Landmarks by Year

2007

2006

2005

2004

2005 Dedications

Boston Public Garden. Here is where Robert McCloskey set his 1942 Caldecott Medal book, Make Way for Ducklings. The classic children’s book characters Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their brood resided in the garden pond. While here they discovered the wonders of Boston and the kindness of the city’s residents. Boston, MA. Dedicated January 16, 2005. Plaque to be installed May 8, 2005. Partners: Citywide Friends of the Boston Public Library, Books for Kids Foundation, and Historic Neighborhoods Foundation.
The William Johnson House in Natchez, Mississippi. William Johnson (1809-1851) was a free African American Businessman and Diarist. His diary, covering the period from 1835-1851 and published in 1951, contains an extensive description of everyday pre-Civil War life; it is a valuable contribution to the literature of the antebellum South. Natchez, Mississippi. Dedicated February 26, 2005. Partners: United States Park Service, Friends of the Judge George W. Armstrong Library, and Friends of Mississippi Libraries.
891 Post Street in San Francisco. Home of Dashiell Hammett and Sam Spade. Dashiell Hammett (1896-1961) lived in this building from 1926 until 1929 when he wrote his first three novels: Red Harvest (1929), The Dain Curse (1929), and The Maltese Falcon (1930). Sam Spade’s apartment in The Maltese Falcon is modeled on Hammett’s, which was on the northwest corner of the fourth floor. San Francisco, California. Dedicated March 19, 2005. Partners: The San Francisco Chronicle. More information about the apartment and its restoration.
Evergreen Cemetery in St. Augustine. Burial site of Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886). The Caldecott Medal, commissioned in 1938, was named in honor of English illustrator, artist, and sculptor Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, American Library Association, to the artist of the “most distinguished” American picture book for children published during the preceding year. St. Augustine, Florida. Dedicated March 20, 2005. Partners: Friends of the Library of St. Johns County, Inc. and Randolph Caldecott Society of America.
Bland Cemetery, Jordan’s Point, Prince George County, Virginia. The burial site of revolutionary patriot and pamphleteer Richard Bland (1710-1776) who, as political pamphleteer, constitutional historian, scholar, attorney, and public servant championed public rights and represented Virginia in the First and Second Continental Congresses and in all five of Virginia’s Revolutionary Conventions. Prince George County, Virginia. Dedicated October 23, 2005. Partners: Friends of Richard Bland College Library at Richard Bland College of the College of William and Mary.
William Carlos Williams Home Lifelong home of William Carlos Williams, writer, physician, friend, and neighbor. Rutherford, New Jersey. Dedicated September 17, 2005. Partners: Rutherford Free Public Library.
Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) was the only American woman to win both the Pulitzer Prize (1932 for her book The Good Earth) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1938). This world-renowned author has written over 100 books and hundreds of short stories and magazine articles. Her books have been translated into 69 foreign languages. Hillsboro, West Virginia. Dedicated June 25, 2005.
McAlester, Oklahoma The birthplace on October 25, 1914 of John Berryman, poet and biographer, honored with the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and Bollingen Prize. McAlester, Oklahoma. Dedicated October 21, 2005. Partners: Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma, FOLIO.
Dorothy Parker Birthplace Site of the summer cottage of Dorothy Parker, short story writer, critic, and poet, member of the Algonquin Round Table, champion for social justice. Born in West End, New Jersey, August 22, 1893. West End, New Jersey. Dedicated August 22, 2005. Partners: The Dorothy Parker Society and Long Branch Historical Association.
Union Stockyard Gate This site commemorates the centennial of the novel, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. The book exposed the unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking industry and is said to have influenced President Theodore Roosevelt in passing the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. The novel chronicles Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant, in his quest for the American Dream in the filthy Chicago stockyards. Chicago, Illinois. Dedicated June 23, 2005. Partners: Illinois Center for the Book, the Lithuanian American Council, the Food and Drug Administration, Union Food and Commercial Workers, and the Weidman Family.
84 South Street, Medford, MA Family home of poet, author, editor, and translator John Ciardi (1916-1986). Dedicated October 29, 2995. Partners: The Friends of the Medford Public Library.