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06/04/2019 02:58 PMWith summer on the way, the Hagaman Memorial Library has introduced a new program for history lovers to take advantage of the longer days. The Evening Light History Programs will provide an opportunity for an intergenerational discussion of history.
The program will be held once a month in June, July, and August to bring history speakers to town on three different topics: the torpedoed USS Indianapolis, Hitler’s rise to power, and the Hindenburg’s flight over East Haven.
The new program rose out of the Military and Veterans History Group that meets monthly at the library to discuss military history, and which has seen several evolutions during its existence.
The group started in 2009 as a World War II Veterans Discussion Group, but with aging demographics, it was rebranded for general military history discussion.
“I asked them if they would be willing to come to events later in the day,” said Hagaman Reference Librarian Fawn Gillespie.
The idea was to have a history group that met after young people were out of work and before dark, when retirees were less likely to want to be on the road. For each of its three Thursday dates, June 13, July 11, and Aug. 8, Gillespie has provided sunset times to show that attendees will have time to head home well before dark.
The talks will begin at 6:15 p.m. and end around 7:30 p.m.. The room can hold up to 70 people, so interested parties are asked to call the library at 203-468-3898 to register.
The Military and Veterans History Group will continue through the summer with East Haven Police Officer Kevin McGuire and his police dog, Ace, appearing Wednesday, June 26. In July, local veteran Don Johnson will discuss a recent trip to Normandy and the documentary The Girl Who Wore Freedom, a French perspective on D-Day.
Gillespie said that of the three speakers, two have spoken at the library before: Bob Begin and Mark Albertson. She picked the speakers both because of their past history and because of their subjects’ connection to Connecticut.
Walt Sivigny, for instance, will present a talk on the Hindenburg’s foliage tour of Connecticut and Massachusetts, which took place just seven months before its infamous crash. The library will also be displaying previously unpublished photos of the doomed dirigible that were donated to the library as part of an East Haven resident’s collection.
“I realized that we had had some photos of the Hindenburg donated to the library and I thought this would be a great matchup to have the photos shown,” Gillespie said.
The USS Indianapolis, the ship that was sunk while carrying parts of the atomic bomb that would later be dropped on Hiroshima to end World War II, was captained at the time by Charles McVay, a Connecticut resident.
“Really what I had hoped to intend was to have a mixed audience, not just aimed at younger people, not just older people, but at a time when both could come so it would be intergenerational,” Gillespie said.