FLORENCE-In addition to our Voting Rights in America series, The Florence-Lauderdale Public Library will have two lunchtime programs this month for you to enjoy and learn.
Book Talk/Signing:
Historic Alabama Bells
by Thomas Kaufman
Tuesday, March 10, 11:30 am
Join us for a lunchtime talk with Thomas Kaufman, the author of Historic Alabama Bells. He will explore what we can learn about Alabama history through the stories of its historic bells.
After seven years of climbing into attics, domes, towers and steeples, Thomas Kaufmann emerges with a story of Alabama bells that encapsulates the history of the state itself. These bells–some dormant, others pealing still–were forged by the Reveres in Boston. They called Alabamians to worship, celebrated weddings and tolled at funerals. They sounded the death knell for countless parishioners during the havoc of the Civil War, watched over the Freedom Riders and shook from the blast of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing. And while their clear tones have rung out in remembrance of so many of the state’s solemn and sacred moments, many of these bells have fallen into neglect, their silence serving as its own reminder of the urgent need for preservation.
Thomas Kaufmann is an architectural historian and preservationist, and is the Library Supervisor of the Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science Library at Tuskegee University.
Beatrix Potter:
The Woman Behind the Rabbit
Monday, March 16, 11:30 am
Learn about the life of Beatrix Potter in this presentation by Betsy Bray of the Beatrix Potter Society. This talk is a perfect way to celebrate both Women’s History Month and the Easter season.
Raised by wealthy parents in mid-Victorian London, Beatrix Potter became a multi-faceted woman whose life and work remains a source of inspiration and interest today. Against many odds, she developed a successful career as a writer and illustrator of children’s books that are still highly popular worldwide, and have been translated in many different languages.
She achieved financial independence and owned property during an era in which women had few educational options, lacked legal rights, and were barred from most participating in professions. She used her earnings to purchase and preserve substantial tracts of land and 17th Century farm buildings in the English Lake District, eventually leaving them to the National Trust. Beatrix Potter was clearly a force to be reckoned with, a “woman ahead of her time” in many ways.
In this presentation, Betsy Bray will discuss the various roles played by Beatrix Potter over the 77 years of her life, from young adulthood as author and illustrator of 23 children’s books, to her later life as Lake District sheep farmer, land conservationist, and community activist.
