Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Good afternoon. I鈥檓 David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and I鈥檓 pleased to welcome you to the William G. McGowan Theater at the 威尼斯人娱乐场. Whether you are here in the theater or watching on YouTube, we鈥檙e glad you could join us for today鈥檚 discussion of David Grann鈥檚 new book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.
Before we get started, I want to tell you about two other programs coming up here in the McGowan Theater.
Tomorrow at 7 p.m., we continue our celebration of President John F. Kennedy鈥檚 100th birthday with a concert by the Air Force Strings. This acclaimed ensemble will play musical selections that were performed in the Kennedy White House.
On Tuesday, June 20, at noon, Douglas Egerton will be here to talk about his newest book, Thunder at the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments that Redeemed America, which chronicles the formation and battlefield triumphs of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry and the 5th Cavalry.
To learn more about these and all of our public programs and exhibits, consult our monthly Calendar of Events in print or online at Archives.gov. There are copies in the lobby鈥攁long with a sign-up sheet so you can receive it by regular mail or email. You鈥檒l also find brochures about other 威尼斯人娱乐场 programs and activities.
Another way to get more involved with the 威尼斯人娱乐场 is to become a member of the 威尼斯人娱乐场 Foundation. The Foundation supports the work of the agency, especially its education and outreach programs. Pick up your application for membership in the lobby or become a member online at archivesfoundation.org.
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In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann has unearthed a story of murder, corruption, and injustice. It鈥檚 probably safe to say that most of us had not heard of the mysterious deaths of Osage men and women in the 1920s.
But stories once forgotten can gain new life when someone seeks out the historical record and put the pieces together.
In reviewing Killers of the Flower Moon in the Washington Post, Scott Berg wrote, 鈥淗e鈥檚 canny about the stories he chases, he鈥檚 willing to go anywhere to chase them, and he鈥檚 a maestro in his ability to parcel out information at just the right clip.鈥�
Tom Drury, writing for Slate, remarked that 鈥淕rann鈥檚 singular skill is to find a story that, while not unknown, is not known enough, and to dig so deeply and precisely into the historical record that what he finds not only amplifies and builds upon that record but arrives with the force of revelation. . . . What makes Killers of the Flower Moon so compulsively readable is Grann鈥檚 ability to draw characters from the pages of history and give them the aura of living, breathing humans.鈥�
And Dave Eggers says in the New York Times, 鈥淕rann has proved himself a master of spinning delicious, many-layered mysteries that also happen to be true.鈥�
Every day, people make discoveries in the 威尼斯人娱乐场 and in archives and collections around the globe, and we who work in this world of records encourage the curious to seek out the stories behind the stories.聽 And I am so proud that this story was made possible by access to records here at the 威尼斯人娱乐场.
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David Grann is a New York Times聽bestselling author and an award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker聽magazine. His first book, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, became a #1 New York Times聽bestseller, was chosen as one of the best books of 2009 by multiple news outlets, and has also been adapted into a major motion picture.
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, Grann鈥檚 collection of stories, and was named by Men鈥檚 Journal one of the best true crime books ever written. His stories have also appeared in The Best American Crime Writing; The Best American Sports Writing; and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He has previously written for the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, the聽Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic.
Introducing David today is a special pleasure.聽 David was the 2013-2014 David Ferriero Fellow at the Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars at the New York Public Library.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome David Grann.