Past Activities — 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
2010
February 20	Winter Meeting Panel presentation and group discussion of Northanger Abbey. William Phillips on Gothic inspirations, Ronnie Jo Sokol on plot development,  Natalie Goldberg on friendship, Jeff Nigro on the role of Bath.  Lunch at Parthenon Restaurant, 314 S. Halsted St., Chicago.  Free valet parking. Noon to 3 p.m.
April 24	Spring Gala "Horrors, Hats, and Hapless Young Heroines: Aspects of Northanger." Annual celebration with talks by Professor Elaine Bander of Dawson College, Montreal Canada, Hat Designer Laura Whitlock of De Paul University and Chicago Millinery Association, and Greg Nosan of the Art Institute of Chicago. Book exchange. Quiz on Northanger Abbey.  Prize is a gift basket donated by Jeanne Steen and her store Figaro.  Continental breakfast, lunch and toast to Jane Austen at Maggiano's Banquet Rooms, 111 W. Grand Ave., Chicago. Open to the public.  9 am to 3 pm.
June 19, 2010	Summer Workshop Turban Draping Workshop hosted by Laura Whitlock, President of the Chicago Millinery Association. No advanced sewing skills required. Supplies and refreshments are included.  Located at Jeanne Steen's Figaro Parisian Interiors in Vintage Pine, Antiques and Interiors, 904 W. Blackhawk Street, Chicago. Registration deadline: May 28; limited to 25 participants per session. Session 1: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.; Session 2: 2–5 p.m.
2009
February 7	Winter Meeting "There were never such devoted sisters." Marissa Love (University of Chicago's Graham School) leads a discussion of sibling relationships in Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Persuasion." Lunch at Parthenon Restaurant, 314 S. Halsted Street, Chicago. Free valet parking. Noon to 3 p.m.
May 2	Spring Gala "Jane Austen and Beauty." Art Historian Debra Mancoff will speak about a celebrated Regency beauty and actress in Austen's Day, "Mrs. Brinsley Sheridan, The Fair Syren of Bath." Our Academic Liaison, Director of Adult programs at the Art Institute of Chicago, Jeff Nigro, will ring in the 2009 bicentennary of Austen's move to Chawton with "Austen and Beauty of Place." Our celebration of beauty will conclude with former Elle editor Jeanne Steen's "Fashionable Jane," a journal kept by a lady of Austen's era, who will be the "belle of the ball," an event which will determine her fate in Regency England's difficult marriage market. The public is invited to attend our Gala celebration. Continental breakfast and lunch at the Allerton Hotel, 701 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
June 27	Summer Event Jane Austen Garden Party at Chicago Botanic Gardens, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL. Guided Tour of the English Gardens followed by High Tea in the Garden View Room. Readings on Austen's Characters in the Out of Doors, arranged by William Phillips. 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Sept 12	Fall Meeting Slide/talk by Kim Wilson, author of In the Garden with Jane Austen, a guide to the cultivated gardens of Austen's era illuminated with details from Austen's novels and letters. Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Ave., Evanston, 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Free and open to the public.  Reception.
December 12, 2009	Jane Austen Birthday Tea "First, Find a Good Place to Plant Potatoes: Tales of Chawton Cottage, 1809-2009." GCR Readers Theater celebrates the bicentennial of Austen's move to Chawton Cottage in dialogue and images. Afternoon tea at The Fortnightly of Chicago, 120 E. Bellevue Place, Chicago. 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
2008
February 9	Winter Meeting "How do you make a film of a life about which you know little?" Discussion of Austen biographies vs. the recent film Becoming Jane.  Lunch at the Parthenon Restaurant, 314 South Halsted Street in Chicago.  Noon.
May 3	Spring Gala Among the Heirs of Austen:  A Legacy of Four Centuries Three lectures, brunch and ice cream buffets, and book and Regency period costume sales.  Allerton-Crowne Plaza, 701 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago.  9:30 a.m.– 3 p.m.
June 20	Jane Austen Country Dance Practice (Prelude to the JASNA Ball) Learn the dances for our JASNA Ball in October with our wonderful musicians! From 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., in the ballroom at Oak Park Arms Retirement Community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL (located between Madison and Washington Streets). Enter the parking lot from the east side of Oak Park Ave. All parking is free except for reserved spaces.
September 17	Free screening of The Duchess, a new film based on the life of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, at 7:00 p.m., Kerasotes Webster Place Theatre, 1471 W. Webster Ave., Chicago, Telephone (773) 327-3100. Jonathan Gross, Professor of English and Director of the DePaul Humanities Center, and a favorite speaker at JASNA AGMs and regional meetings, will lead a discussion of the film afterward. Reservations suggested. Please Email us at jasnagcr@sbcglobal.net with the subject of "Film Reservation."
September 20	Fall Meeting Jane Davis will preview her talk for the Chicago 2008 AGM, Emma Woodhouse and Harry Potter: The Influence of Austen on J.K. Rowling. Conrad Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60625. Free and open to the public. A short business meeting will precede the talk. Cake, tea and coffee served. 1 p.m.–3:30 p.m. More > >
October 2–5	"Austen's Legacy:  Life, Love & Laughter" Chicago hosts the 2008 Annual General Meeting. Westin Michigan Avenue Hotel, Chicago.
December 6, 2008	Jane Austen Birthday Tea "Viewing Austen Through Vermeer's Camera Obscura," Slide/talk by Marsha Huff, JASNA President. Afternoon Tea. The Fortnightly of Chicago, 120 East Bellevue Place, Chicago. 2:00–4:00 p.m. .
2007
February 10	Winter Meeting Book Discussion of Emma following lunch at the Parthenon Restaurant, 314 South Halsted Street in Chicago. Noon.
April 28	Gala "Heroes, Heartbreakers & Heels." 9:30 a.m.‑3 p.m. Lectures, Music and Readers Theater, Brunch buffet and dessert buffet. Allerton-Crowne Plaza, 701 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago.
July 21	Summer Meeting In honor of Jane Austen's seaworthy brothers, we boarded the Wendella Boat for a 90 minute tour, followed by lunch at Bella Bacina, 75 East Wacker Drive, Chicago. 11:45 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
September 8	Fall Meeting Conrad Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625.  Free and open to the public.  Cake, tea and coffee served.  1‑3:30 p.m.
October 5-7	AGM "Discovering Emma in Vancouver" Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
December 8	Jane Austen Birthday Tea "Finding Jane Austen Today." Lecture by Emily Auerbach.  Afternoon tea at The Fortnightly of Chicago, 120 E. Bellview Place, Chicago.  2‑4 p.m.
2006
February 18	Winter Meeting Following lunch at a Chicago restaurant, member Caryn Chaden led a discussion of Mansfield Park, the theme for the 2006 AGM in Tucson.
May 13	Gala Speakers included Marcia McClintock Folsom, Joan Ray, and the GCR Readers’ Theater. Allerton Crowne Plaza Hotel, 701 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago.
August 12	Summer Outing Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City, Indiana, exhibit by Leon Bishop. Lunch at Lucrezia's Restaurant, noon.
September 9	Fall Meeting Evanston Public Library community room, 1703 Orrington Ave., Evanston, 1:30‑4 p.m. Member Steven Martin connected Jane Austen's novels to mystery fiction in his talk, "The Mysterious Affair at Chawton." Free and open to the public. Reception followed the talk.
October 26-29	Annual General Meeting Fresh Perspectives on Mansfield Park. Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, Tuscon, AZ.
December 8	Jane Austen Birthday Tea "A Chain of Laughter:  Comic Characters in the Wake of Austen."  Jan Fergus, speaker.  Afternoon tea at The Fortnightly of Chicago, 120 E. Bellview Place, Chicago.  2‑4 p.m.  Members $40, their guests $50.
2005
February 18	Lunch & Lecture with Speaker:  Dr. Elisabeth Lenckos Topic:  “Edith Wharton:  America's Jane Austen?”
May 13	GCR - 25th Annual Gala:  CELEBRATION
August 12	Lunch & Dicusssion 12:30‑4:30 p.m. Jane Austen as Great Box Office: Adaptations, Transformations, and Imitations of Austen at the Movies Reza’s Restaurant, 5255 N. Clark (Andersonville)
September 9	Lecture 1:30–4:30 p.m. Speaker:  Elsie Holzwarth, “Austen and the Admiral" The connection between Jane Austen and Horatio Nelson, in her life and in her novels, was explored by GCR member Elsie Holzwarth as a preview of her 2005 AGM presentation. Evanston Public Library.  FREE to members & guests.
October 26-29	Annual General Meeting (AGM) “Jane Austen’s Letters in Fact & Fiction” Hyatt Regency Hotel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
December 6	Jane Austen Birthday Tea "The Cure of Unconquerable Passions and the Transfer of Unchanging Attachments":  Life’s Second Chances in the Novels of Jane Austen Speaker: Dr. Elisabeth Lenckos Afternoon tea at the historic Fortnightly of Chicago, birthday toast to JA, lecture and gift basket raffle.
2004
October 6	2004 Annual General Meeting
December 11	Jane Austen Birthday Tea