Sara Holliday, Gayden Wren and Brenna Sage Set for MEANWHILE, BACK IN 1937 at NY Society Library Today

Sara Holliday, Gayden Wren, and Brenna Sage are set for "Meanwhile, Back in 1937" today, November 10, 3:00 PM at The New York Society Library.

An afternoon of songs and history focusing on the popular music of 1937, a year that introduced everything from several of Gershwin's most immortal tunes to the premiere of the first Disney animated feature and groundbreaking titles in the folk, blues, and choral genres.

In 1937, seven million Americans were still unemployed, but Social Security went into effect and Joe DiMaggio starred with the Yankees. Howard Hughes set a transcontinental speed record flying from Los Angeles to Newark, but Amelia Earhart went missing in the Pacific. Elsewhere, the Spanish Civil War introduced the horrors of Guernica and the Hindenburg burned. John D. Rockefeller and Jean Harlow died, Tom Stoppard and Jane Fonda were born, and Margaret Mitchell took home the Pulitzer for Gone with the Wind. The Marx Brothers and Shirley Temple were on the silver screen and Fred Allen and Father Coughlin were on the radio. George VI was crowned King of England, while Dale Carnegie taught readers How to Win Friends and Influence People. One coast opened the Golden Gate Bridge; the other opened the Lincoln Tunnel. And Spam was introduced to the public.

As Depression struggles continued and the stage was set for world war, composers, performers, and listeners were enjoying a remarkable diversity of enduring songs. 1937 saw hits introduced through animation, the creation of the Gershwins' final immortal tunes, and groundbreaking recordings by now-classic artists in the folk, blues, and choral genres. Vocalists Sara Holliday and Gayden Wren and pianist Brenna Sage flash back to this watershed year with a lighthearted afternoon of songs and related anecdotes.

Open to the public. $20 per person. Space is limited. To register, see www.nysoclib.org/events/sara-holliday-gayden-wren-and-brenna-sage-meanwhile-back-1937 or call 212.288.6900 x230. It takes place on Sunday, November 10, 3:00 PM at The New York Society Library, 53 East 79th Street (just east of Madison Avenue; 6 train to 77th Street).