The Ann Arbor District Library and the Ann Arbor Observer are extremely pleased to unveil 'Ann Arbor Observer: Then & Now' to the public. Local historian Grace Shackman and Ann Arbor Observer editor John Hilton will discuss the history of the Ann Arbor as viewed by the Observer and staff will introduce 'Ann Arbor Observer: Then & Now' an online collection of local history articles published in the Ann Arbor Observer over the past three decades. These articles give a rich picture of the various themes, people, and places that make up Ann Arbor. Accompanying the articles is an image gallery with photographs from Ann Arbor's past. Refreshments will be served at this event, which will include a demo of this new historical resource.

Are you curious about how the 1854 Detroit Observatory came to be -- and why it is in Ann Arbor, NOT Detroit? Michigan is not the most likely place to build a state-of-the-art astronomical observatory. However, the Detroit Observatory, named in honor of major donors from Detroit, was the centerpiece of President Henry Philip Tappan's efforts to transform the University of Michigan into one of the first research universities in the United States.

Over the past quarter century, a new field of study called archeoastronomy has developed, investigating astronomical alignments that may have been incorporated or utilized in prehistoric times by ancient people. Years of field research at petroform sites may prove that some of the most unique and oldest archeoastronomy sites in North America - possibly as old as the pyramids in Egypt - are located in southeastern Wisconsin.

AADL and the University of Michigan Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies invite you to spend an evening with acclaimed writer and historian Timothy Tyson. He will discuss his memoir - soon to be made into a major motion picture - of the South and civil rights. Mr. Tyson will be accompanied by musician and singer Mary Williams, who will perform at this event. The event will include a book signing, with books available for purchase. Timothy Tyson is an American writer and historian from North Carolina, currently serving as Senior Scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, with secondary appointments in the Duke Divinity School and the Department of History. He is also adjunct professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His narrative of the fiery summer of 1970 in Oxford, North Carolina, brings gritty blues truth, soaring gospel vision, and down-home humor to a shocking episode of our history.

Campus sit-ins, Vietnam War protests and the Black Panther Party: In "War As They Knew It," Michael Rosenberg perfectly captures what life was like both on and off the football fields of college campuses during the remarkable era of the 1960s - '70s. He details how both Schembechler and Hayes strived to make their football programs a model for the rest of society ???????? a counter to the counter-culture.

Dr. Eiss will cover the four major views of children through European and American history, using slides to demonstrate the resulting works of children's literature. Important theorists, authors, and illustrators will be highlighted. This event is held in collaboration with the UM Special Collections Library and in conjunction with A Century of Popular Children's Literature: Decade By Decade, the October-November exhibit at the Downtown Library.Dr. Harry Eiss currently teaches numerous courses in children's literature in the English Dept. at Eastern Michigan University.

At the start of World War II, Gisèle Naichouler Feldman was separated from her family. Although this was not the first time, this separation would prove to be life saving. Through the help of many people, now known as the Righteous, Gisèle found herself at the steps of a great castle once owned by French freedom fighter General Lafayette. As a hidden child, instructed to forget her Jewish heritage and pretend to be Catholic, Gisèle spent two and a half years in the castle. "Saved By the Spirit of Lafayette" tells of many hidden children -- hidden from the outside terrors of the Nazi regime - and takes the opportunity to thank all of those who earned the right to be called the Righteous. This event includes a book signing with books available for purchase.

Joan DuMouchelle Walker of DuMouchelles Art Gallery and Auctioneers in Detroit will make a special appearance at the AADL to present a lecture/discussion/appraisal program. Attendees may bring one item that they would like Joan to informally appraise, as an example of DuMouchelle's techniques. No registration is required for this event.Joan DuMouchelle Walker will discuss the history of DuMouchelles, give an overview of the appraisal/auction business and demonstrate, using examples from the audience, how objects are appraised for value.

On November 6, 2008, the Downtown Ann Arbor Historical Street Exhibit program dedicated and celebrated four new wall panels that will be on permanent display near the corner of South University and East University, and South University and Forest Avenue. Speakers at the event include Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje; Dennis Tice, President of South University Area Association; Sandy Odell, daughter of Fred Ulrich; Maggie Ladd, Executive director, South University Area Association; Cynthia Shevel, owner of Middle Earth; and Ray Detter, Street Exhibit coordinator. The panels cover the following topics: "The Corners of South University and East University Avenues," "Like a Small Village," "Houses to High Rises on South University Avenue," and "South University and Forest Avenues."

The time-tested traditions of food can assist you in today's modern kitchen - and food historian Sandy Oliver can tell you how! This event, which will include a book signing, is held in conjunction with the first anniversary of the Ann Arbor District Library's Ann Arbor Cooks online database (aadl.org/cooks) and is cosponsored by the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor. Books will be for sale at the event.Sandy is a freelance food writer with a weekend column, Tastebuds, in the Bangor Daily News, and regular columns in Maine Boats, Homes, and Harbors magazine and The Working Waterfront.