Sept. 21, 2018
Kristina Smith
Marketing Committee chairman
American Presidents Film & Literary Festival
Fremont, OH 43420
800-998-7737, ext. 217
ksmith@rbhayes.org

Authors, historians offer variety of free events during American Presidents Film & Literary festival

FREMONT – From graphic novels to Abraham Lincoln and slavery to political cartoons, authors will give a variety of programs during the inaugural American Presidents Film & Literary Festival from Thursday, Sept. 27 – Sunday, Oct. 7.

Many of the literary events are free. They are:

  • Discussion by author and historian Eric Foner via Skype at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27 at Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan St., Fremont. Admission is free. This session kicks off the festival. Foner, professor of history at Columbia University in New York and one of the nation’s most prominent historians, will discuss his book “The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.”
  • Family night and dinner with children’s author Connie Trounstine from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, at Fremont Middle School, 1250 North St., Fremont.  Admission is free. Trounstine is the author of “Fingerprints on the Table,” a children’s book about the White House Treaty Table and the people who have used it. She will present the student film awards. There will be activities for families. This event is sponsored by First National Bank of Bellevue.
  • Ranking the Presidents with Dustin McLochlin, Hayes Presidential Library & Museums curator, from 9:15 to 10 a.m. at Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan St., Fremont. Admission is free. McLochlin will examine why there is a desire to rank the presidents, what biases are inherent in these rankings and what the rankings show the American public values.
  • Walking with Webb with author Meghan Wonderly, Hayes Presidential Library & Museums annual giving and membership coordinator, from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Spiegel Grove, Fremont. Admission is free. Wonderly, author of “A Son’s Dream: Colonel Webb C. Hayes and the Founding of the Nation’s First Presidential Library.” She will give a walking tour of the Hayes Museum and highlight areas that were important to Webb Hayes. The tour includes a look at the marble staircase that is no longer open to the public.
  • Presidential Humor with author Larry Michaels from 10:15 to 11 a.m. at Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan St., Fremont. Admission is free. Lincoln, Jefferson, Kennedy and Reagan were all known for their humor. But most presidents, even Calvin Coolidge and Millard Fillmore, surprisingly could show a lighter vein. The use of. Humor is revealing not only about the man, but also the way he dealt with the most difficult office in the country.
  • Local author fair and book signing from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan St., Fremont. Admission is free. Meet local authors, buy copies of their work and have the books signed.
  • Replay of Skype discussion with Eric Foner from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan St., Fremont. Admission is free.
  • Presidential Limericks and Poetry with author Larry Michaels from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Crop Circle Festival on Front Street in downtown Fremont.
  • Abe Lincoln Political Cartoons with author Tom Culbertson from 1 to 1:45 p.m. at Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan St., Fremont. Admission is free. Culbertson is a former director of the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. He will discuss political cartoons involving President Abraham Lincoln.
  • Discussion with graphic novelist Jonathan Hennessey via Skype from 2 to 3 p.m. at Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan St., Fremont. Admission is free. Hennessey is the author of “The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation.” This novel used the words of President Abraham Lincoln’s immortal speech to tell the whole story of the Civil War, from colonial times through the Civil Rights Era.
  • Red Carpet Event: Meet & greet with wine tasting, dinner and Lecture on the Presidency by keynote speaker Kirk Ellis from 5 to 7:15 p.m. at The Strand Concert Theater, 220 S. Front St., Fremont. Tickets are $32.04 ($30 plus a $2.04 processing fee) or are included with an all-access pass, which costs $68.27 ($65 plus a $3.27 processing fee). Ellis, screenwriter for the 2008 HBO miniseries “John Adams,” will discuss “Who Will Write Our History? – The Importance and Dangers of Memory, Legacy and Posterity in  John Adams’ World – and Ours.” Lecture on the Presidency is sponsored by National Machinery Foundation and ProMedica Memorial Hospital.
  • Red Carpet Event: Film & Literary Awards from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Live Edge Center, 115 S. Front St., Fremont. Admission is free. Enjoy chocolate and champagne as the winners of the film and literary contests are announced.

For a full schedule of film festival events and to purchase tickets, visit www.americanpresidentsfilmfestival.org. Ticket sales will be available online through 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4. Tickets will then be available at venues where ticketed events take place, subject to availability. Like the film festival on Facebook at @ampresfilmlit.

The American Presidents Film & Literary Festival is committed to providing a place for expanded national and international understanding of the history and current events that have and continue to shape and influence the President of the United States. Utilizing the site and community of America’s first presidential library and museum, filmmakers, film professionals and authors will inspire audiences to explore, understand, critique and analyze the people, places, politics and power surrounding the American Presidency.

It is organized by the Liberty and Learning Foundation, Fremont City Schools, Birchard Public Library, Hayes Presidential Library & Museums and Downtown Fremont.