as the LP, beginning with the cylinder patented by Thomas Alva Edison 140 years ago.

Unfortunately, these other formats are relatively unknown as historical and cultural objects. Knowledge about the variety of grooved media is limited to a small number of professionals in fields related to recorded sound and record collectors. There is room to expand knowledge in this area. Schools, libraries, and archives can take the lead in disseminating information about these overlooked gems.

For this reason, staff from the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound​curated a display to inform, celebrate, and generate excitement about the fascinating history and format diversity of grooved media.

140 Years of Grooved Media showcases rare and interesting items selected from the collection to represent the diversity of grooved discs and highlight innovations and creative strategies used to market the recordings. To see this display, learn about grooved media, and find out what a three-sided record is (it exists!), visit the third floor of the Library for the Performing Arts.

 

 

Note: All images taken by author

The New York Public Library Podcast features your favorite writers, artists, and thinkers in smart talks and provocative conversations. Listen to some of our most engaging programs, discover new ideas, and celebrate the best of today’s culture.

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If you’ve ever made it through a full Seder, you know that celebrating Passover can last as long as the Exodus itself. Today, on day two of the annual holiday, the NYPL podcast has a measure of comic relief for you in the form of an all-new Haggadah called For This We Left Egypt? It's written by Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel, and Adam Mansbach.

Barry, Zweibel, and Mansbach’s new book uses the standard form and structure of a Haggadah but asks the hard questions no Haggadah until now has been willing to ask—like, Is Manischewitz really a wine, or actually a plague?Who is this Elijah guy, really? and Is there a vast anti-Semitic conspiracy behind giving the Earl of Sandwich credit for the sandwich?

Alan Zweibel is one of the original Saturday Night Live writers and is also the winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize winner and the author of over 30 books. Adam Mansbach is the best-selling author of, among other things, Go the F**k to Sleep. They were joined onstage by another amazingly funny human being, Ophira Eisenberg, who is a standup comedian, the host of NPR’s Ask Me Another, and the author of Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy.

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