Public Figures, Private Moments: Selected Readings form the James S. Copley Library Collection

KPBS (Television station : San Diego, Calif.) · August 30, 1987

"'PUBLIC FIGURES, PRIVATE MOMENTS' provides a fascinating opportunity to 'meet' many significant figures in the history of science, art, literature and government. "Actress Mercedes McCambridge reads excerpts from the letters of Samuel Clemens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Richard Wright and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, letters which reveal the artists' observations, emotions, doubts and deductions. In other letters, we share King George III's attempt to rein in his irresponsible son, the Prince of Wales. Humanitarian Dorothea Dix, who described herself as naturally timid and diffident, heroically pleads for compassion for the mentally ill. Helen Keller, Mary Todd Lincoln and Julia Ward Howe demonstrate courage and sensitivity in adversity. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Washington Carver and Richard Nixon reveal foresight, happiness, dignity, courage, compassion and sorrow. The nuclear threat is addressed by Willa Cather and Albert Einstein. Presidential candidate Belva Lockwood rails against intolerance and Ralph Waldo Emerson eloquently observes the components by which a man is identified and judged. This program was developed to increase the public's awareness of the James S. Copley Library's unique collections. Since its airing, the Library has been [privileged] to host increasing numbers of students, scholars and members of the general public."--1987 Peabody Awards entry form.