Year: 2016

2017 One Maryland One Book: Top Ten Titles Announced!

Posted on by Maryland Humanities

Happy Holidays from Maryland Center for the Book at Maryland Humanities! Whether you’re curled up on vacation, grabbing the next train home, or just looking for an engrossing read to stave off the post-holiday blues, check out one of the books below. It could be the 2017 One Maryland One Book pick!

The 2017 One Maryland One Book theme is “Home & Belonging”. Readers across Maryland suggested 140 unique titles via email and the Maryland Center for the Book Facebook page. Our committee narrowed the list to the top 10 and will select the top 3 titles in late January.

Follow us on Facebook and subscribe to Maryland Humanities’ e-News to get the latest updates on the selection process and be the first to hear what we’ll be discussing across our state. We will know the 2017 selection in February or March. Learn more about the criteria and process on our website.

Top 10 titles under consideration for One Maryland One Book 2017

About One Maryland One Book

One Maryland One Book 2016 authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.

 

One Maryland One Book authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely discuss All American Boys at Prince George’s County Memorial Library System’s Oxon Hill Branch, as part of the 2016 Author Tour.

 

When we read a great book, we can’t wait to share the experience and talk about it with others. That’s one of the joys of reading. In that spirit, Maryland Humanities created One Maryland One Book to bring together diverse people in communities across the state through the shared experience of reading the same book.

One Maryland One Book programs, including an author tour, take place each year in the fall. We invite you to participate in book-centered discussions and related programs at public libraries, high schools, colleges, museums, bookstores, and community and senior centers around the state. A calendar of free public events will be available online this summer.

What do you think of the 2017 Top Ten list? Have you read any of the titles and if so, what did you think? Let us know by posting a comment below! Please share this news with fellow readers from Mountain Maryland to the Eastern Shore.

 

Preserving the Ghosts of Maryland’s Past

Posted on by Lou Williams

By Siobhan Hagan

In Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge begs the Ghost of Christmas Past to remove him from reliving painful memories. “I told you these were shadows of the things that have been,” said the Ghost. “That they are what they are, do not blame me!”

While we can’t all be like Ebenezer Scrooge and have our own Ghost of Christmas Past to transport us through the “shadows of the things that have been,” luckily we have the next best thing: the moving image. Nothing makes the past come alive quite like seeing it and hearing it documented in real time, through the power of audiovisual recordings. Not just the commercial feature films of “Miracle on 34th Street” or “A Christmas Story,” but the hours of home movies, local news, cable access TV, industrial films, advertisements, and more, that document the history of many underrepresented areas and communities of the United States. Much like the Ghost of Christmas Past, this audiovisual legacy is easily snuffed out: specialized expertise and cost are required to preserve these quickly degrading artifacts for viewing by present and future generations.

That is why I helped to create the Mid-Atlantic Regional Moving Image Archive, also known by its acronym “MARMIA” (pronounced like “Narnia”). MARMIA is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Baltimore, Maryland, dedicated to the preservation and access of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic’s moving images and recorded sounds. We not only provide discounted audiovisual preservation services to regional non-profits, but we also collect content as well: audiovisual documentation of people and/or places from the Mid-Atlantic, or media that is made by a Mid-Atlantic resident.

hollysjollies
Side A of “The Holly Jolly Merry Berry X-Mas Tape”
songlist
“The Holly Jolly Merry Berry X-Mas Tape” songlist insert

In March of 2016, MARMIA held an event at Blue Pit BBQ and Whiskey Bar that celebrated audio compact cassette mixtapes. We asked attendees to bring in their mixtapes to be digitized, documented, and preserved. This event was in partnership with foundscapes, a project led by one of MARMIA’s board members, Natalie Cadranel. foundscapes aims to map the cultural heritage of the early 1970s through the late 1990s by collecting mixtapes created by and for individuals. As proclaimed on their website, “when viewed through a larger lens, [these tapes] provide a record of trends in regionalism, mood, and economy of the era.”

One of my favorite mixtapes from the event is also seasonably appropriate, “The Holly Jolly Merry Berry X-Mas Tape” from December 1992. Like most mixtapes, it is a compilation of well-known and lesser-known musical artists and genres, including a local Maryland band (Phido). But it also documents so much more: when we interviewed the donor, we found out that it was recorded by his sister, at the time a female college radio DJ. She gave it to him back home in Maryland for Christmas, as he said “making sure I had good music.” We also found out that his sister had tragically passed away a few years ago, making this so much more than just a mixtape.

From the physical inspection of the 16mm A. Harvey Schreter wedding film
From the physical inspection of the 16mm A. Harvey Schreter wedding film

Another of MARMIA’s recent acquisitions was a collection of home movies taken by a Baltimore necktie manufacturer, world traveller, and art collector, A. Harvey Schreter. Why would we want to collect someone else’s home movies, you ask? No one can explain it better than the non-profit Center for Home Movies: “In a hundred years, and even today, your home movies will contain unique and precious documentation of a way of life – from the cut of fashionable clothing to the eroding contours of a beach.” To demonstrate this, MARMIA would like to share a home movie of A. Harvey Schreter’s marriage to his wife, Phyllis Kolker, in a Jewish ceremony in Baltimore on February 1, 1942 (thank you to DANSK Film Digitization for the wonderful transfer and to the Schreter family for the donation).

History and memory come back to life through moving images and recorded sounds. MARMIA will work every day to keep these “shadows of the things that have been” as they were. Please follow and support our journey through our website, social media, and Internet Archive presences. Happy holidays!

About the Author:
Siobhan Hagan is the President and CEO of MARMIA and was born and raised in Maryland. She holds her M.A. in Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and started her career as the first Audiovisual Preservation Specialist at UCLA Library. She has worked in a variety of collecting organizations throughout her career, and is currently the Director of Public Programs and Outreach at the Old Greenbelt Theatre.

The opinions expressed by guest contributors to the Maryland Humanities blog do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of Maryland Humanities and/or any of its sponsors, partners, or funders. No official endorsement by any of these institutions should be inferred.

LAL Lessons Learned: What I Learned from Maryland Students

Posted on by Maryland Humanities

by Jessica Baldwin

This fall I worked with over 1,000 Maryland students as they crafted their entries for our student writing contest Letters About Literature (LAL). To enter the LAL contest, students in grades 4-12 write a letter to the author of any book, story, or poem that has changed how they see themselves, others, or the world around them. Writing LAL letters urges participants to connect with literature personally and to reflect on how reading stories from different perspectives affects their own points of view.  A few students had entered the contest before, but for most it was a totally new—and sometimes daunting—experience. Some of the educators with whom I worked had been participating in LAL for years, but the majority of educators were using the program in the classroom for the first time. I worked with elementary and middle school students (hopefully, I’ll get to visit some high schools next year!) on the Eastern Shore, in cities from Annapolis to Frederick, in the mountains of Western Maryland, and several places in between. As different as the students, teachers, and schools were, a few common threads stood out as lessons learned. Here’s what I learned from Maryland students during my first year of LAL class visits:

In October I visited Salisbury Middle School and North Dorchester Middle School. The students with whom I worked ran the gamut in age, experience, and literary interests. But I was surprised at how many of my personal favorites were student favorites, too. And the students were shocked to realize that other readers in their school—people with whom they weren’t friends or not even in the same grade—were reading the same books they were! In Mrs. Elliott’s 6th grade classes at Salisbury Middle (pictured), we found common ground talking about identity and family in Anne of Green Gables. During a writing workshop at Dorchester Middle, in which three classes from different grades came together to work on their drafts, two students who had never even met before discussed how Jack Gantos’s Joey Pigza series made them laugh out loud while gaining empathy for their fellow students with learning differences. The kicker? The letter I wrote to use as the workshop sample was all about the first Joey Pigza book, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. Lesson learned: Don’t judge readers by their covers! Discussing literature has the power to bring us together in unexpected ways.  

I was very fortunate that my LAL travels brought me to Garrett County during Autumn Glory season (pictured). I worked with Northern Middle School and Swan Meadow School as their students strove to write introspective letters with strong reflections and personal details. And even though everyone was focused on writing outstanding letters, their wide-ranging book choices proved how readers can find themselves in just about any book. Students wrote their letters in response to memoirs written by YouTube stars, a series written from an ornery dog’s perspective, the Bible, and historical novels about slavery and pioneer life. Using discussion and interactive activities, classes honed their skills connecting, corresponding, and synthesizing (pictured). And the stronger the students’ skills became, the more they were excited to write! All of my Garrett County classes ended with free time for draft work, in which the quality of the drafts grew by leaps and bounds. Lesson learned: Any book is a good book if it changes how you think. Great LAL letters start with the inspiration we gain from reading. 

Baltimore City’s Harford Heights Elementary is participating in LAL for the first time this year. Mrs. Kimbrow, the school’s Library Media Specialist, worked with 5th grade English Language Arts teachers to rearrange their schedule so students could participate in LAL workshops and activities every week from September through December. When I first met Ms. Royal’s and Ms. Taylor’s 5th grade classes, the students had never heard about Letters About Literature. And even though many of them were worried about writing a letter (today is the age of social media and texting, after all!), they enthusiastically jumped in to discussion. The more the students talked about what they were reading, the more parallels they began to draw between their own lives and the lives of fictional characters whose worlds were completely different from their own. Bit by bit, these 5th graders wrote about their connections, linked their connections together to create detailed personal reflections, and added all the trimmings to put their writing in letter format (pictured). In less than a semester, these amazing Harford Heights students grew from reticent writers who worried about not being able to do the assignment to self-possessed communicators ready to share their individual perspectives. Lesson learned: Turns out the old adage “practice makes perfect” is on-point! If participating in LAL seems daunting, try taking it one step at a time and let personal connection lead the way.

The deadline for Level 3 (grades 9-12) entries for the 2017 LAL contest has passed, but there is still time to enter for students in Level 1 (grades 4-6) and Level 2 (grades 7-8). Get the guidelines and entry coupon here. Educators, interested in a FREE LAL class visit or one-on-one consultation next fall? Email me, Jessica Baldwin. We look forward to reading this year’s letters from young Marylanders.

About Jessica Baldwin

As the program assistant for Maryland Center for the Book (MCFB) at Maryland Humanities, Jessica Baldwin provides program and administrative support for MCFB’s five literary annual programs as well as special initiatives. Jessica developed the Writing Center and taught middle school Language Lab at her alma mater, St. Paul’s School for Girls. Using her teaching experience, Maryland State Department of Education coursework, and requests from LAL teachers in Maryland, Jessica developed the LAL class visit pilot offering for fall 2016.

About Letters About Literature (LAL)

For young readers in grades 4–12, our annual writing contest, Letters About Literature (LAL), encourages a love of reading and an appreciation for the power of words and ideas. Sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, this national contest not only promotes reading and writing, but also inspires creativity and encourages young people to be lifelong readers.

 

Sarah’s New Orleans Adventure – A Maryland History Day Student Reflects

Posted on by Lou Williams

Nearly a year ago, Sarah Bowden, a student at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, traveled to New Orleans to represent Maryland in the grand opening of a new exhibit at the National World War II Museum. Sarah was selected for this honor as a result of her participation in Maryland History Day in 2015 and she kept a travel diary of her experience.

As we mark the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which led to the United States’ entry into World War II, we are sharing some excerpts from Sarah’s diary.

10 December 2015

TRIP: to New Orleans for grand opening of Road to Tokyo Pavilion at National World War II Museum!

1:13 PM–

So, for any uninformed who are reading this, when I did NHD [National History Day], my project was chosen as an exceptional WWII project, and I was chosen as the MD representative to go to New Orleans for said purpose at beginning.

I am extremely excited and honored to be part of this event.  I mean, just to think I’m witnessing the OPENING of a MUSEUM!  Now when I’m older, I can tell kids who see the Road to Tokyo pavilion, “I was at the grand opening!”  I’ve also never been to the museum before.  Or New Orleans.  But I’ve really wanted to go and soak up some French culture.  J’aime bien le français!  [I really like French!]

I also have a list of foods and restaurants to try.  When I told people where I was going, the most common response was, “Oh, you need to try _____!”  We have:

  • jambalaya
  • pralines
  • beignets
  • crayfish
  • Eat New Orleans (French Quarter)
  • Sucré
  • Café Beignet

We got to New Orleans 5:00 CST.  By the time we got to the hotel and checked in, the others [students from the other states selected for the ceremony] had already left the hotel, so Mom and I made our way to the museum solo.

The museum’s closed to the public right now, so we state reps (that’s my new name for me and the other kids) and our chaperones got to tour part of it ourselves.  Including a “private” self-guided tour of Road to Tokyo!

I’ll be honest: I’m a pacifist, so I always get kind of depressed when I learn about Americans going to war, even though some of my family members have served in the military.  But the pavilion was really well done and very interesting.  Lots of artifacts from uniforms to guns to forbidden diaries (the Navy forbade diaries in WWII, though some people secretly kept one.  Mom told me, “Oh, no diaries!  No Navy for you then, Sarah!”).  And there were these interactive stations where you could hear oral histories and see artifacts and photos.

There’s apparently this thing where you can get a “dog tag” and scan it at these stations to learn a specific WWII person’s story, and I wished I had a dog tag because it looked interesting.

But the part that really got to me was near the end: US bombings of Japan.  I stood in that big room with artifacts from the bomber planes and video footage of the mushroom cloud and this fragile music in the background and…it resonated with me.  To the extent that I felt like some of it was still inside me when I walked out.

The diary of Thomas "Cotton" Jones
The diary of Thomas “Cotton” Jones

There were also little things that stuck with me: a video of a soldier running away as his ship got hit. Baseball bat and glove used by soldiers in the Pacific.  A picture of a little Chinese baby who survived the Shanghai bombing.  A “Jap” (as the US called them) who committed suicide by pushing a grenade into his face, now a black smudge.  A diary (Thomas “Cotton” Jones’s) which had on one page a request that if the diary be found, it be returned to Laura Mae Davis (I think that was her name), his sweetheart.  A flamethrower. I didn’t know they had them in WWII.

I learned about the Battle of Midway and life in Guadalcanal, a.k.a. Green Hell.  That area was designed to look like a rainforest, complete with guns and artillery hidden in the grass.  They had footage and recording played on tarps, and I vividly remember one voice– not word for word, but something like, “We were young.  We were stupid.  We didn’t know what war was like.”

11 December 2015

8:30 AM CST– I’m in line with my state flag and all the other state reps with theirs. We went over our procession and recession: we walk in with our flags at the beginning and put it in a stand, then sit.  At the end, we walk out with our flag.

I’m super excited!  Some people may be bored at the idea of sitting through a long official ceremony, but not me!  This is history, baby!  Woo-hoo!!

11:53 CST– What a ceremony!

We all processed in with our flags, and everyone stood and clapped for us and videotaped us.

gary-sinise
Sarah with actor Gary Sinise

Gary Sinise gave a welcome and they did the color guard and national anthem. In honor of my Baltimore home, I was sure to (quietly) exclaim “Oh!” at the appropriate time.

Next they showed a video on the Merchant Marines in honor of their new exhibit.  Then there was another video about “the War in the Pacific.”  I never knew the red dot on Japan’s flag was the rising sun.  That’s kind of cool.  After that, General Mark A. Milley, who fought in the Middle East, talked about what the war meant to us.  I was very touched when he talked about what we learned and mentioned, indirectly, that even army guys don’t want to have war.  It was nice to hear that and remember it.  He also talked about how war requires effort from all of us, not just the military.

Then a veteran [Paul Hilliard] got to speak.  He was actually really funny.  He mentioned, “My trip around the Pacific, paid for by the government. . .” I was surprised at his ability to laugh about something that must have been awful.

Next, a student ambassador named Maddie talked about her experiences as an ambassador and preserving stories for younger generations.  I remember one quote she said: (Rudyard Kipling) “If history were told as stories, it would never be forgotten.”

[As I type this, I’ve decided perhaps instead of making kids read boring textbooks, teachers should take them to museums and battlefields and historic places and have them learn there.  That would be much more effective, and much more fun.]

Gotta go, be back soon.

The opinions expressed by guest contributors to the Maryland Humanities blog do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of Maryland Humanities and/or any of its sponsors, partners, or funders. No official endorsement by any of these institutions should be inferred.

The Gift of Literature: Recommendations from Curious Iguana

Posted on by Maryland Humanities

By Kari Kelly and Emily Perper from Curious Iguana

During the holidays, it’s easy to fall back on old favorites—the classics we know and love—because it can be extremely difficult to choose the perfect gift for that hard-to-please relative or a new literature-loving friend. You don’t necessarily know what they’ve read before or what they like to read, so it’s tempting to play it safe. But to truly understand others, we need to read all different kinds of stories—even if they’re different from what we’re used to and out of our literary comfort zones.

Keep your eye out for new-to-you authors and titles you and your loved ones can enjoy together. Don’t be afraid to ask your local bookseller for recommendations or bring a list of ideas (like this one!) with you to your local independent bookstore. The following suggestions are books our employees and customers have enjoyed, spanning different ages, genres, and reading levels.

Babies (ages 0-2):

  • All Fall Down by Mary Brigid Barrett and LeUyen Pham (Candlewick, 2014): Our best-selling baby book pick, this fun book consistently delights the youngest readers.
  • Counting on Community by Innosanto Nagara (Triangle Square, 2015): A vibrant board book that illustrates that a community can always count on each other.
  • Music Is…by Brandon Stosuy and Amy Martin (Little Simon, 2016): This title keeps little ones giggling and babbling while learning about music.

Toddlers (ages 2-3):

  • Cityblock by Christopher Franceschelli and Peskimo (Harry N. Abrams, 2016): Fun, chunky board book that introduces little readers to things that go, things to see and things to eat in a busy city.
  • It Is Not Time for Sleeping by Lisa Graff and Lauren Castillo (Clarion Books, 2016): This dreamy new bedtime book is sure to become a new classic.
  • Tinyvilletown Gets to Work! by Brian Biggs (Harry N. Abrams, 2016): A wonderful new series, reminiscent of Richard Scarry, which shows how everyone in the community keep things running smoothly.

Ages 3-5:

  • My Pen by Christopher Myers (Disney-Hyperion, 2015): Inspiring romp through the imagination as a little boy describes all of the things he can do with his pen.
  • Swatch: the Girl Who Loved Color by Julie Denos (Balzer + Bray, 2016): An energetic must-read for all children, this wildly lovely tale is one of our best-selling picture books of the year.
  • Teacup by Rebecca Young and Matt Ottley (Dial Books, 2016): Gorgeous, simple, hopeful story of leaving one home and finding another.

Ages 6-8:

  • Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2016): A bestselling author-illustrator duo returns with the latest lyrical installment about the boundless curiosity of a little girl and her endless science experiments.
  • Mango, Abuela and Me by Meg Medina and Angela Dominguez (Candlewick, 2015): Heartwarming intergenerational story about tradition, storytelling, and thinking outside the box.
  • The Princess and the Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes by Duncan Tonatiuh (Harry N. Abrams, 2016): Highly-acclaimed retelling of an Aztec folktale with funky, collaged illustrations.

Ages 8-12:

  • The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin Young Readers, 2016): This poetic, magical fantasy is a store favorite and bound to be a classic someday soon.
  • The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz and Hatem Aly (Dutton Books for Young Readers, 2016): A riveting medieval-era tale told from multiple perspectives that touches on magic, miracles, and the importance of loving people different from yourself.
  • When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016): This adventure weaves together folklore, mystery, and fantasy into a beautifully told, illustrated treasure.

Young Adult (ages 13+):

  • Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown (HarperTeen, 2016): Joanna has been out and proud for a while, but when her family moves to a new town, her preacher father asks her to keep her identity a secret. A fast-paced, sweet book about falling in love and taking ownership of your values.
  • Saving Red by Sonya Sones (HarperTeen, 2016): A novel-in-verse about a naive 14-year-old who meets a young homeless woman named Red and comes to understand that homelessness, mental illness and independence are far more nuanced than she ever could have imagined.
  • The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (Delacorte Press, 2016): Natasha meets Daniel serendipitously. They couldn’t be more different, but there’s an undeniable chemistry between them. They’re star-crossed lovers with a contemporary twist.

Adult:

  • Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Ella Morton (Workman Publishing, 2016): Atlas Obscura began as a scrappy website where users could submit the weird and wonderful places they encountered. Now, it’s a glorious collection that highlights the self-mummifying monks of Shugendo, the Icelandic elf school, and literally hundreds of other sites. This title is thorough and engaging enough to delight both the reluctant reader and the seasoned traveler.
  • Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (Spiegel & Grau, 2016): Trevor Noah may be best-known as the heir to Jon Stewart’s throne on The Daily Show and as a stand-up comic, but his writing chops mean Born A Crime—a memoir about the gritty reality of growing up biracial in apartheid-era South Africa—is a great gift for comedy fans and history buffs alike.

Books that transcend age:

  • A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston (Candlewick, 2016): This gorgeous ode to literature and imagination has been our most gifted-to-adults children’s book of the year.
  • Illuminature by Rachel Williams and Carnovsky (Wide Eye Editions, 2016): Use the included colored lens to discover 180 animals throughout this oversized kaleidoscopic delight.
  • Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History by Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl (Ten Speed Press, 2016): A celebration of some of the world’s most inspiring women, past and present.

About the Authors

Kari Kelly is the Children’s Book Buyer at Curious Iguana.  Emily Perper is Content Manager at Curious Iguana. Curious Iguana is an independent bookstore in historic downtown Frederick, Maryland that aims to inspire global awareness and community connection.

What book would you recommend for the perfect gift this year? Share your ideas in the comments!

Standing Rock and Sitting Bull: Where is the history?

Posted on by Lou Williams

This was originally posted on the National Council on Public History’s blog, History@Work

Sitting Bull circa 1881. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Sitting Bull circa 1881. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

As I’ve watched the groundswell of protest at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota over the building of a new pipeline carrying “fracked” oil from the massive Bakken oilfield, I’ve been surprised by the lack of mention of what seems to me to be one of the most striking things about this action: the fact that it’s taking place on the same reservation where Sitting Bull was killed in December 1890 by federal Indian agency police who came to arrest him as part of an attempt to suppress a wave of Indian resistance.

The story of the day after Sitting Bull’s death is better-known. At another reservation to the south, as many as 300 people, including some who had fled from Standing Rock, were killed by federal soldiers near Wounded Knee Creek. Sometimes referred to as a battle but more often as a massacre, the event has been a touchstone for indigenous resistance ever since, including in a 1973 occupation of the town of Wounded Knee by activists from the American Indian Movement.

There’s an incredible resonance here with today’s civil disobedience actions at Standing Rock. A very broad alliance of indigenous groups and non-indigenous allies and environmentalists has taken a stand against the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline, but also against the expansion of extractive processes and infrastructure on indigenous lands more generally. As with other pipeline and anti-fracking protests, they’re warning about specific problems like potential spills and pollution of water sources. But they’re also talking about the overall moral relationship of humans to our environments as well as making very broad statements about sovereignty and stewardship. It’s this broader message that seems to be sparking such wide solidarity and support.

It is not, however, garnering as much media attention as you might expect at this point. In fact, journalists are being very actively discouraged from covering the story, including through arrest and threats of arrest (a warrant was recently issued for independent broadcaster Amy Goodman on the charge of trespass and “riot,” based on the argument that she was sympathetic to the protesters and was therefore a protester herself).

An Oct, 22,2016 Google search turned up few sources that show the links between today’s Standing Rock actions and the history of Sitting Bull’s life and death. Screenshot by the author

But even in the limited coverage that’s finding its way into the press, I’ve been struck by how absent any discussion of history is. Maybe the historical connections with Sitting Bull’s death and Wounded Knee are so completely obvious to indigenous people that they feel no need to mention them except in passing or between the lines. That’s the approach taken by Standing Rock Sioux chairman David Archambault II in an op ed piece for the New York Times and by Winona LaDuke in an article for Yes!Magazine ( although this piece on White Wolf Pack blog states the connection more directly).

In general, there’s virtually nothing in the press about Sitting Bull, let alone explanations that might suggest how inspiring–and also how alarming–the knowledge of the past must be for the activists who are now preparing to dig in to this deeply resonant place for the winter. If you do a Google search for “Sitting Bull” and “Standing Rock,” you have to click through several pages of hits before you get to sources that could help you piece together anything like the fuller story of broken treaties, violent repression, determined resistance, and forced relocations that underlie today’s protests.

When I polled the students in one of my classes at Tufts University about this last week, only a few were vaguely aware of the Standing Rock actions, something that surprised me given their general attentiveness to questions of social, racial, and environmental justice. Most had heard of Sitting Bull and a couple knew about Wounded Knee. I’m glad that some faculty and students at my institution are holding a teach-in about Standing Rock that’s connecting some of these dots. But there’s clearly much more that could be done–perhaps including by public historians–to get the message out not only about what’s going on in the present but about how it emerges from a long, painful, and very specific history of contestation in this part of what is now the United States.

~ Cathy Stanton is a senior lecturer in anthropology at Tufts University and an active public historian. She serves as digital media editor for the National Council on Public History.

The opinions expressed by guest contributors to the Maryland Humanities blog do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of Maryland Humanities and/or any of its sponsors, partners, or funders. No official endorsement by any of these institutions should be inferred.

Event Preview: Pulitzer Prize-Winners Taylor Branch & Isabel Wilkerson in Conversation

Posted on by Maryland Humanities

What is the impact of the humanities on American life? As part of the Pulitzer Prizes’ Centennial Celebration, Maryland Humanities has partnered with the University of Maryland, College Park’s College of Arts and Humanities to present Pulitzer Prize-winning author-historians Taylor Branch and Isabel Wilkerson in conversation on December 6th.

Though now known for their sweeping narrative histories, Branch and Wilkerson began their writing careers as journalists. In 1970, Branch started work as an editor and journalist for The Washington Monthly. His success there led to subsequent positions as staff writer for Harper’s and Esquire. After interning at The Washington Post, Wilkerson began her career as a journalist at the Detroit Free Press in 1983. In 1984, she accepted a position as a metropolitan reporter at The New York Times, where she was promoted to national correspondent in 1986 and then Chicago Bureau Chief in 1991.

Isabel Wilkerson photo
Isabel Wilkerson, Photo: Joe Henson

Though she later received international acclaim for her National Book Critics Circle Award-winning book The Warmth of Others Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, Wilkerson won her Pulitzer Prize for Feature Reporting in 1994. Wilkerson’s poignant portrait of fourth-grader Nicholas Whitiker from Chicago’s South Side and her two stories reporting about the Midwestern flood of 1993 earned her the prize. Early in her career, Wilkerson committed herself to sharing the personal experiences of those without a voice. As she explained to Emory Report editor Kim Urquhart, “In the end, nothing really matters until I can see from the perspective of the human heart.”

 

Taylor Branch photo
Taylor Branch, Photo: Jean-Pierre Isbendjian

Branch won his Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63, the first book in his epic trilogy of America in the midst of change. Branch developed his interest in the Civil Rights Movement in college, when he found most books on the subject to be “overly analytical,” and “like a chess match” for readers. After college, his graduate work at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs led Branch to write a short piece about “the implications for economic development” of the school’s summer project encouraging voter registration. Branch kept a diary of his experiences “trying to gain the trust and interest of skeptical blacks in southern Georgia.”  Such experiences spurred Branch to further explore the struggle of civil rights, from the end of the Eisenhower administration to the dawning of the New South. Discussing contemporary social justice, Branch shared that he’s “worried, that if people don’t really immerse themselves in what it means, they’ll take it for granted.”

In addition to their journalistic origins, Branch and Wilkerson are both National Humanities Medal recipients and share an all-encompassing commitment to research. Wilkerson spent 15 years researching African-American migration for The Warmth of Others Suns. She traveled extensively and interviewed more than 1,000 people who migrated from the South to Northern and Western cities. The final version of Branch’s trilogy spans 2912 pages and his research for the project, ranging from legal documents to personal correspondence, is included in the “Taylor Branch Papers, 1865-2013” collection, housed at Branch’s alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Branch’s research now fills 87 linear feet of shelf space at the UNC library.

Join us December 6th when Maryland Humanities and The University of Maryland College Park present “WORLDWISE Arts & Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series: The Pulitzer 100”, featuring Taylor Branch and Isabel Wilkerson in conversation. NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund’s Sherrilyn Ifill will moderate an engaging discussion between the two author-historians on the historical context behind their Pulitzer Prize-winning work and its relevancy to our lives today.

Event begins at 7 PM at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. A book signing and reception will follow the event. Tickets are free, but required. Tickets are available here!

This program is part of the 2016 Pulitzer Prizes Centennial Campfire Initiative, a joint venture of the Pulitzer Prizes Board and the Federation of State Humanities Councils, sponsored in part by the Mellon Foundation.

Bibliography

Urquhart, Kim. “Write from the Heart.” Emory Report. 8 Nov 2016. http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/2006/September/September%2025/Profile.htm.

“Awards & Honors: 1999 National Humanities Medalist: Taylor Branch.” National Endowment for the Humanities. 8 Nov 2016. https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/national-humanities-medals/taylor-branch.

Gardens Grow, People Thrive: The Importance of Urban Farming

Posted on by Lou Williams

As the Urban Agriculture Coordinator at University of Maryland Extension, Prince George’s County, I learned the importance of food every day. I love food. Food has become not only a comforter but also a bridge that I use to connect people and share stories. In my position, my main responsibilities included managing two community gardens and helping community residents identify urban agriculture opportunities. Our community gardens are nestled in the community of Riverdale, one of the most culturally rich unincorporated areas of Prince George’s County. The Sheridan Street Community Garden, formerly known as The Master Peace Community Garden, is roughly 8 years old, while the Field of Greens Community Garden is wrapping up its third season. Working in this position has been one of the most rewarding and fascinating experiences of my life.

urbanfarming1Every day, I watched as Bhutanese and Cameroonian refugees report to the garden at 8 AM or sometimes earlier to tend to their gardens, anticipating a yield to feed their families and beyond. My favorite stories of the garden are about a Bhutanese elder in his seventies named Jamuna. When I met Jamuna, she could not speak English very well. She would affectionately speak to me in Nepali like an aunt speaks to her niece, but I often struggled to understand or respond. I would smile in agreement, hoping the abundance of produce she always gave me was a display of appreciation and love. Her children would tell me stories about her transition to the United States; how she experienced multiple health issues and struggled to adjust to a new country far away from home. I believe the garden somehow rejuvenated her joy and continues to gives her strength.

The Field of Greens Community Garden (FOG) is a fifty-three plot community garden also located in Riverdale. The garden is adjacent to William Wirt Middle School and a short walk from Parkview Gardens Apartment Complex, where the majority of our refugee gardeners reside. This space addresses public health and food access needs in a community identified as a “food desert.” In 2012, we were awarded a Community Impact Grant through the Redevelopment Authority of Prince George’s County, to transform an abandoned soccer field into a vibrant, inter-generational, multicultural, inclusive growing space for refugee families. FOG features a youth gardening area, shade structure, shed, food forest, and deer fence. The garden was created through numerous partnerships with the International Rescue Committee, Strong City Baltimore, Neighborhood Design Center, Lowe’s, Asplundh, University of Maryland, and many more. Community Gardens are a major part of urban agriculture. One major difference between community gardens and urban farms is that, urban farms are normally for commercial production while community gardens are hobby or small scale take home operations.

Urban Agriculture benefits include:

  • Build community comraderey and empower underserved communities
  • Revenue generation and local economy booster
  • Reestablish pollinator habitats and increase biodiversity inside cities
  • Increase physical activity and improve diet
  • Increase access to affordable fresh local food

Urban Agriculture is fluid; always changing in its approach and concepts, which is one reason I was so drawn to this career path. In my career, I have also had the opportunity to serve on the Prince George’s County Food Equity Council (FEC). The FEC is a collective of twenty-two leaders across the food system who advocate for a better food system through developing policies that support public health, promote economic opportunity, and create a better life for residents of the county. Organizations like the FEC truly tie all the work together to create just food systems for all. Urban Agriculture is attracting many different groups of people including veterans, millennials, special needs populations, seniors, and returning citizens. Food is a universal language that captures all people and all stories. This is just one example of how urban agriculture uplifts people and keeps communities thriving.

Michelle Nelson, currently works as the Community Garden Program Manager with Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. If you have any questions about community gardens or urban agriculture, please feel free to contact her at mchllnlsn@gmail.com

FCC Students on Identity and Responsibility in “All American Boys”

Posted on by Maryland Humanities

The 2016 One Maryland One Book, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, is written from two perspectives about an incident of police brutality that divides a city. As Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Kiely shared during this year’s One Maryland One Book author tour, their goal was for All American Boys to inspire readers to share their perspectives with others and speak up for what they think is right.

Led by Professor Magin LaSov Gregg, Frederick Community College students read All American Boys and wrote personal essays inspired by the book. Here’s what FCC students Joshua Moore and Sofia McCluskey had to say about identity and responsibility in All American Boys:

Joshua Moore:

Writing this essay on an American College Football Saturday, wearing a Team USA t-shirt made by Nike, and having SportsCenter on as my background noise, it is almost a challenge not to feel like an All-American Boy. I live in my All-American house, with old glory hanging off my front porch, two blocks away from where I had watched an All-American high school football game the night before.  My All-American beagle, who’s snoring under my chair, is wearing his US flag scarf. However, in the middle of growing up in this small community of Middletown, Maryland, graduating from this small high school, and working 25 hours per week in a small gas station, I feel as if I have lost sight of the big topics that don’t translate easily to small town white suburbia. Where I grew up, and where I still call home, is not a community exposed to violence, crime, or even moderate police presence.  If I was raised by this community, a predominately-white upper class collective, how could I really know what it’s like to feel socially challenged? I graduated from a public high school, I shoot fireworks on July 4th. I sing the Star-Spangled Banner at each sporting event I attend. Does that define “American”? If not, what more do I need to take in or do to qualify for that “A”? (As All-American public high school taught me that I could succeed with the bare minimum.) Tell me, exactly, how “All-American” am I supposed to be?

Quinn, a protagonist [in All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely], has mixed emotions on what he should do after witnessing the police beating of his unarmed schoolmate, Rashad Butler, who is an African American. The authors made a statement putting Quinn, portrayed as a quiet individual, in a rather loud predicament: sometimes the ‘right thing’, can be the most difficult. [..] Quinn felt as if he had to be that narrowly defined “All American Boy” because of what happened to his father and his family. When he sees how difficult life still is for people of color in the U.S., he starts to question what the phrase “All-American” is supposed to mean. What made All American Boys truly appeal to me was that I could connect and identify with Quinn. Yes, I have been in situations as a young person that I thought no adult, or anyone for that matter, could understand; nonetheless, how he felt after the passing of his father, hit close to home. I lost my father due to complications from a car accident in January of 2012. At the time, I had just turned the age of 14. I learned that he, like Quinn’s father, affected and changed people’s lives that I wasn’t even aware of.  People –strangers– would tell me that he was an exceptional man and boss, that they loved working for him and always trusted him. And believe me, it made me truly happy that so many people loved him and everything he did for them. However, I found myself at a loss when I heard: “You look just like your father…”, or my personal favorite “You are going to be a great man, just like your dad.” I felt as if once my dad died, my future was almost written for me or if I didn’t fulfill what people saw in my father, I would’ve failed.

I often felt as if I was supposed to live up to the “legend” of a man my father was. My dad grew up poor, served in the army, went to college, then earned a six-figure-salary by the time of his death. He lived the “American Dream.” This novel was so important to me because it made me realize that I wasn’t required to fit the mold my dad left behind. I’m allowed to be different.

Sofia McCluskey:

The two topics I felt most compelled to speak on was what it means to “walk with ‘the other’ “ and the recovery of the community after situations of injustice. Recovery is filled with pain and anger and sadness and everyone has a different way of coping with those certain things and it’s up to the community to come together and speak up. One quote that was almost a parallel to myself the first time I attended a Black Lives Matter rally was when Kiely and Reynolds wrote “so many people, mostly strangers, but everyone there for the same reason. It was unreal”  (313). The more voices that speak, the more powerful the community will become… “this is a real moment of history, Quinn… I want to make sure I’m on the right side of it” (299) The fact the fact that the last two quotes exemplify the fact that different races, ethnicities, genders, and identities coming together and walking with the “other” shows the reader a majority people want to stand up but they are afraid, but once they do they will soon realize that they are not alone.  A lot of people are scared to stand up for what they personally believe is right, but if you sit by and don’t stand for something you feel strongly about, then what’s the point of even standing at all? When Quinn and Jill stand up, it represents all the bystanders realizing that they can no longer keep quiet in this monumental moment in history that is the Black Lives Matter movement.

If we are able to come together as a whole and face the oppressor, with all of our different norms and biases, it shows that we will no longer tolerate the injustices. “I locked eyes with a kid I didn’t know, but felt like I did. A white guy, who I could tell was thinking about those names too”(284). When Quinn finally chose to speak up and no longer be a bystander, that showed that he was more willing to change than the oppressor. That he was ready to stand up for the injustice, and when he heard the names of all the lives that have been lost as a cause of injustice he knew that he made the right choice, not matter how scared he was. If we all took the time to work towards being more empathetic and understanding of the unconscious biases that are occurring to this day, we will be more able to stand up to the oppressor and show that silence is another kind of violence that will not be tolerated.

About the Authors

Sofia McCluskey is studying nursing at Frederick Community College.

Joshua Moore is studying political science and pre-law at Frederick Community College.

 

Did you read the 2016 One Maryland One Book All American Boys? How did you connect to the characters and themes of the book? Share your perspective in the comments!

Hopkins and the Great War

Posted on by Lou Williams
“Junior Class Hullabaloo Board,” Exhibits: The Sheridan Libraries and Museums, accessed October 24, 2016, http://exhibits.library.jhu.edu/items/show/398
“Junior Class Hullabaloo Board,” Exhibits: The Sheridan Libraries and Museums, Johns Hopkins University

Chemistry professors recruited to do research in chemical warfare. Surgeons developing revolutionary new techniques to deal with gruesome war injuries. Nurses stepping into unprecedented new leadership roles at home and on the warfront. Student soldiers living in engineering classrooms converted to barracks. All these things and more were experienced by the Johns Hopkins community during World War I.

This fall, Johns Hopkins University launched Hopkins and the Great War, its first multi-campus collaborative exhibit. The exhibit opened in September 2016 in three locations: The Milton S. Eisenhower Library on the Homewood campus, the School of Nursing Anne M. Pinkard Building, and the William H. Welch Medical Library. Drawing on the rich archival collections at the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives and the Ferdinand Hamburger University Archives, these exhibits explore World War I’s impact on different members of the Hopkins community: the students, faculty, and female patrons of the undergraduate Homewood campus, and the doctors, nurses, students, and faculty of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the schools of Nursing, Medicine and Public Health.

Our exhibit curators included archivists at both the Medical and University Archives as well as a historian of medicine.  In addition to the physical exhibits, a digital exhibit is available with enhanced content, including links to the full text of publications and diaries featured in the exhibit.

Each physical exhibit location hosted an exhibit opening. On September 14 at the Eisenhower Library, Dr. Alice Kelly, Harmsworth Junior Research Fellow in the History of America and the First World War at Oxford University’s Rothermere American Institute and Corpus Christi College, presented “Ellen N. La Motte: A Hopkins Nurse in the Backwash of War.” Kelly’s talk explored La Motte’s startlingly graphic 1916 memoir and newly discovered correspondence now part of the Chesney Medical Archives’ La Motte Collection in the broader context of World War I literature and the wartime avant-garde.

“Photograph of a Surgery in the General Operating Room,” Exhibits: The Sheridan Libraries and Museums, accessed October 24, 2016, http://exhibits.library.jhu.edu/items/show/493.
“Photograph of a Surgery in the General Operating Room,” Exhibits: The Sheridan Libraries and Museums, Johns Hopkins University

As part of the School of Nursing’s annual reunion on September 23, storyteller Ellouise Schoettler performed her one woman show, “Ready to Serve: A Story of Hopkins Nurse in World War I.” In this moving first person account, Schoettler brought to life the reminiscences of a World War I nurse who served with the Johns Hopkins Base Hospital Unit 18 in France.

On October 18, historian Marian Moser Jones, University of Maryland-College Park, presented “Dispatches from the Second Battlefield: Four Hopkins Nurses Tell Their World War I Stories.” Jones examined the wartime experiences of Hopkins nurses Vashti Bartlett, Ellen La Motte, Alice Fitzgerald and Bessie Baker within the context of a larger scholarship about World War I nurses as sister soldiers.

That all 3 exhibit openings featured the stories of nurses speaks to the significance of women’s involvement in the war, service for which they claimed the right to suffrage as “Justice for Women as a War Measure”. Telling stories of women engaged in the health professions in the midst of war bridges medicine and the humanities, as do the stories of the male doctors and soldiers featured in the exhibit.

Hopkins and the Great War will be on display in the three physical locations through January 2017. The Hopkins libraries and archives welcome History Day students and World War I scholars to explore the exhibit and our wealth of World War I collections throughout the centennial period. The exhibit features just a small portion of the extensive resources that can be used to explore the themes of the exhibit in greater detail.

About the authors:

Phoebe Evans Letocha is Collections Management Archivist at the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. She served as curator for the Nursing section of the Hopkins and the Great War exhibit.

Jenny Kinniff is Hopkins Retrospective Program Manager at The Sheridan Libraries. She served as curator for the Homewood section of the Hopkins and the Great War exhibit.