The fashion for wigs began with the Bourbon kings of France.  Louis XIII (1601-1643) went prematurely bald and took to wearing a wig.  By the middle of the century, and especially during the reign of Louis XIV, The Sun King, wigs were virtually obligatory for all European nobility and 'persons of quality'.  At that time they were known in England as periwigs, which was shortened to wig by 1675.  Wigs were expensive to purchase and to keep in condition and were the preserve of the powerful and wealthy.  Ostentation was the order of the day in Bourbon France and over time the wigs became bigger, often to the point of absurdity and requiring of scaffolding.  It isn't difficult to imagine how the term 'big-wig' emerged to refer to the rich and powerful.  https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/64775.html

The library might have been the first place I was every given autonomy.  Even when I was maybe four or five years old, I was allowed to head off on my own.  *  It was the kind of case lawyers call 'flam-bono'--do the case for no money but get lots of attention:  flamboyant and pro bono.  *  In Beijing, about a third of library books are borrowed out of vending machines.  *  In Bangkok, the Library Train for Young People serves homeless children.  -  Susan Orlean  * The library was my nesting place, my birthing place; it was my growing place. -  Ray Bradbury  The Library Book by Susan Orlean

In the library, we can live forever.  Susan Orlean

Big wig is an important person.  Now usually spelled as single word, bigwig.  The fashion for wigs began with the Bourbon kings of France. Louis XIII (1601-1643) went prematurely bald and took to wearing a wig.  By the middle of the century, and especially during the reign of Louis XIV, The Sun King, wigs were virtually obligatory for all European nobility and 'persons of quality'.  At that time they were known in England as periwigs, which was shortened to wig by 1675.  Wigs were expensive to purchase and to keep in condition and were the preserve of the powerful and wealthy.  Ostentation was the order of the day in Bourbon France and over time the wigs became bigger, often to the point of absurdity and requiring of scaffolding.  It isn't difficult to imagine how the term 'big-wig' emerged to refer to the rich and powerful.  See pictures at https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/64775.html

The Turtle signifies the ancient belief that the world was created on the back of a turtle, the “moss-back turtle,” also known as the snapping turtle.  Charles Edward “Ed” Faber, a white man and good friend of the Wyandotte Nation from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, designed our tribal turtle.  Ed spent most of his life researching and writing about our people and was very knowledgeable when it came to selecting elements that best represented the tribe throughout history.  He designed our turtle in the 1970s and it was first used in 1977.  The symbols used in his design perfectly represent the tribe.  Each has a purpose and meaning and can be verified through both traditional and historical accounts; however, the turtle was originally designed without the willow branches.  The branches were added later after an assumption was made regarding their traditional relevance.  At the request of Chief Leaford Bearskin Ed’s turtle was redesigned by Lloyd Divine in 1989 to establish a more modern presentation of the tribe.  This rendition of the turtle was initially to be used by economic development giving a common visual representation yet with a separation from the tribal division.  Chief Billy Friend has since adopted Lloyd’s design to represent the tribe in both branches.  https://www.wyandotte-nation.org/culture/about-our-turtle/

Winold Reiss (1886-1953) by Jeffrey C. Stewart   Winold Reiss was a uniquely gifted artist and designer of the twentieth century, a bold pioneer whose work included a rich variety of portraits, distinctive interiors, and a multitude of cutting-edge graphic designs that lifted the quality of color and black-and-white design in America.  Born in Karlsruhe, Germany, Winold was the son of Fritz Reiss, a painter trained at the Düsseldorf Academy, who made drawing and painting the German landscape and its peasants his life work.  Fritz Reiss was his son's first teacher, but after that tutelage, Winold went to Munich where he attended both the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Kunstakademie), studying with Franz von Stuck, and the School of Applied Arts (Kunstgewerbeschule), where he studied with Julius Diez.  He emigrated to America in 1913 and settled in New York City, where he quickly became well known for his strong, colorful graphic designs as well as for his modern commercial interiors.  Read more and see graphics at http://winoldreiss.org/life/index.htm

NEW MUSEUM to open in Washington, DC May 2020  Many surprises about words and language await at Planet Word.  Visitors will engage in activities that make words and language exciting with delightful programming and playful, interactive exhibits.  Opportunities for self-expression and intense listening ensure that no one will leave Planet Word without finding the fun in how we joke, sing, speak, read, and write every day.  Visitors to Planet Word will realize that words really do matter, and that they can be humankind’s most powerful tools.  Innovative, playful, and immersive exhibits and experiences will beckon visitors to explore the power of words.  https://www.planetwordmuseum.org/about-planet-word  See Planet World's blog at https://www.planetwordmuseum.org/blog

Mary Ann (Ball) Bickerdyke was a nurse and health care provider to the Union Army during the American Civil War.  Bickerdyke was born on July 19, 1817, near Mount Vernon, Ohio.  She enrolled at Oberlin College, one of the few institutions of higher education open to women at this time in the United States, but she did not graduate.  Upon leaving Oberlin, Bickerdyke became a nurse.  She assisted doctors in Cincinnati, Ohio, during the cholera epidemic of 1837.  Ten years later, she married Robert Bickerdyke.  The couple moved to Galesburg, Illinois in 1856.  Robert Bickerdyke died two years later.  Mary Bickerdyke continued to work as a nurse to support her two young sons.  At the outbreak of the American Civil War, residents of Galesburg purchased medical supplies worth five hundred dollars for soldiers serving at Cairo, Illinois.  The townspeople trusted Bickerdyke to deliver these supplies.  Upon arriving in Cairo, Bickerdyke used the supplies to establish a hospital for the Union soldiers.  Bickerdyke spent the remainder of the war traveling with various Union armies, establishing more than three hundred field hospitals to assist sick and wounded soldiers.  With the Civil War's conclusion, Bickerdyke continued to assist Union veterans.  She provided legal assistance to veterans seeking pensions from the federal government.  She also helped secure pensions for more than three hundred women nurses.  Bickerdyke herself did not receive a pension until the 1880s.  It was only twenty-five dollars per month.  Bickerdyke moved to Kansas following the war, where she helped veterans to settle and begin new lives.  She secured a ten thousand dollar donation from Jonathan Burr, a banker, to help the veterans obtain land, tools, and supplies.  She also convinced the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad to provide free transportation for veterans hoping to settle in Kansas.  Due to Bickerdyke's efforts, General Sherman authorized the settlers to use government wagons and teams to transport the belongings of the veterans to their new homes.  Bickerdyke remained in Kansas for most of the rest of her life.  She settled in Salina, Kansas, where she opened a hotel.  She continued to fight for the rights of veterans.  She moved briefly to New York, before returning to Kansas with her two sons.  Bickerdyke moved later to California, hoping that a change of climate would restore her declining health.  She settled in San Francisco, where she accepted a position at the United States Mint.  Bickerdyke eventually returned to Kansas, where she died on November 8, 1901.  See a picture of "Mother Bickerdyke" at https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Mary_Ann_Bickerdyke

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.  Issue 2189  November 27, 2019