November 25, 2008

Alice Walker's Open Letter to Barak Obama

No one knows how our future will unfold. We can only know what is in our past. Thus, I want to share what strikes me as an important statement by the writer, Alice Walker, on the occasion of the election of Barak Obama to become our next president. Ms. Walker posted an open letter, now very widely circulated, on November 5 on The Root. It is the central business of the humanities to talk to each other about the meanings of events, hopes, beliefs, and differences. Whether or not we are collectively entering a time of economic perplexity, we have a wealth of constructive ideas and traditions to sustain us. We have a capacity for empathy, best of all. We have an impulse to make friends rather than enemies. We have much to be thankful for in days of change and worry.

Our First "Read First!" Stories

People in four Missouri towns are happy this month for the success of a huge effort to make family reading a priority. I'm thinking in particular of a family in Mountain View. While in the process of moving, they drove their U-Haul truck to a program venue in order "to learn all we could about family reading." That's the point of our Read First! initiative. We are helping a small number of towns mobilize extraordinary levels of involvement and cooperation focused on family reading. The vision is wonderful. "I want to live in a place where every child is read to." Julie Douglas has some inspiring reports from the first four communities in this project.

The Border War Stories, More of Them

The Civil War never actually ended. For many people in Kansas and Missouri, who have grown to adulthood in the same place their great-grandparents suffered, the memories of an era over 150 years in the past are alive and formative today. You can get a sense of the long shadow of memory if you read Anne Mallinson's story about "Fried Chicken and Jayhawkers" in this issue.

People on both sides of the Mo-Kan border are engaged in upgrading their historic sites and museums. Facebook is becoming a tool of interactive communication for these sites. Check out the Border War Network's Facebook page, then look at the one for Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area! The Freedom's Frontier group also started up an e-News publication to which you can subscribe. You can sample their publications on their archives page.

Take a Candlelight Tour This Weekend

I've received several notices of appealing historic house tours on the western side of the state. The ones I know about are happening right after Thanksgiving. Here's a brochure about the Clay County Museum's tour in Liberty. Here's another in Blue Springs. Finally, here's one at the Harris-Kearney House in Kansas City. I'd love to go to all of them!

Style and Story in a Christmas Narrative

I'm currently in rehearsal for a performance of a Christmas oratorio titled El Niño by the American composer, John Adams. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will perform the work on December 13th and 14th. The work opens in a way that challenges most listeners. There is a tremendous amount of sensory information in the sound and driving energy of that opening, and a listener may find the experience a bit overwhelming. Does this mean that the composer erected a "barrier" to comprehending the story? That question prompted me to post a blog on "Style and Story." I have some things to say about the work that Adams himself did not say in his wonderful memoir, Hallelujah Junction. That doesn't mean I know something he doesn't know about his own work; it just means that there are sometimes things to be said about a piece that have a specific truth or lunacy that is outside the process of composition. I hope you'll come hear this powerful, haunting, beautiful, challenging work.

Nominations Sought for 2009 Governor's Humanities Awards

Last month we had our largest gathering ever for the annual presentation of the Governor's Humanities Awards. The process begins each year with nominations from Missouri citizens.

Nominations for the 2009 awards are now open. The deadline is January 9, 2009. The Announcement of the categories and procedures is on our main page for the Governor's Humanities Awards.

Help Plan the 2010 Chautauqua Program

Our tour of "That's Entertainment!" will complete its run in June, 2009. We will develop a new historical theme for the 2010 Chautauqua tour. We invite people interested in helping to plan this program to contact Patricia Zahn (patricia "at" mohumanities.org) before January. We especially want to include people from communities that would like to host the Chautauqua in 2010 or 2011. We will form a small committee of "stakeholders" in the winter and complete the planning before Spring.

2010 Smithsonian Exhibit Tours Application Deadline is February 16, 2009

We are accepting applications through February 16, 2009 for two exhibit tours. "New Harmonies: American Roots Music" is beginning a two-year Missouri tour this coming March. We're accepting applications for the six towns who will host it in 2010. We are also accepting applications for a new exhibit titled, "Journey Stories." Information on both exhibits is on our Museum on Main Street Page.

Job Opening: Development Director

We are currently accepting applications for a full-time position of Development Director.