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JCSM hosts Elvis’s America: 1956 lecture series

AUBURN, AL- Elvis’s America: 1956 is an eight part series of lectures that takes as its broadest topic mid-twentieth century America, its popular culture and the social and political atmosphere from which it emerged. The series is public programming related to Elvis at 21:New York to Memphis, an exhibition of gelatin-silver print photographs taken by Alfred Wertheimer and organized in conjunction with Govinda Gallery, Washington D.C. The exhibition will be on view at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art October 10, 2009 to January 9, 2010.
The first of the eight part series will begin at 4pm Tuesday, September 22, 2009 with "America in the ‘50s: The Culture of the Cold War" presented by Larry Gerber.  Gerber, a specialist in twentieth century American history, with a particular interest in public policy, political ideology, and the role of government in society, is the author of The Irony of State Intervention (2005) and The Limits of Liberalism (1983). He has also published articles in Business History Review, Labor History, Social Science History and Journal of Policy History.  The lecture will be held in the auditorium.

At 6pm the lecture will be followed by a 1956 film: The Man Who Knew Too Much which tells the story of a family vacationing in Morocco who accidently stumble upon an assassination plot.  The film is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and stars Jimmy Steward and Doris Day. This lecture and film is sponsored in part by The Department of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University. For more information on this event, please contact the museum at 334.844.1484 or visit our website at www.jcsm.auburn.edu

IMPORTANT DATES:

• Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Lecture: “Black and Blue Elvis in Rock and Roll Lit” by Barbara A. Baker, 4pm
1956 film: The Bad Seed, 6pm

• Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Lecture: "Design '56" by Ashley Callahan, 4pm
Southern Circuit Film: Pants on Fire, 6pm

• Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Lecture: “Elvis: A Lifetime Obsession” by Joni Mabe, the Elvis Babe, 4pm
1956 film: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 6pm

• Tuesday, October 20, 2009

"The King of Rock as Working-Class Hero: The Rise and Reign of Elvis Presley" by Michael Bertrand, 4pm
1956 film: The Girl Can’t Help It, 6pm

• Tuesday, October 27, 2009

“I Like Ike, but I Love Lucy: Women in 1956” by Alice Jardine, 4pm
1956 film: Baby Doll, 6pm

• Tuesday, November 3, 2009

"Endless Elvistas:  Pondering the Post Presley Puzzle" by George Plasketes, 4pm
1956 film: Mystery Train, 6pm

• Tuesday, November 10, 2009

"Elvis, Memphis Musical Precedents, and First Wave American Youth Culture" by James M. Salem, 4pm
Southern Circuit Film: Milking the Rhino, 6pm

Contacts:
Andy Tennant, Assistant Director
(334) 844 – 3081
tennawa@auburn.edu

Stacey Moore, Marketing
(344) 844 – 3488
moore23@auburn.edu