Join us at the Gunter Library and Museum on Tuesday, February 21 from 7-8 pm and Saturday, February 25 from 2-3 pm for a special showing of For the Love of Liberty, the Story of America’s Black Patriots. The Library will show the abridged version of the film, which lasts for 45 minutes. The DVD which contains the entire four hour, two-part film will be available for check out after February 25.

Over 5,000 black soldiers fought in the American Revolution and though most were not recognized as citizens or even free men, more than 200,000 took up arms in the Civil War. Over 380,000 African-Americans served in World War I and more than 2,000,000 defended this country in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Yet most accounts of their valiant actions are absent from history books and contemporary film.

For Love of Liberty: the Story of America’s Black Patriots has finally, and for all time, set the record straight. It is an unprecedented documentation of the African-American experience in the U.S. military. At the center of this multi-faceted initiative is a four-hour high definition, two-part documentary introduced by Colin Powell and hosted on-camera by Halle Berry. The film uses letters, diaries, speeches, journalistic accounts, historical text and military records to acknowledge the tremendous, unheralded accomplishments of African-American servicemen and women – from the earliest days of the Republic through our present conflict in Afghanistan. The documentary asks the question why these heroic men and women fought so valiantly for freedoms they themselves did not enjoy.

Join us on February 18, February 25, and March 3 for a three part session on Family
Research and Genealogy taught by Dale Rideout. This seminar will help you get started on family research if you are a beginner, and help you find useful sources if you already have completed part of your search. There will be a $10 charge for materials for participants. Class will meet from 10:30-12:30. Please register ahead of time so we can provide enough materials. To register, call 903-207-4527 or 903-271-5190.

New books added to the collection this week include John Grisham’s The Litigators; J.A. Jance,
Left for Dead; Your Scottish Ancestry: a Guide for North Americans, by Sherry
Irvine; and The Complete idiot’s Guide to Genealogy by Christine Rose.