District of Columbia Public Library- Social Sciences Division

All the World's a Stage Book Club in May

2010-05-12T15:47:00.005-04:00

The All the World's a Stage Book Club will read biographies of H.L. Mencken in May. Check out a book from the Biography section (you'll find him at call number 92 M536) and then join us for a lively discussion on Monday, May 24 at 7:00 pm in Room 221. See you there!

image source: wikimedia commons

History and Biography Online Research Workshop

2010-05-05T09:45:00.003-04:00

The History-Biography section of the Social Sciences Division will be presenting an online research workshop on May 5, 2010 at 1:30pm. At this workshop we will explore the online resources available through the DC Public Library Web site in the topics of History, Geography, and Biography. The workshop is free and open to the public. No registration is required, and seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Join us today in the MLK Computer Lab (Room 311) at 1:30pm to learn more about these resources!

April Book Display: Health Care Reform

2010-04-07T20:38:00.002-04:00

This April stop by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library's Social Sciences Division, Room 220 and review & check out our selection of books related to Health Care Reform. In addition to the display, the Division has created a resource guide that will assist you in locating materials in DCPL, and from authoritative government internet resources.

The library has a wide selection of books which focuses on examing various aspects of the health care reform debate in America. In addition, we have books focusing on the policies of the Obama administration and previous presidential administrations.

If you want more information about the current debate over the accessibility and cost of health care, how the health care industy operates and role of the government with reform search the library's catalog

The book display is located on the second floor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, in the East Lobby outside of room 220.

Government and Politics Lecture Series

2010-03-19T17:14:00.002-04:00

The Social Sciences Division of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library will feature presentations from scholars in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, as part of its Government and Politics Lecture series,thoughout 2010. The scholars will discuss their recent books, on a wide range of subjects.

On April 27, 2010, the Library will host Dr. Lee Ann Fuji, who will discuss her recent book, Killing Neigbors: Webs of Violence in Rwanda.

On May 13th the Library will host a presentation by Dr. John Kenneth White, Barack Obama's America: How New Conceptions of Race, Family, and Religion Ended the Reagan Era. These lectures will contribute to an engaging learning experience for all who attend.

April 27, 2010 6:30pm Dr. Lee Ann Fuji Killing Neighbors: Webs of Violence in Rwanda

In a transformative revisiting of the motives behind and specific contexts surrounding the Rwandan genocide, Lee Ann Fujii focuses on individual actions rather than sweeping categories. Fujii argues that ethnic hatred and fear do not satisfactorily explain the mobilization of Rwandans one against another.

Fujii's extensive interviews in Rwandan prisons and two rural communities form the basis for her claim that mass participation in the genocide was not the result of ethnic antagonisms. Rather, the social context of action was critical. Strong group dynamics and established local ties shaped patterns of recruitment for and participation in the genocide. This web of social interactions bound people to power holders and killing groups. People joined and continued to participate in the genocide over time, Fujii shows, because killing in large groups conferred identity on those who acted destructively. The perpetrators of the genocide produced new groups centered on destroying prior bonds by killing kith and kin.

May 15, 2010 1-3pm Dr. John Kenneth White Barack Obama's America: How New Conceptions of Race, Family, and Religion Ended the Reagan Era

Research and reflections on the American demographic shift that led to the election of President Barack Obama. The election of Barack Obama to the presidency marks a conclusive end to the Reagan era, writes John Kenneth White in Barack Obama's America. Reagan symbolized a 1950s and 1960s America, largely white and suburban, with married couples and kids at home, who attended church more often than not.

Obama's election marks a new era, the author writes. Whites will be a minority by 2042. Obama's inauguration was a defining moment in the political destiny of this country, based largely on demographic shifts, as described in Barack Obama's America.

These lectures will be in the Auditorium of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G Street NW. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Book Talk: "Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East"

2010-03-17T20:31:00.002-04:00

As part of the Government and Politics Lecture Series, the Social Sciences Division is pleased to announce that Dr. Nathan Brown will discuss his recent book Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East. Please join us, on April 12, 2010 at 6:30pm, as Dr. Brown, professor of Political Science and International Affairs and Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies at The George Washington University discusses the prospects for democracy, in the Middle East. This book examines this issue in light of the region's sectarianism, culture, religion, security and the promotion of democracy. The book focuses on the challenges of activists, political parties and others working at democratization in the Middle East.

The lecture will occur on April 12, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library 901 G St. N.W. Washington, D.C. Auditorium A-5 (A-Level)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Events @ Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library

2010-01-09T11:38:00.016-05:00

The District of Columbia Public Library is sponsoring a wide variety of events in honor and memory of the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Social Sciences Division will host a film series beginning in January 11th at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on the 2nd Floor, East Lobby, outside Room 220.

Citizen King January 11th @ 3pm

Citizen King traces Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s efforts to recast himself by embracing causes beyond the Civil Rights movement, by becoming a champion of the poor and an outspoken opponent of the war in Vietnam. Tapping into a rich archive of photographs, film footage and eyewitness accounts, this film brings fresh insights to King’s journey, his charismatic leadership and truly remarkable impact.

King Man of Peace in a Time of War January 12th @ 3pm

Is a fascinating and revealing look at the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., filtered through the prism of the major conflicts: the struggle between black and white America, divisiveness within the Civil Rights movement itself and the war in Vietnam? This film includes archival footage of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and exclusive interviews with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, Quincy Jones, and others.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Historical Perspective. January 13th @ Noon
Dr. King is one of the most respected and admired civil rights and human rights leader in American history. He is know worldwide for his perseverance and dedication to peaceful nonviolent action to effect social and political outcomes. Dr. King was the conscience of the civil rights struggle and became a heroic martyr for the movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Historical Perspective offers a one-of-the-kind examination of Dr. King's extraordinary life. This documentary uses rare and largely unseen film footage and photographs. Writer and director, Tom Friedman explores how Dr. King's ideas, thoughts, and causes evolved in the face of the rapidly changing climate of the Civil Rights Movement.

At the River I Stand January 14th @ Noon
This documentary reconstructs two eventful months in Memphis in 1968 leading to the tragic death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Additionally, it documents how the Memphis' Black community rallied behind a strike by grossly underpaid sanitation workers. Dr. King saw an opportunity to link struggle to his growing, nationwide Poor People's Campaign and challenge the economic power structure of the South.

Lectures

Sunday, January 17 at 1:30 p.m.
Paula Young Shelton, daughter of Andrew Young, former United Nations Ambassador, Civil Rights Activist Robert Artisst, former Freedom Rider Rev. Reginald M. Green and others around the city share stories of Dr. King and what he may have thought about current issues if he were alive today.

To view additional Martin Luther King, Jr. related events at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library or throughout the DC Public Library please check out this link http://www.dclibrary.org/node/2423

You can read more about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr by reviewing a list of books in the Social Sciences Division's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. : A Select Bibliography .

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. : A Select Bibliography

2010-01-08T18:13:00.005-05:00

COMPILED BY
The Social Sciences Division

The D.C. Public Library owns many books related to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This bibliography includes a brief selection, biographies, King’s writings and speeches, books related to the civil rights movement and children’s materials. Please consult the library catalog for additional items and the most current holdings.

This bibliography includes biographies, video recordings, and children's works, works about the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Biographies

92 K53BA
Barber, Terry. Martin Luther King, Jr. Edmonton: Grass Roots Press, 2006.

92 K53BE2
Bennett, Lerone. What Manner of Man: A Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., Chicago: Johnson Pub. Co., 1986.

92 K53JO
Johnson, Charles Richard. King: The Photobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Viking Studio, 2000.

92 K53DY
Dyson, Michael Eric. I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr., New York: Free Press, 2000.

92 K53E
Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968: An Ebony Picture Biography. Chicago: Johnson Pub. Co., 2007.

92 K53FA
Fairclough, Adam. Martin Luther King, Jr. Athens: GA: University of Georgia Press, 1995.

92 K53FRA
Frady, Marshall. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 2002.

92 K53HAR
Harding, Vincent. Martin Luther King, The Inconvenient Hero. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008.

92 K53JA
Jackson, Troy. Becoming King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Making of a National Leader. Civil Rights and the Struggle for Black Equality in the Twentieth Century. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2008.

92 K53LIN
Ling, Peter J. Martin Luther King, Jr. London: Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2002.

92 K53LI
Lischer, Richard. The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word that Moved America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

92 K53M
McElrath, Jessica. The Everything Martin Luther King, Jr. Book: The Struggle, the Dream, the Legacy. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2008.

92 K53RA
Ramdin, Ron. Martin Luther King, Jr. London: Haus, 2004.

92 K53SI
Sitkoff, Harvard. King: Pilgrimage to the Mountaintop. New York: Hill and Wang, 2008.

Philosophical Thought

92 K53BU
Burns, Stewart. To the Mountaintop: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Sacred Mission to Save America, 1955-1968. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004.

92 K53BUR
Burrow, Rufus. Martin Luther King, Jr. for Armchair Theologians. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.

92 K53DE
Deats, Richard L. Martin Luther King, Jr., Spirit-Led Prophet: A Biography. Hyde Park, NY: New York City Press, 1999.

92 K53SM
Smith, Ervin. The Ethics of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: E. Mellen Press, 1981.

92 K53WA
Watley, William D. Roots of Resistance: The Nonviolent Ethic of Martin Luther King, Jr. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1985.

230.6109 W741
Wills, Richard W. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Image of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

230.6109 B181
Baldwin, Lewis V. To Make the Wounded Whole: The Cultural Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992.

261.8092 Z57
Zepp, Ira G. The Social Vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.:Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Brooklyn, New York: Carlson Publishing, 1989.

286.135 D751
Downing, Frederick L. To See the Promised Land: The Faith Pilgrimage of Martin Luther King, Jr., Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1986.

320.01 W232
Walton, Hanes. The Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Westport, CT: Greenwood Pub. Corp., 1971.

323.092 W811
Ayers, Alex, ed. The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Meridian, 1993.

323.092 J14
Jackson, Thomas F. From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007.

323.092 J76
Jones, Clarence B. What Would Martin Say? New York: Harper & Row, 2008.
323.4092 C68 Colaiaco, James A. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Apostle of Militant Nonviolence. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988.

Civil Rights Movement

92 K53GAR2
Garrow, David J. Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. New York: W. Morrow, 1986.

323.092 K52
King, Coretta Scott. My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1993.

323.0922 K878
Kotz, Nick. Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws that Changed America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

323.092 S359
Schneier, Marc. Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish Community. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Pub., 1999.

323.092 S386
Schulke, Flip. He Had a Dream: Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. New York: W.W. Norton, 1995.

323.092 S9575
Sundquist, Eric J. King's Dream. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.
323.092 S958
Sunnemark, Fredrik. Ring Out freedom! : The Voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004.

323.1196 A146
Abernathy, Donzaleigh. Partners to History: Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and the Civil Rights Movement. New York: Crown Publishers, 2002.

323.1196 B317
Bass, Patrik Henry. Like a Mighty Stream: The March on Washington, August 28, 1963. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2002.

323.1196 M3793
Kirk, John A. ed. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement: Controversies and Debates. Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

323.1196 W287
Warren, Dan R. If it Takes All Summer: Martin Luther King, the KKK, and States' Rights in St. Augustine, 1964. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2008.

323.173 K53D
Dyson, Michael Eric. April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Death and Transformation of America. New York: Basic Books, 2008.

331.8928 B422
Beifuss, Joan Turner. At the River I Stand: Memphis the 1968 Strike and Martin Luther King. Brooklyn, New York: Carlson Publishing, 1989.

331.8928 H7723
Honey, Michael K. Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King's Last Campaign. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2007.

973.0496 B816AT
Branch, Taylor. At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006.

973.0496 B816
Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988.

973.0496 B816P
Branch, Taylor. Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.

973.0496 C747
Cone, James H. Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1991.

323.0922 H853
Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.

Writings and Speeches

92 K53A
King, Martin Luther, Jr. The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr., New York: Newmarket Press, 2001.

92 K53A2
---. The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.

233 K53A
---. The Measure of a Man. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988.

252.061 K53
---. A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., New York: Intellectual Properties Management, 1998.

252.0613 K53
---. Strength to Love. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1981.

309.173 K53
---. The Trumpet of Conscience. Massey Lectures. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.

323.092 K53C
King, Martin Luther. A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., New York: Intellectual Properties Management, 2001.

323.092 K53D
---. Dream: The Words and Inspiration of Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulder, CO: Blue Mountain Press, 2007.

323.4092 K53
---. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986.

323.4097 K53
Clark, Kenneth. King, Malcolm, Baldwin: Three Interviews. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1985.

323.1196 K525
---. I Have a Dream. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.

323.1196 K525LE
---. Letter from the Birmingham Jail. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1994.

325.26 K53
---. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: Harper & Row, 1958.

92 K53A3
---. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Intellectual Properties Management, 1998.

92 K53HA
Hansen, Drew D. The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech that Inspired a Nation. Waterville, ME: Thorndike Press, 2004.

306.0973 L881
The Lost Massey Lectures: Recovered Classics from Five Great Thinkers. Toronto: Anansi, 2007.

323.092 K53
King, Martin Luther, Jr. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Companion: Quotations from the Speeches, Essays, and Books of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.

323.092 M648
Miller, Keith D. Voice of Deliverance: The Language of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Its Sources. NewYork: Free Press, 1992.

323.092 Q93
Eubanks, Steve. comp. Quotable King: Words of Wisdom, Inspiration, and Freedom by and about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: One of America's Great Civil Rights Leaders. Nashville, TN: Towle House Pub., 2002.

323.092 R551
Rieder, Jonathan. The Word of the Lord is Upon Me: The Righteous Performance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2008.

323.173 K53A
King, Martin Luther, Jr. Why We Can't Wait. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.

323.173 K53W
---. Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community? New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

252.0097 A512 Cushman, Robert. comp. American Sermons: The Pilgrims to Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Library of America, 1999.

King Assassination

364.1524 L266M
Lane, Mark. Murder in Memphis: The FBI and the Assassination of Martin Luther King. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1993.

364.1524 M517W
Melanson, Philip H. Who Killed Martin Luther King? Berkeley, CA: Odonian Press, 1993.

364.1524 P424AC
Pepper, William. An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King. New York: Verso, 2008.

364.1524 P855K
Posner, Gerald L. Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Random House, 1998.

364.1524 R263A
Ray, James Earl. Who Killed Martin Luther King? : The True Story by the Alleged Assassin. Washington, DC: National Press Books, 1993.

364.1524 R264
Ray, John Lary. Truth at Last: The Untold Story of James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2008.

973.923 R595
Risen, Clay. A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

Children’s Literature

JUV 92 KIN
Feeney, Kathy. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Photo-Illustrated Biography. Mankato, MN: Bridgestone Books, 2002.

JUV 92 KIN
Mara, Wil. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Children's Press, 2002.

JUV 92 KIN
Myers, Walter Dean. I've seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2004.

JUV 92
KING Bader, Bonnie. Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 2008.

JUV 92 KING
Bolden, Tonya. M.L.K.: Journey of a King. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2007.

JUV 92 KING
Fandel, Jennifer. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2006.

JUV 92 KING
Fleming, Alice Mulcahey. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Dream of Hope. New York: Sterling Pub. Co., 2008.

JUV 92 KING
Hinton, KaaVonia. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hockessin, DE: Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2009.

JUV 92 KING
Manheimer, Ann S. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Dreaming of Equality. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 2005.

JUV 92 KING
Patrick, Denise Lewis. A Lesson for Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Aladdin, 2003.

JUV 92 KING
Rappaport, Doreen. Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2001.

JUV 394.26 RAU
Rau, Dana Meachen. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Children's Press, 2001.

JUV 92 KING
Trueit, Trudi Strain. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. New York: Children’s Press, 2007.

JUV 92 KIN
Walker, Pam. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Children's Press, 2001.

JUV 323.09 DOERING
Doering, Amanda. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Honoring a Civil Rights Hero. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2006.

JUV 323.09 FARRIS
Farris, Christine King. March On! : The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2008.

JUV 323.09 MICHELSON
Michelson, Richard. As Good as Anybody: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel's Amazing March Toward Freedom. New York: A.A. Knopf, 2008.

JUV 394.26 NOBLEMAN
Nobleman, Marc Tyler. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books, 2005.

JUV E MCNAMARA
McNamara, Margaret. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. New York: Capstone Press, 2007.

Videorecordings

DVD 92 K53B
Citizen King, Produced and directed by Orlando Bagwell and W. Noland Walker. 120 min. Alexandria, VA: PBS Home Video, 2004. Videodisc.

DVD 92 K53W
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A Historical Perspective. Produced and directed by David Kalish. 80 min. Santa Monica, CA: Xenon Pictures, Inc, 2002. Videodisc.

DVD 323.092 K52
King Man of Peace in a Time of War.60 min. North Hollywood, CA: PassPort Video, 2007. Videodisc. DVD

323.092 M379
Martin Luther King, Jr.: I Have a Dream, 25 min. Rolling Bay, WA: Nostalgia Co., 2004, Videodisc.

DVD 323.0973 E97
Eyes on the Prize. Produced and directed by Henry Hampton. 120 min. Alexandria, VA: PBS Video, 2006, Videodisc.

DVD 323.0923 V889
Voices of Civil Rights, Produced and directed by Jeffrey Tuchman. 243 min. Burlington, VT: A&E Home Video, 2006. Videodisc.

DVD JUV 394.26 MAR
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 23 min. Wynewood, PA: Schlessinger Media, 2004. Videodisc.

VIDEO JUV 92 KIN
Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Produced and directed by Melissa Reilly and Paul R. Gagne. 8 min. Norwalk, CT: Weston Woods, 2002. Videodisc.

Social Sciences Division
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library
901 G Street NW, Room 220
Washington, DC 20001

January 2010

Reverend Walter E. Fauntoy Speaks @ Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library

2010-01-07T11:50:00.014-05:00

The DC Public Library is pleased to announce that the Reverend Walter E. Fauntroy, former Congressional Delegate for the District of Columbia and civil rights activist will speak on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, in the Great Hall. He will discuss his new book This is My Story. This is My Song: A Pastor and His People, which documents his 50 years of service to the New Bethel Baptist Church, in Washington, D.C.

Fauntroy, a Washington, D.C. native grew up in the Shaw neighborhood of the District of Columbia, during the midst of the Great Depression. A graduate of Virginia Union in 1955 with a degree in history, Fauntroy entered Yale University on a scholarship. In 1958 the school awarded him a Bachelor of Divinity.

Civil Rights Activist

Fauntroy as an activist experimented with the concept of nonviolent civil disobedience, in Washington, D.C. He organized students and began picketing Woolworth stores and businesses that refused black patronage. He also led the District's Interdenominational Ministers Alliance in protesting the removal of blacks from valuable downtown land. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. selected Fauntroy to lead the Washington Bureau of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC, in 1960. In 1963, Fauntroy was responsible for planning and coordinating the logistics for the March on Washington, in which Dr. King made his famous I have a Dream speech.

Washington D.C. Congressional Delegate 1971 to 1990

In 1970 President Nixon signed into law a provision for an elected nonvoting delegate to the Congress from the District of Columbia. Fauntroy was elected as the first nonvoting congressman from the District of Columbia, in 100 years. In Congress, Fauntroy was a instrumental in campaigning for home rule in the District of Columbia, an elected municipal government chosen by the people for the District. Fauntroy skillfully guided home rule legislation through Congress, giving the District's majority black population locally elected government in 1975. After nearly twenty years of distinguished Congressional service, in 1990, Fauntroy relinquished his Congressional seat to run for District mayor. He was succeeded by Eleanor Holmes Norton, as the District's Congressional Delegate.

Pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church

From the New Bethel Baptist Church in Shaw, Reverend Fauntroy started his social minstry and retired in January 2010, after 50 years of service.

Bibliography

Walter Edward Fauntroy” in Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007. Prepared under the direction of the Committee on House Adminstration by the Office of History & Preservation, U. S. House of Representatives. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2008.

2010 New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-07T11:30:00.008-05:00

Get 2010 off to a brand new start! Come by Room 220 to check out the book display on New Year's Resolutions. The Division has selected several interesting titles related to popular New Year's resolutions, according to USA.gov.

Here is a list of a few selected titles:

306.89 G171
Gallion, Ayesha J. No More Baby's Mama Drama: Keeping it out of Your Life and Marriage. New York: Dafina, 2005.

155.9042 H279
Hargreaves, Gerard. Stress Management: Self-Development for Success. New York: American Management Association, 1998.

306.81 I73
Isaacson, Clifford E. The Good-For-You Marriage : How a Better Marriage Can Improve Your Health, Prolong Your Life, and Ensure Your Happiness. Avon, Mass. : Adams Media, 2008.

362.2928 J42
Jay, Jeff. Love First : A Family's Guide to Intervention. Center City, Minn. : Hazelden, 2008.

155.9042 L326
LaRoche, Loretta. Relax-- You May Only Have a Few Minutes Left : Using the Power of Humor to Overcome Stress in Your Life and Work. New York : Villard 1998.

302.3408 L412
Lavinthal, Andrea. Friend or Frenemy? : A Guide to the Friends You Need and the Ones you Don't. New York : Harper, 2008.

363.7387 R847
Rothschild, David de. The Global Warming Survival Handbook : 77 Essential Skills to Stop Climate Change--or Live Through It. New York: Melcher Media, 2007.

362.2918 S218
Sandor, Richard S. Thinking Simply About Addiction : A Handbook for Recovery. New York : Penguin, 2009.

361.37 S879
Stone, Suzanne. Volunteering Around the Globe : Life-Changing Travel Adventures. Sterling, Va. : Capital Books, 2008.

Black History Month 2010 Events @ Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library

2009-11-17T17:47:00.075-05:00

“Re-Enslavement Revisited” Art Exhibition Opening
February 1 – 28, 2010
In celebration of 2010 Black History Month, the Art Exhibition entitled
“Re-enslavement Revisited” will open at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on February 1, 2009 at 6:00pm in the Great Hall. The month-long exhibit features celebrated artists Terry Dixon and Robert Morris. Their re-enslavement artwork was inspired by Douglas Blackmon’s 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning volume in general non-fiction, Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of African Americans from the Civil War to World War II. The exhibit is designed to highlight the role of major corporations and local government in denying southern blacks their civil rights through the power of judicial and penal systems.

Mr. Dixon is a native of Washington, DC who received his BFA degree from the Atlanta College of Art in 1992 and his MFA degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995. In the May 2005 issue of BusinessWeek Magazine, he was featured as an emerging interdisciplinary artist to start collecting. Earlier this year, he won the First Annual Art-in-Residence position at the Chicago Southland Arts Alliance. Most recently, he was the featured artist on the cover of
The International Review of African American Art.

Mr. Morris is the Director of External Affairs at the Georgia Ports Authority in Savannah, Georgia. He studied art at The Sidwell Friends School (Washington, DC) and Tulane University in New Orleans. His one man show “20” was held at the Book Lady Bookstore in Savannah, in June 2008. His exhibit, “Slavery by Another Name,” took place at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah on May 15, 2009. Both artists return for a brief slide presentation on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The Honorable Russlynn H. Ali with the Shiloh Baptist Church Senior Choir
February 2, 2010

The Honorable Russlynn H. Ali, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, United States. Department of Education will speak at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall. She will examine an aspect of the Department’s role in providing opportunities to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Included in her presentation will be a discussion of the Office of Civil Rights’ enforcement efforts to prohibit discriminatory practices in programs or activities that receive federal, educational funds. The U.S. Senate confirmed President Obama’s March 18th nominee on May 1, 2009. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Ali served as vice president of the Education Trust in Washington, DC, a national advocacy organization that works toward high academic achievement of students at all levels. A former teacher and chief of staff to the president of the Los Angeles School District’s Board of Education, she graduated from American University and Northwestern University School of Law. Before her career in the non-profit sector, she practiced corporate and civil rights law and served on the faculty of the University of Southern California School of Law. She will joined by the Shiloh Baptist Church Senior Choir. The Choir is a widely recognized ensemble in the Metropolitan area. Led by conductor Thomas Dixon Tyler, the Choir has received recognition for its Christmas concerts and the “Anthem of Thanksgiving.” City residents have been captivated by its performance of excerpts from Handel’s “The Messiah” (City Cable 16). The Choir also gained recognition for its popular CD “Praise the Lord! – Gospel Music in Washington, DC.”

Dr. Maurice Jackson, Associate Professor of History, Georgetown University with the Sidwell Friends School Chamber Choir
February 8, 2010

Dr. Maurice Jackson, Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University, will lecture at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Monday, February 8, 2010 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall. Dr. Jackson is the author of the critically-acclaimed book, Let This Voice be Heard: Anthony Benezet, Father of Atlantic Abolitionism (2008) His research interests include Race and Revolution in the Atlantic World, African American History and Culture, and African American intellectual history. He has spoken at many events including a symposium at New York University and a celebration that honored pianist Thelonius Monk at Duke University. In keeping with the Black History Month 2010 theme, “The History of Black Economic Empowerment,” Dr. Jackson will talk about the mid 18th Century Quaker leader as an early contributor to black self-sufficiency through education. He will be joined by Sidwell Friends School Chamber Choir. The Choir has traveled throughout the United and abroad. It has performed at the White House and has participated in the Tunes to Teens program of CASA, The Contempary A Cappella Society. The Choir is directed by John Touchton, Arts Department Chair, Choral Arts Director and Music Teacher.

The Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) with the Higher Praise Chorale, Asbury United Methodist Church
February 9, 2010

The Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) will speak at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall. The nine-term congresswoman will focus on some aspect of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). At present, Representative Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. In addition to being a Senior Democratic Whip, she has earned a reputation as a foreign policy expert and has worked to improve human rights around the world. A champion of higher education, she co-founded the House HBCU Caucus in September 2008. During the 107th legislative session, Congresswoman Johnson chaired the Congressional Black Caucus. She will be joined by the Higher Praise Gospel Chorale of the Asbury United Methodist Church. The Choir is conducted by acclaimed composer, Stephen Key of StepKey Music. Formed ten years ago, the Gospel Chorale gained recognition for its 2007 inspiring benefit concert entitled “From There to Here” in which it performed the works of James Cleveland, Edwin and Walter Hawkins, and Richard Smallwood to name a few of gospel music’s greatest artists.

Patrick Lundy and the Ministers of Music In Concert
February 16, 2010

Brace yourself for a handclapping, footstompping gospel feast! At the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall, Patrick Lundy and the Ministers of Music will appear in concert. The dynamic singing aggregation began in 1994. It consists of talented vocalists and musicians from the Washington Metropolitan Area. The Choir has traveled throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to appearing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the U. S. Senate’s Family Thanksgiving Celebration in 2002, the White House in 2002, and on Black Entertainment Television’s “Bobby Jones Gospel Hour," the Choir received the honor of representing the United States at the World’s Fair in Lisbon, Portugal in 1998 where it performed at the opening ceremonies and also spread the gospel in concert at several churches. In 2002, it toured the Bahamas. In addition to producing one album and three CDs, the Choir has performed in concert with many national recording artists such as Yolanda Adams, Richard Smallwood, Kirk Frankland & Family, Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, and CeCe and Vicki Winans. On November 7, 2009, the Choir celebrated its 15th anniversary with a live recording that featured Tramaine Hawkins.

Journalist Gwen Ifill
February 22, 2010

Gwen Ifill will take center stage at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on Monday, February 22, 2010 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Great Hall. Attorney General Eric Holder’s 2009 Black History Month ‘a nation of cowards’ remarks, along with Harvard Professor Henry Lewis Gates’ July 2009 house arrest, has led to a continuation of the inequality debate. Within the context of the 2010 Black History Month theme, “The History of Black Economic Empowerment,” and her best-selling book, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama (2009), journalist Ifill will look at race in the age of America’s first black president. She is the moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” and senior correspondent for the “News Hour with Jim Lehrer.” The political analyst joined both organizations in 1999. A veteran reporter of six presidential campaigns, she moderated the Vice Presidential debates in 2004 and 2008. A book signing follows the lecture.

Journalist Douglas Blackmon
February 23, 2010

Douglas Blackmon, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner in non-fiction, will discuss his book, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II (2008) at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall. Based on a vast record of original documents and personal narratives, Blackmon will tell the shameful story of a new form of human bondage in which the southern power structure deliberately stripped free black men of their civil rights and profited in human labor. Blackmon currently serves as Atlanta Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal. Since the late 1980s, he has written extensively on United States race relations. He joined the Journal as a reporter in 1995. In his role as Bureau Chief, he manages the coverage of major transportation companies and other issues that impact the southeastern United States. Many of his stories have explored the cross section of wealth, race and corporate conduct. A book signing follows the lecture.

Dr. Barbara Tomblin
February 24, 2010

Dr. Barbara Tomblin will lecture at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 beginning at 12:00 noon in the Black Studies Center, Room 316. She is the author of Bluejackets and Contrabands: African Americans and the Union Navy. She will focus on the role of escaped slaves in the Union blockage along the Atlantic Coast during the Civil War. A naval historian who earned a doctorate in U.S. History from Rutgers University, she has taught at a number of institutions of higher learning in New Jersey, including Morris County College and Rutgers. In addition to over a dozen articles in subfields of the U.S. Civil War, World War II, and Women the Military, Dr. Tomblin has presented papers at Sienna College and the U.S. Navy Academy. She is the author of two other monographs,
(G. I. Nightingales: The Army Nurse Corp in World War II 1996) and With Utmost Spirit: Allied Naval Operations in the Mediterranean 1942-1945 (2004).

Folklore and Legend Film Series

2009-11-09T19:51:00.008-05:00

Join us at Martin Luther King, Jr. on November 10 at Noon in the Auditorium A-5 to view the documentary Quest for King Arthur. This production delves into multiple historical figures who may have contributed to Arthurian legend, as early as the third century and as late as the 9th. It cites as our primary source of the legend the writings of Sir Thomas Mallory.

The film examines the role of myth and legend to Celtic, Briton, and Anglo-Norman culture. It provides analysis by scholars in literature, archaeology and history on sources for the a historical Arthur or a composite character.

Please join the DC Library for this presentation.

The countdown begins...

2009-11-02T16:38:00.012-05:00

The Sociology library associate is moving on to the next chapter in her DCPL adventure at the end of this week. You will find her at the soon-to-be-open Northwest One branch. Make sure to check the DCPL website at www.dclibrary.org for future library blogs + the calendar of events!
image source: flickr commons

Creative Use of Your Library Card

2009-10-26T16:15:00.009-04:00

image source : flickr commons

"One girl said she used a butter knife and a library card to break into vacant houses."

The New York Times published the first of two articles on the increase in youth runaways. This piece supposedly ties runaways with the current economic climate, but only one sentence out of 4 pages mentions the recession. Still, it is definitely worth a read.

On a somewhat related note, the Sociology October book displays are on National Domestic Violence Awareness Month as well as Crime Prevention Month. Be sure to check them out in the next few days.

Books on street kids/teen runaways: SOC 362.74

Updated DCPL Website

2009-10-21T11:50:00.006-04:00

Forgot to post about the updated DCPL website! Not too shabby. The old CityCat catalog can be reached if you click on "My Account" off the new site, or go to http://citycat.dclibrary.org and "Try CityCat Now." The catalog on the new site is still in BETA - check back for updates and improvements!

Things are going well for the SOC Library Associate holed up in Business and Technology. She is busy perusing Cat Fancy and Organic Gardening magazines, and learning all about HVAC!

Prison Stripes or Candy Stripes?

2009-10-18T14:10:00.008-04:00

According to this article, more than 3,000 people die each year of natural causes in US correctional facilities. Of course this is bound to happen with over 7 million people imprisoned in this country and 1/3 of them over 50. This reality has led to a number of hospice programs starting up within correctional facilities. And who better to volunteer at these hospices than prison inmates themselves?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/health/18hospice.html?ref=global-home

Books on hospice : SOC 362.175
Books on prisons/incarceration : SOC 365.973

DCPL Benefit CD

2009-10-08T10:52:00.005-04:00

Stop in to Georgetown's proper topper to pick up a dcpl benefit cd. Local bands giving local love for dc public libraries. The CD is only $10 and it all goes to the DCPLfoundation!

www.dcplfoundation.org
www.propertopper.com

So long for a month!

2009-10-05T11:43:00.015-04:00

I am stationed in the lovely Business and Technology division on the first floor during the month of October.

Will post If I can!

image source : flickr commons

Shamans! Coming to a hospital near you.

2009-09-28T12:42:00.005-04:00

The Nytimes recently published an article on Hmong Shamans and medical care and it reminded me of a great book on Sociology + Health: Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. Head to 306.461 F145 for that title and peruse the nearby stacks for more books on transcultural medical care, social medicine and health and sickness from a social standpoint. Watch PBS's film The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America for even more information!

Lincoln Bicentennial Lecture

2009-09-21T14:13:00.009-04:00

Head up to MLK Library's Washingtoniana Division Tuesday 9/22 at 6:30pm for "From Slavery to Emancipation: Abraham Lincoln in African Memory" presented by Dr. James Horton. Horton is the Benjamin Banneker Professor Emeritus of American Studies and History, George Washington University.

Many Scholars believe that as a defender of national unity, leader in war, and freer of slaves, Abraham Lincoln can be considered one of America's greatest presidents. In commemoration of Lincoln's birth, Dr. Horton will shed light on slavery and emancipation.

Sustain Our Libraries

2009-09-17T11:40:00.003-04:00

Be on the lookout for some library themed pastes out and around Pittsburgh.

Come on DC!

Real talk. Book talk.

2009-09-15T15:34:00.008-04:00

Lots of literary love this week. In a few hours, Marita Golden will speak at MLK Library about her recent middle east travels. Golden was a Fulbright senior scholar in creative writing and visited universities in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. She will speak in the Great Hall at 6:30pm tonight.

Want to learn about "the roots of LGBT oppression, the construction of sexual and gender identities, the history of the gay movement, and how to unite the oppressed and exploited to win sexual liberation for all.?" Come to Busboys and Poets tomorrow night 9/16 at 6:30pm to hear Sherry Wolf talk about her new book: Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT Liberation.

News of note.

2009-09-09T17:17:00.013-04:00

source: flickr commons

Wapo has an article about the Quest Institutes "Books Behind Bars" program. Apparently a CD-ROM and paper clip halted the entire program. Books Behind Bars donates prisoner-requested books to Virginia Corrections facilities. The active DC based Quixote Center's Books to Prisoners project can be found here.

Nytimes has an op-ed by social sciences favorite Michael Pollan. He's got something to say about health care reform and it makes me hungry.

National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month

2009-09-08T13:26:00.005-04:00

September 2009 is the 20th anniversary of the Department of Health and Human Services' National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Stop by the Sociology division and pick up a book or two on drugs, addiction, and recovery. Check out www.recoverymonth.gov for resources on how to help and how to get help.

Holder's can of worms

2009-08-24T20:28:00.008-04:00

Hanging around mlk library? Start your own 'investigation' into the CIA through the books in the Social Sciences division. Peruse our display table for titles on the CIA, Department of Justice, human rights, terrorism and torture .

Here is the NYTimes take on prosecuting the CIA.

Questioning the sex of an athlete

2009-08-23T15:28:00.020-04:00

source : flickr commons

Caster Semenya, a South African teenager, won gold in the 800 meter race at the world athletics championship last week. what was quite a remarkable feat - she finished a full 2.45 seconds ahead of the closest opponent- is quickly becoming overshadowed by the debate over her gender.

While this may seem incredulous to some (including Semenya's family and the South African government), there have been cases of female impersonation in athletics. according to the daily mail, the most famous case is German athlete Dora Ratjen, a high jumper who claimed he was forced by the Nazis to disguise himself as female in the Berlin Olympics. the first athlete to be caught through gender testing was Polish runner Ewa Klobukowska who won medals during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

The ny times has an interesting piece on Caster Semenya and sex determination in sports here.

Books on women in sports: MUS 796.082
Books on gender and sex: SOC 306.7

Tintin au la bibliotheque? Non en brooklyn.

2009-08-19T11:29:00.009-04:00

source: flickr commons

The controversy around Tintin and his trip to Congo isn't news to those aware of censorship issues. How do libraries deal with patrons and book challenges like Tintin au Congo? NYTimes shares the Brooklyn public libraries approach as well as some interesting examples of book challenges.

Interested in books on libraries, censorship, and intellectual freedom? Poke your nose around LIT 025.

Bye bye amps and drum kits! It's back to book carts.

2009-08-18T10:15:00.028-04:00

source: kim swartz

Where oh where was the Sociology Library Associate last week? Rockin' out with sixty 8-18 year old little ladies at girls rock! day camp, that's where. I joined 2 DCPL YA librarians and over 100 rad DC women in organizing and leading camp this summer.

How did the public library help these kids rock out, you might ask? Well, we held some camp-related instrument shares at MLK library and the Southeast branch in the months leading up to camp, and during camp week our table in the 'Hall of Sisterhood' just about spilled over with DCPL library books. We had books on band art, instrument instruction, biographies of women who rock and the history of women in music. The girls (and volunteers) could look to the books for inspiration during camp week and also be reminded of the resources at their local library! We even got some kids signed up for DCPL library cards! It was a great week and I look forward to next summer.

Here are some highlights:
http://dcist.com/2009/08/click_click_girls_rock_dc_2009.php?gallery0Pic=1#gallery

http://thenewgay.net/2009/08/girls-really-do-rock.html

http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/live-dc/girls-rock-dc-a-recap/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h87bnFXaO40

History-Biography August book displays

2009-08-05T16:56:00.006-04:00

History-Biography has a book display commemorating the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne earlier this year. We also have displays on Corazon Aquino and honoring the 200th anniversary of the birth of Alfred Lord Tennyson . Books on display include:

Tennyson, the Unquiet Heart - Robert Bernard Martin
92 T312M

The Poetical Works of Tennyson
821 T312A55

Corazon Aquino: The Story of a Revolution - Lucy Komisar
92 A657K

Great Harry - Carolly Erickson
92 H5216E

The Wives of Henry VIII - Antonia Fraser
923.142 F841

Stop by the History-Biography Reading Room at MLK to check out the displays!

All the World's A Stage - August Edition

2009-08-04T11:45:00.007-04:00

image source : wikipedia

The next All the World's A Stage book club meeting will be on Monday, August 24th, when we will be discussing Joseph Ellis' Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel: Room 221, 7 PM.

Our tie-in film on Monday, August 10th will depict what was happening on the other side of the Pond - "The Madness of King George" will be shown at 2:00 and 6:30 in the west lobby on the 2nd floor. Hope to see you there!

dcpl + wamu

2009-08-03T17:09:00.008-04:00

DCPL Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper was on The Kojo Nnamdi Show this afternoon. Listen to it here.

Yay: Circulation is up in every single branch in the system.
Boo: Our budget cuts are looking like 16%. Scary!!!

Healthy hippies! Sociology August book displays

2009-07-31T10:00:00.023-04:00

Make sure to check out Sociology's August book displays when you stop in to MLK this month! Our great hall display focuses on Health Care Reform. Our 2nd floor lobby display highlights the 40th anniversary of Woodstock.

Sick: the untold story of America's health care crisis + the people who pay the price - Jonathan Cohn

362.1097 C678

Worried sick: a prescription for health in an overtreated America -
Nortin Hadler
362.1097 H131

Critical: what we can do about the health care crisis - Tom Daschle
362.1042 D229

The road to woodstock - Michael Land
781.6607 L271

1969: Woodstock, the moon, and Manson the turbulent end of the 1960s - Richard Stengel
973.924 N714

The hippie handbook - Chelsea Chain
305.568 C1352

tonight!

2009-07-28T10:06:00.000-04:00

come down to mlk for a screening of stealing a nation - an award winning documentary about the displacement of the chagossian people of the island diego garcia.

followed by a book discussion with local author david vine on island of shame: the secret history of the u.s. military base on diego garcia - his new book on the same subject.

tonight! 6pm in auditorium A5

all the world's a stage book club

2009-07-23T16:59:00.003-04:00

There is still time to read the All the World's a Stage Book Club selection for July, A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation, by David W. Blight. Stop by the History-Biography reference desk in Room 209 of MLK Library to pick up your copy.

The book club will meet to discuss the book on Monday, July 27 at 7:00pm in Room 221 of MLK Library. See you there!

Weekend pick! This Is Your Country on Drugs

2009-07-23T16:42:00.005-04:00

Head over to politics and prose this Saturday 7/25 at 6pm for a discussion with author Ryan Grim on his new book and recent soc acquisition:

this is your country on drugs: the secret history of getting high in america
306.1 G861

"In the tradition of Schlosser's Reefer Madness, Grim explores the history of illicit drug use in America. A journalist and senior correspondent with Huffingtonpost.com, Grim looks back to what the Founding Fathers may have imbibed and goes on to cover later trends, such as acid and crystal meth."

Obama on Gates

2009-07-23T09:49:00.019-04:00

image source: www.harvard.edu

If you haven't seen President Obama's comments on the Henry Louis Gates/Cambridge police incident check them out here.

Books by the Harvard scholar are found in the History/Biography division. Topics such as racial profiling and police misconduct are found in Sociology and Black Studies.

racial profiling 363.2308 K839
Henry Louis Gates 92 G2585
police misconduct 363.232 W724

Just in

2009-07-21T16:12:00.028-04:00

The new books are trickling in over at the SOC division...hopefully more to come this week!

Cornel West Reader - Cornel West
305.896 W516C

Next Stop, Reloville: life inside America's new rootless professional class - Peter T. Kilborn (bonus! book mentions the always exciting Gaithersburg, MD)
305.553 K48

Provenance: how a con man and forger rewrote a history of modern art - Laney Salisbury + Aly Sujo
364.163 S167

An introduction to visual culture - Nicholas Mirzoeff
306.47 M677

Methland: the death and life of an American small town - Nick Reding
362.299 R317

Getting in through my thick skull: why i stayed, what i learned, and what millions of people involved with sociopaths need to know - Mary Jo Buttafuoco
362.1968 B988

hearing of the week

2009-07-14T10:01:00.013-04:00

image source: getty

Lots of interesting hearings this week! but really...this week it is all about Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Follow the live stream on www.cnn.com or keep up with the #Sotomayor tweets!

Public (Library) Enemies

2009-07-09T10:22:00.013-04:00

image source: nytimes

so this is why public enemies by bryan burroughs keeps showing up on the pick list...place a hold through citycat today and read the book before you watch the film!

http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/movies/01enemies.html

Family Reunion Month Book Display

2009-07-06T21:06:00.014-04:00

(Image Source: Washington state government)

July is observed by many as National Family Reunion Month. If you are interested learning more about your family or planning a reunion please check out the DC Public Library.

The library contains numerous books about performing genealogical research, planning family reunions and organizing reunion events. During July in the Great Hall of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Public Library we will feature these items in a book display. Also, please search the catalog for items related to family reunions, researching your family history, and relationships with your family.

Additionally, the DC Public Library provides users with access to Heritage Quest, a genealogical research databases with more than 25,000 family and local histories.

Liberian Film Festival at DC Public Library

2009-07-06T20:28:00.014-04:00

(Image source: CIA World Fact Book)

Liberia's national moto is "The love of liberty brought us here." The country was founded in 1847 by free American Africans, a growing population in the US, due to abolition in the North and manumission, who chose to emigrate to Liberia with the support of the American Colonization. Since Americo-Liberian settlers declared the independence of the Republic of Liberia, the nation has had a unique relationship with the United States government and business interest. President William Tubman administration from 1944-71 promoted foreign investment and attempted bridge the economic, social, and political gaps between the descendants of the original settlers and the inhabitants of the interior. In 1980, a military coup led by Samuel Doe ushered in a decade of authoritarian rule. In December 1989, Charles Taylor launched a rebellion against Doe's regime that led to a prolonged civil war. Presently, the nation is working to rebuild itself after this period of civil unrest

In honor of the 162nd anniversary of the foundation of Liberia, the DC Public Library will present the following films:

Liberia: America’s Stepchild July 15, 2009
Liberia: An Uncivil War July 22, 2009
Iron Ladies of Liberia July 29, 2009

The films document the nation's history, the civil unrest the 1990s, and conclude with efforts to rebuild the nation by the present administration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female president of an African nation.

The films will begin on Wednesdays at Noon in the East Lobby on the Second Floor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street NW.

If you would like to learn more about Liberia on the Internet check out the CIA World FactBook and the U.S. Department of State Liberia page.

You can search the DC Public Library catalog and online databases for resources related to the resettlement of free African Americans to Africa and Liberian history, government and politics.

Vietnam War Architect Robert McNamara dies at 93

2009-07-06T19:22:00.009-04:00

(Image Source: the Defense Information Systems Agency)

Robert McNamara (June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) died early Monday morning in his sleep at the age of 93. McNamara served as Defense Secretary for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1968. Following that he served as President of the World Bank from 1968 until 1981.

McNamara will always be best known for his role as the architect of the Vietnam policy in the 1960s. In his book, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, he admitted that the the War, in which 58,000 Americans lost their lives was waged in error and the policy was flawed.

The DC Public Library owns wide selection of books related to the Robert McNamara. Below is a brief list of items authored by McNamara, such as:

Wilson's Ghost: Reducing the Risk of Conflict, Killing, and Catastrophe in the 21st Century. Public Affairs, 2001. 327.17 M169

Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy. Public Affairs, 1999.
959.7043 M169AR

In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. Times Books, 1995.
959.7043 M169

Out of the Cold: New Thinking for American Foreign and Defense Policy in the 21st Century. Simon and Schuster, 1989.
327.7304 M169

Blundering into Disaster: Surviving the First Century of the Nuclear Age. Pantheon Books, 1986. 355.033 169

The Essence of Security; Reflections in Office. Harper & Row, 1968.
355.0973 M169

You can also search our databases for biographical information and articles about American defense policy during the Vietnam War.

The Social Sciences Division will have a book display during the month of July related to Robert McNamara and the Vietnam war policy. Please check it out in the East Lobby on the Second Floor.

update on dcps/dcpl booklists

2009-06-30T13:00:00.002-04:00

here they are... and i definitely spy some glbt books in there!
transport yourself back to high school and
read all those books you could never find the time for.

http://www.k12.dc.us/Teachingandlearning/summer-reading-list-2009/index.htm

hearing of the week

2009-06-22T12:22:00.002-04:00

The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009

Thursday, June 25, 2009
Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226
10:00 a.m.

http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=3943

dcps bans glbt titles from summer reading lists?

2009-06-22T11:40:00.009-04:00

read about it on the school library journal blog.

update here!

Ray Bradbury loves libraries!

2009-06-20T11:24:00.004-04:00

image source: nytimes

Literary legend Ray Bradbury says...

“Libraries raised me...I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.”

"Yahoo called me eight weeks ago...They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? ‘To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.'"

Read the rest of the article here!

hearing of the week

2009-06-16T13:15:00.007-04:00

image source: flickr.com/wcamlin

U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
holds a business meeting!

They will discuss amendments on the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act, and the Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002.

Should be a good show.
Thursday 6/18
9:30 am
Dirksen 406.

glbt pride book displays

2009-06-11T10:01:00.012-04:00

image source: www.flickr.com/photos/pakgwei/

cruise by the 2nd floor east lobby and peruse the sociology and religion book displays in commemoration of glbt history and the 40th anniversary of the stonewall riots. pick up a few books and a copy of President Obama's National GLBT month proclamation too!

some highlights:
locas: the maggie and hopey stories - jamie hernandez
741.5973 H557

queer 13: lesbian and gay writers recall 7th grade - ed. clifford chase
372.1826 Q3

que(e)rying religion: a critical anthology - ed. gary david comstock
200.8664 Q35

reading the l word - outing contemporary television - ed. kim akass
791.4565 R287

stonewall: the riots that started the gay revolution - david carter
306.766 C3233

transgender history - susan stryker
306.768 S928

check out http://www.capitalpride.org/ for upcoming festivities!

hearing of the week

2009-06-09T14:18:00.007-04:00

image source: wikipedia

"The Legal, Moral, and National Security Consequences
of 'Prolonged Detention'"

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.
Room 226 Dirksen

Chairman Feingold presiding

"The Continued Importance of the Violence Against Women Act"
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.
Room 226 Dirksen
Guest starring: Gabrielle Union

the committee on the judiciary is where it's at this week. http://judiciary.senate.gov/

monday night fun!

2009-06-08T16:06:00.007-04:00

image source: flickr commons

make the quick trip from MLK library over toE street cinema tonight - i wish that i could! catch Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser and food safety advocate Barb Kowalcyk on a panel with the filmmakers of "Food Inc." one of the latest docs on the food industry and how we eat.

update: the screening is full!

check out http://www.foodincmovie.com/ for more info on the film
and the nytimes article on it here.

Study from Utrecht University in the Netherlands Shows Most People Replace Friends Every 7 Years

2009-06-03T15:58:00.008-04:00

image source: Arizona state government

A new study by sociologist Gerald Mollenhorst of Utrecht University in the Netherlands indicates that people replace close friends with new ones every seven years. The conclusion of the study was that our social networks tend to remain about the same size.

If you are interested in learning more about friendships visit DCPL's Social Sciences Division. We have a diverse collection of books on meeting people and maintaining friendships.

This list is includes some of the more recent titles:

Bisexual Women: Friendship and Social Organization. –Marlene Paz Galupo
306.765 B6216

Friendship: An Exposé. - Joseph Epstein
302.34 E646

I Can Tell Her Anything: The Power of Girl Talk - Annette Annechild
302.34 A6137

The Girls: A True Story of Lifelong Friendship-Nina Barrett
305.244 B274

The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship- Jeffrey Zaslow 305.4092 Z38

Some of My Best Friends: Writings on Interracial Friendship. – Emily Bernard
302.34 S693

The Red Hat Society: Fun and Friendship after Fifty - Sue Ellen Cooper
305.244 B274

Friend or Frenemy?: A Guide to the Friends You Need and the Ones You Don't. Andrea Lavinthal
302.3408 L412

mas libros!

2009-06-01T18:46:00.009-04:00

I know I know...I just posted on Friday that we received some new books... but today we got fifty more and boy do they look good!

The food of a younger land : a portrait of American food : before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation's food was seasonal, regional, and traditional : from the lost WPA files - Mark Kurlansky
394.1209 F686

Catching fire : how cooking made us human - Richard Wrangham
394.12 W941

What we leave behind - DerrickJensen
304.28 J54

Faces from the land : twenty years of Powwow tradition - Ben Marra
394 M358

Democracy in print: the best of the progressive magazine 1909-2009 - Matthew Rothschild, ed.
320.573 D383

hearing of the week

2009-06-01T15:58:00.009-04:00

image source: library of congress commons

Challenges and opportunities for US-China cooperation on climate change
thursday june 4
10 am
419 Dirksen Senate building

weekend reads

2009-05-29T15:57:00.012-04:00

just a few of the new books in the sociology division

garden in a small space...
The self sufficient-ish bible: an eco-living guide for the 21st century -
Andy and Dave Hamilton
363.7 H217

read with a child...
Rhe book whisperer - Donalyn Miller
372.6 M647

find the perfect cufflinks...
Rhe handbook of style: a man's guide to looking good - Esquire magazine
391. 1 H326

and for all you alliteration lovers...
The towering world of Jimmy Choo: a glamorous story of power, profits, and the pursuit of the perfect shoe - Lauren Goldstein Crowe
391.413 C953

what is it those corporate agribusinesses don't want WSU freshman to know?

2009-05-27T15:29:00.013-04:00

image source: Library of Congress Flickr Commons

Some news from the academic library world ...Washington State University announced last week that it decided to pull The Omnivore’s Dilemma - Michael Pollan's super popular book about "the ecology of the food humans eat and why"- from their required reading program for freshman. possible reasoning behind that one? pressure from corporate agribusiness, say some faculty members.

Well you could pick up The Omnivore's Dilemma from your local dcpl branch, if all the copies weren't already checked out! Place a hold on citycat and check out Pollan's latest: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. Books on food and eating start around SOC 394!

Stop by MLK Library to check out a great article on the WSU controversy in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education - one of the many journals and newspapers we receive in the Social Sciences division. check out The Chronicle's blog post on it here!

UPDATE: Looks like WSU found a way to make it work!

txt u l8r

2009-05-26T12:36:00.028-04:00

image source: Library of Congress Flickr Commons

Check out this interesting NYTimes article on the psychological and physical effects of texting. bonus! the article features a Bethesda teen.

Something the article does not fully address is text message bullying. Text message bullying is highly prevalent in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada and for some reason doesn't seem to get reported in the United States. Here is an article written by a teen on the subject.

Interested in reading up on the topic?

Cyber-bullying : issues and solutions for the school, the classroom and the home - Shaheen Shariff
371.58 S531

The mobile connection: the cell phone's impact on society - Richard Ling
303.4833 L755

Yourspace: Questioning New Media - Heather E. Schwartz

JUV 302.23 SCHWARTZ

need some more? here are some online resources on text bullying and cyber-bullying:
http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html
http://www.cyberbullying.us/index.php

Graduation speech of the year?

2009-05-20T09:50:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year again- the kids are dressed in their caps and gowns shuttling the extended family from one ceremony to the next. what about the rest of us? Well, there is always dormstering! If you feel the need to reminisce on some post-graduation inspiration check out John Legend's speech to the upenn class of 2009 from monday may 18th.

Books on college education can be found starting at SOC 378 and books on commencement speeches at LIT 815.01 G733 and LIT 815.08 O59 (but look in the catalog under baccalaureate addresses because apparently we are stuck in the year 1900).

hearing of the week: gulf war illness research

2009-05-19T12:15:00.001-04:00

Source: U.S. House of Representatives

House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Oversight Subcommittee
will have a hearing on Gulf War Illness Research

May 19 at 10 a.m.
334 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

The hearing will include two panels of witness testimony
and the hearing will be available on webcast.

Memorial Day Book Display

2009-05-19T10:26:00.000-04:00

Source: U.S. Veterans Administration

May 25th is Memorial Day. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. Initially, enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action.

The Social Sciences Division, has prepared an interesting book display to honor American military service men and women. The books include biographies, histories of the branches of the military, personal wartime accounts from World War II to the conflict in Iraq and works about women and minorities in the armed forces.

Please check out the book display on the 2nd floor of the East Lobby of the Martin Luther King Public Library.

For additional information about Memorial Day and local events please visit these websites:

Origins of Memorial Day

http://www1.va.gov/opa/feature/celebrate/docs/memday.pdf

National Memorial Day Concert, May 24, 2009

http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/concert/

National Memorial Day Parade, May 25, 2009

http://www.nationalmemorialdayparade.com/

Robert C. Byrd, 91 and the Longest-Serving Senator in History, Hospitalized

2009-05-18T11:51:00.000-04:00

Source: United States Senate

Robert C. Byrd the longest-serving senator in history was hospitalized, last Friday.

You can read more about about Senator Byrd on the following news resources:

Sen. Byrd hospitalized with 'minor' infection
Charleston Gazette, May 18, 2009
http://wvgazette.com/ap/ApTopStories/200905180266

Byrd ‘Responding Well’ to Treatment
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003119645
CQ Politics, May 18,2009

Senator Robert C. Byrd United States Senate site
http://byrd.senate.gov/

A new kind of scout

2009-05-14T15:28:00.001-04:00

source: nytimes

I remember fondly my years as a brownie scout- singing, camping, crafting, eating cookies. fast forward to 2009 and this is what the kids are doing.

May is Jewish American Heritage Month

2009-05-13T17:11:00.000-04:00

On May 12, 2009, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation declaring May Jewish American Heritage Month. This is an opportunity to celebrate the history, culture, and faith of Jewish Americans and their contributions to our Nation. The Social Sciences Division, of the DC Public Library has many books and resources on Jewish American Heritage, please search our catalog. Also, the Philosophy/Religion Librarian created a Jewish American Heritage book display outside the Social Sciences Division, in the East Lobby on the Second Floor.

There are many online resources available to learn more about Jewish Americans in the United States. Jewish American Heritage Month.gov is a portal and collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It includes personal accounts from Jewish Americans, digital exhibits and collections and special events in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area, during May.

Additional Local Resources:

B'nai B'rith National Jewish Museum
http://www.bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/museum.cfm

Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington
http://www.jhsgw.org/

The National Museum of American Jewish Military History
http://www.nmajmh.org/

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/

hearing of the week

2009-05-13T10:09:00.000-04:00

thanks to matt from arts and lit for bringing this to my attention --

Playwright Lynn Nottage will be hanging out on Capitol Hill today performing a monologue from her Pulitzer Prize winning work "Ruined." She will discuss her research and writing process for “Ruined,” a play which centers on a 'group of women who survived sexual and physical violence and now work and live in a canteen and brothel not far from the battle lines of the Congo civil war. The characters were based on real refugees Ms. Nottage interviewed after they had escaped the armed conflict.'

Confronting rape and other forms of violence
against women in conflict zones
Spotlight: DRC and Sudan

2:30pm
Room 419 in Dirksen Senate Building
Show up with ID by 2:15!

Can't make it to Dirksen? Supposedly being live-broadcast from here.

source: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/women-of-ruined-to-speak-in-washington-about-rape/

Girls Rock! Day Camp + MLK Jr Memorial Library = <3 <3

2009-05-12T15:55:00.002-04:00

source: Jana Birchum/Getty Images

Calling all girls ages 8-18! Stop by the MLK Library's Children's room on Saturday 5/16 from 2-4. Learn about girls rock! day camp and try your hand at tons of instruments. We will have snacks, show clips from last year's 9:30 club showcase, and (hopefully) listen to a live band perform outside the library!

With a base in music education, Girls Rock! DC aims to create a supportive, inclusive and creative space for girls to develop their self-confidence, build community, stand up and rock out!

Check out www.girlsrockdc.org for more info and to download an application.

Some press:
“Girls Rock! D.C. Seeks Campers, Volunteers”, written by Amanda Hess for the Washington City Paper and NBC Washington.

“Girls Rock! D.C. Rocks Out at the Black Cat: The local music edcuation collective hosts a DJing class for local women”, Chelsea Bauch, The Onion April 1, 2009.

"‘Girls Rock’ Theme Rings in the New School Year”, Alyssa Best, The Huffington Post, August 20, 2008

Please stop by!

Is it gay marriage?

2009-05-12T14:29:00.001-04:00

"Mrs. Littleton, while in San Antonio, Tex., is a male and has a void marriage; as she travels to Houston, Tex., and enters federal property, she is female and a widow; upon traveling to Kentucky she is female and a widow; but, upon entering Ohio, she is once again male and prohibited from marriage; entering Connecticut, she is again female and may marry; if her travel takes her north to Vermont, she is male and may marry a female; if instead she travels south to New Jersey, she may marry a male.”

the lines continue to fuzz

all the world's a stage book + film club

2009-05-05T13:24:00.003-04:00

The May selections for the All the World's a Stage Book + Film club are great! Come pick up your copy of Tim Egan's The Worst Hard Time and finish up before the discussion at 7pm on 5/18 in room 221.

To go along with the book's theme, we will screen John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath at 6:30pm on 5/11 in the 2nd floor lobby. Please come by!

new soc books!

2009-05-05T12:30:00.003-04:00

One big happy family - ed. Rebecca Walker
306.8509 O58

Sex, science, and stem cells: inside the right wing assault on reason - Rep. Diane Degette
363.9609 D317

Family properties: race, real estate, and the exploitation of black urban america - Beryl Satter
363.5999 S253

Flat broke in the free market: how globalization fleeced working people - Jon Jeter
306.3 J58

and shout-out to my dear friend Carey's fancy aunt....

Class with the countess - Countess LuAnn de Lesseps
395 L638

These are just 5 out of hundreds of new titles. Check them out before I do!

Immigration limbo

2009-05-04T11:58:00.000-04:00

Interesting story this morning in the New York Times on a Chinese immigrant and mental illness. Perhaps they are looking into the issue further- this could easily become a series of articles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/nyregion/04immigrant.html

Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month Book Display

2009-05-02T14:18:00.000-04:00

In celebration of Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Social Sciences Division has a book display in the Great Hall of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Public Library 901 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 related to the Asian/Pacific Islander experience in the United States, culture and biographies. Please stop by, to check out these books.

Also the social sciences librarian recently compiled a select bibliography of adult and children's materials on Asian and Pacific Islander history and culture. Also search our catalog: http://citycat.dclibrary.org/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/x/0/49 for books and other materials related to Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage.

Also check out these additional resources on the Internet:

Mayor Fenty's Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month Celebration and Events http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx/agency/apia/section/2/release/16833

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month: Lighting the Past, Present and the Future
http://asianpacificheritage.gov/

Asian Pacific American Film, Inc.
http://www.apafilm.org/

Encyclopedia Smithsonian- Asian Pacific American History and Culture
http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/History_and_Culture/AsianPacificAmerican_History.htm

Japan-America Society of Washington DC
http://www.us-japan.org/dc/

Library of Congress-Asian Division
http://www.loc.gov/rr/asian/

Our Story in History Bibliography Asian Pacific American History
http://americanhistory.si.edu/ourstoryinhistory/bibliography/searchresults.cfm?list=Asian

Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month Film Series

2009-05-02T13:58:00.000-04:00

The Social Sciences Division of the Martin Luther King Public Library during the month of May will present a series of films related to the Asian and Pacific Islander experience, in America. The film series will be presented in the East Lobby of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, East Lobby 2nd Floor 901 G Street. Please join us and learn more about Asian and Pacific Islander's experience with these award winning documentaries

Show times begin Thursdays at Noon

May 7, 2009
Chinatown Files (2005)
The Chinatown Files explores the legacy of McCarthyism on the Chinese American community. For the first time, seven men and women speak out on how they and their friends were investigated and persecuted by government agents during the McCarthy witch-hunts of the fifties. At the height of the hysteria, thousands of Chinese immigrants and American citizens of Chinese descent were investigated because of their ethnicity and alleged risk to national security (Not Rated 57 minutes)

May 14, 2009
Nation Within: The Story of America's Annexation of Hawai’i, 2007
This documentary tells the story of the annexation of Hawaii by the United States. It explains the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. (Not Rated, 90 minutes)

May 21, 2009
Unfinished Business: The Japanese-American Internment Cases. New York: Docurama, 1985. In the spring of 1942, more than 110,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry were uprooted from their lives and incarcerated in relocation camps. Their stories, along with those who refused to go, are told in this Oscar nominated film.
(Not Rated, 60 minutes)

May 28, 2009
Daughter from Danang (2002)
In 1975, as the Vietnam War was ending, thousands of orphans and Amerasian children were brought to the United States as part of "Operation Babylift." Daughter from Danang tells the dramatic story of one of these children, Heidi Bub (a.k.a. Mai Thi Hiep), and her Vietnamese mother, Mai Thi Kim, separated at the war's end and reunited 22 years later.

Amblin' Along

2009-04-30T16:44:00.001-04:00

So this is the end. We've had some laughs, shared some thoughts, but now it is time for me to return to my home division at dcplartsandlit.blogspot.com. We knew that this was only going to last for a month.

A few things that I have learned while in the Sociology Division are:

-The SOC of DCPL is alarmingly broad.
-The SOC REF section is now in better order than when I arrived.
-I now know what everyone means when they say "Government Documents".
-The collected writing of many presidents are bound and shelved as Reference here!
-I learned that I am NOT supposed to offer legal advise (which is kind of the only reason why I took this job) But okay.

I even managed to sneak in some "learning" about the LIT section.

Maelstrom and Jetsom

2009-04-30T09:46:00.001-04:00

The "incredible shrinking attention span" has been getting a lot of coverage lately. I have also noticed a number of students asking for material about "video games and the brain"; "psychology and technology" and so forth. Yesterday Salon.com had a good primer/reading list on this very subject titled "Why Can't We Concentrate".

image: Salon via artsjournal

UNESCO World Digital Library

2009-04-28T20:55:00.001-04:00

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recently launched the World Digital Library, which contains materials from the collections of 32 libraries and cultural institutions from around the world. The collection can be browsed by format, geographical area, time period, topic, and contributing institution. The WDL site provides all of its content in seven languages, including the item descriptions that place WDL materials in their cultural and historical contexts. The primary source materials that make up the collection, however, appear only in their original language of composition.

To explore the World Digital Library, visit www.wdl.org.

New books!

2009-04-20T13:42:00.003-04:00

Tons of new books in Sociology this week.
Here is a smattering:

Mop Men is is dedicated to "Matt Dougherty."

I hope they don't mean my dad.

How DC Libraries Relate to The NMAAHC

2009-04-15T15:28:00.000-04:00

As you are probably aware our fair city is getting a new museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, or NMAAHC. Coincidentally it is designed by the Freelon Group which is also designing both the Tenley and Anacostia neighborhood libraries. Philip Freelon is also the recipient of the 2009 Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture from AIA.

image: Smithsonian

DCPL Historical Photo Contest!

2009-04-15T13:29:00.001-04:00

Check out DCPL's DC Then and Now photo contest!

We recently made some DCPL photos a part of Flickr Commons. How exciting! To celebrate we are having a photo contest - grand prize is a filp MinoHD Camcorder, first runner up wins an SD card and second runner up wins a Holga! Find the photos at DC Public Library Commons. Then take a picture of the same spot in whatever way you want to interpret it!
Hope DCPL employees aren't disqualified!

x-posted

Amazon's glitch

2009-04-14T10:37:00.001-04:00

While Amazon's 'de-ranking' of books with non-hetero-normative 'adult' material may already be yesterday's news, it is still something of note! Especially because the book featured in the Los Angeles Times' article is sitting on our Sociology new books shelf. Citycat won't be de-ranking books anytime soon.

The Littlest Giant

2009-04-09T13:24:00.000-04:00

Did anyone catch the debut of the PUMA the other day? It is a joint project between Segway and General Motors. This ties right in with an article I read about the future thought of vehicular design by Joel Makower, via B M D Blog

Stranieri

2009-04-07T12:34:00.000-04:00

HI!

I am usually over in Art/Music and sometimes LIT. You can find out more here.

I am on loan to the Sociology Division intermittently for the month of April, and have very little sociological expertise. I am mostly interested in things that impact societies, such as Art, Architecture (Urban Planning) and Politics, but less knowledgeable about details such as "Congressional Codes". These issues are all entangled in some way, so I will probably be a little less lost than I expect.

Speaking of Urban Planning there is an interesting book that I found while surveying the aisles. It is pictured above, and is located at 307.76 E56. The book is about the evolution, survival, decay of major world cities.

Too many books on genocide...

2009-04-02T14:09:00.001-04:00

April is Genocide Prevention Month and April 2009 also marks the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda.

Voice of America has an informative blurb on the efforts taking place world-wide to bring awareness to the violence of the past and end all present and future genocide. Check out www.genocidepreventionmonth.org to learn about actions and events happening in your area and around the world.

Here at MLK Jr. Memorial Library we put up a display! An earth shattering idea- we know. The display is sitting outside the Art/History reading room and holds books on Rwanda, Darfur, Armenia, Bosnia, the Holocaust, and Cambodia. Grab a book on an area that interests you most, peruse the UN Declaration of Human Rights, or just pick up a flier on "30 things you can do during Genocide Prevention Month."

Two new titles received today were added to the table:

Mahmood Mamdani's latest- Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics and the War on Terror and Gerard Prunier's Africa's World War.

Must be friday!

2009-03-27T12:25:00.001-04:00

Looking for a lovely way to start your day? Check out Maira Kalman's monthly NYTimes column And the Pursuit of Happiness . The multi-talented childrens book writer, illustrator, designer and artist is actually just a social scientist in disguise. This month's edition is a vibrant look at everything from British history and Alexis de Tocqueville to social capital, civic participation and education! Take a look!

and we're off...

2009-03-26T16:36:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the very first post of the blog for the Social Sciences division @ MLK Jr. Memorial library. I spent some valuable time at the reference desk today attempting to come up with a clever name for this blog. Alas I grew impatient and settled on the oh-so-creative dcpl-socialsciences. The poetry division, this is not.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, the top two runners-up were my mother with BobsBiblioBlog, and Matthew, the Arts LA with Do or Die Social Sci. Please drop by http://dcplartsandlit.blogspot.com and check out what matthew and the Arts + Humanities Division at MLK are up to (usually it is a lot).

This site is a work in progress- expect grammatical errors and a disregard for word capitalization. This space will highlight new books in the collection, library programs, and local, national, or global events and stories relating to the social sciences and libraries.

Check us out here on the blogosphere or in real life at 901 G St NW, Room 220!