Monday, November 3, 2008, 5:30 p.m. Paley Library Lecture Hall Join the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection of Temple University Libraries in welcoming authors and artists Deb Willis and Hank Willis Thomas. Both authors will sign copies of their latest books–Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs (Dr. Deb Willis) and Pitch Blackness (Hank Willis Thomas).

Deb Willis is the Chair of the Photography Department at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Dr. Willis also holds an affiliated appointment with the College of Arts and Sciences in Africana Studies at NYU. She has pursued a dual professional career as an art photographer and as one of the nation’s leading historians of African American photography and curator of African American culture. Her awards, exhibitions and publications are many, but highlights include: a 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship and Fletcher Fellowship, a 2000 MacArthur Fellowship, she was also the 1996 recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman Foundation award. Other notable projects include: The Black Female Body A Photographic History with Carla Williams (Temple University Press, Philadephia, 2002); A Small Nation of People: W.E.B. DuBois and the Photographs from the Paris Exposition (Amistad Press, 2003); Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers – 1840 to the Present (New York: W.W. Norton); Visual Journal: Photography in Harlem and DC in the Thirties and Forties (Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1996); Picturing Us: African American Identity in Photography (The New Press, New York, NY, 1994); and VANDERZEE: The Portraits of James VanDerZee (Harry Abrams Publishing, New York, NY, 1993). Dr. Willis will be signing copies of her latest book, Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs. Through 150 striking color photographs, Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs charts the road to Barack Obama’s nomination as the first African American to lead the presidential ticket of a major party.

Hank Willis Thomas received his BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and his MFA in photography, along with an MA in visual criticism‚ from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco. He has exhibited in galleries and museums, including the Studio Museum in Harlem; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut; Leica Gallery, New York; and National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. Willis Thomas is the first recipient of the Aperture West Book Prize, a new annual prize for artists living west of the Mississippi. He lives in Oakland, California. He will be signing copies of his latest book, Pitch Blackness.

The Unique Craft of Artist Books October 7, 6:00 p.m., Temple Gallery in Olde City 259 N. Third Street, Philadelphia, PA Join the Libraries and the Tyler School of Art Department of Exhibitions and Public Programs for a conversation on the unique craft of artist books. The Libraries’ Special Collections Curator, Tom Whitehead, and Tyler’s Andrea Goldstein present Temple’s most curious examples of artist books and lead a discussion on the craftsmanship of book making. This special program is presented in conjunction with concurrent exhibits on the art and craft of the book at Temple Gallery in Old City, Paley Library and Tyler Library on the Elkins Park campus, all on view through October 25.

A Conversation with Nobel Prize Winner Roald Hoffmann October 6, 2:30 p.m., Sullivan Hall, Feinstone Lounge, Second Floor 1330 W. Berks Street, Philadelphia, PA Roald Hoffmann won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1981. Educated at Columbia and Harvard, and a long-time faculty member at Cornell, Hoffmann is a distinguished public intellectual who has carved out a land between science, poetry and philosophy. A professor of what he terms “applied theoretical chemistry,” he is also an accomplished writer, poet and playwright. His poetry collections include Gaps and Verges (1990), Memory Effects (1999), and Catalista (in Spanish, 2002). The 1993 he wrote Chemistry Imagined (1993) with artist Vivian Torrance, combining her collages with his essays, poetry and personal commentary. With fellow chemist Carl Djerassi, Hoffmann wrote the play Oxygen (2001), which has been performed worldwide, and translated into ten languages. Hoffmann runs a monthly cabaret, Entertaining Science, at the Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village.

Chat in the Stacks October 2, 2:30 pm Paley Library Lecture Hall Interested in the newest research going on at Temple? Want to hear about the mysteries of academic publishing? Want to hear a lively conversation between professors from a variety of disciplines and the director of Temple’s academic press? Then join us for CHAT IN THE STACKS The Libraries and the Faculty Senate Committee on the Status of Faculty of Color began Chat in the Stacks in the spring of 2008 as a way to engage the Temple community with the latest research taking place across our campuses. On October 2, the series highlighting and promoting excellence in faculty research, will feature Dr. Bryant Simon, professor of history discussing Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America; best-selling author Solomon Jones on his latest book; and Alex Holzman of Temple Press explaining how academic work like this gets published! The conversation will be moderated by Professor Kimmika L.H. Williams-Witherspoon of the Theater Department. Please join us October 2, at 2:30 p.m., for this wonderful conversation in Paley Library Lecture Hall.

September 18, 2:30 p.m., Paley Library, Lecture Hall 1210 W. Berks Street, Philadelphia, PA John Allen Paulos, a professor of mathematics at Temple, has gained world-wide acclaim as a public speaker, author and columnist. His latest book, Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don’t Add Up (2008), has once again caused a sensation. Previous books include Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences (1989), which spent five months on The New York Times best-sellers list, and was translated into 14 languages; and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper (1995), which was a number one seller on amazon.com, adapted into a television mini-series for BBC and selected as one of the top 100 nonfiction books published in the English language since 1900 by Random House readers. Please join the Libraries in welcoming Paulos to Paley on September 18.

The Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection Presents African American Resistance to Slavery: Above Ground and Underground September 11, 2:30 p.m., Paley Library, Lecture Hall 1210 W. Berks Street, Philadelphia, PA The Blockson Collection welcomes you to discuss the rich history and contributions of African Americans during the era of the American Revolution and the Underground Railroad with collection founder Charles L. Blockson; Curator, Dr. Diane D. Turner and renowned artist Cal Massey. The role of the arts in depicting and preserving history will be illustrated by Massey’s Patriots of African Descent and musical performance. Join us for the opportunity to meet Massey, who has been commissioned for projects with the National Parks Commission and U.S. Olympic Committee and exhibited at the Studio Museum in Harlem, and a lively discussion with historians Turner and Blockson.

August 13-October 25 Paley Library, Mezzanine and First Floor, 1210 W. Berks Street, Philadelphia, PA Tyler School of Art Library, Penrose Hall, First Floor, 7725 Penrose Ave, Elkins Park, PA Visiting curators from Taller Puertorriqueño, Mural Arts Program, Art Sanctuary and the Wagner Free Institute of Science have chosen books from Temple University Libraries’ special collections of artist books, exploring the art and craft of the book through their selection and display. Come see concurrent exhibits on view at Temple Gallery in Old City, Paley Library and Tyler Library on the Elkins Park campus on view through October 25. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with the Tyler School of Art Department of Exhibitions and Public Programs’ exhibition Volume Attempts: The Space of Books, an exhibition of and about books, organized by the graphic designer Purtill Family Business, and on view at Temple Gallery. Join us for a conversation about artist books and the art and craft of book making at the Temple Gallery on October 7 at 6 pm. Temple Gallery is located at 259 N Third Street in Old City, between New and Vine Streets.

Thursday, June 19 1:00-4:00 p.m. First Floor, Sullivan Hall On Thursday, June 19, the Blockson Collection will hold an open house to celebrate Juneteenth and open the collection to the Temple community and general public. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Celebrated on June 19, it marks the announcement of the ending of slavery in Texas on that day in 1865. From its Galveston, Texas origin, the observance of this date as African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. This event provides an unprecedented opportunity to meet a man who made history, as Bernard Fernandez of the Negro Leagues will be the guest of honor. The event will also include: An opportunity to meet collection founder Charles L. Blockson and artist Francine Still Hicks at a book signing; Updates on the collection’s newest acquisitions from curator Dr. Diane Turner; A chance to tour the collection and see the historical materials in the region’s premier collection documenting African American history and culture. We hope to see you there.