FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2010
CONTACT: Sylvia Plumb, Director of Communications, (802) 262-2626 x302
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Vermont Humanities Council Presents First Wednesdays Lecture
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Montpelier ~ Dr. Mary Childers, author of the acclaimed memoir Welfare Brat, will talk about the challenges and routes out of poverty in a talk at Montpelier’s Kellogg-Hubbard Library on March 3. Her talk, “Welfare Brat,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and takes place at 7:00 p.m.
Childers’ childhood in the Bronx was often marred by violence, alcoholism, and neglect. Referencing her own story, she will discuss various paths out of poverty and away from welfare dependence, as well as ethical issues associated with publishing memoirs.
Childers is the Dartmouth College Ombudsperson and an independent organizational consultant. She received a Ph.D. in English literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is the author of Welfare Brat.
The Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays series is held on the first Wednesday of every month from October through May, featuring speakers of national and regional renown. Talks are held at Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
First Wednesdays is also presented in eight other communities statewide: Brattleboro (at Brooks Memorial Library); Burlington (at Fletcher Free Library); Manchester (at First Congregational Church, hosted by Mark Skinner Library); Middlebury (at Ilsley Public Library); Newport/Stanstead, Quebec (at Goodrich Memorial Library and Stanstead College, in alternating months); Norwich (at Norwich Congregational Church, hosted by Norwich Public Library and Norwich Historical Society); Rutland (at Rutland Free Library); and at St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. The program is free, accessible to people with disabilities and open to the public.
Upcoming Montpelier talks include “The Unseen Alistair Cooke” with Susan Cooke Kittredge on April 7; and “1763 and How America Became American” with author and Dartmouth professor Colin Calloway on May 5.
The Vermont Department of Libraries is the statewide underwriter of First Wednesdays. First Wednesdays is also supported by The Preservation Trust of Vermont.
For more information, contact the Kellogg-Hubbard Library at 802.223.3338 or contact the Vermont Humanities Council at 802.262.2626 or info@vermonthumanities.org, or visit www.vermonthumanities.org.
The Vermont Humanities Council is a private nonprofit working to bring the power and the pleasure of the humanities to all Vermonters—of every background and in every community. The Council envisions a state in which every individual learns throughout life—a state in which all its citizens read, reflect, and participate in public affairs.
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