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Greetings from Willa Cather’s Red Cloud: A Trip Back in Time continued New Trustee

the Head Librarian The center of the town, founded by Silas Garber in 1871, appears not to have Visits to the train depot (5)(6) and the home of the Miner family (on whom the

changed a great deal. The building where Cather assisted the local doctor up- Harling family in My Ántonia is based) follow, as does an increased feeling of
stairs and worked at the pharmacy downstairs still stands, as does the bank and immersion in Willa Cather’s world. The depot is where many of her arrivals
As I write this, on a warm day herald- its interior, founded by Mr. Garber, on whom A Lost Lady’s Daniel Forrester was and departures would have taken place, and it represented her connection to
ing the arrival of summer, most of you based. The beautiful and newly opened center for the Willa Cather Foundation the outside world. An old poster originally from Ellis Island, designed to encour-
are probably making vacation plans and is behind the largest number of facades on Webster Street (7), and they offer a age immigration to Nebraska, hangs in the depot. The illustration shows small
looking forward to longer days and a wonderful tour of the historical buildings that were part of Willa Cather’s world. homes dotting the plains, and visitors are told that many people coming to
slower pace. Here at the Library, we may Nebraska expected to find homes on the land grants, and turned around and
be winding down our seasonal program- The first stop on the tour is the home the Cather family rented for twenty years. left when they found only prairie grasses.
ming, but we’re keeping busy booking Interesting details abound, like the fact that Mrs. Cather packed her china
an exciting new fall lineup packed with in Confederate money for the move from Virginia to Nebraska, and that Mr. Highlights in the surrounding countryside are the Willa Cather Memorial
lectures and panel discussions, semi- Cather brought home paying guests for meals from his business in town for Prairie (4)(8) and the Pavelka farm house (3). Anna Sadilek, who inspired
nars, writing workshops, and special extra income. One of the most surprising was the reason that young Willa’s attic My Ántonia, married John Pavelka and raised nine children. In the book, the
events, and testing a new online events bedroom (1), with its original floral wallpaper (2) (taken as part of her pay from narrator, Jim Burden, goes home to visit his childhood friend Ántonia after
registration system that we hope you’ll the pharmacy store) survived untouched: when the home was divided into two twenty years. He travels out to her family’s farmhouse, and during their happy
find much more user-friendly and intui- apartments, the stairway to the attic was closed off, resulting in this unintended reunion, her children proudly show him the new cellar out behind the house.
tive. We will be looking for member but fortunate preservation. Today, off a dirt road, the house is there, the cellar is there, and when one pulls
volunteers to assist with event setup and open the unlocked cellar doors, a feeling of stepping back in time is there as well.
break-down in the fall, so if interested,
please email us at events@nysoclib.org.
The Library is pleased to announce that
Summer is also the season for special Liaquat Ahamed was elected to the
projects, like shifting books and re- Board of Trustees in April.
arranging the stacks to make room for
the nearly 4,000 books we buy each year A graduate of Harvard and Cambridge
and undertaking rigorous shelf reading Universities, Mr. Ahamed has had a
to keep our 300,000 volumes in order. distinguished career in finance, working
Moreover, it also provides an opportu- with the World Bank and, more recently,
nity for us to focus on larger building with Fischer Francis Trees & Watts, Inc.
projects, and this year is no exception. as CIO and CEO.
You’ll be hearing more soon about
preparations for a critical upgrade of His book Lords of Finance: The Bank-
our fire alarm system. ers Who Broke the World, published by
Penguin Press in 2009, won the 2010
Weekday tea times, monthly happy Pulitzer Prize for History along with
hours, Prompt! and Creation Station 1 2 5 6 numerous other honors. The book
will continue through the summer narrates the events preceding 1929’s
months, and we’re adding a few infor- Black Tuesday stock market crash and
mal get-togethers for members who’d the disastrous response of the world’s
like to meet others interested in joining central banks. Time magazine called it
a book club. So sign up for our monthly “the rich and charming story of the end
e-newsletter to keep on top of the latest of the world.” Mr. Ahamed’s articles and
Library news—and stop by to cool off book reviews appear in many periodi-
and say hello! cals including the New York Times, the
Wall Street Journal, the Washington
Happy summer! Happy reading! Post, and the Financial Times.

A Library member since 1999, Mr.
Ahamed divides his time between
Carolyn Waters Washington, D.C. and New York. When
Head Librarian he’s in the city, he uses the Hornblower
Room to do his writing.
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