THE DIGITAL DIGEST
Join us every other weekend for Pequot Library's e-newsletter.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday was on Jan.15, although we celebrate his birth on the third Monday of January. 

Index 

1. Announcements
2  Exhibition Connection: The roots of the civil rights movement 
3. Featured Upcoming Programs: Lure of the Garden, Jr. Refrigerator Pickles 
4. Recommended Reading: A riveting book about MLK"s final years 
5. Recommended Reading: Two firsthand accounts of the civil rights era for children
6. Special Collections: An album recording of the March on Washington speeches 
7. Development Dispatch: Pequot Library has been awarded two new grants
8. Community Corner: CT League of Conservation Voters' Environmental Summit
9. Shop for Books Online

Just launched: take our A to Z Reading Challenge!
Read a different book for every letter in the alphabet in 2023, using any of the first letters in the main word of the title. Open to kids and adults. Check out our display in the Children's Library for more details. 

The Digital Digest is a collaborative e-newsletter by Pequot Library staff, and managed by our Marketing and Communications department. Questions and feedback can be sent to  [email protected].

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Library Hours
Monday - Friday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Thursday: Open late! 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sunday: closed

EXHIBITION CONNECTION

As we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. and his non-violent path to fomenting social change, we think back to America's founding members and how they conceptualized and spread ground-breaking ideas of republicanism and liberty. Tragically, they applied their groundbreaking ideas to "freemen" only, of course. However, King frequently invoked the Constitution, such as during the "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address that he delivered on the eve of his assassination. Standing in solidarity with striking sanitation workers, he linked their economic rights to their civil and human rights, noting, "But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right." Moreover, King argued that the Constitution's promises were intended for all Americans. During his "I Have a Dream" speech, for example, he averred, "When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir." 

In 2020, Pequot Library held an exhibition called Riot, Sedition, Insurrection: Media and the Road to the American Revolution, displaying numerous pamphlets that memorialized and politicized key events in the early years of Revolution, from the Stamp Act to the Boston Massacre to the Battle of Bunker Hill. These works circulated in the streets, coffeehouses, and homes of Revolutionary-era Americans, shifting public opinion from loyalty to rebellion. Many of Pequot Library’s treasures of early Americana were placed on view, including several items from our collection on long-term deposit at The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University and our 1776 edition of Thomas Paine’s incendiary essay Common Sense.

Click here to read the gallery guide. 

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