September 10, 2019 Kluge Center Announces a Fall Lineup of Public Events

The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress is pleased to announce its schedule of fall conversations featuring renowned scholars and authors. All events will be held in the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. The events are free and open to the public. However, tickets are suggested and available via Eventbrite.

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 4 p.m.
John W. Kluge Center (Room 119) 
Complicity and Accountability in the Great Recession: Perspectives from Wall Street, Consumer Protection and Congress
Cathleen Kaveny, the recent Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History, will host a panel discussion about the Great Recession in terms of ethics, complicity and accountability. Panelists will represent perspectives from Wall Street, consumer protection and the legislative branch.  For event details, visit this event-ticketing website: complicityaccountability.eventbrite.com

Wednesday, Sept. 18, 4 p.m.
John W. Kluge Center (Room 119) 
Kluge Center Author Salon: Candice Millard on Destiny of the Republic
John W. Kluge Center Director John Haskell will interview author and journalist Candice Millard on James Garfield's rise from poverty to the American presidency and the dramatic history of his assassination and legacy. The papers of President James A. Garfield, who was assassinated in the first year of his presidency, have been digitized and are available online. The Garfield collection includes approximately 80,000 items, dating from 1850 to 1881. For event details, visit this event-ticketing website: millardkluge.eventbrite.com.

Thursday, Oct. 3, 4 p.m.
John W. Kluge Center (Room 119) 
Perspectives on Congressional Policymaking
Frances Lee, the Library of Congress Chair in Congressional Policymaking, and the former Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas will take part in a discussion on counterintuitive trends in congressional policymaking, including developments in the passage of major bipartisan legislation. Kluge Center Director John Haskell will moderate.  Lee was appointed as the inaugural Library of Congress Chair in Congressional Policymaking at the Library earlier this year. For event details, visit this event-ticketing website policymakingperspectives.eventbrite.com.

Tuesday, Oct. 22, noon
John W. Kluge Center (Room 119) 
Kluge Center Author Salon: Evan Thomas on First: Sandra Day O’Connor
Assistant Deputy Librarian Colleen Shogan will interview author Evan Thomas on his recent biography of Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court. For event details, visit this event-ticketing website dayoconnor.eventbrite.com.

Monday, Oct. 28, 8 p.m.
Coolidge Auditorium 
Oscar Hammerstein Collection
Oscar Hammerstein has been credited with the invention of the modern musical with his lyrics and librettos for classics such as “Show Boat,” “Oklahoma!,” “Carousel,” “South Pacific,” “The King and I,” “Cinderella” and “The Sound of Music.” The Library holds the Hammerstein Collection, which includes over 20,000 letters from and to Hammerstein. Music Division specialist and Kluge Center Staff Fellow Mark Horowitz has designed a concert that combines readings from these letters with songs that relate to them. Conductor, pianist and award-winning music director Jon Kalbfleisch will join Horowitz for this performance, presenting classic tunes along with insights about the personal life of Hammerstein. This concert is being presented in association with the Signature Theatre of Arlington, Va. For event details, visit this event-ticketing website lochammerstein.eventbrite.com/.

Horowitz will also host a pre-concert conversation titled “Inside the Envelope: Behind the Scenes with Oscar Hammerstein’s Correspondence” at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Tickets are not required for this portion of the event.

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 4 p.m.
John W. Kluge Center (Room 119) 
Kluge Center Author Salon: Ron White on Lessons from Lincoln and Grant
New York Times best-selling author Ronald C. White and Assistant Deputy Librarian Colleen Shogan will discuss what the lives and presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant can teach us about leadership.  The Library of Congress holds Lincoln and Grant’s papers, which are available online. For event details, visit this event-ticketing website lincolngrant.eventbrite.com.

Thursday, Nov. 7, 4 p.m.
John W. Kluge Center (Room 119) 
Dynamics of Presidential Primaries
Kluge Center Director John Haskell will moderate a discussion on the dynamics of presidential primaries. Julia Azari, former Kluge Center Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Marquette University professor, and Amy Walter, national editor of the Cook Political Report, will be panelists. For event details, visit this event-ticketing website primarydynamics.eventbrite.com.

Tuesday, Nov. 12, noon
John W. Kluge Center (Room 119) 
Kluge Center Author Salon: Danielle Allen on Our Declaration:
A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality
Danielle Allen, the James Bryant Conant University Professor and director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, will draw from her own experience teaching the Declaration of Independence as well as from historical sources. In her book, she makes the case that the Declaration of Independence was intended to ensure equality as much as it was intended to secure freedom. For event details, visit this event-ticketing website danielleallen.eventbrite.com.

Thursday, Nov. 21, 4. p.m.
Coolidge Auditorium 
100 Years of Women Voting
Christina Wolbrecht, co-author of the 2016 book “Counting Women's Ballots: Female Voters from Suffrage through the New Deal,” join Jane Junn, of the University of Southern California and Assistant Deputy Librarian Colleen Shogan for a discussion of 100 years of women voting, in connection with the Library’s exhibition “Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote.” For event details, visit this event-ticketing website womenvoting100.eventbrite.com.

The Kluge Center’s mission, as established in 2000, is to reinvigorate the interconnection between thought and action, bridging the gap between scholarship and policymaking. To that end, the Center brings some of the world’s great thinkers to the Library to make use of the Library collections and engage in conversations addressing the challenges facing democracies in the 21st century.

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.