November 2017
There are so many opportunities to connect and interact with the Jennie King Mellon Library online and in person, and we recently added two more: Instagram and Spotify! Our new Instagram account (@jkmlibrary) features library news, updates, and shenanigans. Be sure to follow us for #NewBookTuesdays and #BookfaceFridays. You’ll also get to know our staff and librarians better, as we post fun pictures of our recommendations, displays, and exciting library life. And yes, you heard correctly, the library has a Spotify account. What is Spotify? It’s a music streaming service that allows those with accounts to listen to over 30 million songs for free and create and share playlists. Library staff members love music of all genres and styles. We’re hoping to share our love of music with the rest of the Chatham community in a way that enhances your experience at the library and allows you to get to know us better. Our playlists are specially crafted by librarians and library staff, and while they are certainly educational, they’re also a lot of fun. We create new playlists regularly for different purposes. A playlist could correspond with one of our in-library displays, be a Staff Spotlight playlist of recommendations put together by just one staff member, or something that our student workers have crafted! Our Native American Heritage Month book display is on the first floor of the JKM Library. Our most recent playlist is in honor of Native American Heritage Month, which is also the main book display in the library during the month of November. This playlist features more popular and recent musical artists from all across the genre spectrum that have Native/Indigenous heritage. It occurred to us that many non-native people do not realize the talent and influence of Native/Indigenous people (especially in music), so we wanted to craft a playlist that really brought that point across. Some included artists create music that draws very heavily from their roots, like Tanya Tagaq who has made Inuit throat singing cool again. Some artists are not widely known for their native heritage, like Joey Belladonna (lead singer of Anthrax) who is part Iroquois. Modern indigenous music takes on so many forms as well, from the protest songs of Buffy Sainte-Marie to the modern hip-hop of A Tribe Called Red and Frank Waln. The wide variety of music featured in our Native American Heritage Month playlist insures that there is something for everyone. We’ve got jazz singer Mildred Bailey, thrash metal band Testament, pop star Sky Ferreira, funk band Redbone… the list continues on in impressive fashion. Some of our selections are marked as explicit, which is important to note, but much of that content is speaking to injustices and rampant inequality. Sometimes oppression is met with anger through art, and that is still a valid expression. Get started listening below! If you aren’t able to listen to the playlist during November, don’t worry! We keep all the playlists we have crafted intact and available for continued listening. So what can you expect next? Later this month we have a highly anticipated Study Songs playlist, curated entirely by the JKM Library’s student workers. And you can expect the first of our Staff Spotlight playlists, featuring favorite selections from just one JKM Library staff member, to appear early in the new year. We hope that you enjoy our Spotify playlists as much as we do and can’t wait to see you on Instagram. Please be sure to follow us on all platforms for the most up-to-date information and recommendations. Happy reading and listening!
Some may wonder what the Euripides and Indigenous Heritage Month have in common. Others might ask what Chatham’s University Archives, which collects and preserves the history of the university, could have to help to connect the Athenian tragedian and campus-wide Indigenous Heritage events. Well, look no further than the Drama Department records from 1992 when students and faculty member Patricia Montley performed an adaptation of Euripides Trojan Woman set in Central America as Cortes seizes control of the Aztec empire. Publicity Photo, 1992 Chatham Theatre According to Dr. Motley’s program notes, a Euripedes’ The Trojan Woman is one of the most frequently performed of all the classical tragedies, particularly for audiences affected by war and in eras when war is celebrated. The decision to set the play in Central America in 1992, the 500-year anniversary of Columbus’ journey to the “New World,” allowed for reflection on “the foolishness of waging aggressive war and the transience of military might.” Program Cover for 1992 The Trojan Women Production The Trojan Women, Notes from the Adapter/Director, part 1 The Trojan Women, Notes from the Adapter/Director, part 2 It is fair to surmise that Chatham students, a generally politically-minded group, were quite aware of the impact of war, aggression, and gender-based power dynamics at play. The 1992 yearbook for includes four pages of reflection on current affairs, which included the US invasion of Iraq, an attempt to topple Gorbachev, and the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the US Supreme court. Click here and here to see the yearbook feature. Publicity Photo, 1992 Chatham Theatre The production included the performance of musical works by the Native Flute Ensemble and by Brooke Medicine Eagle. It was dedicated to Phyllis Ferguson, Drama Department faculty member from 1943 to 1970. Ms. Ferguson (left) in 1953 with students and Broadway actor Arnold Moss
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