K.C. Piccard invited to join expert panel on Louisa May Alcott and "Women and War" on Nov 16, 2011 at the Multnomah County Library

I have been invited to take part in the "Women and War" panel discussion taking place at the downtown branch of the Multnomah County Library on Tuesday, November 15, starting at 6:00pm in the U.S. Bank room. This is part of the excellent program the Multnomah County Library has presented on Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women..." a series of readings, viewings, discussions and events celebrating the life works and times of Louisa May Alcott" When I was President of the Friends of History at Portland State University I researched Louisa May Alcott's many contributions to the war effort, and the works of the unsung heroes (like Louisa) of the Civil War: the thousands of women nurses who tended to the Civil War wounded.

The panel members I will be joining includes Nancy Sloan, the Women Veterans Program Manager at the V.A. Hospital; who will talk about working with today's women veterans; and PSU Associate Professor Patricia Schechter, author of a biography on Ida B Wells-Barnett and American Reform, who is also involved with the Century of Action: Oregon Women Vote project, and other periods of Oregon women's history.

The moderator will be PSU English Professor Maude Hines, who received her Ph.D. in Literature from Duke University in 1998, along with graduate certification in African-American Studies and Women's Studies. Her published work includes articles on Philip Pullman, Alice Walker and Paule Marshall, Ecocriticism in Children's Literature, and Louisa May Alcott.

The panel is part of the Library's current program on "Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women" that is a series of readings, viewings of the documentary film Louisa May Alcott, The Woman Behind Little Women, , discussions and events that has celebrated the life, works and times of Louisa May Alcott throughout November 2011.

It is fitting that this panel takes place a fortnight from the 179th Anniversary of the birthday of writer, ardent abolitionist, womens suffrage and Civil War nurse Louisa May Alcott will take place on November 29. This program is part of Oregon's participation in the National Civil War Sesquicentennial observances.

Made possible with funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities Fund of the Library Foundation. Sponsors include American Library Association, Portland State University.