“In Flanders Fields”
by Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

from “In Flanders Fields and Other Poems” by John McCrae

Thanks Veterans!

Posted by Christopher, a second floor librarian.

East 42nd by Thomas Hawk on flickr

The library will be closed Monday, July 4th in honor of Independence Day. Here are a few electronic tidbits to help celebrate…

A copy of the Declaration of Independence printed in 1776.

Sheet Music for Yankee Doodle from I hear America singing : 55 songs and choruses for community singing from 1917

Stars and Stripes Forever performed by the U.S. Marine Corps Band.

Have a happy and safe holiday!

Posted by Christopher, a second floor librarian

However, I had the pleasure of hearing Jo Anne Trow, Emeritus Vice President of Student Affairs at Oregon State University, give a fabulous book review of Gail Collins’ book, When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, for Random Reviews here at the library on the following day so that was my celebration.

Now you may be feeling sad to have missed that opportunity but the good news is that you can also ‘attend’ the review in the form of a podcast. You couldn’t do that 100 years ago! The most interesting part of the review to me was Dr. Trow’s description of the uphill battles that African-American women fought within the civil rights movement to have their efforts recognized.

The Library of Congress celebrates Women’s History Month with images, slideshows, author interviews, and more. Here is your chance for a visit to Washington DC without the cross-country travel.

Can’t leave you without a selection of books from our collection. Happy reading!

	Elizabeth Cady Stanton : an American life Lori D. Ginzberg
	A jury of her peers : American women writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx Elaine Showalter
	Poems from the women’s movement Edited by Honor Moore
	We are our mothers’ daughters Cokie Roberts
	When everything changed : the amazing journey of American women, from 1960 to the present Gail Collins

Posted by Amy, a second floor librarian

Photo credit: International Womens Day, 2007, by wiccked on Flickr

Civil rights march on Washington, from the Library of Congress collection online

February is African American History Month, and to celebrate, I thought we’d choose a selection of great books on featuring African American history for nonfiction picks this week.

I also wanted to point out the amazing website that the Library of Congress (along with other national agencies) has put together for African American History Month.

Visit it at: http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/

The site brings together amazing digital collections of documents, music, art, photographs, videos, interviews, and more. It’s really great to see all of this wonderful information made so accessible to everyone. I really encourage you to take a look!

Below is a selection of good nonfiction books about African American history and culture in our collection.

	Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music Amiri Baraka “For almost half a century, Amiri Baraka has ranked among the most important commentators on African American music and culture. In this brilliant assemblage of his writings on music, the first such collection in nearly twenty years, Baraka blends autobiography, history, musical analysis, and political commentary to recall the sounds, people, times, and places he’s encountered…. Baraka offers essays on the famous–Max Roach, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane–and on those whose names are known mainly by jazz aficionados–Alan Shorter, Jon Jang, and Malachi Thompson. Baraka’s literary style, with its deep roots in poetry, makes palpable his love and respect for his jazz musician friends.”
	The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Isabel Wilkerson “In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.”
	Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine Terry Bryant “Terry’s new recipes have been conceived through the prism of the African Diaspora—cutting, pasting, reworking, and remixing African, Caribbean, African-American, Native American, and European staples, cooking techniques, and distinctive dishes to create something familiar, comforting, and deliciously unique. Reinterpreting popular dishes from African and Caribbean countries as well as his favorite childhood dishes, Terry reinvents African-American and Southern cuisine—capitalizing on the complex flavors of the tradition, without the animal products.”
	A Century of African American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection Edited by Amalia K. Amaki “The Paul R. Jones collection is one of the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive holdings of African American art in the world. Jones, who was named by Art and Antiques as one of the top one hundred collectors in the United States, began buying paintings, prints, photographs, and sculpture four decades ago and has now amassed over fifteen hundred works, many of them by well-known artists. Among the sixty-six represented are Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Henry Ossawa Tanner, James VanDerZee, Carrie Mae Weems, and Hale Woodruff.”
	The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Family’s Generational Journey to Freedom John F. Baker, Jr. “When John F. Baker Jr. was in the seventh grade, he saw a photograph of four former slaves in his social studies textbook. When he learned that two of them were his grandmother’s grandparents, he began the lifelong research project that would become The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation, the fruit of more than thirty years of archival and field research and DNA testing spanning 250 years. A descendant of Wessyngton slaves, Baker has written the most accessible and exciting work of African American history since Roots. He has not only written his own family’s story but included the history of hundreds of slaves and their descendants now numbering in the thousands throughout the United States. More than one hundred rare photographs and portraits of African Americans who were slaves on the plantation bring this compelling American history to life.”

Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian

Martin Luther King press conference from Library Of Congress

The library will be closed on Monday January 17th in observance of the holiday honoring the late Civil Rights leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  This year (the 25th anniversary of the holiday) a website has been setup by the Corporation for National and Community Service highlighting ways people can celebrate the life of Dr. King as a “Day of Service”. On the site you can find volunteer opportunities across the country.

Listen (7.5MB MP3) to a recording of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech given during the Civil Rights rally on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Read a transcript of the speech.
[audio from archive.org & text from pbs.org]

Posted by Christopher, a second floor librarian

Faces of America

This program shared personal genealogies of prominent people as catalysts to explore the history of the United States.  I found it fascinating and it made me want to jump back into tracing the genealogy of my own family.

If you are interested in exploring your own genealogy we have a great website with links to premier genealogical databases like Ancestry (available in the library only) and HeritageQuest (available at home and at the library).  These databases are available free with your library card.

Christopher’s Genealogy Page

If you prefer to get started with a book, Christopher, another Second Floor Librarian recommends the following titles available at our library:

And if you want to explore more works on genealogy and the lives of individual Americans by  Henry Louis Gates Jr., check out the following titles:

Posted by Sharon, a Second Floor Librarian

Martin Luther King Jr. from the Library of Congress.

Here is audio and a transcript of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech given at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.

In 1954, after World War II and the war in Korea, Congress changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day, to honor American veterans of all wars.

For a detailed history of Veterans Day, to see past posters commemorating the holiday, and more, check out the Department of Veterans Affairs’ website.When I think of Veterans Day, I always recall the poem In Flanders Fields, written by a Canadian soldier who was killed while serving in World War I.

In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian

Classic Red Barn by Robert Crum on flickr

Check out our ever expanding online resources through LibGuides.

One area we have been expanding is Local History . Broken down by geographic area, you will find new tools for researching our city, county, Willamette valley and state. My favorite addition so far is the “Inventory of the County Archives of Oregon No. 2 Benton County”…

Click on the cover to search the index. Head on over to the Benton County page to find the rest of the document.

We are also lucky enough to have Oregon State University Archives, Benton County Historical Society and the Benton County Genealogical Society in our area. You will find links to many of their excellent resources on our pages too.

Don’t forget we provide access to Ancestry Plus Library Edition and Heritage Quest for doing your genealogical research. You can find links to them and more on our Genealogy LibGuide.

Posted by Christopher, a Second Floor Librarian.

My favorite Beatles books in our collection are by author Bruce Spizer:

The Beatles are coming! : the birth of Beatlemania in America
781.66092 SPIZER

The Beatles on Apple Records
781.66092 SPIZER 

The Beatles’ story on Capitol Records
781.66092 SPIZER V.01
781.66092 SPIZER V.02

The Beatles swan song : “She loves you” & other records
781.66092 SPIZER

These books offer a comprehensive look at American Beatlemania and systematic information about the original American releases and those that came out on Apple records. Rest assured, Beatles albums are well represented in our collection. The remasters will be available soon too!

 Christopher “I’ve got blisters on my fingers!” a Second Floor Librarian