Turkey or Tofukey?

 Whether you prefer tofukey or actual turkey, we at the Holman library want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

This holiday is as rich in history and tradition as the food that you'll pile onto your plate next week! Pinning down the exact date and site of the first Thanksgiving in the United States can be difficult, as the true origins of the holiday are still debated; Native tribes living in the land had their own religious celebrations of thanks at this time of harvest, as did the pilgrims who settled in the land. Reguardless of just when or where or even why this holiday began, many of us share the experience of gathering together with family, friends, and food to celebrate, give thanks, and reflect on another year gone by, or at least reflect on whether or not we want more pie!

Historically, the most well known celebration took place in October 1621 in the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. Pilgrims from New England gathered together with a group from the Wampanoag tribe, and while the mention was brief, two colonist - William Bradford and Edward Winslow - wrote of the account. There is also a record of the "first Thanksgiving" in this proclamation in 1676.

Much later, both in 1789 and again in 1863, past presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln brought national attention to the holiday and played a role in deciding that the fourth Thursday in the month of November will be the official holiday in the United States.

The kinds of foods we eat, the company we keep, and the activities we participate in are unique and have changed overtime. For some, this is a day to get together with loved ones and eat, for others, it's all about watching the Macy's Day and watching the game. Regardless of how you celebrate, we hope your day and extended weekend break is well spent!

The Holman Library has a lot of information about food, but we also have a small collection of cookbooks too. Consider searching the bookshelves for the call number 641 to find more books like this "Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes CarnivoresWill Devour"

 

Search for recipes in this electronic book

You can learn more about the holiday by watching the clip called "First Thanksgiving" from a longer film called "After the Mayflower: We Shall Remain - America Through Native Eyes" from the film database called Films On Demand.



 And don't forget, the library closes early, at 6pm on Wednesday, November 26th and will be CLOSED on Thursday, Nov. 27th and Friday, Nov. 28th but will open again on Saturday, Nov. 30th from 2pm-6pm and will continue with regular hours after that.

Try out the Holman Library's new

ONE SEARCH DISCOVERY TOOL

Watch the short video below to learn how, with just one click,

you can search across all the Library's databases at once

to find books, videos, magazines and journals for your research

Veterans Day 2014

The Holman Library will be closed on Tuesday, November 11th for the observation of Veterans Day. 

While we spend this holiday honoring the service of those who have been in the US Armed Forces and Coast Guard, why not check out some of the Holman Library’s items that describe the experiences of what it was like to serve?

Band of Brothers (2001)

10 episodes

Available on DVD at the Holman Library: DVD collection, 2nd floor.

Band of Brothers is a historical dramatization based on the experiences of “Easy Company,” a company of airborne infantry who during World War II in Europe participated in D-Day, entered Germany, and were involved in the capture of Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” base. Although the TV series is dramatized, it is based off of the work of historians and interviews with surviving members of the real “Easy Company.”

The Things They Carried

by Tim O’Brien (1980)

Available at the Holman Library: Main Collection, 813.5 O13t 2009

The Things They Carried  is considered a classic work of literature, and one of the most evocative portraits of what it was like to serve as part of the US forces that went to Vietnam. Reviews of this work call it an artful combination of memoir, novel, and short story collection that emotionally describes the experience of being in a war, and remembering it afterward.

'The Things They Carried,' 20 Years On

NPR podcast, originally broadcast March 24, 2010 on “Talk of the Nation”

In this interview with NPR, “O'Brien discusses what he still carries from his time in Vietnam,” the enduring themes of his book and how it has been discussed over the past 20 years, and the popularity the book has found with a new generation of readers.

Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the Face of Modern War

by Evan Wright (2005)

Available in the Holman Library: Main Collection, 956.704 W948g 2005

Evan Wright was one of the only journalists to accompany US Marines into Iraq during their first move into Baghdad in 2003. Wright expands his reporting, originally published in Rolling Stone, in this full-length account of what it was like to be “on the ground.” From the Booklist review: “Wright also explores how today's pop-culture-driven soldiers differ from those who fought more than three decades ago in Vietnam. A perceptive, often troubling examination of soldiers' view of war, peace, and combat.”

Happy Veterans Day, and thank you to all veterans for your service!