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Virtual – Shannon McKenna Schmidt Discusses “The First Lady of World War II”

We had such a great time chatting with author Shannon McKenna Schmidt earlier this year to discuss Lady Bird Johnson, we just had to have her back! This time she will be discussing her book, “The First Lady of World War II: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Daring Journey to the Frontlines and Back” –  the first book to tell the full story of Eleanor Roosevelt’s unprecedented and courageous trip to the Pacific Theater during World War II. We’ll discuss how the trip impacted the war effort, Eleanor, and the world. It’s guaranteed to be a fascinating conversation and we hope you can join us for it!

**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Please register to receive a Zoom link** 

Register directly on Zoom HERE.

Note: This program will be recorded and a link will be sent to all registrants soon after the program. It will be available on YouTube for one month. 

You can buy signed books (by bookplate) by Shannon from Aesop’s Fable. Just write that you would like the book signed in the notes section at checkout.

About The First Lady of World War II:

On August 27, 1943, news broke in the United States that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was on the other side of the world. A closely guarded secret, she had left San Francisco aboard a military transport plane headed for the South Pacific to support and report the troops on WW2’s front lines.

Americans had believed she was secluded at home.

As Allied forces battled the Japanese for control of the region, Eleanor was there on the frontlines, spending five weeks traveling, on a mission as First Lady of the United States to experience what our servicemen were experiencing… and report back home.

“No other U.S. mother had seen so much of the panorama of the war, had been closer to the sweat and boredom, the suffering.”
―Time, October 4, 1943

About Shannon:

Shannon McKenna Schmidt is the author of You Can’t Catch Us: Lady Bird Johnson’s Trailblazing 1964 Campaign Train and the Women Who Rode with Her and The First Lady of World War II: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Daring Journey to the Frontlines and Back. She is also the coauthor of Novel Destinations: A Travel Guide to Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen’s Bath to Ernest Hemingway’s Key West and Writers Between the Covers: The Scandalous Romantic Lives of Legendary Literary Casanovas, Coquettes, and Cads.

In addition, Shannon has written for National Geographic Traveler, Shelf Awareness, and other publications and websites. She has been a guest on radio and television programs including MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and she has spoken at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, the National World War II Museum, and many other venues. An avid traveler, she spent a seven-year stretch on the road full-time, first trekking the United States by RV and then backpacking around the globe.

Shannon lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Please register for this event and you’ll receive the link in the confirmation and reminder emails – make sure to check your spam folder for them. The email will be coming from Zoom. 

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is in collaboration with the Chelmsford, Groton, and Tewksbury Libraries and is in partnership with a multitude of MA & NH libraries.  

Virtual – Author and Historian Helen Fry Discusses “The White Lady”

**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**  

We learned so much from Helen the last time she spoke with us, we had to have her back! This time, she’ll be discussing her book, The White Lady: The Story of Two Key British Secret Service Networks Behind German Lines – A major new history of the two most important British secret service networks in the First and Second World Wars. This is a compelling account of the agents who risked their lives and found ingenious ways to smuggle intelligence out of occupied Belgium. 

This program is at 2pm ET (Boston Time). We will NOT be recording this session. 

Register directly on Zoom HERE.

Buy signed (by bookplate) books by Helen from Aesop’s Fable. Just note in the comments that you’d like the books signed at checkout!

Buy Signed Books by Helen

About The White Lady:

Intelligence gathering was essential to both sides in the First and Second World Wars. At the heart of MI6’s efforts were two key networks in Belgium. Agents in The White Lady acted as couriers, radio operators and spies to facilitate the end of German control. And, when war broke out again two decades later, the leaders of the network regrouped and established a successor: The Clarence Service.

Helen Fry charts the history of these pivotal intelligence networks. Drawing on recently declassified information, Fry examines who the agents were, how they were recruited, and how the intelligence they gathered directly impacted the outcome of both wars. Operators in the field sent over eight hundred radio messages to London and delivered more than a thousand reports, including groundbreaking information on Hitler’s secret weapon the V-1. 

About Helen:

Discover the versatile expertise of Dr. Helen Fry, a distinguished WWII historian, and author with a profound focus on the contributions of 10,000 Germans and Austrians who fought for Britain during WWII. Her specialisation extends to the intriguing realm of the ‘Secret Listeners’ and the intricate world of 20th-century spies and espionage. Helen’s influence goes beyond the pages of her books. She is a sought-after consultant for leading TV and documentary productions, offering historical insight for WWII scenes filmed by major channels like the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4. Her commitment to historical education encompasses curriculum development for schools and educational programs related to WWI, WWII, and the Cold War. An ardent supporter of the National Centre for Military Intelligence (NCMI), she also serves as a trustee for the Medmenham Collection and holds honorary membership in The Association of Jewish Refugees. Her latest book, ‘Women in Intelligence,’ illuminating the crucial roles of women in both WWI and WWII, was released in America in October 2023.

 

Please register for this event and you’ll receive the link in the confirmation and reminder emails – make sure to check your spam folder for them, the email will be coming from Zoom.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and we’re thrilled to be collaborating with a multitude of MA Libraries to bring this program to our communities.

VIRTUAL: Celebrating 250 — American Revolutionary Painter Charles Wilson Peale

**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.** 

Charles Willson Peale was an exemplary patriot and served under George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. Many of his earliest portraits were miniatures painted on the battle fields. Peale then went on to paint hundreds of the Revolutionary patriot portraits, including at least 60 of George Washington. In 1784, Peale founded the Philadelphia Museum, one of the oldest museums in America and in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the first art academy in America.

In this program, art historian Martha Chiarchiaro, owner of Seeing History, will delve into Peale’s tremendous contribution in documenting the men of the American Revolutionary War. 

Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Tewksbury Friends of the Library and the Bacon Free Library.

 

RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

VIRTUAL: Celebrating 250 — Portraits Of A Revolution

**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**

Explore American portraits painted and sculpted during the years leading up to, and the decades after, the Revolution.

The ideals, values, and virtues expressly stated in our founding documents are easily identifiable in these portraits once we know how to “read” them. We will examine portraits of founding “fathers” and “mothers,” as well as of lesser-known individuals, as documents that can be read like texts. In this program, we’ll also discuss the tradition of portraiture, and the influences of earlier art movements, artists, and artifacts, that inform these American portraits.

Led by Inez McDermott, Professor Emerita of art history at New England College. She is a curator of art and history exhibitions at various museums and galleries throughout New England.

Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Tewksbury Friends of the Library.

RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

VIRTUAL: Celebrating 250 – The Intoxicating History Of The American Revolution

**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**

Eighteenth-century Americans consumed a staggering amount of alcohol compared to us today. Drink influenced their politics, built and sustained their relationships, and drove the economy. Booze was not a small part of colonial society, nor covertly consumed in private spaces—it was integral to American life. When the colonists rebelled against the British Empire, this culture of drink and taverns helped foster revolution. Join historian Brooke Barbier, author of Cocked and and Boozy: An Intoxicated History of the American Revolution, for a lively talk about the influence of tavern and drinking culture on the American Revolution. You’ll hear about the way alcohol influenced colonial resistance, soldiers on both sides of the war, and the creation of a new nation. You’ll see famous founders and lesser-known Patriots drink their way from British subjects into Americans.

Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Tewksbury Friends of the Library.

RECORDING NOTE: This program will NOT be recorded.

VIRTUAL: Paintings of the American Revolution

Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) - oil-on-canvas painting of General George Washington standing in the prow of a boat crossing the Delaware River with the Continental Army.

In celebration of America’s Semiquincentennial, Mallory Mortillaro presents Paintings of the American Revolution.

We all know the story of the Revolutionary War, but how much of our understanding is colored by the way the war was depicted by artists? Paintings of the American Revolution have been essential in the way that the war was understood, both at the time of the conflict and for generations after. This lecture will explore well-known paintings such as Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware, John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence, and Asher Durand’s The Capture of Major André.

Mallory Mortillaro is an art historian and educator. She has ten years of teaching experience and has worked on various art research projects for museums and organizations in the New York metropolitan area. She studied at Drew University.

This program will be held over Zoom. Please register to receive the meeting link. 

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