Pequot Library kicks off Black History Month by honoring two notable female poets: Maya Angelou and Phillis Wheatley.

Index 

- Announcements
-  Exhibition Connection: Maya Angelou's role in [Her]story
- Featured Upcoming Programs: Sowing Bee with Fairfield Pollinator Pathway 
- Recommended Reading: A memoir from Tracy K. Smith 
- Recommended Reading: Two books for teens on finding your literary voice 
- Special Collections: Phillis Wheatley's revolutionary poetry
- Development Dispatch: Learn about our 1889 Society 
- Community Corner: Registration is open for Poetry by the Sea 
- Shop for Books Online

Just launched: two new passive programs!
A to Z Reading Challenge: Read a different book for every letter in the alphabet in 2023, using any of the first letters in the main word of the title. Open to all ages. Check out our display in the Children's Library for more details. 
AND
Pequot Library Stacks Scavenger Hunt: Successfully complete this entertaining hunt to be entered into a raffle for a $150 gift card to The Pantry. Runs through March 15. See the Front Desk for details and submission info. 

Welcome to our new Special Collections Assistant, Princess Zuri McCann! Princess hails from New Haven. She began working in her college library and has since worked at the New Haven Free Public Library, Southern Connecticut State University's Buley Library and recently the Woodbridge Town Library. At Buley, she pitched in with the Access Services department and the Special Collections and Archives department. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Southern Connecticut State University and is currently studying for a degree in library and information science. 

Exhibition Connection

Pequot Library's 2022 [Her]story: Women's Roles Through History exhibition featured a number of notable women including Maya Angelou. Born Marguerite Annie Johnson (1928-2014), she touched American and international culture as a poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist.

In her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), Angelou brought great detail to the narration of her coming of age experiences and garnered critical acclaim. During the Civil Rights Movement, she worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and she was later named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. At the first inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1993, she recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning." Her works have been widely used in schools, though in some parts of the country they've been scrutinized and banned.

In The Heart of a Woman (1981), a holding in our Special Collections, Angelou relates her experience as a Black single mother facing day-to-day struggles such as securing a rental, interwoven with vignettes about legendary figures like Billie Holiday. Along with providing background on apartheid in South Africa and race relations in the U.S., this memoir stands out for its focus on motherhood. This book came to Pequot Library thanks to an anonymous donor.

The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
New York: Random House, 1981
Pequot Library Special Collections

Upcoming Programs

Derby Day Celebration is coming on May 6, and tickets are now available! This fundraiser often sells out quickly. Click here to view ticket options.

PLUS, save the date for Southport Garden Stroll: Friday, June 2. 

We're looking for sponsors for both of these well-attended events. Email Development Manager Grace Calderon: [email protected].

Sowing Bee with Fairfield Pollinator Pathway
Feb. 11, 12 p.m.

Want to get a jump on spring – and attract pollinators to your garden this summer? Sign up for our Winter Sowing Demonstration and take home your own Milk Jug Greenhouse.* Leave it outside until spring, when you’ll reap a dozen or more native seedlings to start in your garden. You will get your hands dirty and support biodiversity in your yard at the same time. 

*Kindly bring your own milk jug if you have one on hand.

Click here to see our full calendar of events.

Click Here to view the Pequot Library Digital Digest E-Newsletter - February 4, 2023