Among Friends

Please save the date for our Friends of the Library events! Please contact Christy Law Blanchard at Christy_Law_Blanchard@Brown.edu or (401) 863-1518 for more information. Friends of the Library events are open to the public.

Paper Making in the Golden Triangle
April 3, 2003, 3-5 p.m.
John Hay Library

British scholar Roderick Cave will deliver a lecture on Paper Making in the Golden Triangle, which is the area on the banks of the Mekong River where the borders of Myanmar (Burma), Laos and Thailand meet. This is an area where the paper mulberry grows almost as well as the opium poppy, and paper making has long been a village craft. Cave's talk will enlarge upon the materials at the John Hay Library from the Dard Hunter Collection and will include the chance to see and handle some of the papers made in the Golden Triangle.

"(Judicial) Murder Most Foul" -- The Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy Trial
April 5, 2003, 1-3 p.m.
John Hay Library

Dr. Joseph George, Jr., professor emeritus of history at Villanova University, will deliver a talk about President Abraham Lincoln. He will discuss the arrest and trial of the Lincoln conspirators, specifically, and whether the nature of the crime justified a military trial.

Annual Philbrick Poetry Award
May 16, 2003, 7-9 p.m.
Providence Athenaeum

The Providence Athenaeum has invited Friends of the Library members to the Annual Philbrick Poetry Award reception. The Award will be presented to a New England poet who has not yet published a book. Selected items from Brown University's Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays will be on display.

William Williams Award Presentation & Commencement Forum
May 24, 2003,
Time TBA Location TBA

Friends Chair Fraser A. Lang will present the William Williams Award to five reci-pients who have provided extraordinary support to the Library over the years. The William Williams Award was established in 1988 and is the Library's highest honor. It is named for William Williams, a member of Brown's first graduating class, who, during the American Revolution, moved the contents of the University's Library to his home in Wrentham, Massachusetts for safekeeping.

Immediately after the award presentation, Rhode Island Chief Justice Frank J. Williams will deliver a lecture entitled: "Abraham Lincoln - Our Ever Present Contemporary?" Judge Williams will discuss Lincoln as an historical figure whose presidency has particular relevance today. The lecture will examine Lincoln's controversial use of military tribunals during the Civil War and suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.

Lovecraft's Letters: A Literary Treasure Trove
September 10, 2003,
Time TBA John Hay Library

Renowned Lovecraft scholar and Brown graduate S.T. Joshi will deliver a talk about the letters of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Mr. Joshi will draw upon manuscripts from the H.P. Lovecraft Collection at the John Hay Library. His talk will focus on what we learn about Lovecraft from his letters, and the letters' literary value.