missouri humanities council

2010 Award Recipient

Dr. Kathleen Butterly Nigro

Exemplary Community Achievement

Although she is an assistant professor teaching at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Dr. Kathleen Butterly Nigro is committed to the idea that education is about much more than getting good grades or passing exams. In her view, learning is a community as well as an individual experience, and she asks that people come away from a book discussion, a speech, an exhibit or any other humanities-centered event with another way of looking at the world.

“The humanities are the expressions of what it means to be human,” Nigro said. “They express the soul of people, our most deeply held feelings and beliefs that we can share.”

As a major proponent of sharing the humanities, Nigro focuses on literature in particular. One of the largest scale projects she’s worked on is ReadMOre. ReadMOre, of which Nigro was a cofounder in 2001, is a statewide reading initiative that encourages everyone throughout Missouri to read the year’s selected book and participate in programming surrounding it.

“I didn’t know how long it would last, but I did see the therapeutic power of reading, discussing and communicating on a community and statewide basis,” Nigro said.

ReadMOre started as a grassroots effort with people volunteering their time, but when librarians across the state heard about the program, it caught on quickly. The first book chosen was “Farewell to Manzanar,” a novel about the internment of Japanese Americans after World War II. The program led to a con- nection with the Japanese American Citizen’s League with their representatives sharing their stories with schools and community groups across the state.

“Reading and discussing the novel right after 9 /11 presented a way to open up the avenues of communication about issues the country was dealing with without talking specifically about 9 /11,” Nigro said.

Nigro is also a founder of the Kate Chopin Society of North America, organized as a result of a centennial celebration for the publication of Chopin’s novel “The Awakening.”

The Society presents annual programs to spur a renewed appreciation of the St. Louis born author. They are also the only literary society in the United States to give an award to a living author every year. The Society is affiliated with the St. Louis Mercantile Library on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus. The new partnership promotes collaboration between the public academic communities and encourages students to become involved in humanities-based experiences.

In addition to the Kate Chopin Society and ReadMOre, Nigro was the Scholar-in-Resi- dence for the Kirkwood Pubic Library from 2000 until 2009. She planned programming specifically for the underserved populations in the community and continues to take on numerous side projects and book discussions.

“One I might be most proud of is ‘Love and Forgiveness in the Light of Death,’ the theme we chose specifically for the Kirkwood community that had suffered a traumatic shooting that year,” Nigro said.

When Nigro leads any discussion, including “Love and Forgiveness,” she’s there to help others gain from the experience, encouraging them to come to their own conclusions and realizations.

“As a presenter you have to be willing to be non-judgmental,” Nigro said. “When I lead a discussion, it’s not about me. It’s about what they think and believe. It’s for people to examine what they experience.”

Shirley Swanson has been a regular attendee for the past four years at Nigro’s literary work- shops for the Wednesday Club of St. Louis.

“The ancillary information Kathleen brings to the discussion is fascinating,” Swanson said. “I’ve never seen someone with such enthusiasm.”

Wicky Sleight, a Missouri Humanities Council board member and the former director of Kirkwood Public Library, has been one of Nigro’s partners on various projects and is an inspiration for Nigro to continue supporting humanities programming. But the appreciation is not one sided; Sleight is one of Nigro’s biggest supporters as well.

“Kathleen’s acute knowledge, her enthusiasm, her ability and desire to lead thoughtful discussions and her never-ending quest to discover new ideas become apparent the minute you meet her,” said Sleight. “Kathleen epitomizes a humanities educator and component in Missouri. She’s done so much both statewide and multi-state in the humanities.”

An example of Nigro’s multi-state involvement is her work to coordinate programming based upon Lewis and Clark’s Discovery Expedition of the Louisiana Territory throughout Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri. Additional humanities related projects have included exhibits for Gallery Visio, which showcases student and campus work at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and the presentation of the Ruth Butterly Emerging Artist Award at Gallery Visio and the St. Louis Artists’ League in honor of Nigro’s mother. Nigro has received grants from various entities including the American Library Association, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, Missouri Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission and the Dayton Hudson Corporation.

Nigro is an assistant teaching professor in the English Department and the advisor for the Gender Studies Program at the University of Missouri-Saint Louis. Her campus involvement includes faculty advisor for PRIZM, VOICES for Gender Equity and the American Association for University Women.

Nigro is married to Frank Nigro, a computer consultant, and has two sons, Benjamin and Philip.