Monthly E-News from Michael Bouman, Executive Director
Missouri Humanities Council
Contents:
- Kente Cloth Exhibit in St. Louis
- Smithsonian's "Key Ingredients" Opens in Butler
- Governor's Humanities Awards Invitation
- Miracle of Philanthropy: READ from the START
- Multi-lingual Work Expands
Kente Cloth: "Wrapped In Pride"
There's
a new source for touring exhibits, and St. Louisans will reap the benefit
from October 21 through November 30 at the Black World History Museum.
The museum is mounting "Wrapped In Pride: Ghanaian Kente Cloth and
African-American Identity" and is organizing public programs to help
interpret the exhibit.
The exhibit comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The "NEH On The Road" program recycles fine humanities exhibits
created with NEH funding. The link for more NEH information about
this remarkable opportunity is:
http://www.maaa.org/nehotr/index.php3
"Wrapped in Pride" presents historic and contemporary examples of Ghanaian kente, objects, photographs, and interactive installations that examine the vibrant cloth in its cultural contexts. It explores how the traditional use of the cloth in Asante and Ewe cultures spread throughout the African continent, addresses trade issues, and explores the industrial and commercial implications of kente-inspired objects. A traditional loom with an unfinished strip of Kente will allow visitors to participate in the weaving process; a Ghanaian market stall with cloth and other kente items recreate a visit to a market place. A variety of thread, unsown kente strips and related educational activities provide visitors with a sense of the kinds of materials and the high level of craftsmanship that are needed to make kente.
Part of the exhibit examines how this traditional cloth has been adopted as an expression of African-American cultural identity.
The NEH information on this exhibit is at
http://www.maaa.org/nehotr/exhibitions/kente/kente.html
Details about programs, dates, times, and location are on the MHC web
site at:
http://www.mohumanities.org
or explore the new feature at our blog, statewide events for the upcoming
week (Thursday-Thursday):
http://mohumanities.blogspot.com
Smithsonian's "Key Ingredients" in Butler
Our friends at Poplar Heights Farm and the JSJ Foundation
are the next to host the popular KI exhibit. Poplar Heights Farm is a
living history farm and nature conservancy in Bates County, Missouri.
The farm supports and conducts programs to preserve the area’s past
and offer educational opportunities to the region. While the farm's structures
are being restored, the fields are also being developed to promote native
Missouri plants and wildlife and will include a series of walking trails.
Another endeavor of the farm is the recently opened Family History
Center in Butler. In addition to being a library rich in geneologic
and historic records and resources, one ongoing project is scanning and
preserving the stories and ephemera of Bates county. Monthly and permanent
exhibits chronicle the areas' historical events.
Another month of mouth-watering activities accompanies this exhibit. Choose
from German Food, Home Brewing, Wine Making, even Bread Making with Bates
County's own Martha Stewart. The exhibit is located at the Family History
Center, 208 N. Delaware, Butler. Hours are 9-5 on Weekdays, 9-2 Saturdays.
Key Ingredients in Butler
http://poplarheightsfarm.com/html/key_ingredients.html
Poplar Heights Farm
http://poplarheightsfarm.com/
Family History Center
http://poplarheightsfarm.com/html/history_ctr.html
Governor's Humanities Awards November 16
Each
year we are honored to confer the Governor's Humanities Awards on fellow
citizens for their outstanding work in bettering our communities, and
in contributing to our understanding of place and people.
BOOK AWARDS recognize an individual or group whose publication has increased our understanding and appreciation of Missouri’s history and culture.
-
•Michael Dickey, Arrow Rock, for Arrow Rock:
Crossroads of the Missouri Frontier
•Scott Kerr and R. H. Dick, Webster Groves, for
An American Art Colony: The Art and Artists of Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, 1930–1940
•Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau, for The Gold of Cape Girardeau
•Georgia Warner Walter, Kirksville, for The First School of Osteopathic Medicine
-
•Russ and Rosemary Burcham, Kennett,
for their 30 year production of “Time for Talk,” a daily public
affairs program for Dunklin County
•Joellen McDonald, Richmond Heights, for work in the collection and documentation of the history of Hadley Township, the oldest African American community in St. Louis County
-
•Neita Geilker, Christopher Harris,
and Elaine Koepke, Liberty for the Century House Project
•Scott Huegerich and Bob Miano, St. Louis, for the feature-length documentary film, The World’s Greatest Fair
•Dottie Dallmeyer, Jefferson City, for work in historic preservation.
If you would like more information on the awards ceremony, or the nominating
process for 2006, please contact our Development Director, Terrie Young,
terrie at mohumanities.org
Miracle of Philanthropy:
READ from the START
This is one of the peak stories of my long career in public humanities work. Four years ago I wrote a newsletter article about how a donation from a Barnes And Noble book store had enabled sixty-one families to learn all about reading and story-telling with pre-school children. A reader whose name I will never know saw that piece and formed an idea of how money could be transformed into rural family education. She, or he, had the means to experience personal fulfillment by giving money to support this objective.
I was approached by a professional go-between, a person who acts with discretion to help people of means accomplish their charitable aims. MHC was invited to submit a proposal for funds to expand READ from the START in rural places. I asked for $11,000. Shortly, the go-between contacted me to say that our benefactor had counter-proposed a donation of $66,000 if we would match it. This gift instantly doubled the impact of RFTS. We had no trouble finding organizations all over the state to recruit parents who had probably never owned a book. The responses from these new parents were so full of joy and hope that our benefactor renewed the grant for a second and then a third year, which has just begun. Sadly, our benefactor died during the period, and an estate of foundation is fulfilling the benefactor's wish that money be transformed into human transformation.
What the Missouri Humanities Council accomplishes, when things go well, is transformative education. Our lives within this organization are dedicated not just to the movement of inert factual information, certainly not just to helping people pique their interest in one thing or another. No, our lives are dedicated to helping people change their lives by changing what they know and how they think about their possibilities in the world. This is the "Gold Standard" of the humanities fields. The integration of knowledge with empathy, imagination, and creative energy "shapes" individuals, shapes family relationships, and shapes community life.
The philanthropic miracle continues in our office as I write this. Along one of our walls (we have little storage space here), is a row of boxes filled with new books. There are books there for 1,800 little children, whose parents will study the books and learn to create playtime activities around the stories. They are worth almost $9,000, and we will use them all in the coming year. They are a donation from First Book National Book Bank.
My colleague, Kathryn Ballard, who directs READ from
the START told me that, "In the past I have asked for 400 books and
have sometimes gotten them and sometimes not. I was feeling bold this
time knowing we would have 120 programs and I asked for 1800 books."
Thanks, Kathryn, for being bold. The Gold Standard needs bold!
Kathryn Ballard shared this account of an expansion of Spanish-language programming from Kansas City to St. Louis.
"Susana Noriega-Edmond of the STL Public Library-Carpenter Branch contacted us in July about hosting a READ from the START program for families they serve through their partnership with Accion Social Comunitaria (ASC). I met with Susana to learn more about the ASC. Most of the new Latino families are not yet proficient in spoken or written English. Serving this population would require some modifications to the program. Dates were set for September 9 @ 4:00 p.m. & 26 @ 6:00 p.m. 2005. Due to the size of the group and the availability of space at the Library, we decided to run two programs simultaneously. Kim McGrath of ASC provided translators Stephanie Price and Cecilia Soibel, who were both marvelous, to work with our two Discussion Leaders Annette Harrison and Holly Farnsworth. The ASC also provided bi-lingual volunteers to assist Children’s Librarian, Kathy Muller, with childcare.
"Observations form the second night: The large meeting space used for child care was simply “alive” with 40+ children ranging from infants to young teens. They were having a great time playing games, listening to stories and absorbing two languages form their caregivers, English and Spanish. Upstairs their parents were also absorbing two languages as Holly and Annette spoke English and Stephanie and Cecilia translated. It was beautiful to hear the stories in Spanish and I could follow along because the expressions used to read particular passages and the reactions to the stories seemed to be universal.
" More than 21 families participated in this adventure which brought four organizations together. The fourth is The International Institute, which provided translation services for written materials through Sara Graeber and their Language Links program."
Written comments from participants included:
“A very important program.”
“Patience and Kindness”
“The Snowy Day and other books speak to us about our children. It
is very important.”
“It’s very good to explain the importance of reading habits
and that we learn each time we read a book.”