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• Eye of the Beholder: Visitor Experience at 19th-Century World Fairs A Lecture by Ruth Slatter

  • When
    11/06/2018
  •  
    6:00 PM
  • Location
    The Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton, Ruggles Hall

  
  
  
  

  In this talk, Dr. Ruth Slatter will focus on the many thousands of visitors who streamed through these exhibition spaces. Using guidebooks, newspaper reports, polemical magazine articles, and photographs taken of these events, she will reflect on the glimpses they provide into how visitors contributed to and experienced nineteenth-century world fairs. What did they make of designed objects on display? How did they respond to the new technologies being promoted? How did their presence in Chicago, London, Paris, Barcelona, and other host cities contribute to the momentary design of these cityscapes?
  
  

  THIS IS A FREE EVENT
  
  Please click here to register.

  
  

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• November 2018 Luncheon Program

  • When
    11/09/2018
  •  
    11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
  • Location
    Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago

  Register

  Scott Schwartz
  on John Philip Sousa

  Luncheon: Friday, November 9, Union League Club

  He was a struggling composer, living on soda crackers in a tiny garret until he was awarded the commission to write the theme song for a new British television program called Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The show started being shown on PBS stations around America and suddenly, John Philip Sousa had stormed onto the public stage.

  Well, actually that’s the sort of story that an unprepared sophomore would tell. But we’re not settling for that! Instead we’re going to the authoritative source as Scott Schwartz, archivist for Music and Fine Arts and director, Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

  at the University of Illinois joins us to tell the fascinating tale of the March King.

  An accomplished and entertaining speaker, Schwartz will share stories about Sousa’s remarkable career and even reveal the sport the famed composer loved so much that he recruited musicians who could double as athletic players.

  March down to the Union League Club to learn the story of the composer who wrote the great American soundtrack to the 4th of July fireworks!

  It’s so easy to make your reservation. Why not do it right now?  

  November 9th luncheon: Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Boulevard. Buffet opens at 11:30 am; program 12:30-1:30. Luncheon is $35. Program free but please let us know you’re coming. Reservations or cancellations for lunch by noon Wednesday the week of the luncheon. Reserve at caxtonclub.org, call 312-255-3710, or e-mail caxtonclub@newberry.org .

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• Stranger Than Fiction presents Kim Coventry & Susan F. Rossen on AuthorsVoice.net

  • When
    11/09/2018
  •  
    3:00 PM
  • Location
    http://authorsvoice.net/

  
  
  
  
  
  

  See Kim Coventry and Susan Rossen discuss the making of the soon-to-be published Chicago By the Book: 101 Publications That Shaped the City and Its Image. Coventry and Rossen cochaired the committee that put this volume together.
  The program is free, live, and interactive! Send in your questions and find out how the members of the Caxton Club of Chicago—a venerable Chicago bibliophilic organization—selected the final 101 titles that helped define our city. 

  With this beautifully produced volume, Chicago’s rich literary tradition finally gets its due. 

  Each title—carefully selected by the Caxton Club—is the focus of an illustrated essay by a leading scholar, writer, or bibliophile. 

  Arranged chronologically, , the essays can be read in order from Juliette A. Kinzie’s 1844 Narrative of the Massacre of Chicago to Sara Paretsky’s 2015 crime novel Brush Back. Or one can dip in and out, savoring reflections on the arts, sports, crime, race relations, urban planning, politics, and evenMrs. O’Leary’s legendary cow. 

  
  The show airs at the Author’s Voice Facebook page or at AuthorsVoice.net. If you miss the live broadcast or would like to watch again, visit the website or the network’s YouTube page.
  
  AuthorsVoice shows are always available online.

  
  

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• November 2018 Dinner Program - One Week Later

  • When
    11/28/2018
  •  
    5:00 PM
  • Location
    Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago

  Register

  Michèle V. Cloonan on “The Monumental Challenge of Preservation: The Past in a Volatile World”

  AND

  Presentation of the Caxton Club Book Arts Awards and Recognition of Past Book Arts Grant Recipients.

  Dinner: Wednesday, November 28, Union League Club

  Monuments—movable, immovable, tangible, and intangible—of the world’s shared heritage are at risk. War, terrorism, natural disaster, vandalism, technological obsolescence, and neglect make the work of preservation a greater challenge than it has been since World War II. In her most recent book, The Monumental Challenge of Preservation, Michèle Cloonan makes the case that, at this critical juncture, we must consider preservation in the broadest possible contexts. Preservation requires the efforts of an increasing number of stakeholders. Michèle will give examples of dilemmas presented by monuments ranging from the Book of Kells to the Vietnam Memorial and the Bamiyan Buddhas. She will also discuss the role of collectors in cultural heritage preservation. Every day we make preservation decisions, individually and collectively, that have longer term ramifications than we might expect.

  Michèle V. Cloonan studied humanities at Bennington College (A.B.) and the University of Chicago (A.M). She has an M.S. and a PhD in library and information science from the University of Illinois. She was a conservator at the Newberry Library, a preservation administrator at Brown University libraries, and a rare book curator at Smith College. At UCLA she was associate professor and chair of Information Studies. She is a professor at Simmons University in Boston, where she was dean from 2002-2012. Her previous book, Preserving Our Heritage: Perspectives from Antiquity to the Digital Age, was awarded the 2016 Society of American Archivists’ Preservation Publication award.

  November Dinner: Union League Club 65 West Jackson. The evening will follow this order: social gathering 5-6 pm, award presentation and program 6-7:30, three-course dinner immediately to follow. Program is free and open to the public. Dinner $63. Beverages $6-$12.

  Reservations must be received by NOON on November 26. Dinner cancellations after this time and no-shows will require payment.  To reserve go on line to www.caxtonclub.org, email caxtonclub@newberry.org, or phone 312-255-3710.

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• December 2018 Luncheon Program

  • When
    12/07/2018
  •  
    11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

  Karen Christianson:
  A Manuscript Sandwich

  Luncheon: Friday, December 7

  Join the Newberry Library’s Karen Christianson as she explores the creation and construction of medieval manuscripts, using a particularly seasonal example in this fascinating presentation. Mark your calendar now; this luncheon is December 7th, the first Friday of the month. 

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