February 25, 2019 (REVISED February 4, 2019) Women's History Month Events at the Library of Congress

Press Contact: Deanna McCray-James (202) 707-9322
Public Contact: Visitor Services (202) 707-8000
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

The Library of Congress will host several events throughout March that celebrate the contributions of women to American history and culture. All of the following events are free and open to the public.

“Performing Black Womanhood”
Saturday, March 2, 10 a.m.
Hispanic Reading Room (LJ-240), Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St., S.E., Washington, D.C  
“Performing Black Womanhood” celebrates the intellectual and artistic lives of women across the African diaspora.

The event includes a pop-up exhibit of materials from the Special and General collections curated by Hispanic Division staff and Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellow Adjoa Osei, as well as a research orientation focusing on women in the arts from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Iberian Peninsula.  The morning concludes with a Symposium featuring a panel of speakers who will deliver presentations that will explore and celebrate women of color in the arts. 

The pop-up exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and the research orientation will run from 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.  The symposium will run from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. and will include presentations by Adjoa Osei, University of Liverpool: “Lá vem a baiana - A Study of an Afro-Brazilian Archetype”; Dr. Camara Dia Holloway, independent scholar: “Dark Beauty, Bright Ambition: Navigating Black Stardom in Jazz Age NY/LON” and Sala Elise Patterson, independent scholar: “Finding Ady: Recovering the Story of a Black Surrealist Muse.”

In Conversation: “The Women’s Hour”
Thursday, March 7, 6 p.m.
LJ-119, Thomas Jefferson Building
Award-winning journalist Elaine Weiss will discuss her new book, “The Woman’s Hour.” This work, soon to be a major television event, documents the final weeks of one of the greatest political battles in American history: the fight to ratify the 19th Amendment, affirming that the right to vote “shall not be denied or abridged … on account of sex.”

Weiss will be interviewed by Colleen Shogan, who serves as the Library's designee on the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission. A reception will follow. Free tickets are available at womanshour.eventbrite.com.

Gallery Talk: “The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League”
Friday, March 15, 11 a.m.
Baseball Americana Exhibition Gallery (South Gallery), Thomas Jefferson Building
In honor of Women’s History Month, “Baseball Americanaexhibition curator Susan Reyburn will discuss the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the WWII-era women’s baseball league made famous by the film “A League of Their Own.

 Climate Change, Nature, and The Writer’s Eye
Wednesday, March 20, 7 p.m.
Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building

Science writer Peter Brannen and internationally acclaimed novelist Amitav Ghosh will join 2018 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction winner, Annie Proulx to discuss pressing issues of environmental change and a writer’s responsibilities to them. Book sales and signing to follow. Free tickets required.

The event is free, but tickets are required. To secure tickets, visit this event-ticketing site lc-prize.eventbrite.com.  The event will also be livestreamed on the Library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/libraryofcongress and its YouTube site (with captions) at youtube.com/LibraryOfCongress.

“Code Girls” Reunion and Women’s History Month Observation”
Friday, March 22, noon
LJ 119, Thomas Jefferson Building
Join the Library of Congress Veterans History Project for the first-ever “Code Girls” reunion, which will include a processional of some of the remaining “Code Girls” and loved ones of deceased Code Girls, remarks by “New York Times” bestselling author Liza Mundy and a special presentation to these history-making women, credited with helping the United States win World War II.

In March 2018, Mundy visited the Library to discuss her book “Code Girls: The Untold Story of Women Codebreakers of World War II”. In researching for the book, Mundy utilized the Library’s Veterans History Project collections and featured women veterans from the collections in the book. That event, coupled with the book’s increasing popularity, started a national conversation about these unsung women.  Loved ones of the “Code Girls” reached out to the author, formed an unofficial online community and overwhelmingly agreed that the time is now to draw attention to and preserve this important piece of American history. 

The event is free, but tickets are required. To secure tickets, visit this event-ticketing site eventbrite.com/e/veterans-history-project-code-girls-reunion-registration-55390748219.  The event will also be livestreamed on the Library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/libraryofcongress and its YouTube site (with captions) at youtube.com/LibraryOfCongress.

 Gallery Talk: “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”
Friday, March 29, 11 a.m.
Baseball Americana Exhibition Gallery (South Gallery), Thomas Jefferson Building
In honor of Women’s History Month and Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, Music Division specialist Susan Clermont will examine the feminist origins of the baseball classic “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

From Earth to Sky:  Women Making a Difference in Geography
Tuesday, April 2, 9 a.m.
LJ 119, Thomas Jefferson Building
This all-day conference will explore the contributions women have made to the field of geography and inspire participants to consider how women strengthen the practice of geography today through a series of illustrated presentations and lightning talks by some of the leading experts in the field including Nancy Lewis, Kavita Pandit, and Susan Shaw.  As part of the conference, attendees are invited to an open house at the Geography and Map Division at the Library of Congress. 

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

###

PR 19-008
2019-02-25
ISSN 0731-3527