Contents:
- Forty years ago: a different world…and not
- 40 Years of History, Culture and the Humanities: An interview with Robert Walrond
- Taking a Picture Walk
- “Twist of Fate” A Chris Stuckenschneider Story
- Honoring Our Past: A Living Legacy for Our Children
- “A True Story, Repeated Word for Word As I Heard It”
- Ellen
- Rolla’s Sesquicentennial Celebration
- Missouri Writers’ Guild
- MAMA-MHC Joint Mini Conference to be held October 7-8, 2011
- Celebrating the Humanities Day, April 27,2011
Forty years ago: A different world…and not
From a certain perspective, anniversaries are somewhat odd things. Some people will tell you that the meanings we assign to anniversary dates are somewhat arbitrary and perhaps even artificial. But at the same time, anniversaries offer excellent opportunities to reflect on some event that is important to us: a wedding; a birth; a death; a beginning; an ending; a transition. Acknowledging an anniversary also gives us an opportunity to reflect upon changes that have taken place, as well as what has remained relatively constant over time.
40 Years of History, Culture and the Humanities: An interview with Robert Walrond
This February marks the 40th anniversary of the Missouri Humanities Council, which started building its roots in the fall of 1970. A group of Missourians from the continuing education and extension colleges of Saint Louis University, the University of Missouri and Washington University were invited to Washington, D.C. to meet with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), a grant-making agency of the federal government that supports research, education, preservation and public programs in the humanities.
Taking a Picture Walk
Believe it or not, Spring is going to come to Missouri. We had a little taste of it this past weekend. And like many others who have been suffering from cabin fever, I grabbed my tennis shoes and headed for the nearby conservation area. Walking is nice and all, but I find myself getting bored quickly. To entertain myself, I make up little stories about the people I meet on the trail. The woman wearing the sunglasses and walking briskly with her head bent down is actually a famous rock star in town for a concert and looking for a few moments of peace and quiet before she meets her adoring fans. The guy with big backpack? A bank robber who is scoping out an inconspicuous place to bury the loot. The woods around the trail? Enchanted, of course, and filled with fairies and trolls (you can tell by the little forts cleverly disguised as piles of brush.) It’s amazing (and entertaining) what you can discover with a little observation and imagination.
“Twist of Fate”
The READ from the START program is fortunate to have many talented and devoted facilitators who are eager to share their knowledge and passion for reading. RFTS Discussion Leaders wear many different hats. For example, RFTS Discussion Leader and Read First! partner, Chris Stuckenschneider is a columnist and book editor at The Washington Missourian. She can also add children’s author and Show Me Award nominee to her list of accomplishments.
Honoring Our Past: A Living Legacy for Our Children
What do Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, and African American History have in common? They all are celebrated in February! What many people do not realize is that African American History month actually began in 1926 when Dr. Carter G. Woodson established the first Negro History Week. The week was anchored by President Lincoln’s birthday on February 12th and what scholars believe is abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ birthday, February 14th.
” A True Story, Repeated Word for Wod As I Heard It”
The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum celebrated Black History Month in February with an array of books, and historical artifacts in the gift shop as well as a night of two memorable performances. Local storyteller, Gladys Coggswell, Mark Twain Museum Storyteller-in-Residence, and Missouri’s Master Storyteller for nine years performed Twain’s, “A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It.” Coggswell said “that it was important to her to play the part of Mary Ann Cord who is referred to as ‘Aunt Rachel’ in Mark Twain’s writing”.
Ellen
In 2008 this story was published in a book called, Ellen.
Please allow me to take you back in time and introduce you to one of the most important women in my life. My great grandmother, Ellen, or, “Mama”, as we all called her. Mama was born a slave on a plantation in Tennessee on March 02, 1860.
Rolla’s Sesquicentennial Celebration
The City of Rolla, which was incorporated in 1861, will be celebrating its Sesquicentennial (150th Birthday) on Saturday, June 4, 2011 in conjunction with Route 66 Summerfest in downtown Rolla, Missouri.
The day-long celebration kicks off with a Sesquicentennial Parade at 10 a.m. on Pine Street in downtown Rolla where 15 decades will be represented by various community and civic organizations. The parade will be an opportunity to see 150 years of Rolla history pass by from 6th street to 11th street along Pine Street, which continues to be a center of historic significance with its U.S. Route 66 roots, and the old-world Edwin Long Hotel (now Phelps County Bank). The landmark building where numerous celebrities and dignitaries have visited is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Missouri Writers’ Guild
Langston Hughes. Maya Angelou. Walter Cronkite. David Harrison. Kate Chopin. Samuel Clemens.
Readers do not have to live in Missouri to be familiar with these names. All are known throughout the U.S. and beyond as major contributors to the fields of journalism and literature, but their common bond is that each can call Missouri their home state.
MAMA-MHC Joint Mini Conference
In 1971, the same year that MHC was born, another organization was started, The Missouri Museum Associates, which evolved into the present-day the Missouri Association for Museum and Archives (MAMA). As an element of our museums and library services program, MHC will be partnering with MAMA to host a joint mini-conference on October 7-8 at the Stony Creek Inn and Conference Center in Columbia, Missouri.
Celebrating the Humanities Day, April 27, 2011
The Center for the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis, the Missouri Humanities Council, and the Center for the Humanities at the University of Missouri-St. Louis are pleased to announce our first annual “Celebrating the Humanities Day,” to take place on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. This celebration is meant to showcase the importance of the activities associated with the humanities: reading, making, viewing, writing, analyzing, in short, how we, as scholars, as artists, as citizens, and as members of the general public, engage critically with our culture and its representations.
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