Thursday, August 15, 2019

He rubbed elbows with Harpo Marx and Gene Autry. He turned down a gig on the Ed Sullivan Show. He played more than 10,000 concerts, and he was from Dotyville.

The remarkable story of Otto Baganz, aka The Golden Harp, will be told at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, August 15, at the Fond du Lac Public Library. The History at Home programs are free; no registration required.

Presenter Lahna Anhalt will tell the story of how Baganz’s talents took him from humble beginnings to national renown. It’s a story the author knows well: Baganz was her father. His story is included in Anhalt’s book, “Aunt Laura’s Attic: Short Biographies of Famous People You’ve Never Heard Of.” In her research, Baganz found more than 1,600 newspaper articles about her father, his debut with the Chicago Symphony, his travels with the Baganz Trio and his $10,000 harp, built especially for the Chicago World’s Fair.

The library’s History at Home series focuses on stories about the area’s past every third Thursday of the month at 2 p.m. and repeated at 6 p.m. (no program in December). Many History at Home programs are captured on video and shared on the library's YouTube channel. The YouTube link can be found at fdlpl.org/miss-program.