Travel back in time where the past greets you on the fourth floor in the Ray and Pat Browne Library within Bowling Green State University’s Jerome Library. This Popular Culture treasure was established in 1969, two years after the $4.6 million new campus library opened its doors in November 1967. Library founder Dr. Ray Broadus Browne (1922-2009) envisioned a space within the new library to acquire and preserve research materials about American Popular Culture. The […]
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Columbus or Indigenous Peoples’ Day
In 1937, Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared October 12 a federal holiday. I grew up knowing it as Columbus Day in honor of Christopher Columbus. In recent years, pushback from the Native American community has led to numerous communities renaming it as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, now noted on calendars as the second Monday in October. I have a vested interest in this issue for two reasons. I now live in the city named […]
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Labor Day in 1620
Welcome to an end-of-summer rerun of the “Labor Day 1620” article I ran a few years ago. As you read this, I’m in New England preparing to finally meet up with a group of Brewster descendants for my first attendance at their triennial Elder William Brewster family reunion. I hope to come home with many new Brewster relatives in my contacts list and more stories to share with you about the history beyond this fascinating […]
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The Retired Life
I am often asked how I’m enjoying my retired life. The short answer is, “Very much.” My family tells me I’m flunking retirement as I continue to overstuff the calendar and bemoan that there aren’t more hours allotted to me each week. So many things grab my attention. So limited time to pursue them all. My retired life includes some decades-old habits. One of them is journaling almost every day. It helps me remember how […]
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Women’s Voices
Women’s Voices began in 2010 when a group of women from diverse backgrounds met at an interfaith program organized by Nancy Agafitei, then a Branch Librarian at a Harris County Public Library in the Houston area. Their shared curiosity about other people’s cultural beliefs and traditions led them to forge deep friendships. Those friendships led to the formation an interfaith book club in 2012 that continues to meet today. The book club is open to […]
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