Community Calendar

Award-winning poet Dave Oliphant visits the library to read excerpts of his poetry, and play recordings of musical pieces that inspired his work. He has written three books in prose on the history of jazz entitled Texan Jazz, The Early Swing Era, 1930 to 1941, and Jazz Mavericks of the Lone Star State, as well as editing a book entitled The Bebop Revolution in Words and Music.

No One Ever Sees Indians: Native Americans in Media, “Are you watching closely?”

This presentation by Ernest Whiteman III is loosely structured as a three-part magic act. Ernest discusses the many representations of Native Americans in media, how far back these depictions go, and how these representations inform audiences’ perceptions of Native peoples and issues. This presentation reflects the ideology of lived experience, ownership of culture versus the authorship of expertise of Native representation, and its reductive constructs. Ernest will show that what people know and see about Native Americans in the media has always been an illusion.

He is a Northern Arapaho filmmaker, artist, writer, and media educator. Ernest is the Co-director of First Nations Film and Video Festival, Inc. a non-profit film festival supporting Native American directors. He teaches an upper-level communications course, “Native Americans in Media” at the University of Wisconsin Parkside.

Program Logistics
The presentation takes approximately 60-90 minutes depending on the level of audience interaction.

This presentation is loosely structured as a three-part magic act. Ernest discusses the many representations of Native Americans in media, how far back these depictions go, and how these representations inform audiences' perceptions of Native peoples and issues.

Ernest M. Whiteman III is a Northern Arapaho filmmaker, artist, writer and media educator and Co-director of First Nations Film and Video Festival.

This program is supported by Illinois Humanities. Illinois Road Scholars and Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Democracy Demands Wisdom and the Illinois General Assembly as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.

Fasten your uniform buttons and get ready to travel back to the golden age of air travel. In the 1960s, when jets were new, the stewardess was an all-American fantasy: hostess, nurse, cook, therapist and even sex symbol.

In this historical portrayal, historian Leslie Goddard, Ph.D., takes you on an exciting, true story about the real-life stewardesses for Pan Am, the most glamorous U.S. airline. Learn about serving the rich and famous, about the strict height, weight and age requirements, about cooking gourmet meals and enduring some wild rides. Buckle up – this is one flight you won’t forget.

Cocktail hour at 5:30, Dinner served at 6:30, presentation at 7:00.
One free drink ticket for anyone attending in an airline uniform!

Prepare for swoon-worthy reads and lively conversations with fellow romance lovers! We meet each month to discuss our latest romantic read-- sharing thoughts, feelings, and favorite moments along the way. From steamy westerns and eerie sci-fi love stories to sweeping historical romances, our carefully chosen selections span the full spectrum of the genre. Whether you're a longtime romance reader or just starting to explore, you'll find your perfect match here!

September: Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
October: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
November: The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava

Books are available in Adult Services. No registration is required. This book club is intended for adults.

For additional information, please contact Amy at amyf@dkpl.org or call (815) 756-9568 ext. 2150.

In this talk, anthropologist Eleana Kim discusses her fieldwork in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, which has often been referred to as the “most heavily militarized border in the world.” The unresolved war between the two Koreas has been ongoing since the formal end of the Korean War in 1953. For more than 70 years, the zone has been a de facto protected area, off limits to human habitation, and is now celebrated as a site of rare biodiversity. This talk complicates the conventional narrative about the DMZ that frequently frames its nature as an unexpected outcome of war and discusses what we can learn from a closer look at its actually existing ecologies and the people who study them. Rather than the symbolic narrative of an accidental sanctuary, Kim shows instead the importance of recognizing its “nature" as materially and ecologically vulnerable to the effects of militarization, capitalism, and climate change.

Reception to follow. This event is in conjunction with the “How We Rebuild” exhibition on display through Dec. 19. This exhibit is a program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance and The National Endowment for the Arts.

Eleana Kim is a sociocultural anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies at University of California, Irvine. She specializes in kinship, human/nonhuman ecologies, migration, and the senses, with a regional focus on contemporary South Korea. She is the author of two award-winning books, Adopted Territory: Transnational Korean Adoption and the Politics of Belonging (2010) and Making Peace with Nature: Ecological Encounters Along the Korean DMZ (2022), both of which were published by Duke University Press. She is also the co-editor, with environmental historians David Fedman and Albert Park, of Forces of Nature: New Perspectives on Korean Environments (Cornell University Press, 2023). She teaches courses on anthropological theory, kinship, migration, transnational Korea, and the senses.

Dave’s program, The Story of Christopher Columbus and His Famous Ships, includes some history, some storytelling by Dave, some humor, and of course some controversy. The three famous ships will also be on display, as well as some artifacts related to the history of this famous explorer. Was Columbus a true genius of the seas, or just the luckiest guy ever to sail the earth? Come hear his story and decide for yourself.

Dave Dini is a modeler and member of the Stateline Area Modelers (SAM) Club from Durand, Il. Dave’s special interest is wooden ships, and over the years he has built 1/64 scale wooden models of Columbus’s three famous ships that he used to discover the New World. Dave welcomes questions and discussion at the end of his talk.

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson stated: “The world must be safe for democracy.” In four days, the United States would enter World War I. Historian Jim Gibbons will take you through the first of two of the most catastrophic wars in our nation’s history, World War I, which started on July 28, 1914. Gibbons will highlight significant events that thrust the United States into this unwanted war.

Throughout time, the vampire has been both the sum of all our fears and the perfect scapegoat, yet the vampire has retained an allure carrying its popularity across centuries. Author Laura Enright examines the evolution of the vampire from ancient bogeyman to romantic figure, superhero, and even a teen dream.

The Rockford Society, Archaeological Institute of America, invites the public to its next, free, in-person, multi-media presentation on archaeology, on Thursday, October 23, 7:30 PM, at Burpee Museum of Natural History, 737 North Main Street, Rockford. Professor Daniel Master, Wheaton College will discuss "Tel Shimron, Israel, City of the Canaanites."

Rockford’s Archaeology Society invites you to learn more about this 3800-year-old city with returning speaker Daniel Master. The presentation highlights unique monuments that show the technological sophistication and international reach of the ancient Bronze Age inhabitants. The site of Tel Shimron in Israel has been excavated since 2017.

The public is invited to a free reception held immediately following each in-person presentation. Burpee Museum is handicapped-accessible and offers free parking. Additional free parking is also available next door at the Riverfront Museum Park, 711 N. Main Street, Rockford.

The Rockford Society provides additional information on lectures, events, trips, and archaeological topics on the web at www.rockfordaia.org.