News Release

Confederate spy diary, sour stomachs
scheduled for fall events at Wilson Library

By KELLY OCHS
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- A diary written in code and an herbal remedy for the "speckled monster" are just two of the topics to be discussed as a part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Friends of the Library programming this fall.

The events are free to the public. Unless otherwise specified, the location is the Pleasants Family Assembly Room of Wilson Library. The events include:

Sept. 1, 5:30 p.m.: Dr. Elizabeth Fenn, an assistant professor of history at Duke University and author of "Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-1782," will discuss the disease’s history and its influence on the American Revolution. The lecture coincides with the exhibit "Sour Stomachs and Galloping Headaches: Treating the Sick in North Carolina, 1500s-1900s."

The exhibit, displayed through Sept. 30, explores early herbal remedies used to treat smallpox, once known as the "speckled monster," and yellow fever, once known as "Bronze John," among other medical conditions. A 5 p.m. reception in the library’s North Carolina Collection Gallery will precede the lecture.

Sept. 7, 5:30 p.m.: Ann Blackman, author of the book "Wild Rose," will speak about the female Confederate spy Rose O’Neale Greenhow. Her diary was written in code, and what it contained was not known until H.G. Jones, a retired curator of UNC’s North Carolina Collection, deciphered it. His work was instrumental in Blackman’s research for her book about Greenhow. A 5 p.m. reception will precede the talk.

Sept. 8, 5:30 p.m.: "Back to the Source: the Research Behind ‘Blood Done Sign My Name,’" a panel discussion, will focus on the research that author Dr. Tim Tyson did for his book, which is UNC’s 2005 Summer Reading Program selection.

Tyson will lead the discussion. Other panel members will be: the Rev. Vernon Tyson, the author’s father, who is featured in the book; Eddie McCoy, an oral historian from Oxford who also is in the book; and Dr. Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, director of UNC’s Southern Oral History Program. A 5 p.m. reception will precede the discussion.

Much of Tyson’s research relied on materials in UNC’s Southern Historical Collection, which contains more than 15 million items.

Oct. 12, 5 p.m.: The exhibit "Slavery and the Making of the University: Celebrating Our Unsung Heroes, Bond and Free" will open with a reception in the Manuscripts Department. A collection of manuscripts, publications and photographs will illustrate contributions of servants and slaves in building and maintaining UNC in its early stages.

A 6 p.m. panel discussion will explore the topic of slavery. Panelists will be: Dr. Joseph Jordan, director of UNC’s Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History; Dr. Heather Williams, UNC history professor; Dr. Tim McMillan, adjunct professor in the department of African and Afro-American Studies; and Sandy Darity, director of UNC’s Institute of African American Research.

Nov. 1, 5:30 p.m.: Mildred Council, owner of Mama Dip’s restaurant in Chapel Hill, will talk about her latest cookbook, "Mama Dip’s Family Cookbook," which will be in stores in October and is published by UNC Press. Council was born in 1938 in Chatham County and worked at the Carolina Coffee Shop and a UNC dining hall, among other places, before opening her own restaurant in 1976.

A 5 p.m. reception will precede the talk. Copies of Council’s book may be purchased at the event, which is sponsored by Friends of the Library and the Bull’s Head Bookshop.

Nov. 14, 5:30 p.m.: Bill Smith, who has been the main chef at Crook’s Corner for more than a decade, will speak about his new cookbook "Seasoned in the South: Recipes from Crook’s Corner and from Home," published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

A 5 p.m. reception will precede the talk. Copies of Smith’s book may be purchased at the event, which is sponsored by Friends of the Library and the Bull’s Head Bookshop.

Dec. 8, 5:30 p.m.: For the 13th year, the library will host "Winter Stories," an evening of music and storytelling for an audience of all ages. Presenters will be: Elizabeth Matson, library technical assistant at UNC’s Davis Library; Dr. Brian Sturm, an associate professor at UNC’s School of Information and Library Science; and musicians Jill Shires, Kate Barnhart and Kris Walz, who work at Davis Library. A 5 p.m. reception will precede the storytelling.

For more information, contact Liza Terll at (919) 962-4207 or liza_terll@unc.edu.

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(Ochs is a senior journalism and mass communication major from Winston-Salem.)

News Services contacts: Print, L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589; broadcast, Karen Moon, (919) 962-8595