Hemingway meets Sandburg

GALESBURG - Two of America's greatest literary figures will come together starting March 22 through the end of April as a photographic exhibit of Ernest Hemingway's life opens at the Carl Sandburg State Historic Site in Galesburg.

"Picturing Hemingway: A Writer in His Time" consists of sixteen large panels of photographs and text, chronologically arranged in seven chapters of Hemingway's life from his early years in Oak Park, Illinois to his final years in Ketchum, Idaho. The exhibit was created by Frederick C. Voss, Chief Historian of the National Portrait Gallery, for the centennial of Hemingway's birth in 1999. Photographs selected and interpreted by Voss depict a timeline of Hemingway's life in narrative format. The traveling exhibit has enjoyed a diversified venue, from educational institutions throughout the country to an exhibit in Japan.

This dynamic educational exhibit will provide visitors insights into Hemingway's life and what made him one of the great literary figures of the 20th Century. The Carl Sandburg State Historic Site is a fitting place for staging this exhibit, as both authors, world famous contemporaries of American literature, enjoyed mutual admiration and respect for each other in a warm bond of friendship.

"Picturing Hemingway" opens at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 22 and Redd Griffin, noted Hemingway scholar and founding member of The Ernest Hemingway Foundation, will be the keynote speaker. His address is entitled "Hemingway and Sandburg: A Comparative Profile of Two Literary Comrades." After his address a video interview of exhibit curator Frederick Voss will be shown in which he outlines his creative interpretation of the exhibit. Then, a ribbon-cutting will officially open the exhibit in the "Barn" at the Carl Sandburg Historic Site. Refreshments and a reception will follow.

"Picturing Hemingway" is being held in conjunction with "The Big Read," a national program designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The Galesburg Public Library selected Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms as this year's community-wide reading under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Arts.

"Picturing Hemingway" was made possible by a collaborative agreement between the National Portrait Gallery and The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, Illinois.

The event is cosponsored by the Carl Sandburg State Historic Site, through the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, and the Carl Sandburg Historic Site Association. For further information contact Steve Holden, Site Superintendent of the Carl Sandburg State Historic Site (309) 342-2361.