n 1937, seven million Americans were still unemployed, but Social Security went into effect and Joe DiMaggio starred with the Yankees. Howard Hughes set a transcontinental speed record flying from Los Angeles to Newark, but Amelia Earhart went missing in the Pacific. Elsewhere, the Spanish Civil War introduced the horrors of Guernica and the Hindenburg burned. John D. Rockfeller and Jean Harlow died, Tom Stoppard and Jane Fonda were born, and Margaret Mitchell took home the Pulitzer for Gone with the Wind. The Marx Brothers and Shirley Temple were on the silver screen and Fred Allen and Father Coughlin were on the radio. George VI was crowned King of England, while Dale Carnegie taught readers How to Win Friends and Influence People. One coast opened the Golden Gate Bridge; the other opened the Lincoln Tunnel. And Spam was introduced to the public. As Depression struggles continued and the stage was set for world war, composers, performers, and listeners were enjoying a remarkable diversity of enduring songs. 1937 saw hits introduced through animation, the creation of the Gershwins' final immortal tunes, and groundbreaking recordings by now-classic artists in the folk, blues, and choral genres. Vocalists Sara Holliday and Gayden Wren and pianist Brenna Sage flash back to this watershed year with a lighthearted afternoon of songs and related anecdotes. Sara Holliday, Gayden Wren, and Brenna Sage last performed in the Members' Room in "Writing the Rainbow/Riding the Rainbow: The Songs of Yip Harburg" in March 2013. Ms. Holliday is the Library's Events Coordinator. She holds a degree in Vocal Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Mr. Wren is a New York-based author, playwright, director, and journalist, and the author of A Most Ingenious Paradox: The Art of Gilbert & Sullivan (Oxford University Press, 2001). Ms. Sage is a multi-instrumentalist, music director, composer, and performer. Recently she music-directed the acclaimed premiere of The Pirates of Finance at the New York Musical Theater Festival; past music direction credits include The Zegend of Lelda for the West Side Musical Theater Festival (Best Musical in its series) and the premiere production of Trouble: The Musical at the Midtown Theatre Festival. brenna.com

• published: 12 Nov 2013
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