Just in time for Valentine's Day, join us at Upstate Films' Starr Cinema for a screening of Tobe Carey's 2012 documentary about this little-known slice of Rhinebeck history: the Violet Boom. From the Gilded Age through the Depression, the violet was the world's most popular flower, a symbol of the height of fashion--and Rhinebeck was the Violet Capital of the World. Sweet Violets includes vintage photographs and postcards, rare film footage, and 19th century music and literature. All these, plus interviews with historians and commercial growers, tell the neglected story of sweet violets and their effect on our small Hudson Valley town. Watch the trailer here.

This film screening is part of the current exhibition, presented in partnership with the Museum of Rhinebeck History and Upstate Films. Historic Rhinebeck in Winter is on view in Starr Library January 14th-March 9th.