April 2, 2009

Contact:
Andra Liwag
NSU Office of Public Affairs
Office: 954-262-5309
Cell: 954-873-8494
andrali@nova.edu

Soul of the People Great Depression Exhibition at the Alvin Sherman Library Hosts Free Events in April and May

Nova Southeastern University's display includes Depression glass and quilts, films, gallery tours, performances and lectures

FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. – A new exhibition: Soul of the People: Writing Florida's Story is now open at Nova Southeastern University's (NSU) Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center in the Second Floor Gallery, and will run through May 10.

As a part of the exhibition, the Alvin Sherman Library is sponsoring a series of programs in conjunction with "Soul of a People: Writing America's Story," a new television documentary about the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) to be broadcast on the Smithsonian Channel HD. Many writers from the project later became famous, among them Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, Studs Terkel and Eudora Welty.

Programming at the Alvin Sherman Library includes:

• "South Florida and the WPA Oral History Project" – Thursday, April 9 at 4 p.m.
  A presentation by David Kilroy, Ph.D., Humanities Professor of NSU's Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, and NSU students.
  
  
• Exhibit Tour – Monday, April 13 at 2 p.m.
  Led by Nora Quinlan, Alvin Sherman Library's Director of Reference.
  
  
• "The People's Art and 1930's Florida" – Thursday, April 16 at 4 p.m.
  A lecture by Gary R. Mormino, Ph.D., Professor of History from the University of South Florida.
  
  
• "Zora Neale Hurston: The WPA and the Blues" – Tuesday, April 21 at 4 p.m.
  A musical presentation by Christine Jackson, Humanities Professor of NSU's Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences.
  
  
• "Zelda Fitzgerald: A Literary Dramatization" – Wednesday, April 22 at 2 p.m.
  A portrayal by Debra Conner of Parkersburg, West Virginia. This program is in conjunction with the National Education Association's initiative of the Broward County "Big Read" of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
  
  
• "Soul of a People: Writing America's Story" – Thursday, May 7 at 4 p.m.
  View excerpts from the forthcoming Smithsonian Channel HD documentary program, Soul of A People: Writing America's Story. Discussion will follow led by David Kilroy, Ph.D., Humanities Professor of NSU's Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences.

All events are free and open to the public, and take place in the Alvin Sherman Library's Second Floor Gallery on NSU's main campus, 3301 College Ave. in Davie.

The exhibit features Depression glass and quilts from 1930s. It also includes works from the Florida Writers' Project on loan from the collection of the Broward County Library's Bienes Museum of the Modern Book, a gift of Jean Fitzgerald. Programming for this exhibit is funded with a grant from the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information, please call 954-262-4613 or visit http://www.nova.edu/library/soul/.