Brian  Attebery, Professor Emeritus of English at Idaho State University will speak on the 1939 L. Frank Baum’s movie The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland. The story of Oz began in 1900, with L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

In that book and 13 sequels, Baum developed the idea of Oz not only as a place of magic but also as a utopian space of freedom, equality, and justice. He included powerful female figures, reflecting the influence of his wife’s mother, suffrage leader Matilda Joslyn Gage. Oz offered a refuge for everyone, no matter how eccentric or unusual, and, in the second volume, The Marvelous Land of Oz, he created one of the first transgender characters in children’s literature. Recent tributes to Baum’s vision include the book, stage, and movie versions of Wicked.