Category: History

Cue The Sun!

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Consider this your invitation to read and discuss narrative nonfiction with us! In the Narrative Nonfiction Book Club we will be reading across the genres of nonfiction, from history to adventure, memoir/biography, and beyond with books that read like a novel.

Join us on Saturday, August 2nd at 11am in the Hermann room as we discuss our latest book pick, 2025 Andrew Carnegie Finalist, Cue The Sun! The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum. 

This book club is free to the public and copies of the book are available at the adult service desk one month prior to our book club meeting.  To register to attend, CLICK HERE.

Cue the Sun! Synopsis:

“The rollicking saga of reality television – an ambitious cultural history of America’s most influential, most divisive artistic phenomenon, from the Pulitzer Prize – winning New Yorker writer.

Who invented reality television, the world’s most dangerous pop-culture genre?  Any why can’t we look away?  In this revelatory, deeply reported account of the rise of “dirty documentary” – from its contentions roots in radio to the ascent of Donald Trump – Emily Nussbaum unearths the origin story of the genre that ate the world, as told through the lively voices of the people who built it.  At once gimlet-eyed and empathetic, Cue the Sun! explores the morally charged, funny, and sometimes tragic consequences of the hunt for something real inside something fake.

A shrewd observer who adores television, Nussbaum is the ideal voice for the first substantive history of the genre that, for better or worse, made America what it is today.”

About the Author:

“Emily Nussbaum is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she’s worked since 2011, originally as the magazine’s television critic.  In 2016, she won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism.  Previously, she was the culture editor for New York, where she created the Approval Matrix.  She is also the author of I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution, which was a finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay.  She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Clive Thompson, and their two children.”

 

American Civil War Exhibit & Events

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Fire and Thunder: A Massachusetts Black Soldiers in the Civil War Exhibit
Tuesday, April 1st – Wednesday, April 30th
Adult Collections Room

For the month of April, the “Fire and Thunder” 16 panel exhibit will be on display in the Adult Collections Room for the public to view during library hours.

“The institution of slavery was a disease deeply embedded in the tissue of the new American republic.  Though abolished in Massachusetts in the 1780’s, on the national stage it survived, to be destroyed only after a long and bloody civil war.  “Fire and Thunder” tells the story of how black soldiers in Massachusetts fought – in the press, on the streets, from the pulpit, the lecture podium, and the battlefield – in defense of human dignity and freedom.”

This exhibit is free to the public and is on loan from the Commonwealth Museum.

 

Ken Burns ‘The Civil War’ Documentary Screening
Monday, April 14th – Friday, April 18th, 1pm
Hermann Meeting Room

‘The Civil War is an epic nine-episode series by the award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.  Heralded as an unforgettable introduction to a four-year conflict fought in 10,000 places, the film vividly embraces the entire sweep of the war: the complex causes and lasting effects of America’s greatest and most moving calamity, the battles and the homefronts, the generals and the private soldiers, the anguish of death in battle and the grief of families at home.

The library will be screening this entire Civil War documentary series over the course of a week from Monday, April 14th to Friday, April 18th.  It is free to the public and is supported by the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library.  If you can’t make it to our Ken Burns Civil War screening but still would like to watch it, you can watch the entire Civil War series from the convenience of your own home using Kanopy, a free streaming service with your Falmouth Public Library card.

Monday, April 14th: 1pm-2:45pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1861: Episode 1 ‘The Cause’

Tuesday, April 15th: 1pm-3:25pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1862: Episode 2 ‘A Very Bloody Affair’ & Episode 3 ‘Forever Free’

Wednesday, April 16th: 1pm-3:35pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1863: Episode 4 ‘Simply Murder’ & Episode 5 ‘The Universe of Battle’

Thursday, April 17th: 1pm-3:20pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1864: Episode 6 ‘Valley of the Shadow of Death’ & Episode 7 ‘Most Hallowed Ground’

Friday, April 18th: 1pm-3:20pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1865: Episode 8 ‘War is Hell’ & Episode 9 ‘The Better Angels of our Nature’

 

Bravery & Honor: Falmouth Soldiers & Sailors ~ A Walking Tour at Oak Grove Cemetery
Saturday, April 26th, 1pm
Oak Grove Cemetery (46 Jones Road) . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

“When Abraham Lincoln sent out a call to arms Falmouth men bravely responded, reporting in large numbers to the Union army and navy.  Many of these Veterans are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.  Come hear compelling stories of a select few as this tour stops by personal grave and the renovated Grand Army of the Republic plot – one of the few examples in Massachusetts of this early type of memorial.”

This approximately 75-minutes long tour will be on Saturday, April 26th at 1pm.  It is free and open to the public and will be held rain or shine at the Oak Grove Cemetery located at 46 Jones Road in Falmouth.  We will meet inside the chapel at the cemetery, which is handicap accessible.  If the weather is inclement, we will stay inside the chapel; otherwise, plan on an easy stroll in the park-like setting.

 

Narrative Nonfiction Book Club
Saturday, May 1st, 11am
Hermann Meeting Room . . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER


The narrative nonfiction book club is back from hiatus and returns with our first book pick of the year The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson.  Come pick up a copy of the book at the adult services desk, register to attend, and then join us at our book club meeting on Saturday, May 1st at 11am in the Hermann room to share your thoughts!

“On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president.  The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one State after another seceding and Lincoln, powerless to stop them.  Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.  Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter, a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals.”

Zoom talk, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement

Posted on by Sue

Come listen to this Zoom presentation on Tuesday, March 4th at 6 pm.  Please note that this is virtual only and does not take place in the library.  Register by clicking here, and you will receive the Zoom link!

This program is a combined lecture and music performance entitled Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement. It begins with a flute prelude performed by Galen Abdur-Razzaq followed by a 60 minute PowerPoint presentation chronicling the music from the turn of the century to present day and highlights various artists, their music, their influence on the evolution of jazz, and their struggles. In addition, it illustrates how jazz became an advocacy for the Civil Rights Movement, with proceeds from jazz concerts used to finance major events such as the Freedom Rides and the March on Washington in 1963. Lecture is infused with music demonstrations.

This is a joint collaboration with the Centerville and Vineyard Haven libraries, and we thank the Board of Library Trustees for funding our share.

The Christmas Tree Shops with Anthony Sammarco

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

The Christmas Tree Shop was not just an icon of New England, it was a destination with stores that boasted a diverse assortment of merchandise from seasonal decorations, home decor, housewares, food, giftware and just about everything else that the public just had to have. These were items you never thought you needed before stepping through the door, but who could resist a bargain?

Interested in learning more about the history and local charm of the Christmas Tree Shop? Come join us on Saturday, January 25th at 1pm in the Hermann room as local author Anthony Sammarco presents an illustrated lecture on his newest book, The Christmas Tree Shops: Don’t You Just Love A Bargain? After the lecture, there will be a book signing with books available for purchase by Eight Cousins.

Referred to as the “Balzac of Boston History” by the Boston Globe, Anthony Mitchell Sammarco is a noted historian and author of many books on the history and development of Boston, and he lectures widely on the history and development of his native city. He commenced writing in 1995, and his 89th book, published in 2024, was The History of the Christmas Tree Shops. He received the Bulfinch Award from the Doric Dames of the Massachusetts State House, the Washington Medal from Freedom Foundation, a lifetime achievement from both the Victorian Society and the Gibson House Museum. He is president of the Osterville Village Library; past president of the Bay State Historical League and he served as a corporator of the New England Baptist Hospital for a decade. He lives in Boston and in Osterville on Cape Cod.

This event is free to the public and is sponsored by the Board of Library Trustees. Register to attend by CLICKING HERE or by visiting/calling the adult service desk at 508-457-2555 x7.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

Posted on by Clint Johnson

Falmouth Public Library, Saturday, December 14th at 2:00 PM

The Original Radio performance revamped by the WatermelonAlligator Theatre Company

We cannot wait to welcome the WatermelonAlligator Theatre Company back for a live radio performance of Charles’ Dickens A Christmas Carol. The event will be held on Saturday, December 14th 2024 at 2:00 PM in the Hermann Room at the Falmouth Public Library.

The event is appropriate for all ages and will last 75 – 90 minutes. Please register on our main Falmouth Public Library Events page or call 508-457-2555 x 7. If you run into any trouble, please reach out and we’ll fix it right up!

Dickens’ iconic story of greed, compassion, magic, and redemption will come to life through acting, music, and live sound effects in this original radio play adaptation. Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge makes life miserable for everyone around him, especially his long suffering clerk, Bob Cratchit. One fateful Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business associate, Jacob Marley. A man who was as greedy and cold as Scrooge. Marley’s spirit warns Scrooge that if he continues to live so selfishly, he will spend eternity wearing the chains that his greed has built. Three more spirits visit Scrooge that night: The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come, who show Scrooge his error in valuing money over people. Scrooge, frightened by the bleak picture of his life, awakes on Christmas morning a new man, promising to change his ways.

Get into the holiday spirit with a performance by professional working actors from the WatermelonAlligator Theatre Company!

There will be a discussion regarding Christianity and how the tale of Scrooge is truly a story of redemption. A light of hope in the darkness of the winter.

New Stories about Old Bells with author Ken Peal

Posted on by Sue

Neighborhood Falmouth and the Falmouth Public Library are jointly offering this program on Wednesday, October 16 at 1 pm, which is open to the public!

Author Ken Peal is continuing his investigations of bells in town that were not included in his book (Bells of Falmouth, 2023). This talk will add them to his inventory of town treasures. He is also following and participating in renovation projects. And you will hear about an important cache of artifacts that he was shown in a banker’s box in the basement of the school administration building. He will trace Teaticket elementary school and its bell through many different schoolhouses and locations – was the Zylinski house (demolished to make way for Town Fair Tire) originally one of those buildings? Copies of his book will be available to buy from Eight Cousins Books.

If you are planning to attend this event, please register with the Falmouth Public Library by going to falmouthpubliclibrary.org/events, or call the library at 508-457-2555 x 7. (note: our calendar is currently down, so call us or email us at info@falmouthpubliclibrary.org if you are unable to register online).

Neighborhood Falmouth is part of a growing national movement to promote continuing community residence for older Americans.  Neighborhood Falmouth members, staff, and volunteers work together to help older Falmouth residents continue to enjoy our multi-generational community from the comfort of their own homes .They partner with other organizations in Falmouth that provide services for seniors. Learn more about them at neighborhoodfalmouth.org or call 508-564-7543.

Edward Gorey “Sinister Cozy”

Posted on by Clint Johnson

A Talk with the Director of the Edward Gorey House, Gregory Hischak

On Tuesday, October 22nd, we welcome Gregory Hischak, the Director of the Edward Gorey House and Museum to speak on Gorey’s achievements and his wonderfully amusing oddities. The presentation will run from 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in the reading room in front of the fireplace. He will be giving a presentation of Gorey’s natural creepy and hilarious artwork in his books, theater sets, and many other mediums.

Terrible things unfold in an Edward Gorey Book—children are swept out to sea, abducted by murderous insects, fall into unsavory company, or get carried off by giant birds. Sometimes they die of boredom. Edward writes, and draws, about everyday life and, for reasons that will likely come up in this presentation, his books are a delight and extremely funny. Mostly. Gorey’s work as a book artist, an illustrator, and designer is frequently categorized as Whimsically Macabre, though we prefer the term “Sinister Cozy”. His work looks a hundred and thirty years older than it is yet he consistently remains thirty years ahead of us at all times.

Please come join us on this spooky evening with “Sinister Cozy”. Registration is required.

Register here!

Hope to see you soon!

Paranormal Activity with Don DeCristofaro

Posted on by Clint Johnson

Don DeCristofaro, a professional ghost and paranormal activity investigator, will be joining us on October 17th at 4:30 in the Library’s Herman Meeting Room. He has worked in the Lizzie Bordon house, as well as the house that inspired the hit movie The Conjuring. 

His most recent investigation of paranormal activity is on the USS Salem. The USS Salem was a World War 2 Heavy Cruiser. He spends at the least once a week there using the technology that has been developed. 

The presentation will include showing the tools that they use to monitor possible “other worldly” guests. Since Don has been investigating the USS Salem, Don became to have “relationships” with those have who have passed on and left behind. 

At the end of the presentation, Don is offering his very own expertise and advice to any patrons who may have suspicion that there is another room mate who never pays there rent. All ages event! You can give us a call, email a request or register online!

Please come! Registration is required.

Author Talk with Victoria Atamian Waterman, Who She Left Behind

Posted on by Sue

Join us in the Hermann Room on Wednesday, July 24th at 5:30 PM for a book discussion with Victoria Atamian Waterman.  She will read from her book, Who She Left Behind and take questions from the audience. Click here to register.

Victoria Atamian Waterman is an Armenian-American storyteller and speaker who draws inspiration from the quirky multigenerational, multilingual home in which she was raised with her grandparents, survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Her empowerment of today’s women and girls makes her voice ideal for telling the little-known stories of yesterday’s women leaders. Her TED Talk, “Today’s Girls are Tomorrow’s Leaders” has been seen by thousands of viewers. When she is not writing and speaking, she is reading, puzzle-making and volunteering. Victoria lives in Rhode Island and is enjoying this next chapter of life with her husband, children, and grandchildren.

Visit her website and blogs to learn more at victoriawaterman.net.

This event is free to the public and registration is required as seating is limited. Register by clicking here or visit/call the adult services desk at 508-457-2555 x7.

June Movie Showings

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

The library will be showing newly released movies in June! 

Scroll below to find out which movies will be playing, view the movie trailers and register to attend as seating is limited.   

All movie showings are free to the public and are supported by the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library.

Arthur the King
Friday, June 14th, 3pm-4:50pm . . . . . . REGISTER HERE
Hermann Meeting Room

“Over the course of ten days and 435 miles, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur. Based on an incredible true story, Arthur the King follows Light, desperate for one last chance to win, as he convinces a sponsor to back him and a team of athletes for the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. As the team is pushed to their outer limits of endurance in the race, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty and friendship truly mean.” Rated: PG-13; Running Time: 1hr 47mins


 

Killers of the Flower Moon
Friday, June 28th, 1:30pm-5pm . . . . . . REGISTER HERE
Hermann Meeting Room

“In the 1920s, innocent members of the Osage Indigenous American tribe suffer from a series of unusual, inexplicable murders. Though relegated to the margins of society, the case captures the attention of the FBI, which launches a large-scale investigation under the guidance of J. Edgar Hoover.” Rated: R; Running Time: 3hrs 26mins

Registration is required.  This movie is 3 hours and 26 minutes long and is rated R for violence, some grisly images, and language.  Children under 17 require accompanying adult or adult guardian.