Previous Special Events

As the oldest and favorite daughter of Thomas Jefferson, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph was well educated, known on two continents for her grace and sincerity, and often assumed the duties of first lady for her widowed father.

Yet as biographer Cynthia A. Kierner points out, Patsy Jefferson was not spared the tedium, frustration, and sorrow experienced by most women of her time.

Kierner is professor of history at George Mason University and the author of Martha Jefferson Randolph, Daughter of Monticello.

As America’s biggest private corporation, ExxonMobil has economic power and political clout exceeding that of many countries. Yet its corporate culture of secrecy and discipline makes it a mystery to most of us.

Author Steve Coll unearths the company’s secrets in Private Empire, tracking the corporation’s role on the world stage from the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

The first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, Sandra Day O’Connor has learned firsthand the inner workings, history, evolution, and influence of the nation’s highest court.

The retired justice now shares those insights in a discussion of her new book Out of Order. O’Connor sheds light on the centuries of change and upheaval that characterize the history of the Supreme Court. She also provides vivid portraits of justices such as Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Thurgood Marshall, William O. Douglas, and current Chief Justice John Roberts.

An avid ukulele player since the age of five, Heidi Swedberg shares her unique brand of music. “Sukey Jump,” or “Party Play” as it was called in later years, originated in the 19th century and is still going strong today.

Enjoy a family concert where everyone can participate. Pick up an instrument, clap your hands, sing, or just hum along.

The program is appropriate for all ages.

David Stockman was the architect of the Reagan Revolution meant to restore sound money principles to the U.S. government, but the movement was derailed by politics, special interests, welfare, and warfare. Now he offers a fierce indictment of the American governmental-economic complex, reveals how the workings of free markets and democracy has long been under threat in America, and exposes a surprisingly nonpartisan catalog of corrupters and defenders.

He was escorted to the county line by a sheriff’s deputy, clambered across creaky old railroad bridges that couldn’t pass an OSHA inspection, and dined with two women who channeled the spirits of Amelia Earhart and Calamity Jane.

It wasn’t exactly akin to the scaling the Matterhorn, but for noted pedestrian Henry Fortunato, the Library’s director of public affairs, his Long and Winding Walk to Wichita last October was quite the amazing – and often amusing – adventure nonetheless.

Neil McIntyre (A.K.A. Mr. Kneeel), emcee and vocalist, is coming to town with inspiring hip-hop and beatboxing fun!

McIntyre’s music is high energy, engaging, and never insults a child’s intelligence. This is hip-hop that focuses on kids, who they are, and what they enjoy.

The program is appropriate for all ages.

Educator Michelle Rhee joins Library Director Crosby Kemper III for a public conversation about her new book Radical: Fighting to Put Students First and explains her ideas for improving public education by ensuring that laws, leaders, and politics are making students – not adults – their top priority.

There’s no shortage of time management systems aimed at busy business executives. But most are so complex that just learning them eats up more time than could possibly be saved. In his book Perfect Timing executive coach Dan Chiodo offers a system of simple techniques for creating a personal roadmap for time management success.

The first to graduate after the events of 9/11, the midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy’s Class of 2002 have faced nothing but war ever since. Katherine Kranz, herself a member of that class, presents their stories in In the Shadow of Greatness: Voices of Leadership, Sacrifice, and Service from America’s Longest War.