While walking the hallowed halls on the first floor of the Library of Congress Jefferson Building, I did not expect my worlds to collide! But as I stared at the stunningly beautiful granite walls, I fell back into my first book Hidden History of New Hampshire–and the story of the building of the Library of Congress, constructed with granite mined from seven quarries in New Hampshire–the Granite State!
Theses halls also lead me to my current world and my new book American Luthier, ForeEdge, 2016. In walking these halls last thursday June 2, I found the conference room and meeting place for the Women’s History Discussion Group of the Library of Congress. They had graciously invited me to present American Luthier, my groundbreaking biography of the 20th century American who contributed more to the field of violinmaking than anyone since Stradivari despite being a lone female in three male-dominated fields of lutherie, acoustical physics and classical music.
Hutchins created a louder, more dynamic violin; carved nearly 500 stringed instruments; performed hundreds of acoustical experiments on violins, violas, and cellos; wrote and published a hundred techical papers on violin acoustics; created an international community devoted to violin acoustics; published an international journal; invented a new violin family; and was the first and only woman to be awarded the highest honor of the Acoustical Society of America, first given to Thomas Edison in 1929.
Thank you, Janice Ruth, for the kind and enthusiastic welcome I received from the Library of CongressWomen’s History Discussion Group!!!