Join historian Kathy Wilson at the Decorah Public Library Tuesday September 18 at 6:30 p.m. for a lively presentation about “Good Women and Bad Girls.”  From corsets to cage crinolines, and proper etiquette to childbirth, Wilson will discuss the lives of Victorian women in fascinating detail.

Our Victorian ancestors had specific views on the “fairer sex.” They believed that women were mentally and physically inferior to men, and that the only appropriate role for them was as wives and mothers. These attitudes also affected what doctors and women believed about the female body. What effect did these views have on the personal lives of Victorian women? Explore the answer to this question- and more- and discover what made Scarlett O’Hara such a “bad girl” on Sept. 18.

Presenter Kathy Wilson has more than 20 years of experience as a professional historian, educator, archaeologist, and museum specialist in the Midwest and Southeastern United States. She has a BA in History from Bemidji State University, a Masters from the University of York (England), and is a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa. Wilson provides research services to individuals as well as helping small historical societies and communities tackle the challenges of preserving and promoting local history.

For more information, call Decorah Public Library at 382-3717.

The Friday Book Group will meet at 2:00 p.m. Fri. Sept. 21^st on the 2^nd floor of the library to discuss Dan Berry’s “The Boys in the Bunkhouse.” In the Iowa farm town of Atalissa, a group of intellectually disabled men were bussed every morning to a processing plant to eviscerate turkeys in return for food, lodging, and $65 a month. These men lived in near servitude from 1974 to 2009—until state social workers, local journalists, and one tenacious government lawyer helped them achieve their freedom. Dan Barry explores why this heartland town remained blind to their plight and chronicles the lasting impact of a court case that spurred advocates to push for just pay and improved working conditions for people with disabilities