Pember Library

The  lecture 1812: New York’s War, New York’s Impetus by Robert Arnold originally planned for September 24 has been postponed until October 29.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

The Pember Library presents “From Muscles to Motors on the Farm: Henry Ford and the Great American Tractor Wars, 1910-1930″

The Pember Library will present a lecture by Dr. Milton Sernett on “From Muscles to Motors on the Farm: Henry Ford and the Great American Tractor Wars, 1910-1930″. Free and open to the general public, the event begins at 6:30 PM on April 9 at the Pember Library in Granville.  This event is made possible through Speakers in the Humanities, a program of the New York Council for the Humanities.

Dr. Milton C. Sernett, Professor Emeritus, taught at Syracuse University for over thirty years. He has published eight books and numerous articles and essays, many of them dealing with American abolitionism, the Underground Railroad, and African American history. His current book project is a history of the “the great tractor wars” of the 1920s and the influence of Henry Ford on American farm life.

Henry Ford’s Fordson Tractor, like his Model T, was both a technological marvel and an instrument of social change; this illustrated lecture will invoke memories of life and work on American family farms before the age of agribusiness.

The Fordson tractor, first mass-produced in 1918, gave farmers a reliable but affordable source of power. Henry Ford’s entry into the tractor business sparked a conflict in the farm machinery industry that had long-term consequences for American life on and off the farm.

The transition from horse power to tractor power, from muscles to motors, took place during an era of rapid social change in American life. Farm families were trying to adjust to new marvels everywhere–airplanes, automobiles, electricity on the farm, telephones, radio, consolidated rural schools, indoor plumbing, rural free delivery, better roads, and refrigeration.

The lecture use rare images from the archives of the great tractor manufacturers and depictions of the seasons of agricultural work before the factory farm replaced the family farm. These visual cues will encourage the sharing and preservation of memories of farm life among all members of your community.

Since its launch in 1983, the Council’s Speakers in the Humanities program has linked distinguished scholars with a diverse audience through the presentation of lectures on a broad range of topics.  All Speakers events are free and open to the general public.  Each year, hundreds of cultural organizations and community groups take advantage of this program, which offers the very best in humanities scholarship to thousands of citizens in every corner of New York State.

The New York Council for the Humanities is a not-for-profit, independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Through statewide collaborations, and programs and services that encourage imaginative thinking and critical inquiry, the Council works to ensure that the humanities are present in the intellectual and cultural life of every New Yorker.

For more information, call (518) 642-2525.

The Pember Library will present a lecture by Rob Edelman on “From Rosie the Riveter to Harriet the Happy Homemaker: Women on Screen During and After World War II”. Free and open to the general public, the event begins at 6:30 PM on March 19 at the Pember Library in Granville.  This event is made possible through Speakers in the Humanities, a program of the New York Council for the Humanities.

Rob Edelman is a Lecturer in film history at the University at Albany. He offers film commentary on WAMC (Northeast) Public Radio and is a longtime contributing editor of Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide. His books include Issues on Trial: Freedom of the Press, Matthau: A Life, and Meet the Mertzes, and he has written for a range of publications (from Women Filmmakers and Their Films to Base Ball: The Journal of the Early Game to The Political Companion to American Film).
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The following is a short description of Mr Edelman’s lecture:
Before World War II, women were expected to marry and remain at home where they cooked meals and raised children, while their husbands were the breadwinners. During the war, however, the role of women in American society changed. Women now were manning assembly lines, entering the military, and experiencing personal and economic freedom that previously had been the exclusive domain of men.

With peacetime came a return to “normalcy,” and the expectation that women would cheerfully exchange their paychecks for aprons, regain their lost “femininity,” and return to their traditional roles within the American family.

The changing roles for and expectations of women are depicted in the era’s Hollywood movies. This lecture will be accompanied by a range of clips from films of the 1940s and 50s, all of which illustrate the manner in which women were expected to act during and after the war.
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Since its launch in 1983, the Council’s Speakers in the Humanities program has linked distinguished scholars with a diverse audience through the presentation of lectures on a broad range of topics.  All Speakers events are free and open to the general public.  Each year, hundreds of cultural organizations and community groups take advantage of this program, which offers the very best in humanities scholarship to thousands of citizens in every corner of New York State.

The New York Council for the Humanities is a not-for-profit, independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Through statewide collaborations, and programs and services that encourage imaginative thinking and critical inquiry, the Council works to ensure that the humanities are present in the intellectual and cultural life of every New Yorker.

This Speakers in the Humanities event, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Read the rest of this entry »