Just in time to celebrate the Summer Olympics, the Free Library of Ocean City has a special program lined up as part of its 2016 OC Reads series of events.
“We have partnered with the Public Broadcasting System to present a special screening of the film, “American Experience: The Boys of ’36” said Julie Brown, Director of Adult Programming at the Library.
The film ties in with the book, “The Boys in the Boat” by Daniel James Brown, which community members are entitled to read this summer.
The film and the book examine the story of a great moment in Olympic history.
The Library will hold the special screening on Sunday, September 18, 2016 at 2 p.m. in the Library’s Chris Maloney Lecture Hall. The event will also include a discussion of the story.
The book and the film tell the story of nine working class young men from the University of Washington who took the rowing world and America by storm when they unexpectedly captured the Gold Medal at the 1936 Berlin, German Olympic Games.
The ’36 Games have also been referred to as “Hitler’s Olympics,” designed as a showcase for the Nazi dictator’s vision of Aryan supremacy. That myth was famously shattered by U.S. African-American sprinter and broad jumper Jesse Owens who captured four gold medals. But the not-so-well-known story of the United States rowers was a big part of the Americans’ success at the Berlin Games.
The Washington crew came out of nowhere to defeat the heavily-favored Ivy League teams of the East Coast, and also Hitler’s elite German rowers. Their victory energized a nation and gave Americans hope as the country struggled to emerge from the Great Depression.
The broadcast premier of “The Boys of ‘36” will take place Tuesday, August 2 at 9 p.m. and fans may follow and discus on social media at #Boysof36PBS.
OC Reads is a program designed to bring people together through literature by encouraging them to read the same book, participate in discussions and other events centered around that book and issues related to it, Brown said.
“OC Reads celebrates reading, literacy and al that public libraries do,” she said.
To view the theatrical trailer for the film, please visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/boys36/player/
To learn more about the Ocean City Free Public Library and its many programs, services and events, please contact Brown by calling 609-399-2434, ext. 5222 or contact her via e-mal at jbrown@oceancitylibrary.org.
