This film and discussion will be presented in English. This program will also be presented in Spanish on Monday, February 8.

Dr. Silvia Pedraza, U-M Professor of Sociology and American Culture leads tonight’s screening and discussion of the film War and Peace (1942-1954). World War II is a watershed event for Latino Americans with hundreds of thousands of men and women serving in the armed forces, most fighting side by side with Anglos. But on the home front, discrimination is not dead: in 1943, Anglo servicemen battle hip young "Zoot suitors" in racially charged riots in southern California.

After the war, Macario Garcia becomes the first Mexican National to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor for his exploits fighting in Europe, only to be refused service in a Texas diner. The experience during the war pushes Latinos to fight for civil rights back home. A doctor from South Texas, Hector Garcia, organizes the American GI Forum, transforming himself into a tireless advocate for civil rights and the friend of a future president. Although Latinos make significant gains, the journey for equality is far from over.

The Ann Arbor District Library is one of 203 sites nationwide to host this series, which has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. The AADL series is also co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and the U-M Latina/o Studies Program and is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities In the Public Square. For more information on Latino Americans: 500 Years of History programs at AADL, please visit aadl.org/latinoamericans.

Co-sponsored by:

This session is in Spanish and will be presented in English on Monday, January 18 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Explore the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have helped shape the United States over the last five centuries when the Ann Arbor District Library presents Latino Americans: 500 Years of History. Created by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association, this six-episode series features documentary film screenings and discussions at the Downtown Library.

Dr. Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Director Latina/o Studies Program, Associate Professor of American Culture leads tonight’s screening and discussion. Tonight’s film, "Foreigners in their Own Land (1565-1880)," begins one hundred years after Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean, as Spanish Conquistadors and Priests push into North America in search of gold and to spread Catholicism. With the arrival of the British in North America, the two colonial systems produce contrasting societies that come in conflict as Manifest Destiny pushes the U.S into the Mexican territories of the South West.

Through the Mexican American War, the U.S. takes a full half of Mexico's territory by 1848. Over seventy thousand Mexicans are caught in a strange land and many become American citizens.

As the Gold Rush floods California with settlers, complex and vital communities are overwhelmed. Mexicans and Mexican Americans are treated as second-class citizens, facing discrimination and racial violence. Resistance to this injustice appears in New Mexico as Las Gorras Blancas (The White Caps), burn Anglo ranches and cut through barbed wire to prevent Anglo encroachment.

At the same time, New Mexicans manage to transform themselves through education, managing to preserve Hispano culture in New Mexico and their standing in the midst of an era of conquest and dispossession.

The Ann Arbor District Library is one of 203 sites nationwide to host this series, which has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. The AADL series is also co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and the U-M Latina/o Studies Program and is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities In the Public Square.

For more information about this AADL series, visit aadl.org/latinoamericans

Co-sponsored by:

Professor and historian Anthony Geist makes a special appearance to lead a post-film discussion following the screening of his 2006 film Souls Without Borders: The Untold Story of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. This inspiring 52-minute documentary tells the story of a group of 2800 young Americans who helped fight against fascism in the bloody Spanish Civil War (1936-39). The film explores the spirit of commitment that led this group of volunteers — known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade — to offer their lives for an ideal.

Drawing on in-depth interviews and previously unknown archival footage, Souls Without Borders follows the commitment of 12 Lincoln Brigade veterans from their origins in the Great Depression through Spain and World War II, McCarthyism and the Cold War, to their involvement with struggles for social justice today. This documentary includes extraordinary footage of the war and the seventy‐year history of the Lincoln Brigade, as well as interviews with some of the fifty survivors still living today.

Following the screening, Dr. Anthony Geist, the director of the film and Vice Chair of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives will lead a discussion, including information on volunteers from this area who fought in Spain as well as activism related to the Spanish Civil War at U-M and in the Detroit area. This event is cosponsored by the U-M Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.

Actress, writer, and producer Cindy Williams is one of the most recognizable names and faces of 1970s & 1980s television.

Best known for her starring role in the hit TV show "Laverne and Shirley," she also had lead roles in such iconic films such as "American Graffiti" and Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation."

While millions have been entertained by her good-natured personality and comedy antics, she has rarely spoken about her life in entertainment, and how she came to star in one of the most popular shows of all time.

Join us for this truly special event at the Downtown Library as Cindy sits with local radio personality Lucy Ann Lance to discuss her life, career and new book Shirley, I Jest!: A Storied Life. In this hilarious and heartfelt book, she shares some of her most memorable stories including her role as Shirley Feeney in the iconic TV show "Laverne & Shirley." She shares stories of her experiences in her personal life (growing up in a blue-collar family) and show business as well as her encounters with entertainment giants such as Gene Kelly, Lucille Ball, Little Richard, Cary Grant, Jim Morrison, Ron Howard, and many more. Of course, she also talks about her professional partnership and personal relationship with her co-star and friend Penny Marshall.

This event includes a book signing and books will be for sale by Literati Bookstore.

Today’s lunchtime panel is covers Design Thinking: An Approach to Problem-Solving and Innovation and features Katie Robertson and Diane Tamblyn of Wholemindesign.

The artist's process of creating work contains an abundance of transferable practices and values that offer any entrepreneur or manager step-by-step methods for unlocking one's imagination to get to innovation. Katie and Diane of Wholemindesign lead participants in a workshop that explore the practical application of this system to any work process.

An exciting and new festival of the Ann Arbor Art Center, POP·X will create new spaces for the arts by placing pavilions designed by artists and architects throughout the area. This annual festival is a burst of imagination and inspiration that will fill city parks, businesses, and neighborhoods with vibrancy through expressions of contemporary art. Art for Innovators is held in conjunction with POP·X and is sponsored in part by Old National Bank.

With a history that stretches over a century, the Michigan–Ohio State rivalry is one of the oldest in college football. The two teams claim a combined 19 national championships, hundreds of All-Americans, and 10 Heisman Trophies. Each year, millions of Buckeye and Wolverine fans watch the two teams battle for an opportunity to win the Big Ten championship in a contest simply known as “the Game.”

Ken Magee and Jon Stevens have written the history of this great rivalry in a new book entitled The Game, The Michigan-Ohio State Rivalry. For this event, they will share highlights of their book as well as interesting facts about the famous “feud.” From Yost to Schembechler to Harbaugh — come hear about this century old annual tradition!

Ken Magee is an expert in Wolverine football history. He is a 30-year veteran of law enforcement, former chief of police for the University of Michigan, and a retired federal agent. A portion of this book’s proceeds benefit the Ken Magee Foundation for Cops, which assists police officers permanently injured in the line of duty.

Jon M. Stevens was born in Powell, Ohio, and grew up in the shadow of Ohio Stadium. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 2004 and is currently a designer for an architecture firm in Ann Arbor.

This event will include a booksigning and books will be for sale.

Local radio personality Martin Bandyke hosts this event, a close look at the history of one of the area’s most popular snack foods!

For many, Detroit is the crunch capital of the world. More than forty local chip companies once fed the Motor City’s never-ending appetite for salty snacks, including New Era, Everkrisp, Krun-Chee, Mello Crisp, Wolverine and Vita-Boy. Only Better Made remains. From the start, the brand was known for light, crisp chips that were near to perfection.

Discover how Better Made came to be, how its chips are made and how competition has shaped the industry into what it is today. Bite into the flavorful history of Michigan’s most iconic chip as author Karen Dybis, in her book Better Made in Michigan : The Salty Story of Detroit's Best Chip explores how Detroit “chipreneurs” rose from garage-based businesses to become snack food royalty Detroiters claim to eat the most potato chips in the nation — seven pounds compared to four everywhere else — but is this true? This book dives into those stats.

Karen Dybis is a Metro Detroit writer who has blogged for Time, worked the business desk at The Detroit News and jumped on breaking stories for publications including Corp! Magazine, Detroit Unspun and Agence France-Presse newswire. She became fascinated with Detroit’s potato-chip history after finding out there were more than two dozen chip companies in the city over the past century. Her research found there actually were more like 40-plus manufacturers of all sizes in Detroit. It was tasty research, indeed, as she tried all the flavors and companies she could find. Her favorite Better Made flavor is the Garlic Dill Pickle Krinkle Cut potato chips.

This event includes a book signing and books will be for sale.

AADL hosts a fun and wide-ranging conversation with several local alternative press leaders about their experiences running an alternative press.
Discover what motivated them to start and how their missions may have changed over the course of their runs; the technological and financial challenges; how the Internet and social media have altered the landscape; and their views on the role of the alternative press in our communities then versus now.

Panelists include:

Harvey Ovshinsky (Moderator): Harvey started The Fifth Estate when he was 17 years old. It has become the longest running alternative newspaper in the country, and is about to celebrate its 50th birthday.

Ted Sylvester and Laurie Wechter: Ted and Laurie founded Agenda in the 1980s and ran it through the 1990s. Agenda was an independent, non-aligned newspaper that served Ann Arbor and nearby towns as a forum for the area’s many liberal/leftist activist groups and nonprofit human service organizations.

Barbara Barefield: Barbara worked on alternative newspaper The Ann Arbor Sun in the 1970s. The newspaper was the mouthpiece for the White Panther Party and the succeeding Rainbow People’s Party before being an independent publication devoted to local issues, left-wing politics, music, and arts.

Dave Askins: Dave, with Mary Morgan, ran The Ann Arbor Chronicle from 2008-2014. The Ann Arbor Chronicle was an online newspaper focusing on civic affairs and local government coverage.

If you want more information about these publications, The Ann Arbor District Library hosts the online archives of Agenda, The Ann Arbor Sun, and The Ann Arbor Chronicle and you can view past issues of Agenda and The Ann Arbor Sun at Old News and past articles from the Ann Arbor Chronicle at the Ann Arbor Chronicle Archive.

What do a mild mannered grocery store manager from Northern Michigan and the infamous skyjacker D.B. Cooper have in common? How can a married couple and the aircraft they were traveling in just disappear over a populated area? What really happened to the freighter that sailed out of Grand Haven, over the horizon and into oblivion?

Join author and shipwreck hunter Ross Richardson in exploring the baffling disappearances of a person, a plane and a ship, and other mysterious unsolved disappearances in the Michigan Region.

Author and shipwreck hunter Ross Richardson was the National Writer Series Author Next Door for October 2014, and the Grand Traverse Scene Magazine named his book “Still Missing” to their Notable Michigan Books list. He has spent the last decade and a half researching Great Lakes maritime history and searching for the Michigan Region’s missing aircraft and ships. He has been involved with over a dozen shipwreck discoveries, including recent discoveries in Northern Lake Michigan.
Previously, Richardson penned the book The Search for the Westmoreland, Lake Michigan's Treasure Shipwreck. He operates a popular website, www.michiganmysteries.com, which is dedicated to missing persons, missing aircraft and missing ships.

After the 2006 death of her father, Aarol W. “Bud” Irish, Teresa opened his old army trunk and found the 1,000 letters that he wrote home while he was serving in WWII from 1942-45. The fragile, yellowed letters that were written to his parents and to his sweetheart, who would later become his wife, became the basis for A Thousand Letters Home.

From lonesome, moonlit nights listening to the Hit Parade, to the foxholes and front lines in Germany where Bud would receive the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, to correspondence from the heartbroken mothers whose sons died by his side, A Thousand Letters Home is a moving and historic story of life and loss, hope and perseverance, unwavering faith and true love.

This firsthand account through the eyes, heart and words of one soldier mirrors the journeys of many who served in WWII. From training camps across the U.S.A. to Ports of Embarkation where they boarded ships and crossed the ocean to fight on foreign soil, millions of young Americans were abruptly pulled from civilian life and thrust into the unfamiliar world of a military at war.

At every opportunity, Bud poured out his thoughts and feelings in these letters, all amidst reassuring words to loved ones a world away.

Join us as Teresa discusses these letters, her book and her father. This event includes a book signing and books will be for sale