The Kent Memorial Library received a grant from the American Library Association in partnership with Citizen Film and the National Writing Project to host a series of programs which will be community conversations centered around American Creed, a PBS documentary that invites audiences to consider what America’s ideals and identity ought to be.
Additional funding for the programs is provided by The Friends of the Kent Memorial Library.
In the documentary, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David M. Kennedy, civic entrepreneur Eric Liu, moveon.org founder Joan Blades, Tea Party Patriots founder Mark Meckler, Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon and other citizen-activists come together from remarkably different perspectives to explore the idea of a unifying American creed.
The library’s series of programs will start with the showing of the documentary, American Creed, on Saturday, February 16, at 2 p.m. at the Suffield Senior Center. After the showing, Lucy Nalpathanchil will facilitate a conversation centered on the film. Ms. Nalpathanchil is a public radio journalist at WNPR, Connecticut’s public radio station. She is the host of the station’s popular talk show, “Where We Live.”
On Tuesday, February 19, at 7 p.m. at the Suffield Senior Center, Jonathan M. Beagle, an Associate Professor of History at Western New England University, will present a talk on “The Seeds of the American Creed.” Mr. Beagle’s emphasis will be on how our identities and ideals were formed in early American history.
Other speakers in the series are Douglas L. Battema, Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication; William Force, Associate Professor of Sociology; and Winthrop Rhodes, Professor of English. All teach at Western New England University. These programs will occur in the spring.