Glad You Asked
March 13, 2010
The Delaware County District Library is proud to present “Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Time, A Man for All Times,” a national traveling exhibit that examines Abraham Lincoln’s life, accomplishment and legacy. The exhibit will be at the Delaware Branch from Wednesday, March 17 through Monday, April 12, 2010, and the Library staff has put together an entire month of Lincoln mini-exhibits, programs, and story times to celebrate our 16th President.
The exhibit will officially open on Wednesday, March 17th at 9:00 a.m., followed by an Open House on Sunday, March 21 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. The Open House will feature reenactors from Lincoln’s era, period music including “Lincoln’s IPod,” a presentation by “Abraham Lincoln,” giveaways, children’s activities, refreshments and more. We will also be giving away a miniature American Girl Addy Walker doll and book to one lucky girl, and for one lucky boy, a commemorative Lincoln Log set and book. These two drawings are for children 12 and younger only.
The “Pop Goes Lincoln” display that is part of the larger exhibit showcases unusual portraits of Lincoln using vintage toys, such as Legos, LiteBrite, and Etch-A-Sketch. Interactive parts of the exhibit include “How Do You Measure Up to Lincoln?,” a life-size cutout of the President perfect for photo ops and to see how tall he really was. There will also be giant pennies ideal to examine the detail of the coin and to replicate with penny rubbing.
Two local features of the exhibit are on loan from the Delaware County Historical Society: a piece of cloth with Lincoln’s blood and Frederick Douglass’ autograph. Both priceless pieces of American history will be available for viewing throughout the exhibition.
Many more programs for children, teens and adults are scheduled in the next month to honor Mr. Lincoln. Please check the Library’s web site at www.delawarelibrary.org for the complete schedule or pick one up at any Library location.
What is the Children’s Blizzard?
As noted in The Change in Weather: People, Weather and the Science of Climate, the Children’s Blizzard occurred in1888 and pummeled Nebraska and the Midwest. It was a relatively nice day out for January in Nebraska and people were at work, at school, or doing chores outside. The blizzard hit quickly, dropping temps to -40 in some places in a matter of hours. The snow was of a powdery nature and the wind easily blew it around and made visibility impossible. It’s called the Children’s Blizzard because so many schoolchildren were victims of the storm as they headed home from school. In one case, a schoolteacher tried to lead her charges to her boarding house just 82 yards from the schoolhouse, but visibility was so bad that they got lost on the way. All of the children died; the teacher survived but had to have both feet amputated because of the severe frostbite she had suffered.
Aren’t Lincoln Logs named for Abraham Lincoln?
Lincoln Logs were invented in 1916 by John L. Wright, a son of the notable architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Standing beside his father and watching the construction of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, John Lloyd Wright was inspired by the interlocking beams in the hotel’s basement that were designed to handle the earthquake problem that the hotel could encounter. In 1918, Wright’s Lincoln Logs were marketed by the Red Square Toy Company in Chicago. While it is often assumed that the name of the toy relates to President Lincoln, it is actually a reference to the inventor's father. Frank Lloyd Wright was born Frank Lincoln Wright, but he legally changed his name when his parents divorced. Lloyd Jones was his mother’s maiden name and Frank’s name change was to honor her. The Story of American Toys provided this information.
What is “Hero’s Engine?”
Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria) (c. 10–70 AD) was an ancient Greek mathematician and an engineer who was active in his native city of Alexandria. He is considered the greatest experimenter of antiquity and his work is representative of the Hellenistic scientific tradition. Hero published a well recognized description of a steam-powered device called an aeolipile, also called a "Hero engine,” which was a rocket-like reaction engine and the first-recorded steam engine. It was created almost two millennia before the industrial revolution. The first vending machine was also one of his constructions. When a coin was introduced via a slot on the top of the machine, a set amount of Holy Water was dispensed. Check in Inventions and Inventors for more information.
If you have a question that you would like to see answered in this column, mail it to Mary Jane Santos, Delaware County District Library, 84 E. Winter St., Delaware, OH 43015 or call us at 740-362-3861. You can also email your questions by visiting the library?s web site at www.delawarelibrary.org or directly to mjsantos@delawarelibrary.org. No matter how you contact us, we?re always glad you asked!
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