Attend

At a glance

Location

Stanley Mosk Library and Court Building, Fifth Floor
California State Library
914 CAPITOL MALL
(9th Street & Capitol Mall)
SACRAMENTO, CA 95814

Price

Free

Hours

2:00 - 4:00 PM

Contact info

aleta@lmi.net
coolpoetry.org

Category

Lecture

Options

  • Parking
  • Indoors

Share This Event

< Back To All Events

For California is a Poem: The 100th anniversary of Ina Coolbrith being named California’s first poet laureate

The Ina Coolbrith Circle
Apr 25, 02:00PM – 04:00PM

Ina Coolbrith was crowned California’s first poet laureate during the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition. This year marks the centennial of her becoming California’s first laureate and America’s first state laureate.

The Ina Coolbrith Circle, which formed during Coolbrith’s lifetime in 1919, will celebrate their founder’s centennial at the State Library in Sacramento with guest speaker Aleta George, the author of Ina Coolbrith: The Bittersweet Song of California’s First Poet Laureate. George will tell the story of how Coolbrith entered California on the horse of James Beckwourth at eleven years old, and with only two years of a public education became America’s first state laureate sixty years later. George will also read from her book about the crowning event at the Exposition Auditorium (now the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium), and the formation of the Ina Coolbrith Circle.

George will present a trophy commemorating Ina Coolbrith’s recent induction into the California Library Hall of Fame to the State Library for inclusion in the ICC archive, established in 2004 and which now includes over 300 books by members.

Attendees are welcome to read a poem ABOUT OR BY INA COOLBRITH following our guest speaker.

Similar Events

Building the Panama Pacific International Exposition

Apr 25, 10:30AM – 12:00PM
Treasure Island Museum
Join historian Laura Ackley for the dramatic story of how the gorgeous palaces of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition were designed and constructed in just a few short months between 1912 and 1915.
Learn More

African Americans in San Francisco: Before, During, and After the PPIE

Apr 30, 06:00PM – 08:00PM
California Historical Society and the Museum of the African Diaspora
The California Historical Society and the Museum of the African Diaspora present an evening panel discussion uncovering the experiences, successes, and struggles of African Americans before, during, and in the decades following the World’s Fair of 1915.
Learn More
Joseph Raphael, Spring Winds, ca. 1914. Oil on canvas. FAMSF, museum purchase, Skae Fund Legacy, 41765

Curator Lecture: Photography of the San Francisco Panama-Pacific International Exposition, by Jim Ganz

May 21, 10:00AM – 12:00PM
De Young Museum
Jim Ganz is curator of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Learn More

Pacific Peace, Pacific War: Treasure Island and the Golden Gate International Exposition

May 23, 10:30AM – 12:00PM
Treasure Island Museum
The Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939-1940 was San Francisco’s last great public celebration prior to America’s entry into World War II.
Learn More