Remembering our Mississippi Heroes

Two of the most influential figures in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement were born on the same day only three years apart. Aaron Henry entered the world on July 2, 1922, in Dublin, Mississippi; his friend Medgar Evers was born July 2, 1925, in Decatur, Mississippi. Both men were Army veterans and college graduates. Both were members of the NAACP and fought for the civil rights of African-American citizens in Mississippi, whom the white population segregated, disenfranchised, terrorized, and murdered. Evers was assassinated in his driveway when he was only 37. Henry became a long-time member of the Mississippi House of Representatives before passing in 1997.

To learn more about Medgar Evers, check out:

• For Us, the Living
  Myrlie B. Evers
• The Autobiography of Medgar Evers: A Hero's Life and Legacy Revealed Through His Writings, Letters, and Speeches
  edited by Myrlie Evers-Williams and Manning Marable
• Medgar Evers: Mississippi Martyr
  Michael Vinson Williams
• Never Too Late: A Prosecutor's Story of Justice in the Medgar Evers Case
  Bobby DeLaughter
• Medgar Evers
  Mississippi Encyclopedia
• Medgar Evers
  Mississippi History Now

To learn more about Aaron Henry, check out:

• Aaron Henry of Mississippi: Inside Agitator
  Minion K.C. Morrison
• Aaron Henry: the Fire Ever Burning
  Aaron Henry
• Aaron Henry
  Mississippi Encyclopedia
• Aaron Henry
  Mississippi History Now

If you're in Mississippi, consider a field trip to:

• The Medgar Evers Home Museum
• The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

Both of these Mississippi heroes and icons deserve our attention and our respect. Join us in honoring their memory and their accomplishments. Happy birthday, Mr. Evers and Representative Henry!

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month

I've been living for 25 years and I've never heard of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, but I have never been so excited to learn a new historical fact. On October 5, 1978, President Jimmy Carter put in place a law announcing Asian Pacific American Heritage Week. On October 23, 1992, community pioneers from around the nation saw more progress in Asian Pacific American history when President George Bush signed legislation designating May of each year as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

I didn't know that Asian Americans had such a pivotal hand in developing southern American society. There is a hidden history on the effect that Asian Americans had on the development of communities in Mississippi, and the Mississippi Delta specifically. Chinese immigrants moved to the southern United States soon after the Civil War to work on cotton plantations and farms. Later, during the Segregation Era (1900-1939), Chinese American families in the Mississippi Delta ran segregated grocery stores for both black and white customers, sometimes from shops located across the street from each other. The Chinese Americans themselves were ostracized and denied their civil rights while providing this essential service to their non-integrated local communities. They lived in quarters adjacent to their grocery stores because they were denied property ownership. For decades these Americans learned, worshiped, and socialized separately from the Delta’s mainstream population. After the Civil Rights Movement, education and career opportunities opened for following generations. For further history on the impact of Asian-Americans in Mississippi, three books you can check out from the Mississippi Library Commission are: Water Tossing Boulders: How a Family of Chinese Immigrants Led the First Fight to Desegregate Schools in the Jim Crow South by Adrienne Berard, The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black and White by James W. Loewen, and Lotus Among the Magnolias: the Mississippi Chinese by Robert Seto Quan. You can also visit the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum at Delta State University in Cleveland.

Sources:

https://asianpacificheritage.gov/about/

https://www.npr.org/2017/03/18/519017287/the-legacy-of-the-mississippi-delta-chinese
http://mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us/articles/86/mississippi-chinese-an-ethnic-people-in-a-biracial-society

Among the Pages

How one greets a new year can be a toss-up. For some it’s a time to rejuvenate, make new resolutions, get back on the happy horse and move forward; for others it’s a time to look backward and let the introvert take the lead. For me, it’s the latter—a time to take internal inventory.

In keeping with this, I’ve chosen two books out of the MLC collection to read with a studious eye: Parchman by R. Kim Rushing and An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962 by William Doyle. I highly recommend both books and what they call for—equitable change for all.

Gas Mask Librarians

Yesterday I discovered a file that contained historic pictures of libraries from across Mississippi. I've found my new all-time favorite picture of librarians and the crazy backstory behind the photo.

Meet Mary Francis and Linda Roy Gates, librarians at Fisk Public Library in Natchez, Mississippi, in October of 1962. Here's the scoop on those gas masks, which you know have me thinking of this creepy kid in Dr. Who:

Dr. Who Reboot Season 1, Episode 9, The Empty Child

Back in March of 1961, a barge sank in the Mississippi River near Natchez. It was carrying 1,100 tons of liquid chlorine, and you'd better believe that stuff is not healthy at all. (Ahem, poison.) The river was incredibly high, just like this year, and so all those containers filled with poison stayed at the bottom of the river for 18 months. That's right. A whole year and a half! The river finally went down and they eventually located the sunken barge (because no one was sure exactly where it was.) Then, the government issued over 12,000 gas masks to people in Natchez, MS and Vidalia, LA, in case poisonous gas was accidentally released during the removal of the containers. (You really need to read this article from the Natchez Democrat, which goes in depth about the whole bizarre affair.) It was quite a scare for the area and residents took the threat of disaster seriously, thus my gas-mask-wearing librarians. The event was dubbed Operation Chlorine. By the way, three years later, in 1965, Fisk Public Library was moved to a brand-new location and renamed Judge George W. Armstrong Library. (A History of Mississippi Libraries, 56)

Until next time, happy reading!

Never Looked Better

By Susan Cassagne

Executive Director

Mississippi Library Commission 

Capitol Street in downtown Jackson, MS - 1920s

The year was 1926, 90 years ago, when the Mississippi Library Commission was born in our legislature. I recently thought about what things must have been like back then; what was daily life like during that year in America....in Mississippi? With a little research, I discovered that Calvin Coolidge was serving his second term as President of the United States. One in six Americans owned a car and the Model T Ford was considered the first affordable automobile in America. Negro History Week was celebrated for the first time; it would later become Black History Month.

Model T Ford - 1920s

One of the most recognizable characters in children's literature, Winnie the Pooh, written by A.A. Milne, began spreading joy and teaching about love and acceptance. Additionally, Ernest Hemingway penned his classic, The Sun Also Rises, and our own William Faulkner released his first novel, Soldiers' Pay. It was a banner year for literature.

Flappers were all the rage and Al Jolson, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington were singing the popular songs of the day. Rudolph Valentino died of appendicitis and devoted fans were devastated by the loss. Over 100,000 people lined the streets of New York to say farewell to the beloved actor.  Babe Ruth hit three home runs in Game Four of the World Series and Scottish inventor John Baird introduced the first television.

Babe Ruth

Here at home, Henry Lewis Whitfield was governor of the state. Whitfield was born in Rankin County and began a teaching career at the age of sixteen after he obtained his degree from Mississippi College. He was elected governor in 1923, which was the first election in which women could vote for governor in Mississippi. During his administration, he recommended a progressive legislative program that included better mental health care, better vocational training, the reorganization of the entire public school system, and better economic opportunities for the state's black citizens.

Governor Henry Lewis Whitfield

Today, the Mississippi Library Commission celebrates its 90th year. This birthday brings with it a history of significant moments, that include consistent leadership, advocacy, and service to libraries across the state. We are proud to introduce our new brand - a new look that underscores our commitment to those we serve. Happy birthday, MLC; you've never looked better. May you continue to serve for 90 plus more!

Beyoncé Gets In Formation for Information

Beyoncé is getting all the ladies in formation for information! In that vein, we'd like to recommend the following 20 recently published books by and about African-Americans. (We know we're leaving out classics like The Souls of Black Folk and The Mis-Education of the Negro, or even Black Boy and Coming of Age in Mississippi. We decided to stick with books published in the last ten years in order to keep the list at manageable length.)

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
  Michelle Alexander
• Buck: A Memoir
  M.K. Asante 
• Nat Turner
  Kyle Baker
• Sentences: The Life of M.F. Grimm
  Percy Carey
  
• Between the World and Me
  Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Bad Feminist: Essays
  Roxane Gay
• Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Moments from Black History
  Joel Christian Gill
• The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League
  Jeff Hobbs
• Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
  Gilbert King
• How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America
  Kiese Laymon
• Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America
  Jill Leovy
• March: Book One
  John Lewis
• F.B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover's Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature
  William J. Maxwell
• Citizen: An American Lyric
  Claudia Rankine
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
  Rebecca Skloot
• Ordinary Light
  Tracy K. Smith
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
  Bryan Stevenson
• Native Guard
  Natasha Trethewey
• We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement
  Akinyele Omowale Umoja
• Men We Reaped: A Memoir
  Jessmyn Ward

What would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments. Until next time, informative and happy reading!

Remembering Mary Church Terrell

Mary Eliza Church Terrell was born on this day, September 23, in 1863. When she was only six, her parents sent her from their home in Memphis, Tennessee, to Ohio, so that she might obtain a quality education, which was not available in her home state. She went on to achieve many things that were thought to be impossible for someone of her sex and color at that time:

• She secured not only a college degree, but also her master's degree (in 1885.)
• In 1896, with the help of women like Harriet Tubman and Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, Terrell co-founded the National Association of Colored Women by merging two women's groups for African-Americans. She served as president three times.
• Terrell was an avid suffragette, as well as a proponent of racial equality. She was a founding member of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People in 1909.
• She passed away July 24, 1954, in Annapolis, Maryland.

One excellent resource for this remarkable woman comes from the Library of Congress. Click the link to find a plethora of resources about Mary Church Terrell. If you're looking for print sources, try her autobiography, A Colored Woman in a White World, or the juvenile biography, Fight On! Mary Church Terrell's Battle for Integration.

We leave you with these words from a speech she gave to the National American Women's Suffrage Association in 1898:

And so, lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go, struggling and striving, and hoping that the buds and blossoms of our desires will burst into glorious fruition ere long. With courage, born of success achieved in the past, with a keen sense of the responsibility which we shall continue to assume, we look forward to a future large with promise and hope. Seeking no favors because of our color, nor patronage because of our needs, we knock at the bar of justice, asking an equal chance.

Staff Reads: September 18, 2015

Never fear! Your book reviews are here... and just in time for Friday Reads, too.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

written by Sherman Alexie

five stars

Sherman Alexie, we want you to write more books. Want? Need. The stories in this book deftly bring to light America's marginalized native people. We see their love, their humor, and their pain, and it's simply beautiful. A re-read of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is definitely in order, but TLRATFIH is one to savor and return to again as well.

The Adventures of Superhero Girl

written and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

four stars

Faith Erin Hicks is simply amazing. Her heroine, Superhero Girl, is in her early twenties, has a roommate and a cat, and faces mundane, everyday sorts of problems like doing laundry and dealing with boys. But wait! She can leap buildings in a single bound, too. And heave things into space. And other superhero-esque things. She does all this, plus confronts superhero problems, all while wearing her cape and mask with the nonchalance only a superhero in her twenties could pull off. Witty and sarcastic, this was a hilarious read.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up:
The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

written by Marie Kondo

translated by Cathy Hirano

three stars

This book has been incredibly popular at our library, so we decided to give it a read, too. Kondo recommends getting rid of everything in your house that doesn't fill you with joy. The anthropomorphizing of objects took a little getting used to--talk to your shoes, people!--but hey, if the house is at one with itself, you can be, too.

Dash

written by Kirby Larson

four stars

This Magnolia Award nominee is based on a true story. Mitsi and her family are swept up in the anti-Japanese sentiment of World War II and are forced to move to an internment camp. Mitsi has to leave her beloved dog Dash with a neighbor because animals aren't allowed. Her worry about her dog added to the unbearable conditions at the camp-- filth, drudgery, and inhumanity--make this story an excellent introduction to American history and race relations for middle schoolers.

The Healing

written by Jonathan Odell

four stars

The Healing is a fascinating book about African-Americans before the Civil War and during the 1930s. The characters Granada and Polly will stay with us for quite some time, as well as Odell's take on midwifery, Mississippi, and life.

Staff picks this week include these books:

• The Bird's Nest
  written by Shirley Jackson
• The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
  written by Ryan North
  illustrated by Erica Henderson
• The Adventures of Beekle
  written and illustrated by Dan Santat
• The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Cookbook
  written by Alexe van Beuren

Until next week, happy reading!

MLC Reads: August 28, 2015

Oh, the books! The siren call of the printed page! (Or the eReader...)

The Other Typist

Suzanne Rindell

four stars

Set in America in the 1920s when liquor was illegal and women were bobbing their hair, we meet Rose. Rose is a typist in a police precinct; her life is boring and predictable until the other typist is hired. Rose's life soon changes! Hold onto your hats for a gin-drinking, women-smoking, and speakeasy good time. But be cautious... what you're reading may very well not be entirely the complete truth. (After finishing this book, we're still scratching our heads over all the plausible plots.) Something to look forward to when you finish reading The Other Typist: the film rights have already been purchased.

Mississippi Trial, 1955
written by Chris Crowe
five stars

Mississippi Trial, 1955 is a strong introduction for middle schoolers to the civil rights era in Mississippi. Although the book's centers around a young white protagonist, the tragic story of Emmett Till is told in a way that pre-teens can grasp. Chris Crowe has a pretty way with words, too. One of our favorite quotes from the book was,

"Maybe God put different kinds of people on earth so we could all learn to get along."

Highly recommended, especially with a group discussion.

 Nimona

written and illustrated by Noelle Stevenson

five stars

Nimona is a terrific graphic novel! Nimona is a young shapeshifter looking to join forces with villainous Lord Ballister Blackheart. A twist of fate marks the unlikely pair as heroes. Witty dialog and vibrant illustrations entertained us from beginning to end. We can't wait to read more by Noelle Stevenson. (Lumberjanes is on our radar!)

The Lion & the Mouse

written and illustrated
by Jerry Pinkney

five stars

Jerry Pinkney, an incredible artist, takes on Aesop's fable about a lion and a mouse. This picture book only contains a few "words"-roar and squeak are prominent-but more words are actually unnecessary. Youngsters will be attracted by the large, colorful pictures and will enjoy being able to "read" this one by themselves, making it a great jumping off place for book discussions.

 Death of Innocence:
The Story of the Hate Crime that Changed America

forward by the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson

written by Mamie Till-Mobley and Christopher Benson

five stars

The way I looked at it, discrimination was somebody else's problem... That's all Bo would know. In time, he would also know whites, children in school, even adults he would do business with. We made sure he would never be self-conscious around them. He would not see the signs, or the attitudes behind the facades. For him, they would not exist. There would come a time, though, when that strength would make him vulnerable.

Mamie Till-Mobley's only child, Emmett Louis Till, was murdered by white racists in Mississippi on this day, August 28, in 1955. This is her insightful story: of being black, of being a woman, of having a sheltered childhood and a difficult birthing and impossible husbands. The legendary Emmett Till becomes so much more than a historical figure in the hands of his mother and a living, breathing boy steps from the pages. The horrors that he and his mother endured also spring to life, so beware--this can be a tough read at times. It's worth it, though, to stick with it until the end. Till-Mobley's spirit and soul are beautiful. We could all take a page from her book.

We've got these fun reads lined up for next week.

• In the Unlikely Event
  written by Judy Blume
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post
  written by Emily M. Danforth
• Dear Hank Williams
  written by Kimberly Willis Holt
• The Silence of Our Friends
  written by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos
  illustrated by Nate Powell
• North Toward Home
  written by Willie Morris

Until then, happy reading!

MLC Reads: August 21, 2015

What have you been reading?

Will in Scarlet

written by Matthew Cody

four stars

What makes a person a legend? Why does the world remember some and others fade away? Is it all just collective forgetfulness and wishful thinking? Matthew Cody explores the Robin Hood character in a whole new light in Will in Scarlet: what if Robin Hood weren't actually Robin Hood at all? We had a ball reading this one; it's always fun to see old friends in a new way.

All About Percy

William Alexander Percy was born on this day, May 14, in 1885 in Greenville, Mississippi. Perhaps most well-known nowadays for his memoir, Lanterns on the Levee, he led a rich and varied life.

• His father was LeRoy Percy, a U.S. Senator from Mississippi and a hunting buddy of Teddy Roosevelt.
  
• Percy went to Harvard Law School and practiced law in Greenville, but he also spent much of his time writing poetry. He produced four volumes of poetry before writing his memoir.
  
• During World War I, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre and bronze and silver stars.
  
• Percy was appointed as the head of the Washington County Relief Committee during the Great Flood of 1927. To learn more about the flood, we highly recommend Rising Tide by John M. Barry.
  
• When their parents died, he became the guardian of his cousins Walker, LeRoy, and Phinizy Percy. Walker Percy, another great Mississippi author, actually began his friendship with future author Shelby Foote in Greenville.
• He even wrote a hymn that was adopted by the Episcopal Hymnal 1982. Hymn number 661 by Percy starts with the words: They cast their nets in Galilee just off the hills of brown...
  
• The public library in Greenville is called the William Alexander Percy Library.
  
• William Alexander Percy passed away January 21, 1942 in Greenville, Mississippi.

If you would like to read William Alexander Percy's poetry or to find out more about his life, stop by the Mississippi Library Commission or your local public library!

http://www.washington.lib.ms.us/greenville_writers_exhibit.htm
http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/percy_william_alexander/index.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/flood-leroy/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/flood-will/

Flashback Forty-One

Time: July, 1941
Place: Liberty, Mississippi
Status: What's Yours is Mine aka the Borrowing Neighbor

Dear Mrs. Stratton: I saw in Southern Herald where you answered a question for some one, so I want you to answer one for me. For years I have loaned my cake pans, sizzors, needles, dishes and various other articles to a neighbor. This neighbor will not return anything. She is good and I do not like to refuse, but Mrs. Stratton, sometimes I have to walk one half mile to get my wash tubs. Please tell me what I should do. - A Reader

I saw this small-town advice column while scrolling through a microfilm copy of The Southern Herald and just about died. Have you ever walked around in July in Mississippi? While carrying wash tubs? Here's the response for this saint:

Page Solomon! Dear Lady! Why did you not ask me to work a hard arithmetic problem for you? Well, I think after your years of neighborliness, I would tell my friend that I was willing to loan, but she must return, and if she failed to do so, next time I would tell her what she wanted to borrow was being used.

I should say so! Invest in your own pair of sizzors, neighbor lady. I wonder if she read this heartfelt plea in the paper...

Time: July, 1941
Place: Liberty, Mississippi
Status: Porcine King

L. D. Causey, the sausage king, reports progress in his section and a good sausage prospect for next winter.

My interpretation: Mr. Causey has a "champeen" size pig. Also, would you want to be referred to as the "sausage king"?

Time: July, 1941
Place: Liberty, Mississippi
Status: Chicken Rustlers Beware

The chicken rogues are busy again and showing much activity in this neighborhood. Plans are being made to find identity of some, so if they don't fail will tell you next week the name of the guilty party.

I didn't see anything about the chicken thieves in the next issue. It seems the editor's pessimism was well-founded.







I hope you've enjoyed this "flashback" to Liberty, Mississippi, in 1941. Old newspapers can be fascinating to read. They contain so much information about the lifestyles of the people and communities. Have a question about one of your ancestors? Remember, Mississippi Library Commission staff are available to search our microfilmed newspapers for you.


The Southern Herald. Liberty, Mississippi. July 1941.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sus_domesticus#/media/File:Pig_USDA01c0116.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wash_tubs#/media/File:Judges%27_Lodgings_2014_GLAM_Kitchen_2585.JPG
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chickens#/media/File:Hedemorah%C3%B6ns_Gammlia_2007-06-24.jpg

Benjamin Franklin and poetry and libraries and kites with keys

On this day in 1790, Benjamin Franklin passed away in his home in Philadelphia, PA at the age of 84. Franklin was well know for things like Poor Richard's Almanac, the invention of bifocal glasses, aiding in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and a little experiment involving a kite, a key, and a bolt of lightning. But did you know he also helped establish the first circulating library in Philadelphia?

Franklin, along with other members of the philosophical association Junto, drew up articles of agreement to form the library on July 1, 1731. The library submitted its first order for books the following year and the rest is history. The Library Company is still open today. Read more about its history here. As it's National Library Week, we were thrilled to share this tidbit of information with you!

As a lover of books, it seems only natural that Franklin was a writerly sort, but did you know he also dabbled in poetry? National Library Week is almost over, but National Poetry Month is still going strong. Celebrate by reading some of Franklin's poetry! Read his poem "Death Is a Fisherman" below and check out some of his other poems here.

Death Is A Fisherman

Death is a fisherman, the world we see
His fish-pond is, and we the fishes be;
His net some general sickness; howe'er he
Is not so kind as other fishers be;
For if they take one of the smaller fry,
They throw him in again, he shall not die:
But death is sure to kill all he can get,
And all is fish with him that comes to net.

http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/philadelphia/library.htm

http://allpoetry.com/Death-Is-A-Fisherman

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/benjamin-franklin-dies

photo from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/BenFranklinDuplessis.jpg

Celebrating Black History Month @ Your Library

Welcome to Black History Month 2015! This yearly celebration of the African diaspora and their history and accomplishments provides an excellent learning opportunity for us all. The first observance of African culture, started by Carter G. Woodson in 1926, was known as Negro History Week. Fifty years later, in 1976, President Gerald Ford lengthened the event to the entire month of February. (http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov)

If you're looking for print resources on African-Americans, the Mississippi Library Commission is the place for you. Here are some of our favorites:

Black Heroes
Jessie Carney Smith

This book contains profiles of many African Americans, both well-known and obscure.

Q. Civil rights activist James Howard Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi on October 1, 1962. What was his name at birth?
A. "Moses 'Cap' Meredith named his son J. H. Meredith to prevent whites from calling him simply by his first name" (468).

African American Firsts: Famous, Little-Known and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America
Joan Potter 

This text offers a plethora of Black firsts sure to intrigue any history buff.

Q. Who created the first golf tee?
A. "In December 1899, Dr. George F. Grant, an African-American dentist and an amateur golfer, received a patent for a wooden golf tee. Before his invention, golfers had to balance their balls on mounds of damp sand" (341).

African-American Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations: The History, Customs, and Symbols Associated with Both Traditional and Contemporary Religious and Secular Events Observed by Americans of African Descent
Kathlyn Gay

This resource outlines all of the holidays, festivals, societies, and events with African-American themes.

Q. What was the first black sorority?
A. Alpha Kappa Alpha, "the first black sorority was formed in 1908 by nine women at Howard University in Washington, D. C." (189).

African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence
Lean'tin Bracks

Here is another compilation of short biographies. It also includes sections on African-American history.

Q. Who was the first black woman bishop in any of the large American denominations?
A. Leontine T. C. Kelly, born in Washington, D. C. in 1920, was elected a bishop in the United Methodist Church in 1984 (126).

We'll be posting more information about Black History Month and the achievements of African-Americans over the next month. If you can't wait for more tidbits, check out this website, which provides audio/video files, images, and lesson plans on the topic, as well as great information on historical events.

Beatles Fever

On this day in 1969 the Beatles gave their last live performance on the rooftop of Apple Studios in London. The band played 5 songs (some songs multiple times) for a total of 42 minutes. The police were called, but they couldn't bring themselves to shut the whole thing down. You can read more about the rooftop concert here. You can also view TIME's photo gallery of the event here. Less than a year after the performance, Paul McCartney acknowledged that the band was headed for a breakup.

We've got just the thing if you'd like to read more about the Beatles! Below are a few of the books we have about them. Feel free to drop by and check them out for yourself.

Every Little Thing: The Definitive Guide to Beatles Recording Variations, Rare Mixes and Other Musical Oddities, 1958-1986 by William McCoy and Mitchell McGeary

Paul McCartney: A Life by Peter Ames Carlin

The Beatles Come to America by Martin Goldsmith

Days That I'll Remember: Spending Time with John Lennon and Yoko Ono by Jonathan Cott