For edited videos of the keynotes and panel sessions, and highlights from the post-clambake performance/lecture, see the Fellows’ 50th playlist on Brown’s YouTube channel here: BrownYouTube

Enjoy!

The Richard Rath African Music in Seventeenth Century Jamaica Show

Invitation to enjoy!

We will be monitoring comments and questions sent by email: jcbl_fellowships@brown.edu; and you can follow us via Twitter @JCBLibrary (#JCBFellows50th).

For a preview of all events, check out the up-to-date program here: JCBFellows50thProgramJune5

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

We have set aside one session of the conference (Saturday, June 9, 2 p.m.) for returning fellows to tell the story – out loud — of 1 or 2 items in the collection that spoke to them in unexpected ways or offered a surprise discovery that might or might not have been related to the work central to their time at the JCB.  The stories will be told in 5-10 minute slots in front of the books, maps, or manuscripts themselves (depending on condition) in small group settings in locations throughout the Library, with a JCB curator or other staff serving as host in each location.

If you would like to participate in the storytelling, please send an email to margot_nishimura@brown.edu with the following information:

• The title and other identifying information for the proposed item(s), including the call number (if you have it) and specifics about edition, etc. (can send the permalink to the JOSIAH records, if available), and, if relevant, specific page numbers, illustrations, etc. that you will refer to.
• A brief summary (no more than 250 words) of the story you plan to tell about the item(s).

When thinking about the presentation, keep in mind that the story should take you no more than 5-10 minutes to tell. Ideally, the proposed items have not already been submitted for publication in our “I Found It at the JCB!” online essay series (now a regular feature on the “JCB Books Speak” blog: http://blogs.brown.edu/jcbbooks/, with earlier entries now archived on the JCB website at http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/I%20found%20it%20JCB/About.html). Once told at the conference, however, we hope these new stories will also be submitted for online publication.

c/o Susan Newbury
John Carter Brown Library
Box 1894
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912

You may pick up your display copy at the end of the conference, or leave it to be donated to either the JCB reference book collection or the former fellows’ shelf at Fiering House.

P.S. You need not be present to send or have sent a display copy and flyers.

The first announcement of the event came in a holiday greetings from Director Ted Widmer last December. In case you missed it, we’ve included Ted’s letter below, and promise more updates as the plans are finalized in the next few weeks.

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Dec. 22, 2011

Dear JCB Former Fellows,

The holiday season is traditionally a time for end-of-year greetings. I have nothing against that — indeed, I offer them enthusiastically to all of you!  But the purpose of this email is to ask you to focus on the middle of next year, and specifically June 7-9, when we will convene a gathering of former Fellows to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fellowship program at the John Carter Brown Library.  Bernard Bailyn, Rolena Adorno, and JCB board member David Rumsey (see davidrumsey.com) have all agreed to give keynotes, and many other JCB alumni will be speaking. More information will be forthcoming from Margot Nishimura, our Deputy Director and Librarian, but in addition to the holiday greetings, I wanted to ask you to hold the date.  (For those who are eager to make arrangements, some preliminary information about lodgings appears below.) It should be a memorable get-together — a chance not only to celebrate our history, but to think about new directions for the program.

Best wishes for the new year,

Ted Widmer

Director and Librarian

Accommodation information can now be found here: http://blogs.brown.edu/jcbfellows50th/accomodations/