News Display: Mrs. Taft Plants the First Cherry Trees in D.C., Friday, 3/27

The Everett Cafe features thematic news displays on a wide range of educational topics, in addition to daily postings of headlines from around the world. Stay tuned into current events and consider how the news may impact teaching and learning.

• Celebrating Women's History, Monday, 3/2 - Friday, 3/6


Did you know that the first celebration of women’s history began on March 8, 1978 as "Women's History Week" in Sonoma County, California? That three years later Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican-Utah) and Representative Barbara Mikulski (Democrat-Maryland) co-sponsored a Congressional resolution proclaiming a national Women's History Week? That six years later Congress expanded the celebration to a month, officially declaring March as Women's History Month?

The Gottesman Libraries will post stories documenting the history of the celebration; the achievements of American women, past and present; and the rich evolution of the women’s movement.


• Barbie Debuts, Monday, 3/9


Barbie’s 50th birthday falls within Women’s History Month, as the media reveals a deepening story about this world famous cultural icon.

On March 9, 1959 Barbie made her stunning debut at the International Toy Fair in New York. She is a fashion doll manufactured by Mattel, Inc., originally created by Ruth Handler, an American businesswoman, who drew her inspiration from Bild Lilli, an adult-figured German doll. Heavily advertised on television, Barbie sold for as little as three dollars in the early days; today’s model costs an estimated minimum $25, with vintage models drawing in the thousands.

Fully known as Barbara Millicent Rogers, Barbie’s life is portrayed in about a dozen young adult novels published by Random House in the early 1960s; examples include: Barbie’s Fashion Success (Bette Lou Maybee, 1962); Barbie’s New York Summer (by Cynthia Lawrence, 1962); Barbie’s Adventures at Camp (by Carl Memling, 1964); Barbie and Ken (Cynthia Lawrence and Bette Lou Maybee, 1964); Barbie in Television (Marianne Duest, 1964); and Barbie’s Secret (Eleanor Woolvin and Robert Patterson, 1964). Also at the center of numerous controversies and lawsuits, she is the subject of The Barbie Chronicles, edited by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Simon and Schuster, 1999), with contributions by Steven Dubin, TC Professor of Arts Administration who later published the article, "How I Got Screwed by Barbie: A Cautionary Tale” (New Art Examiner, vol. 23, no. 3, 1995).

What does Barbie in the news tell us about American society, role models, stereotypes, commerce, and art? Come read the stories of Barbie’s success and honors -- mass sales of 300,000 (1959); an estimated 800 million to date; the renaming of Times Square as “Barbie Boulevard” (1974); Andy Warhol’s famous painting (1985)--, as well as her plight -- the ongoing plethora of litigation.


• National Book Awards, Monday, 3/16


The first National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner was held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City on March 16, 1950. A consortium of book publishers aimed to enhance public awareness of outstanding books and to encourage greater levels of reading. Among the first year’s winners were Nelson Algren (Fiction); Ralph Rusk (Nonfiction); William Carlos Williams (Poetry). Finalists in 2008 include: Peter Matthiessen (Fiction), Annette Gordon Reed (NonFiction), Mark Doty (Poetry), and Judy Blundell (Young Adult).

Today the National Book Foundation recognizes achievements in the genres of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature; every year it appoints a five-member panel for each category. Finalists each receive $10,000 in cash and a crystal sculpture. In 2008, over 200 publishers nominated 1,258 books for consideration of the 2008 National Book Awards, an increase of six percent from 2007.

On Monday, March 16th the Gottesman Libraries will display stories about the National Book Awards to celebrate recognition of exceptional American literature and the expansion of the publishing industry.


• Mrs. Taft Plants the First Cherry Trees in D.C., Friday, 3/27


On January 7, 1910 two thousand cherry trees arrived in Washington, D.C. as a gift to Mrs. Taft and the City of Washington from the mayor of Tokyo. Symbolizing international friendship, the trees were to be set out along the drive in Potomac Park. When the trees were discovered to have insects and disease, they were quickly replaced by a new shipment of more than 3,000 trees of twelve varieties from a superb stock along the Arakawa River in a suburb of Tokyo.

First Lady Mrs. Helen Herron Taft planted the first two trees with Viscountess Chinda, the wife of the Japanese Ambassador on March 27, 1912 close to what is now Independence Avenue SW. The planting took more than eight years to complete, and Mrs. Taft, who once lived in Japan, was recognized as being the first wife of a President to engage in a major public works project.

The first Annual Cherry Blossom festival was sponsored in 1934. In 1952, cuttings from Washington's cherries were returned to Japan to help restore the Arakawa River grove, which had been destroyed by the war.

Front page news will feature stories about the origin of the Cherry Blossom festival which continues to bring beauty to the nation’s capitol as it demonstrates the historic bonding of nations.