Princeton Public Library Vietnam War Series

SCREENINGSLECTURESDISCUSSIONSPERFORMANCESART AT PRINCETON PUBLIC LIBRARY

Dec. 3, 2017– Feb. 28, 2018

SCREENINGS

Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m., Dec. 6–20; Jan. 10–24; Feb. 7–28

Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, and written entirely by Geoffrey C. Ward, the 10-part series tells the epic story of one of the most consequential, divisive and controversial events in American history and features observations by witnesses on all sides.

All screenings in the Newsroom.

Dec. 6, Episode One: “Déjà Vu” (1858-1961) After a century of French occupation, Vietnam emerges independent but divided.

Dec. 13, Episode Two: “Riding the Tiger” (1961-1963) As a communist insurgency gains strength, President Kennedy wrestles with U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Dec. 20, Episode Three: “The River Styx” (January 1964-December 1965) With South Vietnam near collapse, President Johnson bombs the North and sends U.S. troops to the South.

Jan. 10, Episode Four: “Resolve” (January 1966-June 1967) U.S. soldiers discover Vietnam is unlike their fathers’ war, as the antiwar movement grows.

Jan. 17, Episode Five: “This Is What We Do” (July 1967–December 1967) President Johnson escalates the war while promising the public that victory is in sight.

Jan. 24, Episode Six: “Things Fall Apart” (January 1968–July 1968) Shaken by the Tet Offensive, assassinations and unrest, America seems to be coming apart.

Feb. 7, Episode Seven: “The Veneer of Civilization” (June 1968–May 1969) After chaos roils the Democratic Convention, Richard Nixon, promising peace, wins the presidency.

Feb. 14, Episode Eight: “The History of the World” (April 1969–May 1970) President Nixon withdraws troops but upon sending forces to Cambodia the antiwar movement reignites.

Feb. 21, Episode Nine: “A Disrespectful Loyalty” (May 1970–March 1973) South Vietnam fights alone as Nixon and Henry Kissinger find a way out for America. POWs return.

Feb. 28, Episode 10: “The Weight of Memory” (March 1973–Onward) Saigon falls and the war ends. Americans and Vietnamese from all sides seek reconciliation.

Programming for The Vietnam War, a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, is offered as part of a grant from the American Library Association, PBS and WETA Washington, DC. “The Vietnam War” is a production of Florentine Films and WETA, Washington D.C. Funding for “The Vietnam War” was provided

by Bank of America; Corporation for Public Broadcasting; PBS; David H. Koch; Blavatnik Family Foundation; Park Foundation; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the National Endowment for the Humanities; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Ford Foundation Just Films; Rockefeller Brothers Fund; and Members of The Better Angels Society: Jonathan & Jeannie Lavine, Diane & Hal Brierley, Amy & David Abrams, John & Catherine Debs, Fullerton Family Charitable Fund, The Montrone Family, Lynda & Stewart Resnick, The Golkin Family Foundation, The Lynch Foundation, The Roger & Rosemary Enrico Foundation, Richard S. & Donna L. Strong Foundation, Bonnie & Tom McCloskey, Barbara K. & Cyrus B. Sweet III, The Lavender Butterfly Fund.

LECTURES

Lloyd Gardner

Christopher Fisher

Vietnam Redux: Ken Burns Takes on His Biggest Challenge Sunday, Dec. 3, 2 p.m.

The author and retired Rutgers University professor of history launches the library’s series of Vietnam Warrelated programs with a lecture about the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary “The Vietnam War.” Gardner is past president of the Society of American Foreign Relations, a fellow of the Society of American Historians and recipient of an award for lifetime achievement from the American Historical Association. He is the author of more than 20 books on American foreign policy including “Approaching Vietnam: From World War II Through Dienbienphu, 1941-1954” and “Pay Any Price: Lyndon Johnson and the Wars for Vietnam.”

Community Room

American Power and Human Rights in the Post-My Lai Era Wednesday, Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m.

The College of New Jersey associate professor of history examines the My Lai massacre and the anti-war movement, and discusses human rights and global American power in the Vietnam War era. Fisher will address the themes raised in Episode 8 of “The Vietnam War,” (screening Feb. 14 in the Newsroom) and examine the era from a human rights point of view.

Fisher specializes in 20th-Century American diplomacy, the Cold War and race politics in the United States.

Newsroom

Dan Linke Suits, Soldiers, and Hippies: The Vietnam War in Princeton Thursday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m.

The Princeton University archivist gives an illustrated talk describing the reactions of the Princeton University community to the war, including campus protests, the SDS occupation of a defense contractor’s building, the Princeton Strike of 1970, and how the war protests ultimately brought structural changes to the University still in place today. Newsroom

Vietnam War programming at Princeton Public Library is presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

RELATED EVENTS AUTHOR TALK

PERFORMANCE AND ART TALK Songs of Protest, Songs of Peace Saturday, Jan. 20, 7 p.m.

Return to the era of the Vietnam War in this special show presented by Helen O’Shea (White Butterfly Music) and Richard Bozic (Bozic Voice Studio), featuring a selection of local vocalists and instrumentalists. The stories of the war will be brought to life through the duality of the songs from that time, those of anger and those of peace.

Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon St. Co-sponsored by the library and the Arts Council of Princeton.

Mark Ludak and Andrew Cohen

Max Boot The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam Monday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m.

The best-selling historian discusses his biography of Edward Lansdale (1908-1987), the man said to be the fictional model for Graham Greene’s “The Quiet American.” The book demonstrates how Lansdale pioneered a “hearts and mind” diplomacy, first in the Philippines, then in Vietnam. It was a visionary policy that, as Boot reveals, was ultimately crushed by America’s giant military bureaucracy, steered by elitist generals and blue-blood diplomats who favored troop build-ups and napalm bombs over winning the trust of the people. Boot rescues Lansdale from historical ignominy and suggests that Vietnam could have been different had we only listened. Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau St. Part of the Library Live at Labyrinth series, co-sponsored by the library and Labyrinth Books.

Vietnam War programming at Princeton Public Library is presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Transition: Vietnam Thursday, Feb. 15, 7 p.m.

The photographers, who are Monmouth University professors, speak about their photographs of Vietnam on display in the Reading Room. The photographs were chosen to give those viewing the Vietnam War series a chance to see how Vietnam has changed in the years since the war.

Newsroom

BOOK DISCUSSIONS “Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam”

by Bernard Edelman Monday, Jan. 22, 10:30 a.m.

Librarian Janie Hermann and Humanities Fellow Hannah Schmidl lead a discussion of this collection of more than 200 letters from men and women who served in Vietnam.

Conference Room

“The Best We Could Do” by Thi Bui Wednesday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m.

Librarians Janie Hermann and Kelsey Ockert lead a discussion of this illustrated memoir.

Conference Room

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