This month we will talk about \;The Address Book by D eirdre Mask.
\n"An exuberant work of popular history: the story of h ow streets got their names and houses their numbers\, and why something as seemingly mundane as an address can save lives or enforce power. When mos t people think about street addresses\, if they think of them at all\, it is in their capacity to ensure that the postman can deliver mail or a \;traveler won't get lost. But street addresses were not invented to help you find your way\; they were created to find you. Addresses arose out of a grand Enlightenment project to name and number the streets\, but they ar e also a way for people to be identified and tracked by those in power. As Deirdre Mask explains\, the practice of numbering houses was popularized in eighteenth-century Vienna by Maria Theresa\, leader of the Hapsburg Emp ire\, to tax her subjects and draft them into her military. In many parts of the world\, your address can reveal your race and class\, causing them to be a shorthand for snobbery or discrimination. In this wide-ranging and remarkable book\, Mask looks at the fate of streets named after Martin Lu ther King\, Jr.\, the wayfinding means of ancient Romans\, how Nazis haunt the streets of modern Germany\, and why numbered streets dominate in Amer ica but not in Europe. The flipside of having an address is not having one \, and we see what that means for millions of people today\, including tho se who live in the slums of Kolkata\, on the streets of London\, or in pos t-earthquake Haiti. Filled with fascinating people and histories\, The Add ress Book illuminates the complex and sometimes hidden stories behind stre et names and their power to name\, to hide\, to decide who counts\, who do esn't-and why."
\nRegistration is encouraged but walk-ins are welcom e!
\nHave questions? Email adultservices.dcpl@dc.gov for additional information and we hope to see you there!
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