JHU Press events in September: Star-Spangled (and then some)

September is shaping up to be a banner month for JHU Press authors and staff—and decidedly star-spangled here in Baltimore. This month, the city hosts the Star-Spangled Spectacular to celebrate the bicentennial of the Battle of Baltimore and the moment when Francis Scott Key put pen to paper, and we’ll be waving the JHU Press flag at a book sale in the National Park Service tent at the Inner Harbor during these once-every-200-years festivities. The Press returns to the Inner Harbor at the end of September when the Baltimore Book Festival tries out a new waterfront location. Author talks and signings from New York to D.C. to South Carolina to Ohio round out the month. So spread the word, please, and wish us luck!


10 September 2014, 6:30 pm
Book Talk & Signing –
“The Battle of Baltimore: How Our Harbor Helped Define America”
With Marc Ferris (Star-Spangled Banner: The Unlikely Story of America’s National Anthem)
Burt Kummerow (In Full Glory Reflected: Discovering the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake)
and Ralph Eshelman (IFGR and Travel Guide to the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake: A Reference Guide to Historic Sites in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia)
National Aquarium
Baltimore, MD

Ferris_jacketThe Battle of Baltimore—which took place in September 1814, shortly after the British attack on Washington, D.C., and the torching of the Capitol and the White House—was an uplifting victory for beleaguered America. The success of Baltimore’s citizen soldiers hastened the war’s end and famously inspired Francis Scott Key’s “The Star-Spangled Banner.” As tall ships return to the Inner Harbor for Baltimore’s bicentennial celebrations, join us for a special program exploring the history and legacy of the Battle of Baltimore, featuring a panel of historians and authors whose recent work has focused on the War of Travel_Guide_cover1812 and its impact on American identity. A reception and book signing precedes the program. This event is hosted by Aquarium CEO John Racanelli and is co-sponsored by JHU’s Odyssey Program, the Maryland Historical Society, and the National Aquarium’s Marjorie Lynn Bank Lecture Series. Book-signing at 6:30 p.m.; program at 7:00 p.m.

Admission: $15.00; register online through JHU’s Odyssey Program (refer to session 918.088.91) or call 410-516-8516.


11 September 2014, 12:00 pm
Author Interview
  Marc Ferris
Star-Spangled Banner: The Unlikely Story of Americas National Anthem
Midday with Dan Rodricks
WYPR, 88.1 FM


eshelman201211 September 2014, 12:30 pm
Book Talk & Signing –
The Battle of Baltimore

Ralph Eshelman
In Full Glory Reflected and Travel Guide to the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake
Johns Hopkins Club
Baltimore, MD

Admission: $20. Club members should call the Hopkins Club for reservations; non-members may contact Jack Holmes for information at 410-516-6928.


SSS logo

1214 September 2014, 11:00 am to 8:00 pm
Book Sale at
Star-Spangled Banner Spectacular
National Park Service Tent
McKelden Square, Inner Harbor
Baltimore, MD

JHU Press will sell books related to the War of 1812 and host our authors for book signings in the National Park Service tent during the Star-Spangled Spectacular at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Join us at the NPS tent in McKelden Square (at Pratt and Light Streets) to celebrate the bicentennial of the Battle of Baltimore and the writing of “The Star-Spangled Banner”!

Admission: Free. Visit Star-Spangled Spectacular for information.


13 September 2014, 9:15 am
Author Interview
  Marc Ferris
Star-Spangled Banner
Weekend News
WBAL TV, Channel 11

Ferris_jacket13 September 2014, 6:00 pm
Book Talk & Signing –
Marc Ferris
Star-Spangled Banner
The Ivy Bookshop
6080 Falls Rd
Baltimore, MD 21209

Book talk, performance, and signing by Marc Ferris at the Ivy during Baltimore’s Star-Spangled weekend!

Admission: Free; call the Ivy at 410-377-2966 for information.


Amish_QuiltsAmish Quilts Events in September – Janneken Smucker
Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon

12 September 2014
Study Session
American Quilt Study Group Annual Seminar
Milwaukee, WI

15 September 2014, 1:00 pm
“Abstract Art or Country Craft: The Quilts of the Amish”
Friends of the Bucks County Historical Society
Mercer Museum
Doylestown, PA

18 September 2014, 7:00 pm
“The Amish Quilt Craze: Art, Business, and Authenticity”
Hagley Museum and Library, Soda House Auditorium
Wilmington, DE


Generic18 September 2014, 6:00 pm
Book Talk & Signing – Jeremy A. Greene
Generic: The Unbranding of Modern Medicine
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street
New York, NY 10029

Sponsored by The Center for the History of Medicine and Public Health and the Fellows Office.


Renegade_AmishRenegade Amish Events in Berlin, Ohio – Don Kraybill
Renegade Amish: Beard Cutting, Hate Crimes, and the Trial of the Bergholz Barbers

19 September 2014, 7:00 pm
Book Talk & Signing

Perry Reese Community Center
Hiland High School

20 September 2014, 9:00 am to Noon
Book Signing

Gospel Book Store

Admission: Free, call 330-893-2523 for more information.


Coastal_Fishes24 September 2014, 6:30 pm
Book Talk & Signing – Val Kells
“Art of the Sea: Illustrious Fishes”
Hosted by the Gibbes Museum of Art
The South Carolina Aquarium
100 Aquarium Wharf
Charleston, SC

The Gibbes Museum of Art hosts this cocktail lecture with marine science illustrator Val Kells, whose work appears in A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes and other JHUP books. A longtime contributor to exhibit art at the South Carolina Aquarium, Kells leads guests on a behind-the-scenes tour focusing on the value of hand drawings in today’s digital world, and gives a presentation on her illustration process from research to final painting.

Admission: $30; $20 Gibbes Museum members; call 843-722-706.


20–27 September, 2014
JHUP Exhibit  American Ornithologists’ Union
Annual Meeting
Estes Park, CO

Information: AOU Annual Meeting


LOC Folklife logo

The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress

25 September 2014, 12:30 pm
Book Talk & Signing  Felipe Hinojosa
Latino Mennonites: Civil Rights, Faith, and Evangelical Culture
Many Paths to Freedom Symposium
Sponsored by the American Folklife Center
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.

Admission: See the program schedule for more information.


BBF_logo26–28 September, 2014
Baltimore Book Festival

The Inner Harbor
Baltimore, MD

Johns Hopkins University Press and the George Peabody Library jointly host the JHU Press Book Sale along with talks, book signings, and special exhibits. Visit us at the 2014 Baltimore Book Festival in the beautiful Baltimore Visitor Center overlooking the Inner Harbor.

The JHU Press Book Sale takes place inside the Visitor Center throughout the Festival, with Press authors scheduled to meet the public and sign books throughout the weekend. The George Peabody Library will offer a special exhibit of archival books and materials related to Baltimore history, and members of the Special Collections staff will offer a Peabody Collections Spotlight each day.

Visitors Center

The JHU Press Book Sale will be held in the beautiful Baltimore Visitor Center when the Baltimore Book Festival moves to the Inner Harbor this year.

Presentations in the Visitors Center include book talks by JHU Press authors Gil Sandler, Fraser Smith, Mike Olesker, Rick Striner, Melissa Blair, Michael Wolfe, Charley Mitchell, and others. Each day will end with with performances by students from JHU’s Peabody Conservatory. The Visitor Center will remain open for business as usual during the Festival, welcoming visitors and showing a short film about Charm City every 20 minutes.

See the entire JHU Press/Peabody Library BBF schedule here.

The Ivy Bookshop will host two JHUP authors for talks in the Ivy tent on Rash Field at the Book Festival: Jeremy Greene discusses Generic on Saturday, September 27, at 1:00 pm; Charley Mitchell discusses Travels through American History in the Mid Atlantic: A Guide for All Ages on Saturday at 3:00 pm. See the Ivy’s BBF schedule here.

The Ivy Bookshop and JHU’s Sheridan Libraries co-host a talk by JHU’s Alice McDermott in the BBF Literary Salon on Saturday at 1:00 pm.

Admission: Free; visit the Baltimore Book Festival for more information.