Sarah Weissman – Page 5 – Maryland Humanities

To Be a Pirate Queen: Chautauqua 2019

Posted on July 10, 2019October 29, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

For the 25^th anniversary of our Chautauqua living history series, we’re diving into how water has shaped our history and celebrating those who have navigated ice, waves, and the depths below. Communications Specialist Sarah Weissman spoke with Mary Ann Jung, the actor-historian who plays “pirate queen” Grace O’Malley. Chautauqua 2019: Making Waves continues tonight and ends with a performance of Jung as O’Malley on July 20.

For performer Mary Ann Jung, who portrays “pirate queen” Grace O’Malley, donning her 16th-century garb is something akin to wearing a superhero suit. “I feel stronger in costume than out of costume,” she says. Jung’s father was in the navy, and while she’s inherited an interest in the sea, she confesses she’s not like the brave adventurer she portrays. “I wouldn’t really want to be the sailor.”

Jung expresses an admiration, ownership, and closeness to “all my amazing women,” referring not only to O’Malley but others in her Chautauqua repertoire. She’s previously performed as Clara Barton, Rosalie Stier Calvert, Julia Child, and Amelia Earhart for Maryland Humanities, and as Sally Ride, Rosie the Riveter, and more elsewhere.

“It always humbles me, to be honest, to play any of these terrific role models. Even when society said ‘No you can’t,’ [they] said ‘Yes I will. I will do whatever is required, take over my father’s clan, herds, soldiers…,’ she says, referring specifically to events in O’Malley’s life. “She said ‘I want to learn’ and society laughed at her.” Yet, O’Malley didn’t let critics defeat her and went on to command the west coast of Ireland and an entire fleet of ships in the 1500s. “If she wasn’t a ferocious fighter and brilliant leader, they [her men] would’ve served somebody else,” says Jung.

“The most dangerous, brave, surprising of her actions is when in 1593 she sailed to England to face down Queen Elizabeth,” Jung says. “In order to win the release of her son, she risks her life to go to England—if anybody would have caught her, they would’ve gotten a fortune—and face down the Queen and demand justice.”

Illustration of Grace O’Malley by Tom Chalkley

Jung also mentions Queen Elizabeth I when she bemoans that more people aren’t familiar with O’Malley. “I just wish that more people would realize that in the 1500s, much like Queen Elizabeth, there were lots of women who defied society’s narrow views of women,” she says. When first researching O’Malley, there was only one existing biography. Jung informs me that there is no painting of her, and the only physical description of her was written by an admiring anonymous Englishman. Another Englishman, soldier Richard Bingham, called O’Malley the “Nurse of All Rebellions,” and wrote to Queen Elizabeth that “Some Irish queens will submit: Grace O’Malley never, ever will.”

Jung highlights different perceptions of O’Malley. “She’s only a pirate to England, not to Ireland. To the Irish, she’s a champion,” she says. “It depends on what end of the cannon you’re looking at.”

Jung also makes sure not to paint O’Malley as universally beloved, even in her home country. “She was not fighting for all of Ireland,” she says, but “for her clan [and for] related clans,” referencing the dissension between different Irish clans at the time.

Performing in Chautauqua necessitates not only researching biographical events but the figure’s clothing, accent, and more. “In this case, I’m also researching sailing: what are the parts of a ship? What kind of ships did she sail?” The crimson skirt that gives Jung a sense of strength signifies O’Malley’s boldness: under English rule the Irish were forbidden to wear the color saffron, so “to flout the English laws,” O’Malley wore the color.

With the gaps in the known history of and public awareness surrounding O’Malley, Jung says that “I wish people knew and understood the strength and courage to do what she did.” At Maryland Humanities, we’re pleased to make O’Malley’s story a little more widely known.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.

Recreating Cousteau: Chautauqua 2019

Posted on July 5, 2019October 29, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

For the 25^th anniversary of our Chautauqua living history series, we’re diving into how water has shaped our history and celebrating those who have navigated ice, waves, and the depths below. Communications Specialist Sarah Weissman spoke with Doug Mishler, the actor-scholar who portrays Jacques Cousteau. Mishler performed for the very first Chautauqua in Maryland in 1995 as P.T. Barnum. Chautauqua 2019: Making Waves begins tonight and runs through July 20.

Actor-scholar Doug Mishler has a personal connection to Jacques Cousteau. “I was a scuba diver and scuba instructor and in a way, I got into it because of his [Cousteau’s television] series in the 1960s,” Mishler says. He premieres his presentation as Cousteau on July 6 for Maryland Humanities’ Chautauqua living history series. When requested to create a presentation of the character for Chautauqua 2019 by Maryland Humanities staff, Mishler “couldn’t refuse. I just had to do it,” he says. “He was a childhood hero.”

While Mishler first knew about Cousteau from The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, which aired from 1966 to 1976, he now finds Cousteau’s work prior to the show most interesting. As an adult, he admires Cousteau’s “dedication to learning how to make humans work within this very hostile underwater environment. He figures out how to get people underwater, how they breathe, what they need to do to not kill themselves, adjusting it and how to make this possible.”

Mishler speaks of how Cousteau developed one of the first underwater habitats for humans, the Continental Shelf Station (often called the CONSHELF)[1]. Cousteau made three variations of the CONSHELF: Mishler says the CONSHELF III allowed Cousteau and his crew to say at below 300 feet[2] for almost three months.

Mishler is most inspired by Cousteau’s “drive, his passion to expel this problem that he faced” and his willingness to explore the unknown. “Slowly they [Cousteau and his crew] had to take each one [obstacle] and say ‘how do you handle this?’ And they’d often fail but go on to the next obstacle,” he says. “This drive to focus, to overcome, to keep moving forward despite obstacles.” Mishler is awed by “the tenacity of it all.”

Mishler mentions Cousteau’s early years. As a teenager, had difficulty relating to others.

Illustration of Jacques Cousteau by Tom Chalkley

“He was completely shut out, but then he got a camera and that completely changed how he related to people. One of his passions was to get a camera underwater, and so he’s the first man to get a hand-held camera and film underwater,” Mishler says. Cousteau related to people through filming underwater and showing them “this new world.” He discovered his passion for water through a punishment. “He was forced to jump into a pool with dirty, filthy water and clean it out, and he found that being in water was much better than dealing with people.”

Cousteau has a lesser-known history as a member of the French Resistance during World War II. “He survived the Nazi occupation of France by scuba diving,” Mishler says. “His brother was a Nazi sympathizer, and his first film was made because his brother passed him off as a Nazi biologist.”

While honoring all of Cousteau’s contributions, Mishler cautions against ignoring his flaws. “It’s ahistorical to say there’s a perfect human being,” he says. The life of a historical figure like Cousteau is in danger of becoming “this illusion that, though he is driven and makes incredible advancements for humanity, he’s [not] also human and makes mistakes.” Presenting a historical figure’s faults and flaws can not only make them “more accessible” but can also serve as a teaching tool. They “can be lessons in how to do something or how not to do something,” he says. “That’s what I like about the Chautauqua format: you show not only their heroics but their flaws and failures. We examine these characters and hopefully look at ourselves as we examine them, and see there’s good and bad in everyone.”

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.

A Chat with an Arctic Explorer: Chautauqua 2019

Posted on June 27, 2019October 29, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

For the 25^th anniversary of our Chautauqua living history series, we’re diving into how water has shaped our history and celebrating those who have navigated ice, waves, and the depths below. Communications Specialist Sarah Weissman spoke with Keith Henley, the actor-scholar who portrays Matthew Henson. Henley kicks off Chautauqua 2019: Making Waves with his first performance July 5. The series runs through July 20.

Performer Keith Henley sees Arctic explorer Matthew Henson’s story as only one in a multitude of overlooked accomplishments by black men. “I fell in love with the story,” he said. “My passion is actually to tell the stories of African American men correctly. And I’ve taken it upon myself to tell the stories of African American men correctly and put a different light on how the country perceives black men and their accomplishments.”

Henson’s story was fortunately not erased from history, but explorer Robert Peary – whom Henson accompanied to the North Pole – did erase it for a significant portion of Henson’s life. “Matthew Henson spends half his life with Robert Peary, makes it all the way to the North Pole just to be disregarded or ignored,” Henley says. “Then he spends the next 20 years of his life reclaiming what should have been his.” According to Henley, Peary treated Henson relatively well until Peary’s ego was bruised when he learned that Henson reached the North Pole half an hour before him. Henley brings up an evening after Peary and Henson had made it to their destination.

“That night when they went to sleep, Robert packed his things and left Matthew,” Henley says. “Matthew wakes up and he’s thinking that Robert left because it’s cold and because he thought that his foot was bothering him. He just never thought that Robert would leave him and not wake him.” When Henson requested that Peary write the introduction to his book, A Negro at the North Pole, Peary denounced Henson’s role in the mission entirely. In New York, when Peary’s group was being honored, Peary read the names of all of the journey members except for Henson. “That’s when Matthew knew he was dissed and it broke his heart,” Henley says. Apparently, Henson had enough faith in Perry to believe that he would acknowledge Henson’s work before his death: he did not, but Henson did outlive Peary by twenty years.

Illustration of Matthew Henson by Tom Chalkley

Unexpectedly, Henson received an award named after the man who denied his accomplishments: he was awarded the Peary Polar Expedition Medal, authorized by Congress, in 1944, almost 25 years after Peary’s death. Henson was again honored at the White House by President Truman and again by President Dwight Eisenhower. Henson “saw the accolades he should have gotten in 1909, he gets them right before he dies in the Fifties,” Henley says. “The black community embraced him and kept his story alive.”

Henley speaks of how, while Henson received recognition in his lifetime, many still aren’t aware of him or his achievements. “Most people don’t find out about these icons until they’re in their 30s or 40s, or sometimes in their 60s and 70s. And that’s only because they’re not taught,” he says. “When you don’t talk about the history of the country and all those who participated in the development of the country then we miss out,” he says. “With Matthew Henson, a lot of the people don’t know he was the first black man who traveled to the North Pole. This is our history and it’s a travesty that we don’t embrace it. It should always be in front of us.”

Henley’s tone switches as he expresses gratitude for the opportunity to share Henson’s story. “Thank god for Chautauqua, because with all the various themes they have, they open the door for us to discuss and see the stories of those icons [who] normally wouldn’t be discussed. Chautauqua is that venue that promotes the knowledge of the unknown, and I’m grateful for that.”

Maryland Humanities is grateful, too, to our inspired actor-scholars and the dedicated Chautauqua audiences who return year after year.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.

Maryland Students Produce Film About Historic Flooding in Ellicott City

Posted on June 11, 2019October 18, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

Students from Lansdowne High School documented the history of flooding in Ellicott City as part of Museum on Main Street in Baltimore County and the Stories: YES (Youth, Engagement, and Skill-Building) program. The Historical Society of Baltimore County is the first Museum on Main Street tour stop in Maryland. Shannon Sullivan is the Museum on Main Street, Program Coordinator at Smithsonian Institution and this post originally appeared on the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street blog.

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Twelve students from Lansdowne High School (LHS) Televideo program know the impact of massive flooding—they’ve witnessed it twice in their region in just two years. For the exhibition of Water/Ways at the Historical Society of Baltimore County (HSBC) in Cockeysville, Maryland, students documented the history of flooding in Ellicott City including floods that destroyed the historic downtown in 2016 and again in 2018.

HSBC applied to be part of MoMS’ Stories: YES program shortly after the second destructive flood in 2018. Although Ellicott City is not in Baltimore County, HSBC provided numerous resources and crucial links to Howard County Historical Society for this impressive region-wide endeavor. In order to create their film, LHS students traveled to Ellicott City for one day to interview residents, politicians, and business owners while collecting footage and additional research. Below are a few excerpts of what they heard from the community:

“They had 6-8 inches of water falling in just 2 or 3 hours and there’s nothing that’s gonna stop the flooding.”

“You know development versus the change in climate versus the geographical location—it’s just one of those perfect storm areas that when things line up, it’s like you hit the slot machine. But this is not the kind of jackpot that we want to hit.”

“The catastrophic flooding we’ve experienced has also caused a tear in the fabric, each time there’s a major flood, there are people who move away, businesses that don’t come back, relationships that get frayed.”

“The most important thing is that we’re out of time.”

Watch “Waterways of Ellicott City”

The LHS Honors Choral Ensemble also went to Ellicott City and sang “Take Me to the Water” at some of the community’s landmark locales. Their performance in this music video is emblematic of the literal power of water that the city has faced but also the faith that the community has that they will find solutions, despite tough choices ahead.

Watch “Take Me to the Water”

HSBC will be showing the film and music video from May 25^th to July 6^th during the exhibition Water/Ways. The film has already received an honorable mention at the Baltimore County Public School Film Expo. Howard County Historical Society will host a special premiere in their Ellicott City museum location for the one year anniversary of the second flood on May 30^th at 6:30 PM. Visit Maryland Humanities events page here for more information.

LHS Televideo is led by Brandon Nicklas. Stories: YES is made possible with internal Smithsonian funds through the Youth Access Grants Program.

#StoriesYES #WaterWays

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.

The Drayden African American Schoolhouse: Segregation in St. Mary’s County

Posted on May 28, 2019October 18, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

Alma Jordan is the Chair of the History and Research Committee of the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions (UCAC) in St. Mary’s County. She writes about the Drayden African American Schoolhouse. The segregated schoolhouse, in use through the 1940s, has been preserved and recently renovated as a historic site. Jordan’s grandfather was the first teacher when the school opened. Special thanks to Andrew Ponti, Marketing Manager at St. Mary’s County Museum Division, for his assistance in coordinating this post.

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Built in 1891, the one-room Drayden African American Schoolhouse still occupies its original site and has not been significantly altered from its original state. The schoolhouse functioned for hundreds of students until 1944. The structure marks the era of segregated schools in St. Mary’s County and represents the stories of the students who spent their school-age lives attending classes there.

At the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions (UCAC) in St. Mary’s County, we have been very excited about the Drayden School Project for a long time. Our organization has been on board with the project prior to the renovation of the building, which was completed in February 2018. We have worked closely with both Don Cropp (a local contractor who specializes in historic site restorations and who restored the Drayden School) and the St. Mary’s County Museum Division who oversees the site and its interpretation.

One of the main reasons we’re so excited is that our committee had the amazing opportunity to interview most of the surviving students regarding their experiences while in school at Drayden. Their stories, along with previous interviews, were noted in our book, In Relentless Pursuit of an Education: African American Stories from a Century of Segregation. We were able to share what a school day was like for “colored children”—first through seventh graders—who all shared one classroom. We also love being able to share these stories with visitors who come to Drayden during our monthly open houses and see the schoolhouse.

These stories reflected on what a typical school day was like at Drayden. It included tales of getting water in buckets from a local spring for the classroom and even cutting wood for the stove to keep the room warm. Older students were trained to help younger students with their lessons, sometimes from hand-me-down books from the local white schools, many with torn or missing pages. Recess was usually in the small yard surrounding the school, where the students played with a homemade ball, a swing (a simple rope hanging from a tree), and on their own handmade seesaw. Like all students of the period, many walked several miles to school with their siblings and neighbors, through all types of weather, including driving rain, frigid snowstorms, and sweltering heat.

The most exciting thing for me was learning that my grandfather, William Bunton Thompson, was the first teacher when the school opened in 1890. My grandmother, Ella Hawkins Thompson, and her sister, my great aunt Jane Hawkins Cutchember, were also teachers at Drayden School. Being able to learn all these interesting things about my own family, along with standing in the place that they actually taught, makes it all the more poignant for me and many other descendants of students and teachers alike. We hope we can continue to pass on these stories to future generations and preserve important sites like these.

This shows only a mere fraction of what there is to learn at Drayden and there are countless other accounts like these.

The Drayden African American Schoolhouse is located at 18287 Cherryfield Road, Drayden, MD, 20630 and is open to the public during a monthly Open House the first Saturday of the Month, through October, and other select days. Interpretive panels offer self-guided tours during times the site is closed. Group tours are available by advance arrangement by calling (301) 994-1471. For more information regarding the Drayden African American Schoolhouse, open hours, and more, please visit Facebook.com/DraydenSchool or call (301) 994-1471. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.

Art and Monstrous Wars at Baltimore Museum of Art

Posted on May 14, 2019October 18, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

Suzy Wolffe, Manager of Tour Experiences at Baltimore Museum of Art has organized tours of the Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940 exhibit with veteran Hans Palmer. Anne Brown, Senior Director of Communications at the museum, interviewed Wolffe about her experience and the history behind the exhibition.

On Saturday, May 18, The Baltimore Museum of Art is offering the last of three special tours of Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s with U.S. Marine Corps veteran Hans Palmer. This innovative program connects the artists’ experiences of war during the previous century with a contemporary perspective. I asked BMA Manager of Tour Experiences Suzy Wolffe to give us some background about the exhibition, explain the genesis of the program, and tell us how visitors have responded to the tours. — Anne Brown

Anne Brown: First, tell us what Monsters & Myths is about.

Suzy Wolffe: Monsters & Myths presents 90 paintings, sculptures, artist’s books, and films to show how artists responded to the monstrosities around them during the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Artists like Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, André Masson, and others channeled their experiences of war, violence, and exile into their art, creating some of the most compelling works of the Surrealist movement.

Brown: What prompted you to organize tours with a veteran?

Hans Palmer leads a tour. Image courtesy of Baltimore Museum of Art.

Wolff: Many of the artists in the exhibition endured horrific experiences as soldiers. They witnessed fascist riots and destruction on an unprecedented scale. Some were diagnosed with “shell shock,” which we now call post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. As we know, these circumstances are certainly not unique to the 1930s and 1940s. I wanted to find a way to connect that experience and the artworks made at the time with a current perspective.

Brown: How did you connect with Hans Palmer?

Wolffe: Hans and I were introduced by the Director of Veterans Initiatives at the Institute for Integrative Health in Baltimore. Hans served two tours in Il Ramadi, Iraq, as a soldier in the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines. I was struck by his willingness to talk about his experiences both in the infantry battalion and in his return to civilian life. Our program is unlike a typical tour of an exhibition. Hans selected works of art that he connected with most strongly, and it is these five artworks—Edwin Blumenfeld’s The Dictator (c. 1937), Joan Miró’s Portrait No. 1 (1938), André Masson’s The Metaphysical Wall (1940) and In the Tower of Sleep (1938), and Max Ernst’s Europe After the Rain II (1940-42)—that form the center of the experience. He responds from the perspective of a veteran, and I provide information on the artists’ backgrounds.

Brown: What have visitor responses been?

Wolffe: Each visitor brings his or her own experience to the tour. War can be a difficult topic, so our gallery conversations with participants have sometimes been intense. But the beauty of art is that you can see it through so many different lenses. We’ve had veterans, artists, and general visitors tell us that they really appreciate a veteran’s perspective on the artwork as it is one that is not heard very often.

Hans and Suzy will lead another tour on Saturday, May 18, at 5 p.m. Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s is on view through May 26, 2019. Tickets for both the exhibition and tour are available at artbma.org

This exhibition and related programs have been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and by generous funding from Transamerica, The Alvin and Fanny B. Thalheimer Exhibition Endowment Fund, and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.

Weaving a New Narrative at Towson University and Beyond

Posted on April 19, 2019October 18, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

Please note that the subject of the following blog post is a humanities project about sexual assault.

Molly Cohen is a graduate of the Department of Theatre Arts at Towson University. With Towson Professor Julie Potter, she worked on What Were You Wearing? Weaving a New Narrative. The installation aims to dismantle the ideology behind the question asked of many sexual assault survivors: “Were you attacked because of how you were dressed?” Molly takes the reader through the process of the installation, from conception to its presence on Towson’s campus and elsewhere.

One year ago, I was sitting in my mentor and former professor Julie Potter’s office talking about how it feels to be a female artist: our responsibility, our struggles, our fears, our voices. She had just seen an article on social media about an exhibit called the What Were You Wearing? Survivor Installation. Originating at the University of Arkansas in 2013, Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hierbert were inspired by Mary Simmerling’s poem What I was Wearing. We thought a similar project was needed on our campus, and that we could use our skills as theatre artists to make a greater impact with the power of storytelling.

As a costume designer and historian, Julie cares deeply about the way dress in our culture and society shapes our perception of other people. These perceptions are often too deeply rooted in prejudicial assumptions, ones that create a barrier between us and those we are quick to judge. As a budding costume designer and theatre artist myself, a senior at Towson at the time, I questioned how I could make a difference with my art once I left the university. I am a sexual assault survivor, and the pervasive questions I have received, even with the best of intentions, have left me more pained than I know how to comprehend. The questions, the shame, the internalized guilt… it quickly snowballed my own experience into something much darker and traumatic than I could deal with on my own.

My journey to survivorhood was rife with actions and words as reclamations. Getting dressed is a very ritualist act. What I was able to control and fully choose to clothe myself in, helped me take my power back. Choosing items that made me feel strong, beautiful, truthful to myself… it was a huge part of the journey. Julie and I wanted to shed light on this concept, both the toxic rape myth of clothing equating to sexual assault, and also help survivors reclaim their narratives. Clothing can be a form of healing for, and inform others journey’s towards, surivivorhood, so we wanted to create a space where this could be addressed.

*What Were you Wearing? Weaving a New Narrative*; Interactive clothesline; Installation at Towson University, Spring 2019; Curated by Julie Potter and Molly Cohen. Photo Credit: Julie Potter

We made a proposal to create this exhibit on our campus with the goal of conducting interviews and creating representations through the clothing of those stories to subvert the dangerous narratives of sexual violence and the male gaze in our society.

I began conducting interviews with sexual assault survivors, starting mainly with former classmates and friends. I knew the question “what were you wearing?” was a required point to address so we could curate the exhibit with these looks. But I wanted to find a way to move past that question to create a productive conversation that offered new ways of talking about this important topic. My goal in working on this project was to offer experiences and tools by which fellow survivors could reclaim their experiences. Because of this, I needed to find a way to make my interviews as healing as I could. My research into interview techniques awarded me insights that will span past this project.

How can the space we create, for ourselves and others, be one of healing? I asked myself this before every interview I sat down to conduct. If I wasn’t in a space to hear and truly take in these deeply nuanced stories, how could I expect their openness and vulnerability in return?

Each interview was so different from the next that I could not go in with a script or rules; I allowed the questions to guide a true dialogue, and my presence allowed the interviewee and myself to share ideas and thoughts with one another, often impactful revelations that would occur at that very moment.

Quickly, my interviews went from talking of the violence we’d experienced, to basking in the strength we each have and the victories – big and small – we achieve each day. I’ve learned so much from each person, and will take their power with me as I move throughout my own journey, as both an artist and a survivor.

The exhibit was set to open in April 2019 Towson Cook Library. We planned it as a multimedia, multi-spaced installation across campus, involving clothing from our Historic Collection, and accounts of sexual violence dating back to the 1800s. We knew we needed help to make this exhibit a reality. Julia Caffery, Web Services Librarian, And Joyce Garczynski, Assistant University Librarian for Development & Communications, were instrumental in the growth and launch of this project.

They helped us gather stories from The Baltimore Sun archives so that we could include accounts of sexual assault that spanned decades, and centuries. We used police records and recordings to highlight the toxic antiquated language. Their feedback, problem-solving, and help throughout this journey helped us gather momentum to expand the programming, including a month of events occurring in conjunction with the installation; these events span various humanities fields and include book talks, staged readings, a zine workshop, and more.

Being awarded the Maryland Humanities grant in December was a truly humbling honor that allowed our exhibit to actualize into something more meaningful than we could have imagined. We were galvanized to take it a step further. We knew the installation was meant for more than the Towson community and needed on as many campuses as possible. MICA partnered with us to install a pop-up version in their own library, and UMBC plans to do the same in the following academic year.

Our desire to add visual impact and artistic meaning to the exhibit manifested in a few different ways. I led the creation of different interactive elements that would live in the exhibit as a form of healing. We strung up a clothesline of donated clothes, complete with scissors, markers, safety pins, with the following instructions:

Use the materials provided to reclaim your narrative.

Rip, cut, draw, pin, express.

Share what you want to share, wear what you want to wear, and tear what you want to tear.

During the exhibit opening, students came by and began writing on the walls. Sharing their stories, their traumas, their reclaiming actions, their pain, their self-love. It was so inspiring to bear witness to; to see that our work was creating an impact, making people stop and thinking, allowing a space for those to share- it was everything we could have hoped for.

Julie and I are so grateful for the support, guidance, and space given to us. The number of people whose minds, hearts, and hands will touch this project continues to grow each day. Students, faculty, staff, and community members alike. We hope our work has offered a space for survivors to share their stories in their own terms and voices, and for allies to gain tools to support, listen, and create spaces for healing.

What Were You Wearing? Weaving a New Narrative closes on April 30. Learn more about the installation on Thursday’s Humanities Connection, which will be available here. Find more information here. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.

Anne Frank and the “Spring of Remembrance”

Posted on April 3, 2019October 18, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

Lesley Malin, performer and Managing Director at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, shares a personal reflection on her own past, The Diary of Anne Frank, and related programming throughout the community, called “Spring of Remembrance.”

Anne Frank, 1941
© AFF/AFH – Basel/Amsterdam

When I first read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, both its Jewishness and its insights as a rare coming-of-age story for a young woman made it an influential and unforgettable story for me. Anne’s bold voice leapt off the page and lodged itself in my memory and my heart. Anne was brave, kind, hopeful, self-critical and self-indulgent, and brilliantly talented. While her life could be snuffed out by the banal evil of the Holocaust, her spirit shines far beyond her short lifetime.

If I had lived in Nazi-controlled Europe, I would have been despised as a Mischling—a half-Jew. My Jewish mother, who combines fierce intelligence with championship-level worry, taught me to be proud of my heritage but aware of its vulnerabilities. Learning about the Holocaust in middle school, I keenly realized that I, too, would have been scooped up in the horrors inflicted upon Europe’s Jews and other victims by the Nazis’ murderous madness.

As Chesapeake Shakespeare Company started talking about showcasing the powerful theatrical adaptation, The Diary of Anne Frank, I knew it would be a production that would be close to my heart: I am playing the role of Anne’s despairing and loving mother in the play. Together with Chesapeake Shakespeare’s fantastic community outreach and education teams, we are dedicated to ensuring that this production creates a breadth of awareness far beyond a typical classical play.

Lesley Malin

As an integral part of those outreach efforts, Jean Thompson, our Director of Communications, and I discovered that, independently, so many Baltimore institutions planned spring exhibits and events related to the Holocaust. These range from Theatre Morgan at Morgan State University to the Jewish Museum of Maryland to the Baltimore Museum of Art to the American Visionary Arts Museum and beyond. It is heartening to find that we share a dedication to telling these important stories, individually and as partners.

We contacted the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. They guided us to the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect here in the United States, which owns an exhibit of Otto Frank’s photos. Through amazing good fortune and artistic cooperation, we were able to arrange to have it mounted at Gordon Center for Performing Arts at the Jewish Community Center of Baltimore (through June 12, Anne’s 90^th birthday). The New York-based Anne Frank Center also connected us to Oculus, which has provided virtual reality equipment so our patrons may tour The Anne Frank House; the equipment has been donated to the Jewish Museum of Maryland and will be available in our theater during the run of the play.

Anne’s first diary
© Anne Frank House / Photographer: Cris Toala Olivares

The more I’ve steeped myself in Anne Frank’s life and issues around the Holocaust, the more frightened I am. Last year, a study came out that showed that American awareness and understanding of the Holocaust was abysmally low. We know that anti-Semitism is on the rise. The shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue has heightened fears. But my college-aged son did not read any Holocaust literature in school and many of his friends did not study it in their history classes.

What’s going on? How can we possibly think that it is less than essential for every generation to understand the rapidity, bureaucracy, breadth, and horrors of the Shoah? We and our “Spring of Remembrance” partners are doing what we can to help educate the next generation in Baltimore, but is it enough? Can it ever be enough?

In The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne and her family and friends bear witness to what humanity is capable of–both evil and sublime. For some theatre-goers, especially the youngest, the play may therefore be an important introduction to the Holocaust. I hope you will visit the Baltimore arts community’s other “Spring of Remembrance” events, as well.

For me, I am doing this play in honor of my mother, Joanne Cohen, and of our Jablinowski and Berkowitz and Kasperowitz and Weiss forebears from Germany and Poland who moved to America in time, and in honor of all our relatives whom we never knew, who didn’t make it out. For them, I bring to life the light and hope and generosity of Anne Frank.

*****

The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman, is based upon Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. The play runs from April 26 – May 26.

John Damond Jr., a Baltimore librarian who has spent more than 25 years researching Anne Frank’s life, will lead preshow conversations on May 4, 11, 16, and 26. Through a collaboration with the Baltimore Jewish Council, students will speak with a Holocaust survivor after some of our school matinees. For more information about the play, visit www.ChesapeakeShakespeare.com.

Learn more about “Spring of Remembrance” events at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and many other Baltimore institutions. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.

Meet the New Program Officer at Maryland Humanities!

Posted on March 11, 2019October 29, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

Maryland Humanities is delighted to welcome Christine Stewart, our new Program Officer for Maryland History Day, Chautauqua, and the Veterans Oral History Project. Communications Specialist Sarah Weissman interviewed her. Learn more about Stewart in this feature, before she begins next week.

“Young people are brave, brilliant, critical thinkers,” says Chris Stewart, in anticipation of her new role as the Program Officer for Maryland History Day, Chautauqua, and the Veterans Oral History Project at Maryland Humanities. Stewart most recently served as the Program Director for Arts in Education, Poetry Out Loud, and Grants for Organization with the Maryland State Arts Council. Her work included youth development and she also managed the Poetry Out Loud contest in Maryland, a literary program and competition for high school students.

“Watching them engage with the world and others through poetry in a meaningful, creative way, I am looking forward to helping students do the same through history and their communities,” Stewart says.

Stewart, an award-winning writer of poetry and fiction, begins her role on March 18. Judy Dobbs, who has been working full-time at Maryland Humanities since 1986, will retire.

“I’m so happy that History Day, Chautauqua, and the Veterans Oral History Project will be in such good hands,” Dobbs says. “I look forward to seeing them grow and flourish under Chris’s supervision.”

Stewart shares her excitement for lifelong learning, a central part of the Maryland Humanities mission, “especially opportunities to connect young people and older citizens.” She has mentored and taught children and youth via various nonprofits in Maryland and California.

Stewart worked at Maryland State Arts Council for over a decade, where she led partnerships with Maryland Humanities on projects like Literary Arts Week. “I know how terrific the staff is,” she says. “I feel lucky to be joining them and taking on new challenges.” Stewart describes the amount and depth of programs, partnerships, and grants as “impressive and inspiring!”

Stewart believes that “books create a wonderful bridge between people” and calls Moby Dick by Herman Melville and The Ambassadors by Henry James her favorites.

“D. H. Lawrence called Moby Dick ‘one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world, which is why I love it,’” she says. “Every chapter is its own adventure.” As for James, his work “can get dark and dense in there but his study of human nature is fascinating and moving to me.”

Stewart enjoys traveling, runs a small press, and calls herself a “Janeite,” the affectionate name for Jane Austen devotees. She also dubs herself a “Whovian,” a fan of the British science fiction television phenomenon, Dr. Who.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.

A Tale of Innocence Betrayed at the Talbot County Free Library

Posted on October 11, 2018October 29, 2021 by Sarah Weissman

Bill Peak is the Communications Manager and all-encompassing “Library Guy” at the Talbot County Free Library on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He is the author of the novel The Oblate’s Confession (2014). Bill writes a monthly article for The Star-Democrat about working at the Talbot County Free Library. This essay was originally published in The Star-Democrat on August 5, 2018.

A note from Maryland Humanities: Though the events Mr. Peake mentions have passed, we have One Maryland One Book events throughout the fall.

Several years ago I read a Scientific American article about an experiment in which researchers showed subjects certain photographs, explained that they recorded events the subjects themselves had taken part in and then asked if the subjects could remember the events. Told convincing stories by figures in authority of their relationship to the photographs, the vast majority of the subjects not only began to recall the events depicted, they even added detail and color to the researchers’ narratives, despite the fact the researchers had invented the tales out of whole cloth. What was most interesting about the experiment was that the scientists were able to prove that their subjects were not simply lying to please the researchers. Rather, presented with evidence that some event had taken place in their past, their minds had offered up what the subjects themselves experienced as actual memories of the event described. The scientists termed these unconsciously fabricated recollections “false memory.”

Okay, so now let’s set an eyewitness to a crime down with a policeman who has a suspect in mind for the offense and a theory to prove the man’s involvement. The policeman recounts his theory of what happened, maybe showing the witness some crime scene photos to back up his hypothesis, and then asks the witness if what he has told him has helped him remember anything new about the crime itself. What are we to make of any memories the witness now recalls?

Now let me tell you about an experiment performed years ago in the Psychology department at the college I attended. A volunteer subject was placed in a room full of people he believed to also be volunteers, though in fact, they were in on the experiment. On a screen at the front of the room, a slide was displayed that showed three balls—the two on the left markedly closer to each other than they were to the ball on the right. The people in the room were then asked to raise their hands if they thought the two balls on the right were closer to each other than to the ball on the left. When all the people in the room who were in on the experiment raised their hands in agreement with this patently false statement, the volunteer subject inevitably raised his hand as well. No matter how many times the experiment was repeated, no matter the sex, age, or national origin of the volunteer subject, the results were pretty much always the same: all but a tiny fraction of volunteers went along with the majority despite the fact the majority was clearly wrong.

In 1984, Kirk Bloodsworth—a Dorchester County waterman who’d moved to Baltimore—was accused, convicted, and sentenced to death for a particularly gruesome murder. I don’t remember his particular case, but if I did read about it at the time, I’m sure I had no problem with the verdict. In those days—given the constitutional protections afforded the accused in the United States—I was fairly certain that pretty much everyone brought to trial for a capital offense was guilty. But in 1993, Bloodsworth became the first man to have his sentence overturned by DNA evidence … and my eyes, and those of the nation, were opened to an entirely new way of looking at our criminal justice system.

This year’s One Maryland One Book, Bloodsworth, tells the true story of how people with the best of intentions can work hard to send an innocent man to the gas chamber. Presented as both a legal and police procedural by author and attorney Tim Junkin, Bloodsworth reads like a John Grisham thriller. For the first time in the history of the Maryland Humanities program, I found myself unable to put a One Maryland One Book down. On Monday, September 10, at 6:30 p.m. in our library’s Easton branch, and again on Thursday, September 13, at 3:00 p.m. in our St. Michaels branch, I will host a discussion of this fascinating work. Then, on Thursday, October 4, the Talbot County Free Library, in partnership with the Caroline County Public Library and Dorchester County Public Schools, will host a talk by Junkin himself at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium at Cambridge-South Dorchester High School. I would love to see you at one or more of these terrific One Maryland One Book events.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Maryland Humanities or our funders.