In The Weeds, 9/18/12: 1862 Gainesville Hangings Commemorated

    A local group comprised of professors from North Central Texas College, The Clark Family and the Texas State Hist0rical Association will present a program dedicated to the commemoration of the mass hangings of suspected Union sympathizers in Cooke and surrounding counties during the Civil War.

You can read more about the hangings here and we have a couple books available in the Special Collections Dept. here at the Fowler Library for your perusal:

Tainted Breeze by Richard B. McCaslin, professor of History at UNT and speaker at the event, and…

George Washington Diamond’s Account of The Great Hanging At Gainesville, 1862 edited by Sam Acheson and Julia Ann Hudson O’ Connell.
The event is open to the public and here is the text of the email we received:

“The Clark family would like to extend a warm invitation for you to join them on October 13, as they will now host commemorative events to honor the 150th anniversary. Several days ago, the Texas State Historical Association and North Central Texas College, deemed they would like to participate and co-partner with the Clark family in remembering Cooke County’s Civil War experience. 

 

 

Remembering Our Past, Embracing Our Future

October 1862 – 2012

October marks the 150^th year since the Great Hanging at Gainesville. The Clark Family in collaboration with the Texas State Historical Association and the Honors Program at North Central Texas College, invite you to join them for commemorative events, special guests and catered luncheon on

 

Saturday, October 13, 2012 at the Civic Center

311 S. Weaver St, Gainesville, Texas

 

8:30am – 12:30pm	Speakers – Richard McCaslin, Leon Russell, Ron Melugin and L.D. Clark
12:30pm	Catered Luncheon by Rohmer’s Restaurant $7.00 adult, $3.00 children under 10
3:30pm – 4:30pm	Clark Cemetery Intersection Clark Rd and CR220 Sons of the Union Veterans-Color Guard/Rifle Ceremony
5pm	Clark-Carri Farm  (1/2 mile from the cemetery) 629 Clark Rd  Gainesville Hor d’ oeuvres & Bonfire   Special Guests Richard McCaslin, PhD is the University of North Texas Department of History Chairman.  He earned his BA from Delta State University, MA from Louisiana State University and PhD from The University of Texas at Austin and has authored Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas, 1862. Leon Russell, born in 1928, three miles East of Gainesville considered it home until enlisting in the Army Air Corp at the age seventeen 17. Fueled by his motivation and complete disapproval of the cloak of secrecy surrounding the hangings, and the lack of the proper recognition of the injustice to the slain and their families, he successfully influenced the city of Gainesville to allow the first commemoration in Georgia Bass Park in 2007. His mission was to honor those citizens who tragically lost their lives in 1862.   Ron Melugin,  Professor of Government, NCTC; chairman of Cooke County Historical Commission; research responsible for 15 Texas Official Historical Markers in Gainesville; author of Heroes, Scoundrels and Angels: Fairview Cemetery of Gainesville, Texas. L.D. Clark earned his BA, MA, and PhD from Columbia University. He had a long career of teaching English at the University of Arizona, The University of Nice and Korea University.  He is the author of A Bright Tragic Thing and Civil War Recollections of James Lemuel Clark. Mr. Clark is the grandson of James Lemuel Clark and great-grandson of Nathaniel Miles Clark, victim of the Great Hanging. ** New Book** – The Texas State Historical Association will unveil its newest publication, The Great Hanging at Gainesville, 1862: The Accounts of Thomas Barrett and George Washington Diamond, with an Introduction by Richard McCaslin and Afterword by L.D. Clark. (Combined accounts of Barrett and Diamond )

 

 

RSVP – before October 5, 2012 to:  NathanielClarkfamilyreunion@gmail.com or colleen.carri@gmail.com

 - posted by Chuck.

The Hero of a Hundred Fights

Join us at the South Branch Library for a fascinating discussion and book signing. Western novelist and literary critic Clay Reynolds will speak about his recent book, The Hero of a Hundred Fights, a collection of dime novels by Ned Buntline. Dr. Reynolds will also discuss Buntline’s life, which was every bit as fascinating (and, at times, fabricated) as the characters he wrote about. At a time when the West was still being won, when the living legends had not yet assumed the stature of folk heroes, Edward Zane Carroll Judson, better known to the world as Ned Buntline, not only wrote about these heroes – he was one of them. Assuming the role of a sailor, soldier, duelist, showman, gambler, bigamist, and rabble rouser, Buntline was above all a writer – and arguably the most successful dime novelist of his day, and an inspiration to later western authors such as Zane Grey and Charles Portis. When: Saturday, April 21 at 2 p. m. Where: South Branch Library 3228 Teasley Lane in Denton Copies of the book will be available for purchase. For more, please call 940-349-8752 or email Fred.Kamman@cityofdenton.com. ### For other news items on the City of Denton, visit our website at http://www.cityofdenton.com, go to Quick Links and click on Press Releases.

Author Donna Fielder at the Emily Fowler Library

Denton Record Chronicle crime reporter Donna Fielder will share insight and information from her new book Ladykiller on Saturday, April 7 at 2:00 pm at the Emily Fowler Central Library, 502 Oakland St.

 

Ladykiller is the true story of the murder of Denton resident Viki Lozano, who was killed by her husband and local police officer Bobby Lozano. This crime remained unprosecuted for six years until Ms. Fielder wrote an expose of case facts, leading to a guilty conviction for officer Lozano.

 

Attendees may bring copies of the book for the author to sign after the presentation. Books will not be available for purchase at the event but are available for order at local book retailers and online. This event is free of charge and open to the public.

 

 

For more information, contact Terri Gibbs at 940-349-8776 or at terri.gibbs@cityofdenton.com.

 

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For other news items on the City of Denton, visit our website at www.cityofdenton.com, go to Quick Information and click on Press Releases.

 

Comic Book or Manga Boot Camp

 

 

Calling All Comic Book and Graphic Novel Lovers!

 

Have you ever wanted to make comic books and/or manga?  The best way is by doing! Join the fun of creating sequential art with graphic novel writer/publisher, David Doub, and fellow creators and comickers, Saturday, September 24, from noon – 6 p.m. at the North Branch Library.

 

Publisher, Dusk Comics, and other creators (TBA) will guide you in the creation of an original comic. You’ll get to be a penciller or writer, letterer or inker and as a group you’ll make a comic by the end of this 6 hour boot camp. 

 

This program is for tweens, teens and adults. Feel free to bring snacks and a sack lunch.

 

Call 940-349-8752 to register.

 

Check back for more details in a few weeks!

 

The Love Sonnets of Edna St. Vincent Millay

Professor’s Corner, a discussion group devoted to literary texts, will meet at the South Branch library on Wednesday, June 8 at 7:00PM. Carl Smeller, professor of Humanities and English at Texas Wesleyan University, will lead a discussion about the love sonnets of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Although she was one of the most prolific and most celebrated American poets in the decade between the world wars, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s critical reputation declined precipitously in the years following her death in 1950. But recent re-evaluations of her work reveal what the poet Richard Wilbur called “some of the best sonnets of the century.”

This session of Professor’s Corner, which had been scheduled for February but was postponed because of the bad weather, will examine just a few of the many surprisingly unconventional love sonnets Millay wrote. There is, of course, no cost to attend.

When: Wednesday, June 8 at 7:00 pm

Where: Denton Public Library – South Branch

3228 Teasley Lane in Denton

For more information, contact Fred Kamman at 940-349-8726 or Fred.Kamman@cityofdenton.com.

For other news items on the City of Denton, visit our website at www.cityofdenton.com, go to Quick Links and click on Press Releases.

Kathy Reichs Supports Libraries

Neil Gaiman Supports Libraries

Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears

 The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears is an Historical Fiction/Mystery novel that interweaves three distinct historical periods all set in the same locale: Avignon, France and its environs. The three periods share the confusion and anxiety that accompany major shifts in politics and culture: The Fall of the Roman Empire in Gaul, the arrival of the Black Death during Pope Clement VI’s reign in Avignon and the fall of France to the German occupying force in WWII.

Dream Cover

Two main threads  run through each story: questions of ethics and morals in the affairs of men and anti-Semitism. In the first, a Classical philosopher named Sophia becomes mentor to Manlius Hippocratus, who has been elected Bishop. He seeks to protect his region from invasion by Germanic tribes and to preserve some remnants of his beloved Rome. Sophia is a hard task master and deals in pure philosophy and ethics.

In the second story, a student and poet attached to a bishop in Clement’s Papal administration, Olivier, has been researching the history of Manlius’ Gaul and Sophia. He falls in love with another strong female, Rebecca, and is forced to deal with the weightiest questions of right and wrong.

Finally, Julian is also researching both Olivier’s poetry and Manlius philosophy during the advent of WWII and becomes enamored with an artist who is Jewish and must balance the competing demands of friendship, politics and loyalty.

It was difficult for me initially to get used to the author’s style, although the stories were fascinating, but I’m so glad that I kept on with it. Far more going here than I am describing. Highly recommended!

posted by Chuck

Literary Responses to Illness: Virginia Woolf and Floyd Skloot

Professor’s Corner, a free discussion group devoted to literary texts, will meet at the South Branch library on Wednesday, December 8 at 7:00PM.

 Dr. Rachel Yeatts (University of North Texas) will lead a discussion about Virginia Woolf and Floyd Skloot.  These two gifted authors render their individual struggles with illness, Woolf in essay and Skloot in poetry, using art to “express the inexpressible.”  Both writers acknowledge the isolation of illness, but their historical and social contexts make their experiences accessible to themselves in contrasting ways; stoic despair and relief in nature for Woolf, individual struggle to reassemble an outer life in nature and family for Skloot.  Both authors reach for restoration through writing.

When:             Wednesday, December 8 at 7:00 pm

Where:           Denton Public Library – South Branch

                        3228 Teasley Lane in Denton

For more information, contact Fred Kamman at 940.349.8726 or Fred.Kamman@cityofdenton.com

 

For other news items on the City of Denton, visit our website at www.cityofdenton.com, go to Quick Information and click on Press Releases.

Miss Emily’s JukeJoint, 8.3.10 Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music

I’m excited about this, y’all. This will be a long blog post, so bear with me please.

 We have a copy of Harry Smith’s  Anthology of American Folk Music on Smithsonian Folkways records. This is the first extensive collection of folk music in the U.S. and was edited-created by record collector Harry Smith for Moe Asch’s Folkways label in 1952. More on Harry in a bit…

The Anthology

    Smithsonian/Folkways re-released this collection as a 3 CD set in 1997 and has a reproduction of Harry’s original handmade booklet along with extensive essays and an up-to-date description of the artists and songs that builds upon 45 years of research. All of these items are included in the Denton Public Library’s copy for you.

    In it you will feast your ears on an auditory world that is long gone but yet somehow familiar. This Anthology influenced many in the so-called “folk revival” of the late ’50s-early ’60s. The tunes and some of  the artists themselves have had their own massive impact separate from their inclusion in it: The Carter Family, Charley Patton, Dock Boggs, Charlie Poole, Clarence Ashley, Blind Willie Johnson, etc. in the realms of Bluegrass, Blues, Hillbilly, C&W, etc.

Charlie Poole

  Here’s a few examples to whet your earlobes-

Not merely a collection of a particular genre or style, the Anthology includes Cajun, Black Gospel, Sacred, and some performances that don’t fall neatly in a particular heading. Take Hoyt Ming and His Pep-Steppers’ “Indian War Whoop”. Not really sounding like Native-American singing per se, it moves nonetheless. http://vimeo.com/832869

    Fiddler Eck Robertson is recognized as the first commercially recorded  “country” musician for his performance of “Sally Gooden” in 1922. Although not included here, that disc is still considered a masterpiece of old-time fiddling and not easily duplicated 88 years on.

Eck

     Jug bands were intensely popular in the period covered in the Anthology (late’20s-early ’30s), and Cannon’s Jug Stompers swung hard.

Cannon's Jug Stompers

     Finally, native Texan Blind Willie Johnson sang hellfire and brimstone with a voice that sounded like he came back from Hades to warn the world. Oh, and his slide guitar accompaniment influenced Ry Cooder, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_veQRT7bus 

Blind Willie Johnson

     Harry Smith (http://www.harrysmitharchives.com/) was a filmmaker, artist, musicologist, intellectual, autodidact, and eccentric who had contacted Moe Asch, founder of Folkways Records in NYC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Asch), about putting this compilation togther. He finally received a Grammy Award late in life for this Anthology but, tellingly, this quote at the ceremony speaks to how personal the project was for him, “”I’m glad to say my dreams came true. I saw America changed by music.”

Harry framed

Here’s the Anthology in our catalog: http://library.cityofdenton.com/search/t?SEARCH=anthology+of+american+folk&sortdropdown=-&searchscope=4.