May 10 Saturday
Peek behind-the-scenes of our chocolate factory to get a high-level overview of the chocolate-making process, from bean to bar! This event is great for families, corporate groups, bachelorette weekends, and anyone new to chocolate or curious about where their food comes from. You’ll get to taste warm, flowing dark chocolate from our tempering machine, and you’ll get to sample our single origin 75% dark chocolate bars.
May 12 Monday
Please register in advance.
Join us for a virtual lecture by the 2024 Kenneth Karmiole Research Fellow, Pete Johnson, who used primary sources materials from the Library's Special Research Collections in support of his dissertation research at University of Texas, Austin.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, independent television producers pioneered financial and production models that laid the foundation for the industry’s economic structure, despite being overshadowed by major studios and networks. Johnson's lecture examines their financial struggles and innovations, using archival materials and case studies like Rudy Vallée’s short-lived Vallée-Video to reveal how these early entrepreneurs shaped television’s speculative culture. Though many failed, their efforts influenced the long-term development of television economics, leaving a lasting impact on the media industry.
This lecture is generously supported by the Kenneth Karmiole Endowed Research Fellowship.
About the SpeakerPeter Arne Johnson is a PhD Candidate in Media Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where his research focuses on media industries, business history, and television studies. His doctoral dissertation traces television’s financial model from the early network era in the 1940s to the streaming era from the perspective of television production companies. Pete’s work has been published in Media Industries Journal, New Review of Film & Television, and Democratic Communiqué.
May 13 Tuesday
Today, when we think of the United Kingdom, we presume England and gloss over Scotland, especially when considering art. Glasgow, Scotland was a growing industrial city in the 1880s and through that growth produced a group of artists whose rebellious natures catapulted the art world into Modernism.
Many of the artist’s names are unfamiliar but the styles and design elements that were created by their innovations will be recognizable. Curious about who married the Macdonald sisters and were known as “The Four”? Who participated and created suffragette banners?
Discover the Glasgow Boys and Girls who pushed through and ahead of the existing, stale academy mindset and became the catalysts for a barrage of contemporary artistic movements in the 20th century, whose sphere of influence remains with us today.
Christine Maasdam holds a Master in Humanities and a B.A. in Cultural Geography. Her art studies include The Courtauld Institute of Art in London, The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center in D.C. and Post Graduate studies in Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime at the University of Glasgow.
The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.
May 15 Thursday
The Classic Blues style was recorded, defined and spread during the 1920-30s by its two foremost proponents, singers and songwriters Bessie Smith, “The Empress of the Blues” and Ma Rainey, “The Mother of the Blues.” They shaped an expressive, lusty, sobbing, growling ‘opera of the vernacular,’ inscribing their distinctive voices onto America’s musical culture.
This two-part lecture explores the life and times of several extraordinary blues divas including the first woman to sell a million blues records, Mamie Smith, the bawdy Creole chanteuse, Lizzie Miles and cross-dressing singer/pianist, Gladys Bentley. Each lecture features a dozen or more video and film clips including Bessie’s 1929 collaboration with composer W.C. Handy in the landmark movie-with-sound, “The Saint Louis Blues.”
During the last four decades Dave Radlauer has been telling tales of early Jazz, Blues and Swing on the radio, garnering six broadcast awards and authoring 200 articles for online and print publications. For Stanford Libraries, he’s written interpretive online text and donated a large collection of unique music and photos. He teaches lifelong learning courses at UCLA, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State and Dominican University.
Anthropologist and 2024 National Book Award Winner
FREE copies of De León’s new book, Soldiers and Kings, will be available while supplies last (pick up at event, one per household)
“I refuse to live in a world without hope.” – Jason De León accepting the 2024 National Book Award for Nonfiction
Join 2024 National Book Award-winner Jason De León as he explores the human consequences of U.S. immigration policies and shares stories of hope and resilience from the border. An expert on the study of migration across the U.S.-Mexico border, De León is an internationally recognized anthropologist, MacArthur fellow and the award-winning author of The Land of Open Graves and Soldiers and Kings. De León is also executive director of the Undocumented Migration Project, a collective that raises awareness about migration issues and helps families of missing migrants reunite with their loved ones. Don’t miss this urgent conversation on the human cost and potential solutions to the crisis of global border enforcement.
May 16 Friday
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May 30 Friday
