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Trouble Don’t Last: Images Still Speak

Mechanicsburg Public Library, Mechanicsburg, OH

Project Director: Tammie Beers

Target Audience: Adult, Children, Teens, Family

Library Size: Under 25,000

Quote

“We wanted to highlight the interaction between individuals and the larger flow of American history using the visual means of the Picturing America art. This series demonstrated the impact of the Picturing America art and bookshelf on libraries by showing what is possible in smaller libraries when we work collaboratively with local organizations to maximize resources.”

Program Summary

“Trouble Don’t Last: Images Still Speak” was a series of three one-hour discussion programs that engaged visitors to the Mechanicsburg Public Library (MPL) with three works of art from the Civil War time period and encouraged them to consider their reactions to all of the art in the Picturing America collection. Before, during, and after the programs, the library displayed both the chosen Picturing America images and related works. Each visitor was given a series of cards with one word descriptions of feelings slaves might have experienced on the Underground Railroad—hope, trust, despair, hero, beauty, risk, etc. Visitors were encouraged to place their word card next to the picture they felt expressed that emotion, helping to generate conversations about how images speak to viewers generations after they were created and after the events that originally inspired them. Visitors to the display were also encouraged to contribute to a cumulative notebook of poetry and essays on the topic of troubled times. The goal of this program series was to work together with Urbana University’s “Trouble Don’t Last: the Underground Railroad in Champaign County,” a project involving Urbana University students, public school students, and community adults in reading Shelley Pearsall’s Trouble Don’t Last.

Use of the Artwork

MPL lecture series focused on the Civil War, using Abraham Lincoln 1865, Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial and The Veteran in a New Field as focal points.  

Programs and Ideas

Music: The Champaign County Dulcimer Club played selections of primarily Civil War era music.

Photo display: MPL presented a display of photos from Urbana University, illustrating nine Champaign County Underground Railroad locations as they exist today.

Lecture: Sylvia Wirsing-Bryant, Ph.D., Professor of Fine Arts at Urbana University focused on the Picturing America image Abraham Lincoln taken by Alexander Gardner, discussing the photographic techniques of the time, the impact of the image, and the mistaken notion that it was the last photo of Lincoln that persisted for many years. J. Michael Rhyne, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Urbana University, then spoke on the history of the iconic photograph.

Lecture: Dr. Wirsing-Bryant discussed sculpture and the features of successful memorials as she focused on the Picturing America image Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial. Dr. Rhyne then discussed the social and military issues faced by the soldiers depicted in the memorial, including information about Addison White, a Mechanicsburg resident who was a member of the 54th regiment.

Lecture: Dr. Wirsing-Bryant spoke on the style and technique of the Picturing America image The Veteran in a New Field, as well as where it fit in Homer’s lifetime of work. Tim Thoresen, Ph.D., History professor at Urbana University, spoke on the agricultural technology of the 1860s, including local connections to those practices and bringing examples of the equipment used to show the audience.

Resources

• Addison White

Impact

The programs increased our visibility in the community and produced interest in library activities. People expressed appreciation for the opportunities to learn and a desire for similar opportunities in the future. People who weren’t able to attend often expressed regret and approval of the programs. Our high visibility partnership with Urbana University made a positive impression of the library to potential future partners. Overall, it increased community pride in the library.