Another (Steal This Post!) Viewpoint

View of Davis Library's grounds around 8 a.m. Friday 4.11.14

Blossoms and buds abound here at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College!  They’re arriving just in time as Davis Library gets ready to spring into action for this year’s National Library Week (NLW) celebration coming up April 13-19.  

Blossoms and buds around campus near Davis Library Friday morning 4.11.14

We’re getting the party started early by offering a special “flower power” kick-off event on Saturday, April 12^th from 1-5 p.m. on the Davis Library’s Main Floor.

In keeping with this year’s National Library Week (NLW) theme Lives Change @ Your Library, the Friends of the Davis Library will present a special event that looks at certain life changing moments and activism during the Vietnam War era of the late 1960s—those decisions to support and go to war as well as those choices to challenge the system through protest.

Come "Occupy Davis Library" with us this weekend!

First, you’ll enjoy a Pete Seeger Tribute featuring Steve Free, Vietnam War veteran and award-winning singer-songwriter-musician from the Ohio Appalachian region.  

Pete Seeger (1919 – 2014) was and still is one of the world’s best-loved folk artists. He greatly influenced Rock music and as part of the American folk music revival of the 1960s, his work was associated with both civil rights and anti-war movements. More recently, his music and activism focused on environmental and “Occupy Wall Street” concerns. Seeger’s legacy and career span decades.  He passed away on January 27, 2014 at the age of 94.

Starting around 1:30 p.m., Free will perform some of Seeger’s classics as well as other protest songs and tunes from the American folk music revival of the 1960s.  He’ll also share a few of his own hits just for fun.

Folk Music Display of Books and Media from Davis Library's Collections

Afterwards, the University of Rio Grande’s Theatre Department will present Rio Grande in Retrospect: A Talk-Rock Evening with Abbie Hoffman & the Rio Grande 41, a student project written and directed by Luke Lawrence that explores Vietnam War protests and other student/campus demonstrations during the late 1960s.

Abbie Hoffman, famous political activist and author of Steal This Book and Woodstock Nation: A Talk-Rock Album, visited Rio Grande in 1969 and helped students stage protests outside Davis Library.

1960s Student Activism Display of Books and Media from Davis Library's Collections

This NLW event is free and open to the public and is also part of Our War, an oral history project examining the impact of the Vietnam War on the local Ohio Appalachian region. Remembrances from veterans, Rio Grande alumni and members of the community are being collected and preserved.

Started this past fall, the project will eventually be included on the Ohio River Tales (ohiorivertales.rio.edu) site. For more details or to share your own stories about this time period, please email ohiorivertales@rio.edu or feel free to… “Ask Us!”