News Display: Penguin Starts the Paperback Revolution, Thursday, 7/30

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.

• News Display: Supreme Court Rules on the Death Penalty: Thursday, 7/2


The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Bill of Rights prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments. Does government have the right or obligation to judge and plan the death of another human found guilty by law of treason, murder, theft, desertion, mutiny or another capital crime? Where would you draw the line in administering justice? Is killing wrong by killing? Can society and/or penal institutions rehabilitate criminals? Does it serve a purpose in deterring others?

Capital punishment or the death penalty has been a hotly contested issue within the fifty states over the decades. In the 1930s; there were record numbers of executions, while in the 1950s and 1960s there were dramatic decreases. The July 2, 1976 ruling in Gregg versus Georgia maintained that capital punishment was constitutional, leading to the resumption of executions the following year. Today the death penalty is sanctioned by 36 states, as well as by the federal government. While democracies in Asia and totalitarian countries uphold it, democratic nations in Europe and Latin American have abolished it over the last fifty years.

On July 2 the Gottesman Libraries will post headlines of papers covering Gregg versus Georgia, related cases, and the pros and cons of the death penalty.

For additional information on the topic, please see the Death Penalty Information Center.



• Public Works Administration Takes Effect, Wednesday, 7/8


On July 8, 1933 the Public Works Administration took effect; it was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act under Franklin D. Roosevelt to fund the construction of major projects, including airports, electricity-generating dams, and aircraft carriers; schools, and hospitals. Among numerous achievements, it electrified Pennsylvania Railroad’s route from New York to Washington, D.C. When industry shifted to war production in 1943, the Public Works Administration was abolished and its functions were transferred to the Federal Works Agency.

Join us as we display newspaper stories that document the life and times of the PWA, with a focus on its improvements in education and health. For educational views on the Public Works Administration be sure to check out select articles and essays in Teachers College Record.


• Dr. Leakey Discovers the Oldest Skull, Friday, 7/17


Dr. Mary Leakey, wife of Louis Leakey, was a British archeologist and anthropologist who found one of the earliest primate fossils while on expedition in Olduvai Gorge, British East Africa (Northern Tanzania). The discovery on July 17, 1959 of Zinjanthropus (now called Australopithecus boise) or “Zinj” for short made them famous; the skull originally was believed to have been 600,000 years old; using new techniques, geophysicists from the University of California at Berkeley determined that the skull dated closer to 1.75 million years old.

The news display on July 17 will feature the discovery of Zinj, as well as other important archaeological digs by the husband and wife team, including the 1965 excavation of the one million year old Homo erectus (“upright man”) skull.


• First Men on the Moon, Monday, July 20


“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," proclaimed Neil Armstrong, as he boldly stepped off the ladder of the lunar module on to the surface of the Moon. Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon and the second all-veteran crew in manned spaceflight history.

On July 20th the Gottesman Libraries will feature stories about Mission Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene (Buzz) Aldrin who walked on the moon while Command Module Pilot Michael Collins orbited in space. Technological equipment as well as the United States flag, a mission patch, and plaque with the astronauts and President Richard Nixon’s signatures were among the articles left behind; the telling inscription read, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”

The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy’s goal to reach the moon by the end of the 1960s. Join us as we tribute the history of this remarkable achievement and consider the implications for further research in space. For the June 21st interview with Buzz Aldrin please go to the New York Times Magazine, in which the former astronaut reflects on progress since 1969; the growing interest in Mars; and our competition with Russia.

Extensive information and images about Apollo 11 can be found at the NASA site. For recorded coverage of the first moon walk be sure to watch the videos on Wikipedia of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.


• Penguin Starts the Paperback Revolution, Thursday, 7/30


Appearing in the summer of 1935, the first Penguin paperbacks offered a selection of biography, crime, and novels; decorated with colorful bands indicating the genre (biography- dark blue, crime- green, and novels –orange), the contemporary works were priced affordably for mass consumption: a mere sixpence in British currency or roughly then the cost of a packet of smokes.

Under the direction of Allen Lane, director of Bodley Head, sales quickly flourished, with three million paperbacks sold in the first year. Over the years, Penguin grew, at times taking on even the most controversial of books: the first unabridged version of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, in the early 1960s, through to Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, in the 1980s.

Hardcover books, including most first editions, are sold to this day at much higher prices than paperbacks, but Penguin revolutionized affordable purchasing and enjoys today a reputation as a publisher of classical and high quality literature.

Follow the development and stories about Penguin and its impact on the publishing industry on July 20, as we mark the historical launch through stories told in the newspapers.

Further information on Penguin can be found at the publisher’s website.