Pop Quiz Trivia in the Courtyard: The Lost Generation, Wednesday, July 25
Travel back in time to the era of fast jazz, prohibition, and rich creative experimentation. The culture of the 1920s, both in America and Europe, was colored by the anguish of a generation who had witnessed the horrors of war during their most formative years. Artists such as Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and T.S. Eliot transformed their disillusionment into monumental works.
Come test your knowledge on Wednesday, July 25, at 6:30 p.m., when the National Portrait Gallery will be hosting our collections-inspired trivia game Pop Quiz in the Kogod Courtyard. This month’s theme, “The Lost Generation,” will feature members of the collection who came of age during World War I, including expatriate writers, artists, and other figures such as the Sultan of Swat himself, Babe Ruth.
/ Ink on paper, 1928 / National
Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution;
gift of Jonathan Peirce
Don’t miss the chance to learn more about this “hard-drinking, fast-living” cohort of cultural icons. For example, did you know that Ernest Hemingway (right) was an ambulance driver in Italy during the First World War? Or that he once asked his patron and mentor, Gertrude Stein, to be the godmother of his son?
Author, playwright, and NPG staffer (and our resident blogger) Warren Perry will act as quiz master for the events. The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for purchase. The top-scoring team receives a prize at the end of the evening.
Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz:
This National Portrait Gallery building has been occupied by many U.S. government agencies, but in the 1920s, its sole occupant was the agency for whom it was originally intended. What was that agency?
a) The Post Office
b) The Office of Economic Affairs
c) The Patent Office
d) The Office of Foreign Affairs
Pop Quiz trivia is played once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery. The next Pop Quiz, featuring Olympians, takes place on Wednesday, August 22, at 6:30 p.m.
—Alli Jessing, NPG Programs Coordinator
