FLORENCE-The Florence-Lauderdale Public Library will finish off July with the Music of Handy Fest, WWI, & Genealogy. There will be a little of something for everyone.
Join us this month for history and genealogy,
and for free music events during
the W.C. Handy Music Festival!
Florence, Muscle Shoals, and the Impact of World War I:
Matthew Downs discusses his book Transforming the South
Thursday, July 20, 11:30 am
Commemorate the centennial anniversary of World War I with “Florence, Muscle Shoals, and the Impact of World War I,” a talk by historian Matthew Downs.
Drawing from his book, Transforming the South, Downs will discuss the impact of World War I on the Shoals community in the form of the government nitrate plants and hydroelectric dam located at Muscle Shoals. Few communities were as impacted by the wartime defense effort as Florence and the surrounding communities, and Downs will describe the larger history of the project, including the decision to locate the plants in the area, the excitement surrounding the development of the plants and dam, the postwar disappointment as the project stagnated, and its eventual use by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Matthew L. Downs is assistant professor of history at the University of Mobile and author of Transforming the South: Federal Development in the Tennessee Valley, 1915-1960.
The Remembering the Great War speaker series is supported in part by the Alabama Humanities Foundation. A private, non-profit organization, the Alabama Humanities Foundation (AHF) is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit www.alabamahumanities.org.
The speaker series is sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University. For more information about the Draughon Center, visit www.auburn.edu/cah.
Watermelon Wine: The Poetry of Americana Music
with Frye Gaillard and Anne E. DeChant
Saturday, July 22, 11:00 am
Join us at FLPL for a Handy Fest event that celebrates the literary value of songwriting! Award-winning Nashville songwriter Anne E. DeChant teams with Alabama author Frye Gaillard for “Watermelon Wine: The Poetry of Americana Music,” a unique program of reading and song. In his award-winning book, Watermelon Wine, Gaillard maintains that great songwriters, like DeChant, explore the depths of the human heart with all the subtlety and feeling of our finest novelists and poets. Gaillard will present brief readings from his works, setting the literary context for Anne E.’s all-acoustic rendition of her songs. This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
Check Out the Blues
Monday, July 24, 11:00 am-1:00 pm
Enjoy live jazz at the library. This annual Handy Fest event will feature Mel Deal & the Jazz Allstars. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library
Jazz It Up With Trash: N Harmoney With Nature Litter-Free Event
Monday, July 24, 2:00 pm
Kids 3 and older are invited to make musical instruments from recycled materials, while enjoying music by Microwave Dave! This annual Handy Fest event is always a blast. Sponsored by Florence Recycling Center, FLPL, Keep the Shoals Beautiful, and Shoals Earth Month, Inc.
Generations: Basic Genealogy Seminar
Saturday, July 29, 9:00 am-4:00 pm
Want to get started with genealogy? Here’s your chance! During this year’s annual seminar, we’ll have six sessions discussing how to locate, use, and interpret basic genealogy records. Topics will include:
1. Getting started
2. Using census records
3. Using land records
4. Using vital records
5. Using courthouse probate records
6. Using military records
There will be breaks and an hour-and-a-half lunch. Basic computer skills are helpful but not essential.
Admission for the genealogy seminar is free, but seating is limited, so call early to reserve a seat. To sign up call Lee Freeman 256-764-6564, ext. 30.
