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Frankenstein
Exhibit Is Coming to Campus
by Molly
Kerby
Many
people know the story of Frankenstein’s monster as he
was created by Hollywood. But few realize that author Mary
Shelley imagined her monster as a sensitive, well-read creature
who craved human companionship, not the speechless killer
we see in the movies.
Western Kentucky University Libraries invite
you to explore the fascinating story of the ambitious scientist
Victor Frankenstein and the monster he creates in his lab
at a free exhibition called "Frankenstein: Penetrating
the Secrets of Nature." The exhibition offers a fresh
look at Mary Shelley's book and its importance in discussions
about social responsibility and ethical scientific research.
It also shows Boris Karloff as the monster and features colorful
posters from Frankenstein movies. The exhibit will be on display
for six weeks, beginning on January 21 and closing on March
5, 2004 in the Garden Gallery of the Kentucky Museum.
Additional programming will include a look
at Mary Wollstonecraft, the social reform leader and mother
of Mary Shelley, an exploration of Frankenstein as a literary
piece, an historical review of the celluloid monster, and
a provocative discussion of the ethical issues of cloning
in our present era. Other activities, including a film series,
will be scheduled throughout the six-week period. Please visit
our website for dates and times: http://www.wku.edu/Library/frankenstein/
The Frankenstein exhibition was organized
by the National Library of Medicine and the American Library
Association, with an addition grant from the Kentucky Council
on Postsecondary Education Action Agenda Fund through Western
Kentucky University.
For more information about the library's schedule of programs
for the exhibition, call 270/745-6103.
Bowling
Green’s Popular Music Heritage Project
by
Jack Montgomery
Jack
Montgomery, WKU Libraries Collection Services Coordinator,
realized that there is, and has been, a rich popular musical
heritage in Bowling Green that is largely unrecognized, yet
certainly worth preserving as rigorously as any other part
of our local heritage.
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| Jack
and Molly performing at Helm Library's Java City |
Jack
is now also a local musician and, about two years ago, he
realized that no one was trying to collect this wonderful
popular form of music in any organized manner. Jack is seeking
to collect the music made by this area’s musicians,
who provide the original and popular music played in night
clubs, festivals, coffeehouses, and other local and regional
venues. Recently, Jack met local musician and Bowling Green
native, Graham Hudspeth, when Hudspeth came to hear Jack’s
band, Lost River (http://www.lostriver.net/), play at various
events. Jack and Graham got to know each other and found they
had a shared vision. Graham jumped right into the project
with his typical enthusiasm.
The popular music scene is an important part of any community’s
musical and cultural heritage but one often overlooked until
too much time has passed to build an adequate record of its
presence. Jack knows from his own hometown, Columbia, SC,
how quickly that history can vanish only to be inadequately
recovered later in bits and pieces, if at all. As a result
of that struggle to build a local historical musical collection,
Jack has a vision of building a collection of music and memorabilia
that would reflect at least the past 30 years of Bowling Green’s
popular local and regional music scene.
Jack
extends an invitation to everyone in the area who would be
interested in working with him to secure, conserve, and protect
these materials for future generations. Jack views this project
as a growing collection, to which each new generation of musicians
could contribute and support. The Kentucky Library and Museum
has an exceptionally talented and dedicated group of professionals
who are also committed to preserving the many aspects of Bowling
Green’s rich cultural heritage. They would give any
donated materials the best care and organization possible
anywhere in Kentucky today. You can contact Jack at Jack.Montgomery@wku.edu.
Our
Lady of the Flowers
The
cover illustration on the May 2003 issue of College &
Research Library News is a detail from the oil on canvas
painting The Lady of the Lilies (c. 1910) by Patty Prather
Thum. Thum was an American artist (1853-1926) who maintained
a studio in Louisville, Kentucky, for 35 years after studying
art at Vassar College. She is primarily known as a painter
of flowers and Kentucky landscapes. The subject of The Lady
of the Lilies is Mary Johnston, stepdaughter of children and
juvenile fiction author Annie Fellows Johnston (the painting
is taken after a photograph). Thum and the painting are featured
in Western Kentucky University Libraries' online exhibition,
"Kentucky
Women Artists 1850 to 1970." The detail from The
subject of The Lady of the Lilies has been reproduced with
permission from the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky.
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