The Owl

Athena’s little black owl, Athene noctua, was created by Sara Richard.

Collections Selections

The members of the Collections Committee, Reappraisal Reading Circle, and Book Group would like to share some new finds with other readers.

Louis Bromfield at home.
Photo: Ohio Department of Natural Resources

The Athenaeum’s fine collection of American works of the first half of the 20th century includes a happy combination in Louis Bromfield: a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, he was also a farmer and early environmentalist. Malabar Farm in Ohio, now a state park, became his home in 1939. Because Bromfield was a screenwriter, he had friends in Hollywood. The Big House at the farm was the site of the 1945 wedding of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

If you want to read only one book by Bromfield, make it Malabar Farm, assuming you’re interested in sustainable agriculture. If fiction is more your thing, try Early Autumn, a saga of the Pentland family of fictional Durham, Massachusetts.

Early Autumn initiated a series of Bromfield novels about the attempted escape of strong women from a pastoral but corrupt past. “The destruction of the natural order,” according to Bromfield’s biographer, David D. Anderson, makes these flights futile.

In their psychological depth, the characters of Early Autumn might remind us of those of Henry James. The strength of the character development in Bromfield’s novel carries even a complex, potentially melodramatic plot to a series of credible resolutions. Skillful foreshadowing heightens the suspense.

We hope you enjoyed this first installment of The Owl. Please check back often for reading recommendations, announcements, and a dash of history.

Announcing the Salem Athenaeum’s new blog!

Athena’s little black owl, Athene noctua, was created by Sara Richard.

 

Collections Selections

The members of the Collections Committee, Reappraisal Reading Circle, and Book Group would like to share some new finds with other readers.

Louis Bromfield at home.
Photo: Ohio Department of Natural Resources

The Athenaeum’s fine collection of American works of the first half of the 20th century includes a happy combination in Louis Bromfield: a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, he was also a farmer and early environmentalist. Malabar Farm in Ohio, now a state park, became his home in 1939. Because Bromfield was a screenwriter, he had friends in Hollywood. The Big House at the farm was the site of the 1945 wedding of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

If you want to read only one book by Bromfield, make it Malabar Farm, assuming you’re interested in sustainable agriculture. If fiction is more your thing, try Early Autumn, a saga of the Pentland family of fictional Durham, Massachusetts.

Early Autumn initiated a series of Bromfield novels about the attempted escape of strong women from a pastoral but corrupt past. “The destruction of the natural order,” according to Bromfield’s biographer, David D. Anderson, makes these flights futile.

In their psychological depth, the characters of Early Autumn might remind us of those of Henry James. The strength of the character development in Bromfield’s novel carries even a complex, potentially melodramatic plot to a series of credible resolutions. Skillful foreshadowing heightens the suspense.

We hope you enjoyed this first installment of The OwlPlease check back often for reading recommendations, announcements, and a dash of history. 

 

 

Adams Lecture: Gordon Wood

Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

Pulitzer-winning historian Gordon S. Wood discusses his new book, Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds, or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy’s champion, was an aristocratic Southern slave owner, while Adams, the overachiever from New England’s rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government. Their profound differences would lead to a fundamental crisis, in their friendship and in the nation writ large, as they became the figureheads of two entirely new forces, the first American political parties. But late in life, something remarkable happened: these two men were nudged into reconciliation. What started as a grudging trickle of correspondence became a great flood, and a friendship was rekindled, over the course of hundreds of letters.

Gordon S. Wood is the Alva O. Way University Professor and professor of history at Brown University. His books have received the Pulitzer, Bancroft and John H. Dunning prizes, as well as a National Book Award nomination and the New York Historical Society Prize in American History. They include Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, Revolutionary Characters, The Purpose of the Past, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, and The Idea of America.

Hale Bradt: Wilber’s War

Author Hale Bradt, chronicles the story of his parents—two ordinary Americans, Wilber and Norma Bradt—during an extraordinary time, World War II. He offers fresh insight—on a deeply personal level—into the historic conflict as it was fought by the U.S. Army in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and The Philippines and by a family on the home front. It is an epic tale of duty, heroism, love, and human frailty. He adds another uniquely American voice to this rich story: a son seeking to unravel the tangled threads of his family’s legacy. The abridged edition of this story releases today—Pearl Harbor Day.

Democracy in America: Election 2016: The Aftermath

R.D. Sahl returns for another  town hall discussion on the aftermath of the 2016 Election. You won’t want to miss it!

Sahl_RDR.D. Sahl’s career in broadcast journalism spans more than 40 years. He was evening anchor at Boston-based NECN—the largest regional news network in the country. He has anchored and reported for television stations in Los Angeles and Hartford, Conn. He began his career in radio in his hometown of Boulder, Colo.

Sahl’s assignments have taken him to stories down the block and around the world. He’s reported from Haiti, Japan, Cuba, the Soviet Union, Poland, France, Germany, Italy and the Vatican.

His work has been honored with numerous regional Emmy awards. He’s a recipient of the Yankee Quill award and a member of the Silver Circle of New England NATAS.

He currently lectures at Boston University’s College of Communications.

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Picnic with Vintage Back-to-School Flair

Inspired to Vote: Election Day in Early Massachusetts

On Columbus Day we will present a program for all ages exploring the traditions of elections in America from the Election Day sermons of the Colonial Era recreated with marionettes to the post-vote celebration with cake made from an authentic recipe.

Screenwriting Course

Member’s Preview Book Sale

Members, plus one guest, have the opportunity to attend this preview book sale on Friday night before the annual book sale opens to the public on Saturday morning.

Proceeds benefit the Salem Athenæum collections and educational programs.

Storytelling

Upcoming Events

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