May 1st was National Holocaust Remembrance Day. For week 18 of our Kansas sesquicentennial video series, we’re featuring “Crossroads”, a lithograph based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman.
Spiegelman took thirteen years to finish Maus I & II, the biography of his father, Vladek, which alternates back and forth between flashbacks to World War II and his experience in a concentration camp, and current life in Rego Park, a neighborhood in New York City where the family immigrated and settled. In Maus (German for mouse), the Jews are portrayed as mice and the Germans appear as cats. It is the only graphic novel to ever win a Pulitzer Prize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVQcFQjupXs
Every object has a story, and stories build history. To celebrate 150 years of Kansas statehood we’re featuring 52 objects (or collections of related objects)—something new each week throughout the year—from the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library’s 130-year-old special, and permanent collections, that represent our collective state history and cultural diversity.
Our collections are available for teachers, students, researchers and general interest, and we hope this online video program will provide insight into what’s so “special” about Special Collections. Your library’s commitment to collecting art and preserving local history makes it possible for users today and in the future to have immediate access to invaluable research material and cultural artifacts.
To make an appointment to see Spiegelman’s print, or get help finding copies of Maus I and Maus II and other books and videos related to this topic, call or stop by the Sabatini Gallery (785-580-4515). We’re located on your right just beyond the Library rotunda entrance.