Pittsburgh
actor Gregory
Gibson Kenney will
be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio
County Public Library in Wheeling on Tuesday, August 27 at noon to portray Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. in honor of the 50th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream”
speech delivered August 28, 1963. In this presentation, the narrator has a dream in
which he meets Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial. Dr. King
shares four speeches and how he wishes to be remembered. Mr. Kenney portrays
both Dr. King and the narrator. Mr. Kenney studied acting at the Pittsburg
h Playhouse in association
with Point Park College. He has performed in various feature films, including THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE JACKSON'S: AN
AMERICAN DREAM, and THE WONDER BOYS, as well as commercials, print ads and numerous theatrical productions. Mr. Kenney created Educate Us Productions, whose
mission is to present historical figures in a theatrical setting for school
assemblies, organizations, and public gatherings. Each program portrays an
individual's life: trials, goals, triumphs, and achievements. An audience of
any age can share the same experience. Lunch
With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to
bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please call the library at
304-232-0244 or visit facebook.com/lunchwithbooks for more information.
And at 7 PM: People’s
University: A Cartoon History of the United States
Class 1: Introduction: A History of American Political Cartoons with instructor Warren Bernard, Aug. 27
Political cartoons have been part of the American
story since Benjamin Franklin published a woodcut of a snake divided into
segments with the words “Join, or Die.” Today, in the digital age,
political cartoons still powerfully shape debates on Facebook, Twitter, and
other forms of social media.
The new People’s University at the Ohio County
Public Library, A Cartoon History of the United States, will explore the power
and artistry of political cartoons from the founding period through the present
using interactive analysis. From early August through Constitution Day,
September 17, 2013, the library will host a large exhibit called “Democracy” on
loan from the Herblock Foundation (named for political cartoonist Herbert
Block) on display near the library’s main entrance. The library’s new People’s University programming
will be built around this display and concept.
The instructor for the introductory
class scheduled for Tuesday August 27 at 7 PM will be cartoon scholar Warren
Bernard. Mr. Bernard has cataloged over 800
cartoons in the Art Wood Collection at the Library of Congress. His most recent
project consisted of compiling Herblock's works into a publication and DVD. He'll
provide some background on Herblock and an introduction
to political cartoons throughout American history from Thomas Nast to
present.
The September 3 class will feature
cartoons from the Wheeling newspapers and an analysis of what they say about
local history. Historian Hal Gorby, who has encountered many of these
cartoons in his doctoral research on the Progressive Era, will be the
instructor.
The September
10 class will include analysis of cartoons dealing with Constitutional issues
surrounding such things as the Emancipation Proclamation, the secession crisis,
woman suffrage and the equal rights amendment, the war powers debate, free
speech cases and many others. Instructor
Seán Duffy has a JD from the American University, has taught
law and history, and was part of the team that developed the Constitutional
history DVD-ROM, Foundations of Freedom.
The Constitution Day class on September
17 will focus on the privacy versus security issues related to social media and
government access illuminated powerfully by current events such as the Snowden/NSA
case.
The final class on
September 24 will provide a look at graphic novels from classics like Art
Speigelman’s Maus and Maus II, to modern classics like Marjane
Satrapi’s Persepolis. The class will
examine graphic novels as works of art, as a literary genre, and as social and
political commentary. As part of the library’s “Banned Books Week” observance,
the class will also explore a few of the graphic novels that have been placed
on such lists over the years, including Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Craig Thompson’s Blankets.
Instructor Dr. Jeremy Larance is
a professor of English at West Liberty University, where he has frequently taught courses on the graphic
novel. He recently helped develop the first literature major in GraphicNarrative, a unique 4-year degree for students interested in the study and
analysis of comics as literature, which will launch in fall 2013.
The full schedule (all classes meet on
Tuesday evenings at 7 PM in the auditorium):
Aug 27 Class 1: A History of American Political
Cartoons with Warren Bernard
Sept. 3, Class 2: A Cartoon History of Wheeling,
with Hal Gorby
Sept. 10, Class 3: Cartoons & the Constitution,
with Sean Duffy
Sept. 17, Class 4: Privacy vs. Security in Cartoons,
instructor TBA
Sept. 24, Class 5: The Graphic Novel, with Jeremy
Larance
Classes are free and open to the
public. Please RSVP by calling the library at 304-232-0244 or by emailing lunchwithbooks@yahoo.com.
Please visit facebook.com/lunchwithbooks for more information.
Note: Cartoon below courtesy Herb Block Foundation.
People's University: The Wheeling Cartoons
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