Podcast Transcripts – Maryland Humanities

Here you can find transcripts of all Humanities Connection segments—both those broadcast on WYPR and those that are exclusively podcasts—beginning in 2019.

Piecing Together Stories in the Chesney Medical Archives
October 22, 2020

SARAH WEISSMAN: Natalie Elder read about a simple clothing accessory one day at her job in the Chesney Medical Archives for Johns Hopkins Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health. The Curator of Cultural Properties is still on a continuous quest to find it. What can items like these teach us about a person and an organization’s past? How can medical archives help piece together someone’s story? Elder tells us more.

NATALIE ELDER: As a curator, I spend a fair amount of time imagining what I think our organization should collect. The obvious items come to mind: paintings that will uplift the patients and families of the hospital; the microscope of a famous doctor; a nurse’s uniform from the Hopkins World War I base hospital.

I also have to be open to the surprises: objects that I don’t even know exist, but when I see or learn about them, I instantly know how much they could enrich our collections. One I’m still searching for is a lapel pin worn by a hospital employee.

Let me explain.

A while ago, I was reading through a 1949 volume of our collection of the Johns Hopkins Nurses Alumni Magazine. I came across a tribute to William Thomas, employee of the hospital since 1889. At that time, he was 81 years old and had been at Hopkins for 60 years. Mr. Thomas was the hospital’s first doorman: he worked in the administration building, which is the structure with the iconic dome on Broadway. Sixty years of seeing patients, nurses, families, and doctors walk through the doors—how remarkable.

I started to look for other mentions of Mr. Thomas. I found more articles by the nurses and learned that he was an African-American man who grew up, quote “east of Jones Falls.” I found a few photographs in our collections of a play he appeared in, marking the hospital’s fiftieth anniversary. A 1944 Baltimore Sun article says that William Thomas started the tradition of carol-singing around the hospital’s Christ statue and at patient bedsides.

The most exciting thing to me appeared in several of my sources, mentions of a silver pin reading: “J H H 1889 – Heaven” in blue enamel. On the reverse, it says “William Thomas, 1943” and had the initials of a “Mr. du Pont.” Thomas wore this pin every day from 1943 until his retirement.

This is the type of object curators love to find—an item that tells the story of how a man lived his life. It represents his years of service, his pride in his work, and the impression he made on others. A very small number of pieces in the archives give us this glimpse into Mr. Thomas’ life.

I haven’t been able to find the actual object and I likely never will, but I have learned a lot about Mr. Thomas. I think about the racism that he faced, the changes that he saw, and the people whose lives he touched. There are many more things I would like to learn about him. And if anyone ever calls to tell me they found a pin that reads J.H.H. to Heaven, I’ll know exactly what it is. Piecing together these stories from our rich and varied collections is an honor I will never take for granted.

WEISSMAN: Learn more about the archives at medicalarchives.jhmi.edu. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Sarah Weissman.

African American Art Through The Eyes of High School Students with Disabilities
July 16, 2020

SARAH WEISSMAN: For Black History Month in February, Charles H. Flowers High School in Prince George’s County hosted a show of its students’ art. Part of the process involved students with disabilities attending museums and interpreting art prior to creating their own. LeAnn Holden-Martin, a Special Education Teacher at the school, tells us more.

LEANN HOLDEN-MARTIN: I teach students with severe cognitive disabilities in the Community Referenced Instruction Program, or CRI. This program includes academic instruction and equips our students with life skills to help them transition from high school to adulthood.

I feel it is very important to teach my students about Black History. I try to keep the lessons relevant to their lives, making sure I include things the students can see, touch, smell, and hear. I use pictures, videos, and movies to connect the past to their lives, discussing how some things have changed and how some have stayed the same. For example, I showed the animated movie My Friend Martin to talk about how Black lives have changed from the past to the present.

Together, we have displayed my students’ own art in What We See: African American Art Through The Eyes of High School Students with Special Needs. This exhibit is the results of months of work from our students and staff, beginning with visits to local art museums in the community to see different kinds of African-American art. One of our visits was to the Prince George’s African American Museum, where we were able to see homemade quilts, woodcarvings, art depicting the Black Lives Matter Movement, and more.

After our visits, our next step was to engage with African-American artists from Maryland. I met with six artists who each loaned me a piece of their artwork to bring into the classroom. Over the next few weeks, I led many discussions with students about how each piece of art made them feel; warm, cold, happy, sad. Afterwards, my students selected a piece of art and began creating their own art. Artist Taurean Washington visited my class and talked about his paintings. Students interpreted his work and some used that as inspiration to create their own original pieces: in these pieces, the students reflected what Washington’s art meant to them. Some students created pictures and paintings by looking at the painting. A couple of students created an art piece using fabric and tissue paper that allow them to touch their finished artwork.

One of my students, Kalyn, is nonverbal. She communicates mainly by sounds and touching. She pointed to Washington’s piece, Home (momma), a large colorful painting of an African woman. Using markers and guiding her hand, Kalyn outlined the woman. I then taught Kalyn how to use cut squares of tissue paper to fill in her picture. We used many different colors to create the pattern in the woman’s dress. All the while, Kalyn would be touching painting.

Another of my students, Anthony, is in a wheelchair, and has limited mobility in his hands and limited verbal skills. He picked Abstract Lady by Karen Johnson Wyatt, a large abstract piece of a woman playing the bass. With tools to help Anthony hold a paint sponge, he was able to spread paint over the canvas. I moved the canvas to allow him to put paint over all the, and he selected different colors and together we selected what areas of the canvas to paint. After many days, Anthony completed his abstract painting.

These are two stories of how my students were able to create their art pieces and interpret the work of African-American artists from Maryland. Living at the intersection of blackness and disability means that many of my students have spent years falling through the cracks before they reach my classroom. But I know how talented my students are and they deserve the effort that its takes to help them shine, whether it’s working with our assistive technology staff to create innovative art tools, emphasizing tissue paper for a tactile student, or utilizing colored bottle caps for students unable to paint. Throughout this process, I have been inspired by watching them work with art that so beautifully reflects the diversity of black life.

WEISSMAN: This program was supported by a grant from Maryland Humanities. Learn more about Charles H. Flowers High School at pgcps.org/charleshflowers. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Sarah Weissman.

Why Black Lives Matter: A Curriculum
May 7, 2020 (Repeated for June)

SARAH WEISSMAN: How can the humanities help teens process current-day issues and create a more equitable society? Staff at Wide Angle Youth Media have developed a curriculum called “Why Black Lives Matter: Discussing Race Through Film, Photography, and Design.” The curriculum pairs youth media projects with instructional content. Dena Robinson –Wide Angle Youth Media’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Facilitator – tells us more.

DENA ROBINSON: It has been 400 years since the first documented enslaved African stepped onto America’s shores. Trayvon Martin was killed in 2012 for being a black boy who dared to wear a hoodie and walk where he “did not belong.” Freddie Gray had his spinal cord severed as he took a “rough ride” in the back of a Baltimore Police van. The narratives of countless others are deeply ingrained in this country’s historical consciousness, and that pain is as American as apple pie. This is the historical context in which Wide Angle Youth Media’s work currently sits.

Each year, Wide Angle Youth Media’s students self-select a theme that will be the home for that year’s media and design work. This past year, students self-selected the theme “Why Black Lives Matter.” This theme is relevant, resonant, and incredibly raw. Students chose this theme to acknowledge a long-held truth in Black communities in the United States and around the world — although people of color make up a global majority, Black lives largely do not matter. As such, Wide Angle’s students spent a year grappling with everything from race and identity, to intersectionality and liberation. Students learned that, although Black people have made contributions in nearly every institution, their access to power has largely been infringed upon, and their contributions have often gone unrecognized. Students learned about racial disparities in the criminal justice system, healthcare, and education. They also learned about the contributions Black people have made to the humanities, political science, art, history, and other academic pursuits.

As a direct result of this learning, Wide Angle staff worked together to create a Black Lives Matter Curriculum. The curriculum responds to the humanities field, which played an integral role in the development of ideas around race, identity, and whiteness that continue to this day. The curriculum uses design thinking principles to teach students to think critically about the texts they engage with. Design thinking is a lens used by designers that allows them to build empathy with the audience they’re designing for, so that they can define the problem they seek to address, and then engage their audience in feedback loops to refine their project. When applied to something like the humanities, design thinking becomes an equity-based offshoot, called equity design.

The Why Black Lives Matter curriculum includes lessons on the school to prison pipeline, restorative justice, and racial disparities in the health system. Ultimately, the curriculum is intended to guide students towards collaboration, liberation, and resistance. With this curriculum, students can engage in the conversations I only wish had been part of my experience growing up in a country that has yet to have a period of racial reconciliation and healing. Through this curriculum, the humanities push students and citizens to think critically about who has a seat at the table, who has been deprived of having a seat at the table, and where we can go from here. It is our hope that Wide Angle Youth Media’s Black Lives Matter Curriculum can begin to push Baltimore, and the country, in that direction.

WEISSMAN: Maryland Humanities has funded the Why Black Lives Matter curriculum with a grant. Learn more about curriculum and Wide Angle Youth Media at wideanglemedia.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Sarah Weissman.

Complex

Writing About Autism
March 26, 2020

SARAH WEISSMAN: How can writing create help create a more inclusive world for those with autism? Panelist and writer Hannah Grieco is the mother of a twelve-year-old son with autism as well as a former teacher. Her byline has appeared in The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, and more. Today, Hannah talks about how her son’s influence on her writing.

HANNAH GRIECO: A I started writing because I wanted my son to read about characters and experiences that felt both familiar and appealing to him. There just weren’t stories about kids like him, and the rare ones we found that included unusual, outlier kids painted them as characters who learned, over time, to become more typical. The story arc was always one of a character who changes to fit the world around him or her, and thus, finally, finds acceptance.

But I wanted something different when my son looked on the shelves at his school library. He wasn’t interested in fiction. Why would he choose to read about make-believe worlds that were just as exclusionary as the one he lived in every day?

I wanted to write about him and his friends. About a different kind of world.

As I wrote more and more, I began to also notice a lack of parenting and education pieces that addressed autism in respectful, elevating ways. Just like in fiction, most of the articles and essays out there focused on changing autistic kids. They emphasized the hardships of special needs parenting and of teaching atypical learners. They celebrated when kids were able to integrate into society, not as themselves, but as modified, “fixed” mirrors of the neurotypical children around them.

Any attempt at inclusion of these kids that were so “other” in nature was highlighted as inspirational. As if it was a great sacrifice, worthy of praise, to accept such children into the school and community. And the more I learned about autism and autistic thinkers, the more frustrated I grew as a parent and educator. Why was inclusion about my child changing, instead of the world learning to appreciate and embrace what was different about him?

It became my life’s goal to write about disability, parenting, and education in a way that reframed the conversation.

I want to encourage authentic representation of autistic people and characters: in articles in newspapers and magazines, in books and short stories, on TV and in the movies.

My son has to work hard to comfortably move through this world. He deserves some accommodation in return. He deserves to be seen as a human being with gifts and needs. Just like any other human being. I owe this to him and all the autistic people I love, all the autistic writers whose words I read, the autistic and neurotypical parents alike who love their autistic children.

It’s what we all owe to the people around us that we push to the margins, that we overlook so thoughtlessly instead of taking a second look and discovering the many gifts we’ve missed.

SARAH WEISSMAN: Learn more about Grieco at hgrieco.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Sarah Weissman.

Complex Histories Along the Potomac
March 19, 2020

SARAH WEISSMAN: The Accokeek Foundation was founded to preserve the landscape along the Maryland shore of the Potomac River, the same view George Washington had more than 200 years ago. Laura Ford, the Foundation’s Executive Director, shares how this Prince George’s County organization has been shifting and widening its focus in recent years.

LAURA FORD: Since The Accokeek Foundation’s founding in 1957, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the European colonists at the National Colonial Farm. In recent years we’ve been coming together more intentionally for an expanded dialogue about race and culture.

Through our Land and Rivers series, we’re aiming to ensure that ALL the people who interacted on this landscape are represented. The series brings people together to address the complex relationships that have shaped our region and that continue to influence our interactions with one another and with the environment. We’re discussing the legacy of these historical realities and how they inform contemporary issues.

Many of us connect through place. In Piscataway Park, the Accokeek Foundation connects people on a landscape that tells the story of generations of change, as the land has shaped people, and people have shaped the land, over time. The land was saved from development in the 1950s to “preserve the view” from George Washington’s Mount Vernon across the Potomac River to the Maryland Shore.

“Preserving the view” also preserved the heart of the traditional homeland of the Piscataway people. It preserved a landscape that carries the stories of first European contact and colonization, and stories that take place against the backdrop of slavery, emancipation, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, and the American Indian Movement.

As Piscataway tribal member and Accokeek Foundation Board Member Chris Newman shared during one of our Land and River Conversations, “Without honesty, history can’t really serve us. Solutions for the future lie in acknowledging the full scope of history.”

We have a responsibility to be brutally honest about the reality of our history. Shemika Berry, the Foundation’s Interpretive Coordinator, puts in this way: “Our ancestors survived the unimaginable; it is my responsibility to honor them and their voices by telling their stories.”

We know that the community has stories to tell about these experiences. Stories that we need to hear and understand and learn from. At The Accokeek Foundation, we’re working to lift up voices that often haven’t been heard, without, as our Board Chair Virginia Busby often says, “speaking for others or over others.”

We recognize that these conversations we need to have about our history and our future are complex and challenging. We use the same guidance for the Land and River discussion that we use for our students for our school tours. Encourage dialogue that’s respectful and accountable, as well as compassionate and honest to carry us to places of new understanding of one another and the world.

As part of our core values, the Accokeek Foundation seeks to support transformational dialogue about historical and cultural realities that have resulted in marginalization. We commit to collaborating for social change, and to discussing ethics, privilege, power, and intention with our partners and with the public as we engage in this work together.

WEISSMAN: The Land and River Conversations are supported in part by a grant from Maryland Humanities. Learn more at accokeekfoundation.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Sarah Weissman.

Exploring Maryland History Through Original Theatre
March 12, 2020

SARAH WEISSMAN: How are teenagers bringing history to life through theatre? Norah Worthington, Historical Partnership Director and Resident Costumer at Baltimore School for the Arts, tells us more.

NORAH WORTHINGTON: For 12 years, the Baltimore School for the Arts has partnered with local institutions to animate history through theatre arts. As scholars and artists, students have used primary sources to focus the stories they feel should be brought to life.

A project this year, “Between the Shelves,” focuses on people who could have crossed paths in the Enoch Pratt Free Library of the 1880s. Students have created monologues and scenes based on their research at the Central Branch and the Maryland Historical Society. This Spring, students will perform these pieces, with costumes, graphics, props, and set pieces created by stage design and production students.

Founder Enoch Pratt wanted his institution to be “…a free circulating public library, open to all citizens regardless of property or color.” As Marylanders established major cultural and educational institutions during this period, the drive for public education motivated many Baltimoreans. The generation that had lived through the Civil War, and the following generation, looked for ways to reinvent their city and its institutions. This project explores some of the lesser-known aspects of Maryland history. It brings to life issues that everyday citizens have confronted, and continue to confront. Although the names of many institutions like Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the Walters Art Museum, and Morgan State University may be familiar to us now, they were part of Baltimore’s “reimagining” in the 1880s. One scene explores a “separate but equal” case of black women asserting their rights on a local steamboat trip, nearly 70 years before Rosa Parks. Other stories include Henrietta Szold’s “night school” education of Russian immigrants, the admission of women and minorities to institutions of higher learning, and the struggle of Baltimore’s Black educators to teach in Black public schools. Students have imagined a fascinating crossing of paths in the Central Pratt Branch of the 1880s, as these diverse individuals roam the stacks looking for materials to further their goals.

Looking at these stories can involve confronting challenging material. Some of the most progressive thinkers in women’s education were limited in their inclusion of immigrants and minorities. As we look at the choices of people in the past, we challenge ourselves to see the prejudices we might bring to our own time.

BSA writers worked with professional mentors in revising their work this winter and now actors are rehearsing. Stage design and production students are researching, designing, and creating costumes, graphics, props, and “set” pieces. Free public performances at the Walters Art Museum and the Pratt Library will happen in April. All performances include a talkback with the student writers, researchers, actors, and designers.

WEISSMAN: This project is funded with a grant from Maryland Humanities. Learn more about Baltimore School for the Arts at bsfa.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Sarah Weissman.

The Humanities in Maryland: A Reflection
March 5, 2020

PHOEBE STEIN: In a darkened auditorium on the University of Michigan campus in 1988, I heard Toni Morrison speak for the first time. I was a senior year in college, and something told me that I should try to secure a much sought after ticket to one of Professor Morrison’s lectures that fall.

Her talk, “Unspeakable Things Unspoken: The Afro-American Presence in American Literature,” was riveting and enthralling, not only because she was a brilliant thinker and writer—but because I barely grasped the concepts she was so beautifully weaving together.

All I knew was that I wanted to be a part her world, one where the humanities—literature, history, archaeology, theology, philosophy, art history, and ethics—offer a lens through which to more deeply and clearly understand ourselves and the world around us.

I’m Phoebe Stein. For twelve years as Executive Director of Maryland Humanities, I was asked daily to explain the value of the humanities. The humanities encapsulate all the ways we tell our human stories, how we bring all of what makes us human to life.

As regular listeners to this program have heard, the faces and stories of the humanities include poet and marine biotechnologist Kathleen Gillespie, who talked about poetry’s relationship with science and Tiffany Nickels who shared how history can inspire young people like her son Parker to gain confidence through researching the life of philosopher William James for our Maryland History Day program. Educator Kimberly Dyar explained how literature helped her forge a connection with one of her students, a recent immigrant. Reverend Nina Johnson reinforced the importance of not erasing the ugly and destructive parts of our history.

By engaging with the humanities, we gain empathy, the ability to form well-reasoned arguments, and broaden perspectives about those with differing opinions.

And yes, we get jobs. Recently The Wall Street Journal and Forbes have illustrated how employers seek out and hire liberal arts majors for their critical thinking, close reading, and listening skills.

Last week, I stepped down as Executive Director of Maryland Humanities. It has been my honor to witness how our programs help communities in Maryland deepen their understanding of our world and one another. In 2019, we directly served nearly 60,000 people of a wide variety of ages and backgrounds. Participants include veterans, grandparents, schoolkids, incarcerated people, neighbors, and strangers. As host of Humanities Connection, I have appreciated listening to hundreds of insightful voices explore the roles the humanities play in our everyday lives.

This is my final segment of Humanities Connection. I am going to miss this work, my colleagues and all of you—who tune in on the radio or online, attend our programs, and support our work. We quite literally cannot do our work without you. Thank you for the opportunity to share the humanities with you. Maryland Humanities and WYPR will continue Humanities Connection to keep capturing the valuable impact of the humanities in our state. And I will look forward to continuing to learn from future segments, if from the other side of the microphone.

Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR.

Water/Ways in Calvert County
February 27, 2020

PHOEBE STEIN: How are high school students in Calvert County making documentary films to tell some of their region’s stories? Robyn Truslow, Public Relations Coordinator at Calvert Library, tells us more.

ROBYN TRUSLOW: Since May of last year, you’ve heard a lot about water thanks to Maryland Humanities’ work to bring the Smithsonian Institution’s Water/Ways and H20 Today exhibitions to Maryland. Calvert Library is the last Maryland site to host Water/Ways and we’re having fun making our own water story! We intend to publish a book written by local residents inspired by our water-themed art and poetry exhibit.

Besides the creativity inspired by Museum on Main Street, what we really love about working with Maryland Humanities is the chance to build connections. We can’t do justice to a Smithsonian exhibition all on our own. Fortunately, the cachet that comes with a Museum on Main Street project ensures enthusiastic partners. I want to tell an abbreviated story of one of our partnerships.

Because Maryland Humanities selected to host Water/Ways, the Smithsonian Institution offered us a chance to apply for their StoriesYES grant. StoriesYES stands for Stories from Main Street: Youth Engagement and Skill-Building. The grant provides funding for equipment so students can discover and document their community’s history on the Museum on Main Street topic. With the grant, we were able to purchase high-quality video recording equipment. Students could then check out this equipment to create documentaries about Calvert’s water story.

I knew I needed help implementing StoriesYES programming in schools so I turned to my hardworking partners at Calvert County Public Schools. Kim Watts, the school system’s Supervisor of Secondary English Language Arts, immediately recruited enthusiastic and creative English teachers. Michelle Stover, Student Services Team Leader at Calvert High School, added StoriesYES to her curriculum mid-year! We are grateful to this greatcommitment on her part.

We invited field experts from local water-related organizations to come to the library and meet with students. We hosted Chesapeake Biological Lab, Calvert Marine Museum and Bayside History Museum, and American Chestnut Land Trust (ACLT)—a local Land Conservancy focusing on the Parkers Creek watershed in Calvert County. Between professionals from these organizations and educator Steve Van Rees, the students developed their research questions and fleshed out their documentary projects. Subjects included the how fishing and aquaculture have changed, and climate change’s impact on the Chesapeake Bay, The Battle of St. Leonard Creek during the War of 1812, the impact of fishing and development on local water quality, and changes in seafood cooking in the region.

Then our school partners connected with video expert Dan Doanes. Dan gave us great advice for selecting the equipment and then taught Mrs. Stover’s students how to use it, how to storyboard, and how to edit. The grant even funded a bus to take the students on a field trip to take video “on location” at several water-related sites. Another partner, Director of the Bayside History Museum Grace Mary Brady, pitched StoriesYES to her high school employees who also took on a documentary project.

All of the documentaries created are on the Smithsonian Stories YES website. The Bayside students’ project will be incorporated into an exhibit at Bayside History Museum, thanks to grant funding from the Maryland Heritage Area Authority through Maryland Humanities. What amazing connections we’ve made. Water/Ways wraps up in Maryland at Calvert Library on March 6. Come connect your Water/Ways story.

STEIN: Learn more about Water/Ways in Maryland at marylandh2o.org. Watch the Stories YES documentaries by visiting MuseumOnMainStreet.org and searching for Stories YES. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Connectivity and the Anthropology of Places
February 20, 2020

PHOEBE STEIN: How have smartphones and our constant connectivity changed the way we travel- and the way we relate to one another through the places we visit? Towson University anthropology professors Samuel Collins and Matthew Durington tell us how their research led them to the new idea of “networked anthropology.”

MATTHEW DURINGTON: When people travel somewhere today, they are rarely alone–instead, their smartphones keep them connected through a mesh of social media to friends, acquaintances and to different publics. That’s how people travel now–that’s how they encounter places.

When we received a contract for anthropological research along the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, we reached for our smartphones first. The Potomac Heritage Trail follows along a complex network of over 700 miles of parks, historic sites and trails from Virginia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Along the way, it connects to different geologies, ecologies, demographics, institutions, national- and state parks, communities and practices. How do we understand this?

SAMUEL COLLINS: As cultural anthropologists, we are used to interviewing people and observing behavior–that’s the bread and butter of anthropology. But there’s too much going on to grasp through these place-oriented methodologies. So in this project, we combine those traditional methods with an examination of website links, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media–a combination that we call “networked anthropology.” What we’ve found is, in a sense, what people already know. When you go somewhere, you post media about it, and that media is connected to different communities. When we combine place-based methods with social media analysis, we discover that parks are connectors–they connect people with the same hobbies, or people with similar, structural relationships, or, finally, people who are doing completely different things but are nevertheless connected through their relationships to the same places.

DURINGTON: People who are biking on the Potomac Heritage trail are connected to people who are biking the Appalachian Trail, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, or the levee bike paths along Lake Pontchartrain. Similarly, people who live along the Potomac Heritage Trail may be in different states, but they may have similar interests and similar concerns that we can track through social media. People who commute to work, connect to a park through their Native American heritage, or re-enact famous Civil War battles may be doing completely different things, but in the same place. Each of these examples suggests new meanings for the Potomac Heritage Trail; with social media, the park is literally more than the park itself–it includes communities and relations that range all over the world.

COLLINS: In addition, analyzing social media alongside interviews and observations gives us some ideas about new connections that could be made through the park in the future. For example, on the basis of our research, we’ve prototyped apps for people to use along the C&O Canal that would connect them with local businesses not visible from the trail itself. What our research shows is that we are all connected to national resources, and one of our goals is to demonstrate that connectivity and help to foster it through a networked anthropology. Ultimately, we think that our research contributes to the way social media sets up a spectrum of relatedness to place. We make places “our own” through our interactions with them, but social media also sets up a series of potential places through networked sociality.

STEIN: Professor Collins’ and Professor Durington’s book on networked anthropology can be found at networkedanthropology.tumblr.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

African-American History Month in Wicomico County
February 13, 2020

PHOEBE STEIN: How is one Eastern Shore region amplifying its own heroes this African American History Month? What are the connections between jazz and civil rights history? Cheryl Sidwell, Events and Development Manager at Wicomico Public Libraries, tells us more.

CHERYL SIDWELL: Wicomico Public Libraries received a grant from Maryland Humanities to enrich our programming for African American History month. Our programs this year focus on local history within the larger context of African American history. It is important to Wicomico County Libraries, as part of our mission, to make sure we are serving all of our population and providing services that bring our diverse community together. As a free Public Library, we are well-positioned to achieve this through educational arts and humanities programs.

Salisbury, Maryland is now a minority-majority city, yet black residents are still under-represented in government and business leadership. By providing programming that highlights our area’s rich African American heritage, we hope to play a small part in improving representation, especially for young people.

Beginning this week, we will host Salisbury resident Dr. Clara Small, one of the leading scholars and historians on African American history on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Small wrote two books, two volumes of Compass Points: Profiles and Biographies of African Americans from the Delmarva Peninsula. They include famous abolitionists like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass as well as also lesser-known individuals like Mary Fair Burks. Burks founded the Women’s Political Council in 1946 (which helped initiate the Montgomery Bus Boycott). Small also wrote about Cambridge native Stephen Allen Benson, who served as the second president of Liberia. She also featured Salisbury’s own Charles Chipman, a local educator and community activist.

Local African dance group “A Master’s Peace”—directed by Kimberly Clark-Shaw”—will present a family program on African dance on February 18. Shaw studied West African dance as part of a Fulbright Fellowship program in Ghana. A Master’s Peace is a collaborative network of artists working together to promote unity, expression, and cultural education through the performing arts. The group encourages participation in arts and cultural awareness by combining drama, spoken word, African dance and musical theatre.

Our African American History month celebration culminates with visiting artist, Galen Abdur-Razzaq. The master flautist and lecturer presents “Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement.” Chronicling jazz music from the turn of the century to modern day, he explores its influence on the Civil Rights Movement.

American poet and jazz historian Stanley Crouch said, “Jazz predicted the civil rights movement more than any other art in America.” Jazz music appealed to racially diverse audiences, and many famous jazz musicians used their celebrity to promote social justice and civil rights. Abdur-Razzaq also highlights women in jazz and the influence they had on the evolution of the art form, including Baltimore’s Billie Holiday. The program provides an understanding and appreciation of jazz and its historically significant role in American heritage. Abdur-Razzaq’s family-friendly program includes lecture and performance as well as games and prizes to capture young people’s attention and inspire them to pursue higher education.

We acknowledge that these programs only begin to explore Wicomico County’s rich heritage. It is the Library’s intention that these programs that reflect our community’s diversity are not limited to one month, but continue to expand throughout the year

STEIN: Wicomico Public Libraries presents Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement at their Downtown location at 5 P.M. on March 6. Learn more about the library’s African American History Month programming at WicomicoLibraries.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Heritage and Inclusivity
February 6, 2020

PHOEBE STEIN: How can heritage be a tool for inclusion and acceptance rather than exclusion? Andrew Arvizu of Patapsco Heritage Greenway tells us more: Arvizu is the Heritage Coordinator at the Ellicott City organization.

ANDREW ARVIZU: This year, Patapsco Heritage Greenway’s annual Patapsco Days is commemorating the centennial anniversary of the 19^th Amendment. Throughout the month of March, we will be working with our partner organizations to host over one dozen lectures, tours, hikes, and more.

As part of our commemoration, we have resolved to tell a more inclusive story of the history of women’s rights. Traditionally, the story of women’s suffrage has focused on the experiences of white middle-class women. While this story is important, we believe it is critical to attempt to examine the rights of all women. Bringing the legacies and stories of African American, Asian American and Indigenous women to the forefront is our goal with this programming.

Our opening event embraces this goal to expand the narrative by exploring the matriarchal society of the Piscataway people. We want to shed light on the women-led society that existed in the early modern era. Then, for the rest of the month, we will continue to examine new and exciting stories of our region’s women, while providing a platform for inclusive history.

Inclusivity is critical when considering how heritage has been used to shape our understanding of the world. For too long, the dominance of a select few narratives has silenced the lived experiences of our community members. Inclusive history strives to change this by bringing previously silenced narratives to the forefront.

This is especially important when we consider the role that heritage plays in building communities. Heritage constructs a shared vision of the past and cements a region’s identity. This regional identity has the power to bring communities together and inspire a sense of self within a broader historical context. It also has the possibility to exclude people by denying their agency in the region’s past. When stories go untold, or are overshadowed by other narratives, community members can struggle to fit their lives into a region’s heritage. At that point, heritage becomes a tool for exclusion and privilege, rather than inclusion and acceptance.

This is why I believe that museums and cultural institutions must do everything in their power to include everyone in a region’s identity. This cannot be done without examining the varied pasts of all of a community’s members. Moreover, this will require critical reassessments of the dominant stories that so many hold dear.

At the heart of expanding the narrative is allowing communities to speak, organize, and act for themselves. It is not enough to simply tell the stories of other communities. Instead, we strive to create a platform for communities to define their own past and, in turn, to shape their own place in our shared heritage and make the humanities work for everyone.

STEIN: Programming for Patapsco Days 2020 is supported in part by a grant from Maryland Humanities. Learn more about Patapsco Heritage Greenway at patapsco.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

African American Art Through The Eyes of High School Students with Disabilities
January 31, 2020

PHOEBE STEIN: For Black History Month, Charles H. Flowers High School in Prince George’s County hosts a show of its students’ art. Part of the process involved students with disabilities attending museums and interpreting art prior to creating their own. LeAnn Holden-Martin, a Special Education Teacher at the school, tells us more.

STEIN: This program was supported by a grant from Maryland Humanities. Learn more about Charles H. Flowers High School at pgcps.org/charleshflowers. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Army and Navy Hospital Ships
January 9, 2020

PHOEBE STEIN: Have you ever heard of a floating hospital? Did you know that The Army and Navy have sailed almost 60 hospital ships since the Civil War? Steven Hill, Exhibits Manager at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, talks about our nation’s history of hospital ships.

STEVEN HILL: As a historian and curator, I was very pleased when my personal interests coincided with the museum’s medical focus for our current temporary exhibit called “United States Hospital Ships.”

Using the museum’s collections, and with a generous loan from the U.S. Navy model collections at Carderock in Montgomery County, we created an exhibit of approximately 75 photographs, five ship models, and various ephemera from U.S. hospital ships 1862 to present. The materials on display document the early and ongoing commitment of the United States to timely care for its service members deployed with minimal access to land-based medical facilities.

The Army and Navy have sailed almost 60 hospital ships since the Civil War. Highlights of the exhibit include the museum’s 6-foot long model of the paddlewheel steamer D.A. January. This represents the U.S. Army’s first floating hospital, converted from a commercial riverboat to accompany the Union armies as they advanced into Confederate territory using the continent’s internal river systems.

A much smaller model, from the U.S. Navy, represents the USS Solace, the first hospital ship in U.S. history to participate in an ongoing battle, and prominent in World War II. The model was made by Lieutenant James Cole, an orthopedic surgeon who served aboard this ship for a year in 1943. Between World War I and II, the Navy had only one operational hospital ship. With the posting of the Pacific Fleet to Hawaii in 1940, it was decided that another was needed as support. This new ship, named the Solace, joined the fleet at Pearl Harbor in October 1941. The boat was present on the day of the Japanese attack of December 7. Many of the iconic images of exploding U.S. warships were taken from the decks of the Solace. In period photos and newsreels, it’s the Solace’s launches that can be seen darting among the stricken ships rescuing wounded seamen from the oily water. During World War II, the U.S. Navy built or purchased 16 more hospital ships and the Army 24.

Three of the Navy’s hospital ships went on to serve in Korea and Vietnam. In those conflicts, care was extended to civilians as well as soldiers caught in the war’s general destruction. Since that time, the mission of hospital ships has expanded to include response to both war and non-war related disasters, and global health engagement missions. The Navy currently has two hospital ships, USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort, which operate under the Military Sealift Command, with civilian merchant crews and officers, augmented during deployment with medical crews made up of medical personnel from all the uniformed services. You can see a five-foot model of the Comfort—on loan from the Navy—in our exhibit.

STEIN: The “United States Hospital Ships” exhibit will on display until March 2020. The museum is part of the Defense Health Agency. For more information about the exhibit and the National Museum of Health and Medicine, visit medicalmuseum.mil. Mary4land Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Chronicles of the African American Journey Through Fiber Arts
January 2, 2020

PHOEBE STEIN: Montpelier Arts Center will celebrate Black History Month in February with a show called Chronicles of the African American Journey Through Fiber Arts. Director Beth Crisman tells us more.

BETH CRISMAN: In African American history, quilting dates back to slavery. Black women spun, wove, sewed, and quilted for the wealthy, but also created quilts and fiber arts with their own designs to celebrate their heritage. Quilts may have also been used to create codes and messages for the Underground Railroad. For members of various African American cultures, quilts have also reflected experiences, migrations, and settlements.

The Montpelier Arts Center is located on the same property as the Montpelier Mansion which is a Georgian style plantation house dating back to the 1780’s. It seems fitting to host an exhibition that touches upon this history where on this same property, slavery was a reality.

Initially, we were looking to exhibit quilts with African American narratives for our annual Black History Month exhibition. I thought, what if we took it one-step further to include fiber arts overall instead of only quilts and see what kind of response(s) we get.

We created an open call via an online submission platform to fiber artists in the United States. The two main stipulations were that it needed to include some form and/or process of fiber arts such as sewing, quilting, felting, beading, embroidery, etc. The work also needed to revolve around the African American journey through stories and experiences. We narrowed the show’s artwork down to our final selections: 15 artists and 34 pieces of artwork. The location of the artists range from Maryland to Brooklyn to Chicago.

Chicago’s Terri Foster created a series of vintage embroidered handkerchiefs entitled “Selfie”, which juxtaposes the current form of self-portraiture via smart phones. Her piece comments on how this type of imagery is used for quick online applications in relation to the time consuming and traditionally feminine process of embroidery. The artist states that if you do an online search of “self-portrait” you get a lot of images of white male artists. This series is also about making the artist someone to be remembered and inserting herself into history, a history that has long overlooked African-American women.

Traditional quilt maker Vera P. Hall of Baltimore integrates imagery and stories of slavery and the Civil War in her pieces Robert Smalls, An American Hero and We, Too, Sing America. The latter is nearly identical to the opening line of “I, Too,” a poem by Langston Hughes. Hall’s pieces illustrate stories of how Black people fought for their own freedom as well as for each other. Robert Smalls was an African American who during the Civil War escaped slavery in a Confederate supply ship and later became a captain for the Union Navy. After the Civil War, he became a politician for South Carolina’s House of Representatives and the State Senate.

Our focus is not only to serve and highlight talented artists of our region and nation, but to let the work in the exhibition touch upon the lives of the community and include them on these journeys. This exhibition bridges the history of African American lives of the past with the narratives of notable figures such as Robert Smalls and Harriet Tubman along with more contemporary idols like Toni Morrison and Tina Turner. The experiences, migrations, and settlements are carried through the African American collective of stories on overcoming inequality to triumphs and achievements in a contemporary history in the making.

STEIN: The show opens January 11 and closes March 1: there will be a public reception on February 8. Montpelier Arts Center is located in Prince George’s County and is part of the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Learn more about the exhibit at arts.pgparks.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

A Season of Giving: Dorothy Day and the “Undeserving Poor”
December 26, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: As the end of the year approaches, many of us consider donating to charities and nonprofits. Dr. Heather Miller-Reubens —Executive Director of the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies — tells us about Dorothy Day, a religious leader who offered a powerful meditation on giving.

DR. HEATHER MILLER-REUBENS: The end of December brings with it a certain urgency to make contributions to causes we care deeply about, and to organizations that we believe do good work in the world. Religious traditions have long provided guidance about giving help to the poor and needy among us. How do each of us make decisions about charitable giving? Who deserves our help and who does not? These questions did not arise with tax code’s December 31st deadline, but are indeed questions that are as old as humanity.

Sacred texts and religious teachers have offered “how-to” instructions on the individual choices of personal charity. Prophets and preachers have also called on believers to work on the tougher task of fully eradicating poverty from our communities. Visionary religious teachers have made demands that require people of all beliefs to stop and examine our actions and our choices. Dorothy Day is one such thinker and religious leader that comes to mind.

The Vatican has begun the process to name Dorothy Day as a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Dorothy Day is known for the being the founder of the Catholic Worker movement. From 1933 until her death in 1980, Day worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor and marginalized in America’s cities, setting up Houses of Hospitality where forgotten and desperate people have found assistance. In addition to her physical labors to help the poor in her neighborhood, Day leant her intelligent mind to the task of thinking critically and creatively about poverty and wealth inequality. As the editor, and a main contributor to the Catholic Worker newspaper, Day challenged Americans of all religious beliefs to think differently about the poor and combatting poverty. While Day offered a universal call to respond, she grounded her position in the Christian gospels and her Catholic faith. Day argued that the gospels teach that everyone is responsible for helping the poor directly, personally, immediately and without discrimination.

Day questioned the idea that the poor must themselves do something to merit help; that somehow assistance should only go to certain “deserving” people, and that giving charity to the “undeserving” would breed laziness, or further contribute to individual moral decline. Day pointed out that such a distinction between deserving and undeserving poor assumes poverty is the fault of the poor themselves. She taught that such thinking was antithetical to Jesus’ teachings in the gospels.

Citing the Gospel of Matthew, Day pointed out that Christ said “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.” (Mt 25:35) Day interpreted this sacred text as a mandate to immediately help those who seek assistance without standing in judgment over them.

So as you consider your charitable giving, I urge you to consider the prophetic challenge Dorothy Day gives to us – abandon the categories of deserving and undeserving poor; let your generosity know no boundaries; help those who ask, without hesitation.

STEIN: More information about the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies can be found at icjs.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Elizabeth Catlett: Artist as Activist
December 19, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Elizabeth Catlett received a Lifetime Achievement Award in contemporary sculpture from the International Sculpture Center in 2003. Decades earlier, Carnegie Institute of Technology revoked her admission when the school learned she was Black. Jackie Copeland, Executive Director of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History, tells us more about the groundbreaking artist.

JACKIE COPELAND: Our exhibition, Elizabeth Catlett: Artist as Activist, celebrates 60 years of the artist’s career in the 20 prints and 14 sculptures on view. Born in 1915, Elizabeth Catlett was a 20th century American and Mexican graphic artist and sculptor, best known for her depictions of African American women and the African American experience. Throughout her career, Catlett fought oppression, racism, class and gender inequality. She created art to support issues that mattered to her – freedom, race, ethnicity, and feminism. For Catlett, art was a tool for social and political change. Her art confronted the plight of the Mexican worker, especially sharecroppers, as well as injustices against African Americans during the Jim Crow era.

Because she spent most of her life in Mexico with a Mexican husband and three children, many in the United States aren’t familiar with Catlett’s work. But she said, “I have always wanted my art to service black people — to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential.”

Born in Washington, D.C., the granddaughter of enslaved people, Catlett attended Howard University. She was admitted to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, but the school revoked her scholarship and refused her admission once they discovered she was black. After graduation from Howard, she studied art at the University of Iowa under the mentorship of painter Grant Wood: he encouraged her to depict what she knew best, African American images. Catlett became the first student ever to receive a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa.

In 1947, Catlett began an affiliation with the Taller de Gráfica Popular, an influential and political group of printmakers. When she wasn’t creating art, she was protesting, picketing, and even getting arrested in her quest to win justice for those she described as “my people”. She created images of Mexican people in a way that showed them as strong and dignified. Were she alive today, she would be fighting for those stopped and detained at the U.S./ Mexican border. When the U.S. State Department called her an “undesirable alien” for her political actions and denied her entry into the country, she became a Mexican citizen. She regained her American citizenship in 2002. The next year, in 2003, the International Sculpture Center honored her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in contemporary sculpture.

Elizabeth Catlett’s prints and sculptures of black women convey their strength, dignity, struggles and achievements. Her work is in the permanent collections of numerous museums and institutions throughout the world, including the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 2012, she died at the age of 96 in her home in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

STEIN: Elizabeth Catlett: Artist as Activist is on display through March 2020. For more information, visit lewismuseum.org. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum is a previous grantee of Maryland Humanities. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Maryland Witches
December 12, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: What led someone to charge an Anne Arundel County woman with witchcraft in the 1700s? Rissa Miller, a tour guide with Maryland History Tours, talks about the history of witchcraft in Maryland.

RISSA MILLER: In 1685, Rebecca Fowler was accused of using the dark arts against seven people in Maryland. She was hanged for the crime of witchcraft, the only person executed by law in the state for felony sorcery. A widow from Calvert County, Fowler was one of 12 individuals to take the stand as a witch in Maryland’s history.

The public perception of a witch has changed a good deal in the past 300 or so years. During the 1600s to early 1700s, anyone would fear for their life at such an accusation. Something considered innocuous to Marylanders today, like having a pet cat, owning a pot with a lid, or brewing herbal tea, might have been enough to create suspicion.

While “witchhunt” is used ubiquitously these days, historically, “witch hunts” were injustices against powerless, marginalized people, especially women. Modern experts believe that most of those accused of practicing magic during the witch trials were innocents – usually single or widowed women who had no way to defend themselves against the charges of supernatural crime during the course of an international hysteria.

Most women occupied subservient positions in society. They were expected to raise children, keep a household and show obedience to their husbands. When women veered from these roles, it put them at risk of witchcraft accusations from those in authority. Men held all positions of power in family, religion and government. And going back to the Bible, it was commonly believed that women were more likely to give in to Satan – recall Eve and her apple.

Many know about Salem, Massachusetts where in 1692 more than 100 people were arrested, with 19 being hanged, for the crime of witchcraft. But witch hunts came with colonists from Europe and spread throughout early America. Maryland was no exception.

Names such as Katherine Prout are less well known than the Salem witches. A single woman living in Anne Arundel County, she was accused of witchcraft in 1702 because she had “a sassy mouth” and called a man a “rogue” in public. Due to lack of evidence, Prout was fined only for behavior unbecoming of a lady.

Virtue Violi, a widow from Talbot County, was brought up on felony sorcery charges for making another woman unable to speak in 1712. Oddly, though, the judge noted that the accuser was able to speak at the trial, and questioned why, if Violi had the power to renderer the other woman silent, she had not repeated the spell before court. Violi, declared not guilty, was the last person to stand trial in Maryland for witchcraft.

In our History of Witches Tour, we’ll delve more into Maryland’s past with witches in Maryland from the 1600s until the present day. In addition to the twelve felony witches, we’ll also explore Spiritualism, the Ouija board in Baltimore, Fire-blowing witches, and

STEIN: Maryland History Tour in Ellicott City offers their History of Witches Tour on December 19 at 7 PM: the tour begins at the Wine Bin on 8390 Main Street. A variation of that program, Witches and Brews, will take place on January 9 at 7PM at Ellicott City Brewing Company. Learn more at mdhistorytours.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled
December 5, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Did you know that 21% of adults in Maryland have reported that they have a disability? John Owen is the Director of the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled. He tells us how blind and low-vision people access books and computers in the digital age.

JOHN OWEN: What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about “accessibility?” Perhaps it’s a ramp into a building or a designated parking space or signage in Braille on an elevator. To extend the idea of accessibility, you could ask what tools would assist people with a disability in navigating a computer or mobile device to get information. What tools might they need to read a book or magazine?

In Maryland, 21% of adults have reported that they have at least one disability. That’s one in five adults who especially need designed accessibility in their physical and digital worlds. Among the resources available to persons who are blind or low vision is the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled. Our library provides access to information through audiobooks, Braille materials, training, and programming.

The Americans with Disabilities Act has evolved since its passage in 1990. New requirements like the Web Accessibility Amendment have brought the standard of reasonable accommodations to the digital world: assistive technology like screen magnifiers and text-to-speech converters make computers, websites, and smartphones easier to access for those with print and visual impairments.

This has been in response to an ever-changing digital world, which has made books available for download and information available in real-time on mobile devices. The digital world has also increased the number of resources and platforms all individuals with print disabilities use to engage with their local communities. These changes have challenged organizations to think anew about how people access information, especially if they cannot access regular print materials.

And that’s where libraries come into play.

As part of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (otherwise known as NLS), we provide information and reading material for those unable to access standard print. This means people who are blind, low vision, or who have a condition that prevents them from seeing or holding a traditional print book can read, learn, and participate in their wider communities.

NLS, a program of the Library of Congress, provides us with access to more than 100,000 titles in specialized audio and braille formats, as well as equipment. Our library then provides these accessible reading options to qualifying Marylanders; our services also allow for access to events and additional services geared to those with print impairments. Our staff and volunteers record content about Maryland or by Maryland authors. We also provide training on device and accessible formats for textbooks for Maryland students. In these ways and many more, we are working to expand the understanding of accessibility and enable the engagement of our patrons in lifelong learning.

STEIN: Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled is a partner of Maryland Humanities. Learn more at lbph.maryland.gov. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Tracing Maryland’s History Through Food
November 28, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Kara Harris has spent eight years researching Maryland culinary history. She travels the state and sometimes the country to research cookbooks written more than 100 years ago. For years ago, she turned her hobby into a blog, Old Line Plate. Harris tells us more about what cookbooks can tell us about our state’s history.

KARA HARRIS:Maryland food used to be famous across the Western World. Northern and Southern influences, the abundance of the mountains and the bay, plus the availability of ingredients through the port of Baltimore, made the state a destination for travelers looking to be wined and dined.

At the turn of the 20^th century, women produced dozens of cookbooks cashing in on Maryland’s culinary reputation. By building a database of nearly 200 Maryland cookbooks (and counting), I set out to re-discover some lost traditions. These books can offer a tempting view into the tastes of the past, but how much do they really tell us?

We have no way to truly know exactly what some foods used to taste like. Many varieties of fruits and vegetables have vanished. Local mills used to supply most grain. Millers and bakers would create their own blends depending on the purpose. The flour could vary from mill to mill, household to household, year to year. The yeast would come from the air or from a byproduct of beer brewing. The texture of bread could have been wildly different.

On top of that, a lot of old recipes are pretty vague. When these recipes were written, it was assumed that cooks would have a good amount of prior knowledge – sometimes involving equipment no longer available today. Recipes for baked goods might list the amounts for ingredients but then just say “cook in a slow oven,” if they even mention cooking it at all. Recipes for raw meat instructed me to “stew it until done.”

Many of the recipes were copied straight from other books and never tested, or they were printed just to show off the author’s social status – how much butter and sugar or hired or enslaved help she could afford. Women like Mrs. Charles Gibson or Mrs. Benjamin Chew Howard compiled cookbooks that glamorized the antebellum illusion of abundance & good cheer for all. Recipes often indicated banquet-sized quantities of food that would necessitate a skilled staff of enslaved people to produce.

One of Maryland’s most longtime famous dishes is “Maryland Beaten Biscuits.” From a time before baking powder, they required about 45 minutes of beating air into the dough and folding it – this very famous “southern recipe” has represented the epitome of slave-labor food to many northerners.

I began to notice how the people who compiled cookbooks in the 19^th century – women mostly – could choose recipes to project an image: sophistication, wealth (based on the ingredients used), or even thriftiness.

Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was very popular for church groups to put out Maryland cookbooks. Comparing dozens of these books provided insight into the people who compiled them. Often, these were very marketing savvy and they sold ads to local businesses. They incorporated new ingredients – product placement, essentially. We tend to think of the past as very pure and free of commercial influence but there is a really fine line between a corporate cookbook and community cookbook. It was a give and take.

My illusions of pure and simple historic cooking may have been shattered, but I gained an appreciation for women’s role in developing and promoting culinary technology.

When we look to cookbooks as a guide to historic foodways, it’s important to read between the recipes. What we find there may offer more than just the flavors of the past. It can be a window into the people and the times that made those meals possible, and our own changing relationships to food and cooking.

STEIN: See more of Harris’ research at oldlineplate.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Amplifying Black History and Youth
November 21, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How is one organization combining civic engagement, history, and the arts to ensure that the voices of Baltimore youth are heard? Sharayna Christmas, Executive Director of Muse 360 Arts, tells us more.

SHARAYNA CHRISTMAS: When people ask me why Muse 360 Arts focuses on developing young people creatively through history and culture, the answer is simple: because it is necessary, period . How can we seriously consider a future for Baltimore without including its young people? History leads the charge for youth to understand their place in it, particularly from an African Diasporic lens. Studying history is important because it allows us an opportunity to understand our past, which allows us to understand our present.

It provides insight into our culture of origin as well as other cultures with which we might be less familiar: this increases cross-cultural awareness and understanding. Through this understanding, we bore New Generation Scholars, a Youth Leadership Study Abroad Program, founded in 2007 in an effort to develop strong, considerate youth scholars that become leaders, not only in the arts but of this world.

At Muse 360 Arts, we believe in Artistic Excellence. For us this means centering learning in the process of inquiry, self-discovery, and creative expression. We encourage youth to take risks and think critically. We believe in Civic Engagement, using history to commit to and develop solutions for the creative evolution of our communities. We engage youth in the process of becoming the inventive, contributing citizens upon whom our world depends. We also believe in creative entrepreneurship. We teach each youth a way to use the necessary professional skills learned in our programs to transform aspirations and values into a creative practice that will serve as the foundation to sustain their livelihood.

New Generation Scholars provides 30 Baltimore City youth (ages 13-21) with an opportunity to learn about Black American history in Baltimore and the global black experience. During this ten-month program, scholars begin to develop purpose through participation and find their voice. Through college-style lectures and presentations, New Generation Scholars increase their historical literacy, expand their knowledge of who they are as intellectual, social, cultural and artistic beings and embrace their legacy as Black American citizens of Baltimore. Youth engage in dialogue with adult scholars, learn how to conduct research, and engage elders of oral tradition. They learn how to conduct research from various collections, exhibitions, and educational resources. The program culminates with the youth scholars producing collaborative media and arts projects that grow from their intensive study. The ultimate goal is to create an opportunity for youth’s voices to be heard through inter-generational learning and to further strengthen Baltimore’s ongoing history.

In May of 2019, thanks to the support of Maryland Humanities, New Generation Scholars had the wonderful opportunity to produce an intergenerational photography and oral history exhibition, Rooted Wings. Rooted Wings highlighted a major source of research that is prominent in the preservation of our past — oral history. New Generation Scholars shared the rich history and experiences of Black Baltimore told from the perspective of its elders and youth within the community. They documented stories through photography and creative writing along with photos of our scholars’ experience studying in New Orleans the month before. They were able to relate New Orleans’ historical and current events to the Black experience in Baltimore City.

Since inception, New Generation Scholars has served over 400 Baltimore City youth and studied abroad in 10 countries. 100% of our youth graduate from high school with 67% receiving full scholarships to college. This past July, New Generation Scholars had the wonderful privilege of studying in Ghana concluding a season filled with inquiry into our past to find solutions for our future. In a city that is more than 60% black and almost 75% people of color , Muse 360 Arts remains committed to developing youth through knowledge of self, rooted in the African Diaspora so that they may use their creative talents to challenge the status quo, think critically and most importantly contribute positively to the communities they live in.

STEIN: Learn more about Muse 360 Arts and New Generation Scholars at muse360.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Amplifying Black History and Youth
November 21, 2019

The Affirming Power of LGBTQ Storytelling
November 14, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How is storytelling a form of survival? R. Eric Thomas, Senior Staff Writer at Elle Magazine and Board Member at FreeState Justice, tells us more.

R. ERIC THOMAS: Think of a dinner party. A big, raucous, lively, long-into-the-night dinner party. Maybe it’s a family dinner – family of origin, family of choice, strangers that fell into familial rhythms minutes after meeting. What are they saying? They’re exchanging ideas about the way they experience the world. They’re doing what we all do to be heard and seen: they’re telling stories. We tell stories to live. Far too often the stories of people in marginalized groups, including LGBTQ people, go unheard, unrecorded, and often, tragically, forgotten. It doesn’t have to be this way.

In August of 2019, the Maryland Department of Education announced it would expand state curriculum to include the history of the LGBTQ rights movement. The decision illustrates the way that the humanities, particularly storytelling, can be deployed as tools for creating a more just society. Telling the stories – past, present, and future – of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Marylanders has repercussions far beyond a classroom. By telling the truth of our lives, we locate ourselves within the larger narrative of the state, the nation, and the world. We affirm that we exist and have always existed and that we matter.

Years ago, I was hired to coach LGBTQ seniors on storytelling for a project intended to capture experiences of housing discrimination that had gone unreported. The stories these seniors told often shocked and saddened me but they also, at times, enthralled. As they talked about their lives, the incidental details and anecdotal flourishes came pouring out. I heard about loves won and lost, career triumphs, dinner parties thrown. They told me the stories of their lives, histories that, because of the society they lived in, they often kept secret. I needed those stories; we all need those stories.

I also saw myself in these stories: echoes of the life I live now, a queer person in a freer society. I saw the path of those that came before me and the cultural heritage that they handed down.

Think of your own history. Imagine you didn’t have access to the experiences of your forbearers or your contemporaries. By extension, you’d lack an understanding of yourself and the world.

With our night of storytelling on the theme Freedom, FreeState Justice is inviting six Marylanders from across the LGBTQIA spectrum to make our world a little bigger, a little more nuanced, and a little brighter. We’re inviting stories that will challenge our perceptions, call to mind common human experiences seen through a queer lens, and make us laugh with recognition. We’re leaning forward as if around a dinner table and inviting in voices that might have been otherwise silenced. When you tell the truth about who you are and what you have been through, no one can deny that you exist. We tell our stories to live.

STEIN: Freedom: A Night of LGBTQ Storytelling takes place at Baltimore Center Stage on November 16 at 7 PM. Learn more at freestate-justice.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

A “Life-Altering” Experience with Maryland History Day
November 7, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: As an eighth-grader last spring, Addie Skillman won first place in the junior individual performance category at Maryland History Day for her project “Loving v. Virginia: The Stepping Stone for Equality in Maryland.” Addie then advanced to the National History Day contest in College Park where she won the top prize—the Gold Medal—for her junior individual performance. Currently a ninth grader at Howard High, Addie tells us how her participation in the program changed her life.

ADDIE SKILLMAN: When my 8th grade history class was told we would be conducting year-long research as a part of a competition known as Maryland History Day, I was not thrilled. However, I chose a topic, did research, and put together a final presentation by the beginning of February. Little did I know how much this project would impact my life as well as that of many others.

The historical topic I chose was Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 court case in which interracial marriage was legalized throughout the country. As I did my research, I went from an annoyed and forced mindset to countless days spending hours on the computer, phoning interviews, and with my nose in books wanting to learn more about this fascinating case.

For my project, I chose to do a performance. As I advanced from school to the County level of History Day, it evolved to a 10-minute monologue in which I played a total of 8 different people who played a central role in Loving v. Virginia.

After taking first place in my category for Howard County, I went to the Maryland History Day state competition at UMBC in May. At the state level, not only were my research and writing skills being tested, but I was having an incredible time performing in front of judges and my peers about a topic I was passionate about. I was ecstatic to take first place in Maryland, and move up to the National History Day competition, a weeklong extravaganza held at the University of Maryland in College Park. I can easily place this as one of the best weeks of my life.

People had travelled thousands of miles from all 50 states as well as additional territories in order to participate in the National competition.

I also got the incredible opportunity to participate in Humanities on the Hill with Maryland Humanities’ Phoebe Stein. I got to see hundreds of other projects, from stunning, six-foot tall exhibit boards to mind-blowing, moving documentaries — each one informing me about a new historical topic that, often, I had never heard of before. I spent a day in Washington DC speaking with staff from the offices of Senator Benjamin Cardin and the late Congressman Elijah Cummings about the importance of history spread through History Day. The week was also full of state pin-trading, parades, and even a student dance. I believe the most powerful thing about my entire experience was the people. That week, the University of Maryland’s halls were booming with electric excitement that you could practically feel in the air.

My topic, Loving v. Virginia, allowed me to connect with so many people, in and outside of my own community. After my performance at practically every competition level, people would come up to me and open up about their experience with their own interracial marriage. That is why I believe history and the History Day competition are so important — they allow people to connect with each other on a level outside of just a page in a textbook. This experience altered my life and gave me a whole new mindset on learning — history can truly make a difference!

STEIN: Maryland History Day is an affiliate of National History Day and a program of Maryland Humanities. Learn more at mdhumanities.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Día de los Muertos and Artesanas Mexicanas
October 31, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How have Día de los Muertos observances changed over the past 3,000 years? Yesenia Mejia, Artesanas Mexicanas Coordinator at the Creative Alliance, tells us more and talks about the value she finds in observing the holiday today in Baltimore.

YESENIA MEJIA: Día de los Muertos is one of the most important traditions celebrated through Mexico and by the Latin American community living in Baltimore. The day’s traditions focus on celebrating and remembering friends and family who have passed away. One of the most important elements of Día de los Muertos is the altar.

An ofrenda (offering) or altar is the collection of objects displayed traditionally for the celebration of Day of the Dead— that happens on November 1 and November 2 — a time of celebration and remembrance of loved ones who have passed away. Elements of the altars will vary depending on region.

Offerings were an essential part of the life and tradition of indigenous peoples such as the Aztecs, Mayas, and Nahuas: 3000 years ago, these indigenous people based many of their customs on the Aztec or Maya calendar. The calendars were used to identify when the dead and gods would be celebrated.

In a pre-Hispanic offering, the altar’s elements held a lot of significance and many were considered essential. Fire symbolized guidance and purification of the souls. Water represented purity and chocolate symbolized truth. People represented land with Cempasúchil flowers (Mexican Marigold). They offered food, made with resources from the specific region. And they would paint a representation of wind in red and black on Amate paper to symbolize before death and the afterlife.

The altars and offerings also include natural resources that were brought from the Old World such as flour and sugar, which is a change in tradition from using human skulls to making calaveritas azucar (sugar skulls) and Pan de Muerto (traditional Day of the Dead Bread.)

Artesanas is a group of Latin American women in Southeast Baltimore who always honor their traditions. They pass the traditions to their children and grandchildren in hope they will be passed on for generations.

It is also really important for us to keep celebrating Día de los Muertos because it makes us feel close to home, and because for some of us, didn’t had the opportunity to go back home and say goodbye to some of our loved ones who passed away. The only way that we can feel connected is by building the altar and celebrating loved ones as if they were here with us.

Creative Alliance has been a place where we can feel at home and share our traditions with others. We have built altars around the community. We are also hosting a celebration Día de los Muertos Family Day on November 2. We invite everyone to come to Creative Alliance and join us in remembering and celebrating loved ones who are no longer with us.

STEIN: Día de los Muertos Family Day takes place from 11 A.M. to 3 P.M. Learn more at creativealliance.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The Mythic Life of Amelia Earhart
October 24, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: In the play Here We Are, Amelia Earhart wakes up in the underworld. Playwright Jen Diamond intertwines her own imaginings with biographical information about the aviator. Interrobang Theatre Company produces the play: Artistic Director Katie Hileman tells us more.

KATIE HILEMAN: Amelia Earhart was a real person, a real pilot, and she really disappeared. While we know so much about her life through the press and her own writing, for decades we could not confirm what happened after she and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared somewhere in the Pacific Ocean in 1937 as they attempted to fly around the world.

But even before she crashed, or drowned, or vanished into thin air, Earhart’s life had already taken on a mythical quality. At a time when women were still expected to spend their days and nights in the home and with their husbands, Earhart made history as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, first as a passenger (like a “sack of potatoes” sitting on the plane – her words), and later as a solo pilot. While many other women of the time aimed towards the north star of marriage, she broke off her first engagement after six years. When she finally decided to wed, she told her agent-slash-fiancé George Putnam that she could not guarantee her ability to endure “the confinements of even an attractive cage.” Her words again.

When she disappeared on July 2, 1937, Earhart was trying to become the first woman to fly around the world. She was 39-years-old, and had already made history dozens of times in the sky. And then she disappeared.

In June of that year, Earhart and Noonan began their final adventure in Miami, Florida. The trip was projected to be 29,000 miles. While other pilots (all male, of course) had flown around the globe in the past, this trip would not only have been the first by a female pilot, but the longest round-the-world route ever flown, period.

All goes well until June 30th when Earhart and Noonan begin the most dangerous leg of the journey, taking off from Lae, New Guinea with their sights set on Howland Island. Nineteen hours after they leave Lae, the U.S. Coast Guard receives a transmission from Earhart’s Lockheed Electra aircraft: “We must be on you but cannot see you. But gas is running low. Been unable to reach you by radio.” An hour later, Earhart sends rough coordinates. Then silence. Two hours later, the search begins and nothing is found.

In the context of other American myths – both real and invented – featuring female characters, her story stands out. We have plenty of legends and fables that feature women, but usually they are playing the role of damsel in distress, the witch, or the unfortunate babysitter who gets slaughtered by the intruder. Amelia Earhart is none of those things. So, why is she different? How did she do it? Where did she go? And, of course, why does it matter?

To answer these questions, playwright Jen Diamond began to tell her own version of the Amelia Earhart story Here We Are. It is about Amelia Earhart and it also isn’t. There are facts from her life, and plenty of Jen’s own imaginings. The play is her love letter to Earhart, but also her attempt to shine a light into the myth of womanhood and femininity that she faced head on. The more she wrote, Jen told us, the more she realized that maybe she didn’t want the answers. If she knew the answers, there would be no more question. And if there is no more question, it means that Earhart faced the same fate as so many other women in mythology – tragedy.

Every once in a while someone sends Jen an article with a headline like, “Lady Lindy’s Remains Have Finally Been Found.” She doesn’t click those links. Not because she’s not curious, but because she doesn’t want the story to end.

STEIN: Here We Are runs from November 8 through November 17: it is sponsored in part by Free Fall Baltimore. Learn more at interrobangbaltimore.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

A Global View of Water at Calvert County
October 17, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: The Smithsonian Institution makes a stop in Calvert County with H2O Today, now at the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. This Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition explores the beauty and essential nature of water and the diversity and challenges of our global water sources. Rachelle Green, Acting Director at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, tells us more.

RACHELLE GREEN: Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum in Saint Leonard, Maryland explores the element by hosting H2O Today, a 2,000 square-foot exhibition designed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services.

We built the exhibition working in conjunction with Maryland Humanities’ Museum on Main Street program. This valuable partnership allows us to bring the Smithsonian Institution to Calvert County for a 20-month engagement. By hosting H2O Today, we serve as an anchor site for the year-long 2019-2020 statewide tour of Museum on Main Street’s Water/Ways exhibition. The partnership allows us to shine a spotlight on Southern Maryland by staging a national exhibition with engaging and educational programming. It also fits into our goals. At Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, we’re devoted to telling the story of the archaeology and history of the Chesapeake region, and to protecting the fast-disappearing rural environment of Southern Maryland.

The H2O Today exhibition package is a complete “build-your-own exhibition” with print-ready graphic files, detailed design drawings, and computer interactives. The package also contains educational programming materials that sites can modify to fit their spatial and educational needs.

H2O Today is an exhibit that looks at water from global perspective and includes interactive components: we hope these will encourage visitors to develop sustainable solutions to water depletion and become stewards of our environment. Guests can view micro-organisms through a microscope, calculate their body weight in water, create a water-themed poem with magnetic words, and share their personal water story. In addition to the interactive elements of the exhibit, our staff developed gallery guides for families and school groups to self-guide through the exhibit. These guides promote discovery throughout the exhibit by focusing young visitors toward age-appropriate content and activities. We also offer visitors the opportunity to participate in a community art project by painting sections of a rain barrel. After touring the exhibit, guests are invited to enter a free raffle to win one of the painted rain barrels and start conserving water locally.

Each year, Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum hosts the Bernie Fowler Wade-In, which has achieved national notoriety. The event promotes the health of the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay estuary. The Wade-In and former Senator Fowler’s infamous “Sneaker Index” are featured in the H2O Today exhibit. The Chesapeake Bay Program, a partnership of different organizations to restore the Bay, describes the index as “the deepest point at which Fowler can still see his shoes as he wades into the water.”

Together with Maryland Humanities and the Smithsonian’s H2O Today exhibit, Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum will promote the beauty, power, and conservation of water, our global resource.

STEIN: Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum is hosting H2O Today now until December. For more information about H2O Today and Water/Ways, visit www.marylandh2o.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Collective Memory, Shared History, and Healing
October 10, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: What is “rememory?” How can exploring collective memory help people heal from traumatic history and offer hope? Durryle Brooks is the Executive Director at the Center for Black Equity – Baltimore. He tells us more

DURRYLE BROOKS: In Beloved, the late Toni Morrison wrote of a concept called rememory. It is the idea that beyond our own individual experiences, there exists a larger collective narrative. Rememory would open up a new space to grapple with the legacies of slavery and institutionalized racism and the fact that the past is always present.

Rememory would also allow us time to rework and reimagine what is individually and collectively possible. We can use it when we facing the truth of the Black experience nationally and locally. For example, in Baltimore City, enslaved Black people were held in slave pins at the Inner Harbor and along Pratt Street and free Blacks were taken and sold into the Deep South.

The concept of rememory helps illustrate the enduring and systemic inequalities that shaped the Black experience, and for u,s particularly the Black LGBT experience. It is within this realm of complex, lingering systems of oppression that I remember the lives of Black LGBT people who have been murdered or died as a result of deep-seated inequalities.

I remember Bailey, and I remember London, and Jheven – all these young people that have been taken from us or left us too soon because of isolation, stigmatization and marginalization. It is to them, and for them, that The Center for Black Equity-Baltimore exists and works to ensure that Black LGBT people have a safe, loving, and authentic place to just be. It is also because of Audre Lorde, Bayard Rustin, Marsha P. Johnson, and so many other Black LGBT people who laid the groundwork for us to be here in the face of great systemic adversity.

The Center for Black Equity-Baltimore dates back to the very beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic during the late seventies. Before there were anti-retroviral medications, Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or any biomedical interventions, the Baltimore City Black gay community suffered because of racism and homophobia that exacerbated HIV risk. Black gay men in the city were dying, medical professionals were untrained, and in some cases unwilling to serve and care for Black gay men. Out of a need to find and build community when so many people were rapidly vanishing, several black gay men like Carlton Smith, Kevin Clemons, and Dana Owens came together. They created a support group to care for each other, to collectively grieve, to process profound loss in the community, and to face their own mortality. It was their unwavering belief that within the community, that within our legacy as black people, we would find a way to survive and persevere in the face of adversity. They believed that through the act of caring for one another, we could rediscover and affirm our humanity.

While the organization has changed its form and its structure at times, our mission —to educate, elevate, and empower—has gone unchanged. The foundational principle that holds this organization together is that we can love ourselves and heal ourselves. Engaging our collective memories and shared history shows how to not only carry the pain of racism and homophobia, but also the possibility for new ways of knowing, being, and living authentically as ourselves.

Our programming is all grounded in Black LGBT history as well as our oral traditions. It centers on asking how we grapple individually and systematically with inequality that persists even until this day. Our major program is Baltimore Black Pride, which includes a Healing Brunch. At this event, we explore different healing strategies and explore the interconnections of our race, gender, and sexual identity. Here, we create an environment where Black LGBT people can make a commitment to never walk away from themselves, even pieces that resulted from years of social exploitation, victimization, and marginalization. We learn from our history, our elders, and our ancestors. Our healing is about remembering, returning, and creating spaces where we can be filled up again with self-affirmation and self-love instead of being despised, castigated, or shunned. We work with our community to take that which was done to us, use it, and to remake ourselves even more powerful than before. Even when we are most afraid, we encourage everyone to remember, to tell the truth, so that we can heal and be transformed.

STEIN: The Center for Black Equity – Baltimore hosts Baltimore Black Pride October 25 through October 27. Learn more at centerforblackequity.org/baltimore. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Making the Humanities Accessible
October 3, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How can we make the humanities more accessible to people with disabilities? Tammy Black of the Hearing and Speech Agency or HASA, tells us more.

TAMMY BLACK: Baltimore is home to the largest free arts festival in the United States, a nationally recognized book festival, and one of fewer than a dozen light festivals in the world. While events like these are built to bring people throughout the community together, they are not always designed with accessibility or inclusiveness in mind. For example, most public events are presented on a stage with limited sightlines and poor visibility. Festivals with seminars or spoken-word focus are clearly designed for a hearing population.

To foster a culture of inclusivity at Brilliant Baltimore, we’re joining Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts as their Access & Inclusion Partner for the newly-combined Baltimore Book Festival and Light City. We feel like Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts has done a remarkable job of providing access to visitors with physical disabilities in recent years, and we’re excited to join them. We’ll provide expertise, programming, accommodations, and several services designed to welcome attendees with disabilities. In the United States, that group consists of 59 million individuals. We are thrilled to meet the needs of people who have differing hearing status or neurodiversity.

Literature helps create a sense of cultural belonging, social cohesion, and exploration. This can be life-changing for people who are affected by communication differences, such as those who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or have a sensory difference such as autism.

We anticipate 600,000 people will be visiting Brilliant Baltimore this year. Based on numbers from National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Related Disorders, as many as one in six of those attendees will be affected by a communication disability or difference. Because literature is a language-based medium, full access for the event is only possible when offered through additional modes of participation. For example, American Sign Language interpretation of book discussions will allow the Deaf community to be fully included in those conversations. These culturally rich, multi-lingual events will make books come to life for everyone. We are also offering an accessibility guide for attendees and distributing sensory toolkits to individuals with autism, among other services.

“Connecting people to their worlds” is our mission and we are looking forward to fulfilling that on such a large scale at Brilliant Baltimore. Making the humanities less restrictive and more inclusive has a positive impact on all who live, work, and visit Baltimore. Successful cultural events actively encourage diverse social involvement and develop new and wider audiences for cultural activity.

Our goal is for Baltimore’s arts and humanities programming to truly represent the communities in which they exist. Our audiences define us. With the appropriate accommodations, literature can be open to the entire community, regardless of physical ability, hearing status, or neurodiversity.

STEIN: HASA’s services at Brilliant Baltimore are made possible with a grant from Maryland Humanities. Learn more about the event, which runs November 1 through 10, at brilliantbaltimore.com. Learn more about the organization at hasa.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The Humanities in Person
September 26, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: In the digital age, what’s the value of connecting face-to-face while celebrating the humanities? Tara Hart, Co-Chair of the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, tells us more.

TARA HART: At the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, and we claim “HoCoPoLitSo” as our name. HoCoPoLitSo, to me, is a magic word. The authors who visit us seem to enjoy trying to say it; visiting poet Tyehimba Jess said, “It sounds like a dance!”

The magical part, for me, is that it started from a very human place, with a small group of friends. Forty-five years ago, Ellen Conroy Kennedy and a group of friends gathered to figure out how to bring the very best writers in the world to their own small community – to make that magic accessible.

They did it. And they found funding to send great writers into the county high school classrooms. They also placed great books directly into the hands of promising young writers on the brink of high school graduation. And they created a YouTube show, called “The Writing Life,” now seen by people in over 130 countries.

Technology is a great connector, but what deeply matters to us all, what we carry with us, are the moments we share a physical space as human beings, present, listening, being heard. I love reading the poems of Beth Ann Fennelly in the corner of my living room. But now I have also the memory of her last April wearing a green shirt to the taping of “The Writing Life” show (which uses a green screen). I have the memory of how my colleagues and friends literally took a shirt off one back and a jacket off of another to put together an outfit for her so her body wouldn’t disappear. When she returned the shirt it ended up on the floor of a parking garage with tire tracks all over it, and she laughed and laughed. Us, in a room together with all our human frailties, trying to figure things out, is the life upon which poems are made.

To me, what’s more magical than anything are the questions that people in the audience ask during or after a reading, different questions that somehow are all essentially asking “Is it true that I’m not alone in this?”

When writer Marilyn Chin visited us, she explained to students that as a dark-skinned Chinese child, she wasn’t considered beautiful, and therefore wasn’t honored. “I’m this little Chinese girl, born dark, underweight, a little weak,” she said. “How shall I speak? I shall speak loudly! I shall speak for that little brown girl who was unwanted.” This way, she said, “You can take the power back.” After the workshop, a college student told Chin that as a baby girl born with a birth defect in China, her own birth parents had left her by the side of the road. Chin enfolded her in a hug and they took a photo together. And then Marilyn Chin left her with these words: “You are loved and cherished.”

This is what can happen when a small group of people decide the humanities can and should bring people together. Make that space, and then let the people make the magic.

STEIN: Learn more about the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society at HoCoPoLitSo.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Executive Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The Humanities, The Outdoors, and Social and Emotional Development
September 19, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How is Outward Bound using the humanities in its outdoor programming to enhance young people’s reflection, leadership skills, and more? Kelly Reynolds, Instructional Designer at Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound, talks about the organization’s Character Curriculum.

KELLY REYNOLDS: This January, the Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development released its findings. The commission spent two years listening, watching, and researching students and educators from around the country.

Here is an excerpt from their introduction:

“Children require a broad array of skills, attitudes, and values to succeed in school, careers, and in life. They require skills such as paying attention, setting goals, and collaboration… Attitudes such as internal motivation, perseverance, and a sense of purpose. …values such as responsibility, honesty, and integrity. …and the ability to think critically, consider different views, and problem-solve.…”

The consensus is that these are not skills and attitudes that young people just attain naturally. They must be repeatedly taught, modeled, and practiced.

The Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School believes that young people should be given rich opportunities to learn and practice skills such as group decision-making, perseverance, reflection, problem-solving, self-management, and peer leadership. Our goal is to help students learn those skills in their classrooms AND on the trails and rivers of the mid-Atlantic.

We found that sometimes, when youth came through our programming, they experienced it like a field trip: you go, you come back, and you fall back into old routines and habits— even if you learned helpful skills the week before. We wanted to help schools, teachers and (most importantly) students, to deepen the impact of their Outward Bound experience in their own lives and schools!

So we got to work. We designed a set of sessions–the Outward Bound Character Curriculum—that students work through before participating in an Outward Bound program. These sessions help students start to think of themselves as leaders, as people who can overcome challenges, and as effective communicators, while still in their everyday classroom.

Character Sessions take a few forms: students may engage in a Socratic Seminar on a relevant topic. Ron Berger, Dina Strasser, and Libby Woodfin discuss the Socratic seminar in their book Expeditionary Learning- Management in the Active Classroom. Socratic seminars “promote thinking, meaning-making, and the ability to debate, use evidence, and build on one another’s thinking.” This style “engages students in complex thinking about rich content and teaches students discussion skills.”

Students may also read a historical biography on a famous leader and identify what character traits the leader exhibited. They might listen to a series of important speeches and discuss what communication traits made those speeches inspiring or impactful. The students may work through a problem-solving activity where they practice and then reflect on their actions. The humanities offer a wealth of content from which students can draw out ideas and lessons on character.

We know that learning is much stickier when it’s repeated and applied. And that’s just what is happening when students are learning about those skills in the classroom before they put them into practice on an Outward Bound course. But we didn’t stop there! We know that learners also need time to reflect and connect their experiences to their lives. So we developed a second set of sessions. Social, emotional and character development is a complex and dynamic set of skills! Students walk away from programs with personalized and unique takeaways.

We wanted to help teachers lead guided reflection back in their classrooms. These sessions help students translate the individual skills they utilized on an Outward Bound program back into their own classrooms and communities.

Because we believe, to quote poet Archibald MacLeish: “There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience, and that is not learning from experience.”

We look forward to seeing new ways to fulfill our mission in the future! We’ll continue to work to create powerful experiences that help young people develop crucial skills for a better world.

STEIN: For more information about Outward Bound and its Character Curriculum, visit outwardboundbaltimore.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The Legacy and Future of the Enoch Pratt Free Library
September 12, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: In the 1800s, Enoch Pratt said Baltimore needed “…a free circulating public library, open to all citizens regardless of property or color.” How is the Enoch Pratt Free Library continuing Pratt’s legacy with renovations to the Central Library? Meghan McCorkell, the library’s Marketing & Communications Director, tells us more.

MEGHAN MCCORKELL: The first volunteer opportunity I ever had was in my town’s small library. So, it only feels fitting many years later that I get the opportunity to walk through the doors of a library for work every day. Things have certainly changed in libraries since I volunteered as an elementary school student. At the Enoch Pratt Free Library, I see staff who are consistently responsive to the needs of the community especially as the role of libraries continues to evolve. That evolution is incredibly evident in the newly renovated Pratt Central Library.

Libraries are about access for all. And that access goes beyond books. It’s one of the key reasons the Pratt became a fine-free library this year. The goal is to break down any barriers to access for all customers.

Perhaps that is a job seeker who needs access to the new state-of-the-art Hillman Job and Career Center. It might be a teen who is looking to use technology for a school project that isn’t available at home. That technology is now available in the Earl Center for Teen Learning and Leadership. A caregiver can find a safe, welcoming space for their child in the restored Weinberg Children’s Library.

It’s hard to find one space where all of these different people can come together in the same building and be treated equally. For the Pratt, this really all began in 1882 when Enoch Pratt made the generous gift to the city of Baltimore founding the library. He said, “My library will be for all, rich and poor, without distinction of race or color.” With that, the Pratt became one of the first free public library systems in the United States.

The Central Library on Cathedral Street opened in 1933. The building was considered revolutionary in its design because it was built at ground level. Many libraries of the same era had large staircases because it was a visual representation of ascending to knowledge. Library Director Joseph Wheeler wanted the Pratt Central Library to appeal to everyone. So, he pushed for a street-level design, and monumental windows mimicking department stores.

Today, the Pratt Library still lives by the words of Enoch Pratt with the mission of access for all. This year, the library will provide access to some of the biggest writers and thought leaders in the world including Spike Lee, Valerie Jarrett, Dan Rather, Jon Meacham, and many more.

I often hear people say they don’t go to the library because they don’t think it has anything for them. I think it would be hard to walk into one of Pratt’s 22 locations and NOT find a book you love, a program you didn’t know existed, research on your family tree that you couldn’t get anywhere else, a free computer class for your child, graphic novels for your teen, and so much more. I truly believe that there is something for everyone.

STEIN: Enoch Pratt Free Library, a Maryland Humanities partner, hosts a Grand Reopening of the Central Branch Saturday, September 14 from noon to 4:00. Learn more about the library at prattlibrary.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Executive Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Journalism and Poetry in Baltimore Neighborhoods
September 6, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How can poetry and journalism help high school students rediscover their neighborhoods? Local nonprofit Writers in Baltimore Schools developed a new program for students called “Neighborhoods, News: A Poetic Archiving of Baltimore.” Patrice Hutton, Executive Director at Writers in Baltimore Schools, tells us more.

PATRICE HUTTON: Last fall, I took a group of Baltimore City middle and high school students on a field trip to The Baltimore Sun. I was as giddy as the teenagers: I love newsrooms. I interned in one during college and still half-hope my career trajectory will land me in one. But in my work as Executive Director of Writers in Baltimore Schools, I’ve found a wonderful compromise: I get to help guide young writers towards careers in journalism. Partnerships with the Baltimore Beat, the late Baltimore City Paper, the Merrill College of Journalism, and The Baltimore Sun have become integral to our work.

This fall, thanks to Maryland Humanities, Writers in Baltimore Schools will continue its partnership with The Baltimore Sun through a project called “Neighborhoods, News: A Poetic Archiving of Baltimore.” Sixteen of our writers from Baltimore high schools will dig into the paper’s print archives. They’ll work with The Sun’s Enterprise Editor, Diana Sugg, and Research Librarian, Paul McCardell.

The young writers will look into The Sun’s coverage of their neighborhoods. We’ll encourage them to anchor their research around a historical event, a person, or a story. Using the archival material, they’ll continue exploring their topic by writing poetry. After that, they’ll turn to their neighborhoods, and lead poetry workshops in their own communities. The archival material from The Sun will serve as starting texts for these workshops. The young writers will encourage community members to bring forward their own texts, be it newsletters, flyers, or personal correspondences.

This project will push our young writers into a new role: teachers. For the past decade, Writers in Baltimore Schools has offered workshops to the city’s young writers. As our young writers bring workshops to their communities, they’ll recruit neighbors, family members, and friends as workshop participants. We’re grateful that Maryland Humanities has given us the opportunity to pursue our first intergenerational project. We’re also grateful that this project will help us pursue one of our core goals: to train our young writers to one day return to the program as teachers themselves. This year, at our Baltimore Young Writers’ Summer Studio, a week-long residential writing camp, a third of our staff was comprised of program alumni. “Neighborhoods, News: A Poetic Archiving of Baltimore” will push our high school-aged writers to understand that they can be teachers. And that teaching is a two-way street, involving as much listening as it does delivery.

We’re excited to watch our young writers discover narratives and then interrogate them. We’re excited to watch them consider who had the microphone and why. And as these young writers grow up and fill newsrooms in Baltimore and beyond, we’re excited to watch as they push the boundaries of storytelling with compassion.

STEIN: “Neighborhoods, News: A Poetic Archiving of Baltimore” is funded in part with a grant from Maryland Humanities. Learn more at writersinbaltimoreschools.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Preserving the Maritime History of Annapolis
August 29, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How can a few dedicated volunteers help an organization, neighborhood, and city retain their collective memory? Caitlin Swaim, Curator at the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park, tells us more.

CAITLIN SWAIM: About five years ago, staff at the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park gathered at the conference table one afternoon to brainstorm some new ways to engage with different audiences. We felt that we excelled in connecting with children and students, but we all recognized that our adult audiences were left wanting more. Somewhere, mixed in the flurry of ideas that crossed the table that day, an important question was asked. “What about a documentary film? Do we have images and oral histories in our collection that could support a Ken Burns-style documentary?”

The short answer was yes but the long answer was a bit more involved. For years, the Museum had been collecting objects, memories, and voices from the community but had made no major efforts to catalog the collection or to make it accessible to the public. After this discussion, John, a passionate volunteer, raised his hand and offered to assist with organizing the Museum’s collection. His focus and obsession quickly became our oral history collection. He was so committed he managed to lure a few other volunteers to his cause; one of them was a gentleman by the name of Mike Miron. He was affectionately known as “The Mayor of Eastport,” the Annapolis neighborhood where he lived.

Mike and John worked tirelessly for months to digitize cassette tapes and catalog the oral history collection. Mike died of cancer in 2016: he was so inspired by the commitment to the collection, that he willed his personal collection of oral histories, photographs, letters, transcripts, and commercial documents to the Museum. He was a sort of amateur historian who spent the last 25 years of his life documenting life in Annapolis and Eastport. The stories Mike captured would have been long lost without his efforts.

The Michael F. Miron Oral History Collection features 135 interviewees that included members of the religious community, civic leaders, marine trades workers, boat builders and families who figured prominently or quietly in Eastport history. His interviews focused on the lives of individuals and families and their recollections of the neighborhood. These interviews also addressed businesses and their locations through the last half of the 20^th century.

Even though the Mike Miron Collection focuses on the past, the long view of the museum focuses on the future and the availability of this resource for families and researchers going forward. John continues his work on the oral histories still and focuses almost solely on the Mike Miron Collection. Recent funding from Maryland Humanities will allow volunteers like John to digitize the voices preserved by Mike and to have professional transcriptions made of each interview. By preserving primary source audio and transcripts and sharing them with the world, we at the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park believes we are making a significant contribution to preserving the maritime heritage of Eastport and Annapolis.

In Mike’s honor, the Museum began a new oral history initiative to continue his legacy of capturing the voices of Eastport and Annapolis in perpetuity. With funding from Maryland Humanities, the Museum will interview members of our fading maritime community and make them accessible to the public. The Museum is dedicated to our collective memory and to sharing these voices with future generations.

STEIN: Visit amaritime.org for more information about the museum’s oral history collection. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Agricultural History in Western Maryland
August 22, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: What can we learn about a region from its farming history? Evergreen Heritage Center is creating an agricultural museum in a barn’s lower level stables. Janice Keene, the Center’s Founder & Director, grew up on the farm at the center’s current location: she tells us more.

JANICE KEENE: The Evergreen Heritage Center, a Revolutionary War estate in Allegany County, showcases 200 years of “living off the land” and preserving that land. When we say “living off the land,” we’re referring to growing crops for food and sale, while practicing what we’d now call “sustainable agriculture,” which kept the land viable for farming by future generations.

The estate features a large white farmhouse, stone foundation barn, gardens, orchards, and one hundred acres of managed forest and trail bordering the Great Allegheny Passage. In 2020, for the first time, the farmhouse and barn will both be available for tours.

The property’s historic farmhouse was first opened as a private museum in 1993. This large six-bedroom house is full of antiques and artifacts that span the property’s 240-year history. The contents on display take the visitor from circa 1783, when the Grimes family first established the farm, through 1869, when the Trimble family – the current owners – acquired and continued to farm the property.

The Evergreen Heritage Center Foundation was founded in 2008: its purpose is to use the center to provide hands-on enrichment programs in Western Maryland counties where the average per capita income is less than 60% of Maryland overall.

In 2017-18, the Foundation restored the property’s companion barn, which historical experts say was built in the same era as the original house. Currently, the Evergreen Heritage Center Foundation is establishing an agricultural museum in the barn’s lower level stables, supported by a grant from Maryland Humanities.

The museum will share 200 years of rural Western Maryland farm life through the display of dozens of handmade tools and other artifacts, photographs and text. The display will show how the barn was built; the bounty of the farm including fruits, vegetables, grains, wild foods, and animal products; and the various farming processes including planting, harvesting, milling, preserving, baking, and cooking.

Since we will host public tours of both buildings, the Foundation is creating exhibits, an exhibit catalog, docent storyboards, and more. We are using many resources a to develop these exhibits and documents including property deeds from the late 1700s, extensive research done for the Maryland Historical Trust, 150 years of photos, booklets on the farm and farm life prepared by the Trimble family, plus a two hour video tour hosted by Marianna Trimble Keene (born on the farm in 1925) that details her life growing up there.

Through the project, our foundation is aiming to increase the awareness and knowledge visiting students have regarding rural farm life in Western Maryland. We’re also aspiring to serve as a valued resource for visitors and students for the continued study of local history, agriculture, and heritage. Our goal is that The Living Off the Land Museum in the barn will open this coming spring.

STEIN: Visit evergreenheritagecenter.org for more information about Evergreen Heritage Center. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Piecing Together Stories in the Chesney Medical Archives
August 15, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Natalie Elder read about a simple clothing accessory one day at her job in the Chesney Medical Archives for Johns Hopkins Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health. The Curator of Cultural Properties is still on a continuous quest to find it. What can items like these teach us about a person and an organization’s past? How can medical archives help piece together someone’s story? Elder tells us more.

NATALIE ELDER: As a curator, I spend a fair amount of time imagining what I think our organization should collect. The obvious items come to mind: paintings that will uplift the patients and families of the hospital; the microscope of a famous doctor; a nurse’s uniform from the Hopkins World War I base hospital.

Let me explain.

STEIN: Learn more about the archives at medicalarchives.jhmi.edu. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Documenting and Interpreting History Through Quilting
August 8, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How can quilting interpret history and document community identity? Next summer, The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art at Salisbury University will host an exhibit featuring documentary quilts by Dr. Joan Gaither. The Maryland Heritage Award winner will also lead quilting workshops for Eastern Shore residents: the quilts made in these workshops will also be included in the exhibit. Jackson Medel, Curator and Folklorist at The Ward Museum, tells us more.

JACKSON MEDEL: Dr. Gaither’s story quilts cover a wide range of subjects in Maryland and the larger Chesapeake Region, documenting black watermen of the Chesapeake, segregation in Maryland, and the lives and impact of historical black leaders.

Her story quilts are born of African American tradition; with strong roots in the Baltimore area and elsewhere on Maryland’s western shore. Story quilts—which include documentary and community quilts—use a variety of materials and textures to tell a story. At their core, they are handmade blankets; but story quilts go much farther than this. Story quilts are not just art, nor are they simple utilitarian objects. They act simultaneously as presenters and interpreters. In this way, they act much like books and lectures: they convey information that is important for carrying or passing on the memories, experiences, heritage, and identities of their makers. Dr. Gaither’s story quilts are exemplary of the story quilt tradition and have been recognized for their excellence in a number of ways. Dr. Gaither creates pieces of art that reflect a community’s identity and sense of self. But she also creates works that inspect and interpret community identity, historical people and moments, and the world and situation in which they were created.

This project directly engages the community in the story quilting tradition through the workshop series and the gallery exhibit. In the workshop series, Dr. Gaither will guide community members and stakeholders through the process of creating their own quilts and quilt squares with an emphasis on telling stories that reflect the both the past and the present of their homes and fellows. The workshops will be accompanied by an interpretive guide and workbook that will serve as both a tool for gallery interpretation and a longer-lived guide for people interested in this art form. These community creations will then be integrated into the gallery exhibit at the Ward Museum in the summer of 2020. The exhibit will focus on Dr. Gaither’s “My America” series, as well as a variety of other socially oriented quilts that will be enhanced by the addition of Eastern Shore community-created pieces.

Dr. Gaither’s work, and the Community Story Quilts project, are about presenting the life and history of communities while interrogating the meaning of them and the challenges they face. Story quilts put the powers of representation and interpretation into the hands of community members, empowering them to use this tool to tell their own stories, using their own aesthetics.

STEIN: Both the exhibit and the workshops are funded with a grant from Maryland Humanities. Visit wardmuseum.org for more information about the upcoming workshops and exhibit. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

From Invisibility to Remembrance: Commemorating Slavery in St. Mary’s City
August 1, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How can an institution shed light on the fact that its location was a place where enslaved people once worked? St. Mary’s College of Maryland will install a memorial to the enslaved peoples of Southern Maryland. The college will also host a public symposium called “From Invisibility to Remembrance: Commemorating Slavery in St. Mary’s City and Southern Maryland.” Dr. Julia King, Professor of Anthropology at the college, tells us more about the history of enslaved people in St. Mary’s City and the college’s commemoration

DR. JULIA KING: During the War of 1812, Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane of the British Navy made an offer to enslaved people living along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. If they joined the British Navy in fighting against the United States, Britain would grant them freedom.

Of the 4,000 men, women, and children who seized the chance to be free, 19 came from John Mackall’s farm in St. Mary’s City. These families raised Mackall’s tobacco and corn, tended his gardens, repaired his house and farm buildings, and cooked, cleaned, and sewed for his family.

In 2019, the old Mackall farm is long gone, having been replaced by the campus of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Founded in 1839, 25 years after the War of 1812 ended, the four-year public honors college is located at the site of Maryland’s first colonial capital.

The slave past of this landscape is invisible to passers-by and residents alike except when, every now and then, traces of that past break through into the present. Archeologists have unearthed bits of ceramic, tobacco pipes, bottle glass, nails, and brick, which serve as quiet reminders of that earlier landscape. Scattered across some ten acres, these fragments reveal a sizable compound of now-vanished cabins, yards, and gardens. Many of these cabins were abandoned in 1814 when those 19 people accepted Admiral Cochrane’s offer for freedom.

How do we keep from reburying and forgetting this history? How do we recall the many forms the struggle for freedom has taken? At St. Mary’s College, our plan is to develop a commemorative exhibit acknowledging the lives of the people who labored in this landscape. The exhibit – entitled From Absence to Presence – will model the form of a slave cabin with part of its fabrication made of polished, reflective steel and part from wood mimicking logs. Impressed on the steel will be a poem by award-winning poet Quenton Baker. Baker uses what is sometimes called “erasure poetry.” The poet takes historical documents and blacks out certain words and phrases to create a new text. The new text reveals – or unearths – the presence of whole communities whose lives are currently missing from documents and the landscape.

The relentless surveillance of enslaved people by their owners was a fact of slave life. About the only place the owners’ gaze couldn’t reach was inside the home cabin. The polished steel on which Baker’s poem will be etched aims to protect this interior, reflecting back the gaze of the present. This will urge visitors to reflect on their own deep connections to and responsibility for the past and the work that remains ahead.

PHOEBE STEIN: “From Invisibility to Remembrance” is funded with a grant from Maryland Humanities. Learn more about the programming at smcm.edu. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Heretic to Housewife and Finding Your Voice
July 25, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Baltimore’s Rahne Alexander is a writer as well as a musician and multimedia artist. She talks about the process of finding her voice on the page and writing Heretic to Housewife. This new essay collection won the 2019 OutWrite Chapbook Competition in Nonfiction and will be released in August.

RAHNE ALEXANDER: I’ve wanted a book of my own all my life but I never seemed to get the pieces to hang together. Not until earlier this year at least, when I decided to enter the Outwrite chapbook contest. Outwrite is an annual LGBTQ literary festival in DC. Their next conference is in early August. I collected all the essays I’ve published over the last sixteen or so years and began to collage them, rejecting the precious ones and those that needed a heavier editorial hand. In the end, they loved my collection enough to bind it and brand it.

From childhood I wanted nothing more than to see my name on the title page of a book. As a trans child, I worried that no one would ever see past my being trans; that my ideas and feelings would never be valued. As a trans child, I began to realize that I would never be an author; I would at best be a trans author, and a woman author. A trans woman author; doubly qualified and deeply discounted.

I internalized how trans writers and women are devalued, and I don’t think this experience is unique to me. I think that writers of all kinds find themselves in this place and struggle to undo the damages while searching for the words to describe beginnings, middles, and ends. Writing is hard work — the hardest work, I think. As all the writers say, I hate to write, but I love having written.

I began to imbricate all of what I have written, as if I were layering pieces of the Egyptian god Osiris found scattered around my hard drives. I linked themes and discovered segues. Suddenly I had a skeleton, and then an exoskeleton, and next thing you know I’d reassembled my Osiris: a story of my life in 60 pages.

Published by Neon Hemlock, a new small press publishing queer chapbooks and speculative fiction, my book Heretic to Housewife has love, sorrow, the artist Paulina Peavy, Facebook 2, awkward strip club encounters, “The Operation,” and incredibly specific complaints about the patriarchy and computer operating systems. And it all holds together because I finally found my voice.

I often think about the time Truman Capote dismissed Kerouac’s writing as mere typing, and while I have nothing to say in Jack’s defense, I think Twitter has revealed to us all a clear distinction between writing and typing. Writing can be incredibly easy, especially if the outcome doesn’t matter, but when the stakes are raised so is my pen. Writing gets harder when the words count and they have multiple meanings. Writing is harder when you are still trying to find your voice. Worry sets in. Are there still typos? Have I said too much? Maybe I haven’t said enough?

How hard is it to write a book? It’s only as hard as you make it. But you have to write if you want to have written, and writing is work. Commit your words to the page or the screen. Rearrange them until they are beautiful and bulletproof. Discard those that fail you. Read your words out loud, and you will find your voice, as well as your typos.

STEIN: Learn more about Rahne and her work at rahne.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Documenting the Fall of Bethlehem Steel in Maryland
July 18, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Bethlehem Steel mill in Baltimore County’s Sparrow’s Point was once the largest in the world. After 123 years, the mill closed in 2012. A photography exhibit from J.M. Giordano, Shuttered: Images from the Fall of Bethlehem Steel, examines the impact of the mill’s decline and closure on his hometown of Baltimore. Giordano tells us more about the exhibit, the history, and his personal connection to Bethlehem Steel.

J.M. GIORDANO: I guess my relationship with the steel industry goes back to seeing my grandfather take his last breath surrounded by family and green oxygen tanks in his Dundalk home. He was a member of the mechanics’ union at Eastern Stainless and a Navy veteran who died of white lung from the mills. When it was all over, when the executives sent the letter of condolence, the union was there for my grandmother.

I started documenting the collapse of the steel industry in the United State about fifteen years ago when I covered the steel beat as a reporter for the Dundalk Eagle. Shuttered, my solo photography exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, takes the viewer on a tour of the failing mills of Sparrows Point in eastern Baltimore County. The exhibition’s earliest image is in 2004, directly after tariffs had been initiated to try to stop the mass importation of foreign steel in America. The effort didn’t stop foreign steel, but it did open the door for predatory investors to buy up the mills at the expense of its retirees who lost large swathes of their pensions almost overnight.

My photos show the once mighty Sparrows Point and Eastern Stainless, the mill responsible for the steel of the St. Louis Arch and the Golden Gate Bridge, in sharp decline and, ultimately, death. The images portray dangling limbs of rebar, a main office stripped of its facade, the faces of the retirees; women, men, black, Jewish, Native American, white, etched with a hard-edged age that comes from working the same job for almost half a century.

In one photo, crosses crowd a yard near the mill, each one for a victim of drug and alcohol abuse that came with the snuffing out of promised jobs and bright futures. In another, the shining star of Bethlehem, built by the workers and affixed to the L-blast furnace, shows brightly through a thick brew of December fog, soot, and ash not as a symbol of hope, but the last remnants of an inevitable closure.

Is there hope? That remains to be seen. The land, now in the hands of stewards who have respect for the legacy of the old place, is occupied by towering warehouses and temples of a consumer culture. Will those jobs last? Will at least a few generations know the taste of economic stability? We can only wonder.

STEIN: Shuttered: Images from the Fall of Bethlehem Steel is on view at the Baltimore Museum of Industry now through April 2020. To complement the exhibit, the museum is offering a series of free public programs on the history and legacy of steelmaking at Sparrows Point, called “Remembering Bethlehem Steel.” This series is supported with a grant from Maryland Humanities. Learn more at thebmi.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Doors Open Baltimore
July 11, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Did you know that Baltimore residents can explore over 50 buildings across the city with guided tours for free? Margaret De Arcangelis of Doors Open Baltimore and Shauntee Daniels of Baltimore National Heritage Area tell us more.

SHAUNTEE DANIELS: Every building has a story—especially in Baltimore. They are so much more than the monuments, skyscrapers, and row houses that we busily rush by during our everyday journey.

MARGARET DE ARCANGELIS: In our city, a late-1700s brick house nestled in the historic Jonestown neighborhood harbors the memories and life story of a gifted seamstress who made the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. The home of that seamstress, Mary Young Pickersgill, is now the Flag House & Star-Spangled Banner Museum.

DANIELS: In our city, an Art Deco style skyscraper towering over downtown speaks to us about the audacious pride and lofty ambitions of a financial company flying high before the stock market crash of 1929. The Baltimore Trust Building at 10 Light Street, the tallest building in Baltimore at the time, was built in 1901.

DE ARCANGELIS: In our city, a Bolton Hill row house that watched the comings-and-goings of famous civil rights activists now beckons us to remember the impact Baltimoreans have played in the struggle for freedom and equality. Civil Rights activist Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson’s row house —often used as the hub of operations for the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP during her 35 year tenure as chapter president—is now the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum.

DANIELS: In our city, buildings are storytellers whispering who we are, where we’ve been, and where we might potentially go as a community. We at the Baltimore National Heritage Area consider these stories the driving force for our mission: protecting, preserving, and promoting Baltimore’s history and culture. We accomplish this by encouraging visitation to historically vibrant yet overlooked neighborhoods while providing grants for heritage tourism projects and programming throughout Baltimore. This is a mission that can only be accomplished through group effort. As a result, we have always been a huge supporter of community initiatives that help draw people into Baltimore’s rich heritage—such as Doors Open Baltimore, the annual citywide celebration of architecture hosted by the Baltimore Architecture Foundation.

DE ARCANGELIS: Doors Open Baltimore gives the public access to explore over 50 buildings across the city for free with over a dozen guided tours. Attendees can get a behind-the-scenes look or simply peek inside some of the city’s most unique buildings, learn their stories, and meet the architects and designers who have shaped them. It all happens this fall, on October 5 & 6 as part of Free Fall Baltimore and Baltimore Architecture Month. More importantly, the event has proven how heritage tourism can make a positive impact by encouraging both visitors and residents to explore the city and develop a stronger appreciation for its architecture and history. The Doors Open Baltimore attendee survey conducted in 2018 revealed that 74% of visitors were very likely to revisit a location they first explored during the event, and 52% of attendees stated that the event changed their perception of Baltimore for the better.

DANIELS: There is tremendous value in exploring Baltimore through the lens of its history and its rich architecture. Having the opportunity to tell these stories and inspire people to get out, see places, and start cross-pollinating really changes one’s perspective of Baltimore. People that appreciate history and architecture get that and have a wonderful experience here. That’s what we like about Doors Open Baltimore and why we’re happy to be a part of the event.

STEIN: Doors Open Baltimore is hosted by the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Baltimore Architecture Foundation. Learn more at DoorsOpenBaltimore.org. Baltimore National Heritage Area is a previous sponsor and current community partner for the program. On October 6, Baltimore National Heritage Area will be hosting an Historic Pennsylvania Avenue Heritage Trail tour. Learn more at explorebaltimore.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Creativity, with a capital WHY?
July 4, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: What does creativity look like? What inspires creative pursuits? Photographer Larry Marc Levine explores these questions with an exhibition entitled Creativity, with a capital WHY? now at Sandy Spring Museum.

LARRY MARC LEVINE: In January of 2017, I retired from a nearly-36 year career as Staff Photographer and Photo Archivist for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, more commonly known as METRO. Upon retirement, a wise friend told me: “Larry, venture forth and be bold.”

Retirement has given me the opportunity to work on my own project ideas. I’ve long been fascinated with the creative process: watching people in their creative environment inspired me to document their work. My interests in photography and in watching creative people at work evolved into Creativity, with a capital WHY?, my upcoming exhibit at Sandy Spring Museum in Montgomery County, Maryland. This exhibition is a photographic study of creative people and learning why they choose to do what they do. Many of the people in the exhibition are residents of Montgomery County.

I believe that people should be able to see themselves in a photography exhibit or book. Respect for the individual and appreciation for the diversity of people, ideas, and processes are major aspects of my work. It is important to be inclusive: creativity is, of course, not limited by race, gender, sexual orientation, skin color, country of origin, language, or learning style. Nor is creativity limited to the traditional definition of art. The work of creative people in science and medicine helps us find solutions to current problems, and to pave the way for future successes.

My goals for this project included the chance to meet, interview, and photograph creative people who do things that interest me, to present the information in a way that honors each individual, and to share what I have discovered with others. I hope that viewing this exhibit will encourage others to celebrate the role of creativity in their lives and to explore their own creative ideas.

I have compiled over thirty portraits depicting artists and other professionals pursuing their passions. They will be on display from September 5^th through November 24^th at Sandy Spring Museum, a place that I hold close. The first time my wife Sandy and I visited the Museum was a few years ago. We were so impressed by the atmosphere. It’s a very warm, inviting place. When I was working on the photography for this project, Sandy and I talked about finding the right venue for me to exhibit. From the beginning, she felt very strongly about Sandy Spring Museum. And I invite you to join me there at the artist reception on Sunday, September 15^th from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The reception will feature demonstrations by six individuals featured in this exhibit including musicians, a jewelry maker, a violin maker, a fabric artist, and a graffiti artist.

I was inspired by each person I met. I hope you will be as well.

PHOEBE STEIN: Learn more about the exhibition and Sandy Spring Museum at sandyspringmuseum.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Unruly Bodies: An Art Exhibition at Stevenson University
June 27, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: As she read Unruly Bodies, an online magazine curated by bestselling author Roxane Gay, Aden Weisel thought of visual artists who addressed some of the same themes as the magazine. Inspired by the magazine, Weisel – the Exhibitions Director and Gallery Curator at Stevenson University – then curated an exhibition with the same title. She tells us more.

ADEN WEISEL: We must consider who holds space. My position at Stevenson University is one component of my identity that provides me with a certain degree of privilege. Considering the people and perspectives that participate in the University’s Exhibitions Program acknowledges existing power discrepancies and fosters some semblance of equity.

In April 2018, Roxane Gay published Unruly Bodies, a digital magazine hosted by Medium.com. Gay asked 24 writers to consider what it means to live in an unruly body. The prompt was deceptively simple, personal but universal, and yielded beautiful narratives. While reading Gay’s Unruly Bodies, I thought about artists who were visually expressing the themes that these writers put into words.

The open call for this exhibition yielded a spectrum of perspectives: aging, Black, fat, femme, ill, international, and queer. I was able to include nine artists in the Unruly Bodies exhibition: Arit Emmanuela, Nia Hampton and Emani Castillo, A. Moon, Mandy Morrison, Katie O’Keefe, Felandus Thames, Alan Vincent, and Stephanie Williams.

Moon’s I Am Learning to Abandon the World cuts together non-explicit shots from vintage, heterosexual, pornography on 16mm film and lines of poetry. By focusing on these quiet moments that originally created tension before the “action” of the pornography films, Moon imagines women who have claimed their agency and escaped the confines of heterosexual, male desire.

In a 15-minute video, Alan Vincent consumes a jar of honey. The movement of the spoon from the jar to Vincent’s mouth slows as the film progresses, his expression becomes pained, and at the bottom of the jar, Vincent rushes off camera. This work mixes pleasure and pain, transforming one into the other. It is a visceral work of art that viewers always react to.

Stephanie Williams’ video, The Lingering Survival of the Unfit, also evolves over time. Puppets “walk” until they fail to function. This mimics the World War II death march that Williams learned about from her grandfather, rather than her American history classes. The unraveling puppets bring to mind the gaps in our knowledge and in the status of the Philippines as an American territory.

Our bodies are part of who we are, but the physical can start to feel like a barrier to the expression and perception of the individual. What does it mean to move through the world in a body that contradicts societal norms? What does it mean to struggle against, come to terms with, or assert our physicality? How can we claim the space that we deserve?

The Stevenson University Exhibitions Program is made possible by the University itself, an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, and a project grant from the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences. All University exhibitions and associated events are free and open to the public.

PHOEBE STEIN: Unruly Bodies is on view through September 21, 2019 in the Greenspring Art Gallery on Stevenson University’s Greenspring Campus, located at 1525 Greenspring Valley Road in Stevenson. An artists’ talk will be held in the Gallery on Monday, September 9 at 5:00 p.m. Learn more about the exhibition at stevenson.edu/arts. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Maryland’s Own Lambda Literary Award Winner
June 20, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Baltimore-based author Anthony Moll recently won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction. In Out of Step: A Memoir, he describes his time as a working-class, self-described queer from Reno who served in the U.S. Army during “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Today, he reads an excerpt from his book, an essay entitled “Cedant Arma Togae.” Moll uses photographs to explore his history and the people who mattered to him throughout military service. In this essay, he discusses the first close friend he lost in the War in Iraq.

ANTHONY MOLL: This is one of the last photos taken of him in the United States, one of the last photos taken while he was alive. It isn’t the newsboy cap or the day-off scruff on his face that my eyes go to when I look at this one, it is John’s pudgy frame wrapped in the kaleidoscopic bed sheets of his childhood.

He carried the sheets with him all along, from his small-town home to his first unit, the 82nd Airborne Division, American’s premier unit of parachute-trained warriors. Then he packed the sheets alongside an armored vest, the baby wipes he used for field hygiene, and the mini-DVD player for boredom, as he left for the desert, his first combat tour, dusty, bloody, and inescapable, even for those who survived. They were tucked into his duffle when he came out west, here to the training base where the army sent him for a brief respite after an ugly tour. Here out west he could breathe for a moment, the desert climate of Southeast California not unlike his first trip to war, but the volume turned down, a community temporarily removed from the fighting. Here out west we all could forget for brief periods that we were warriors for a nation constantly fighting, constantly sending our bodies around the world to shoot and be shot at.

The sheets are decorated with Transformers, the cars-turned-fighting-robots cartoon he watched as a boy. When we first discussed the toga party, many of us leapt toward elaborate ideas—some of us hand-sewed our togas from swaths of material bought just for the occasion, accessorizing with the toga sinus, or with plastic swords and shields. Some of us just snatched the sheets off of the twin-sized barracks beds: coarse, military issue or high-thread-count slips bought at the Post Exchange. John knew right away what he would wear: that faded, decorated sheet from back home.

In Rome, when it was more common attire, the toga was considered impractical for military use; the garment’s loose folds make it difficult to run, or jump, or swing a weapon. Ancient Roman soldiers instead reserved the toga for their downtime, their leisure days between marches or during periods of peace. I would love to tell you that we wore our togas with this in mind, but our fascination more closely aligned with the association other early-twenties Americans have with the garment: the parties on college campuses across the U.S. As on campus, we wore the toga as a symbol of youth, as a symbol of fun, as an excuse to drink.

Except that John had spent twelve months of his college years surrounded by rifles, bullets, and sand, and within a few months, he would return to the desert. Except that half of the group had just returned from a year guarding men who were snatched from their country and flown to one of the most controversial prisons in the world, Guantanamo Bay. Except that we all carried the weight that many of us would leave again soon, that some of us would never return. The reason this photo is one of my favorites is that we had not yet gotten word of the deployment. The orange light shining a halo behind John is the first light of autumn, just before the orders came down, when we are still basking in a summer of forgetting about the streets of dusty desert towns and the gray ethics of a war few of us believe in. For a moment, we are children wrapped in sheets, college-aged Americans clinking together brown bottles dripping with a condensation that reminds us how long our days still are.

He was twenty-two when he went again, when he packed it all up again: his sheets, the new truck bought with the money saved during the first deployment, the newsboy cap, the DUI charge he would never return to deal with, pictures from home, pictures from a summer when we were all still young and breathing.

STEIN: Learn more about Moll’s writing at anthonymoll.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Documenting Maryland’s LGBTQ History
June 13, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How is one organization amplifying the presence, contributions, struggles, and experiences of LGBTQ individuals throughout Maryland’s history? Preservation Maryland’s Meagan Baco talks about the Maryland LGBTQ History Collaborative Initiative and their personal relationship with the project.

MEAGAN BACO: We have all always been here.

Not just in June during Pride Month. Not just in the 21^st century. Not just after Stonewall. Not just after Marriage Equality. But always.

The presence, contributions, struggles, and experiences of LGBTQ individuals have always been a part of Maryland’s history, often invisible, censored, or oppressed. And every aspect of that history, both good and the bad, is essential for telling the whole story of Maryland and America.

Preservation Maryland, the state’s first and foremost non-profit dedicated to historic preservation, is approaching our Maryland LGBTQ History Collaborative Initiative with that statement in mind. We’ve prioritized uncovering and preserving LGBTQ history by bringing this research and its findings to light and to action. This is made possible with funding from the Maryland Historical Trust, and other partners, like the University of Maryland, the Maryland LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and PFLAG groups across the state. PFLAG originally stood for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays and is now inclusive of all LGBTQ people and allies.

Dr. Susan Ferentinos is an award-winning public historian who has done this type of work for the National Park Service among others. She will author the final context study due out this fall. Her research will not only be done in libraries and archives but in Maryland’s communities through five scheduled listening sessions this month.

LGBTQ individuals and allies have been invited to all of the events from Takoma Park and Baltimore City to Salisbury on the Eastern Shore. Dr. Ferentinos will weave these voices into a first-of-its-kind historical context narrative about LGBTQ life and history in Maryland from Pre-Columbian contact through the 21^st Century. The only other state to approach their LGBTQ history in this way is Kentucky.

We know that LGBTQ youth are statistically over-represented in suicide rates and homelessness statistics. We know that LGBTQ Americans of all ages face discrimination in the workplace, in accessing appropriate healthcare, in serving in the military, and shops of all kinds. We also know that there are LGBTQ and allied groups as active as ever, The Pride Center of Maryland and Chase Brexton Health Care, among others. As LGBTQ Marylanders continue to fight for equality in the present, we’re marching alongside them towards representation in a more inclusive history.

Personally, I wonder what learning about the contributions of all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression, could have meant to me as a young gay person going through all the things that teenagers go through.

Equally as importantly, what could that history mean for the social development of all students? Will increased representation lead to increased understanding? I certainly hope so and I am encouraged by California and New Jersey’s new initiatives to teach LGBTQ history in public schools.

On the eve of the 50^th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City, resources abound for all of us to learn more about LGBTQ life in America. The National Park Service went to extraordinary efforts to coordinate the research and outreach needed to recognize The Stonewall Inn y as a U.S. National Monument in 2016. Since then, several more LGBTQ sites have been listed to the National Register of Historic Places, including the feminist Furies Collection in DC, the Federal Building in San Francisco, and Pauli Murray’s home in North Carolina.

Here in Maryland, we are working to write new nominations to the National Register – and also amend existing listings. Why is that important? We know that the social environment of the past and the goals of the preservation movement have not always aligned with our current mission to make the National Register better reflective of our diverse American experience.

Only looking back on history will not solve these lasting inequalities. But historians and preservationists have a role to play to bring past lives, challenges, and victories, to life – we’ll do that through research, through lectures, exhibits in museums, and in interpreting our built environment all around us.

After all, history has been written by the victors and this new inclusive and affirming approach to public history, like the approach that Preservation Maryland is taking, will expand and diversify the victor’s circle. Because as my Pride March signs states, We’ve All Always Been Here.

STEIN: Preservation Maryland hosts its final Listening Session tonight at 5:30 p.m. at Chase Brexton Health Center. For more information on the Maryland LGBTQ History Collaborative Initiative, visit preservationmaryland.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

A Global View of Water at Calvert County
June 6, 2019

Together with Maryland Humanities and the Smithsonian’s H2O Today exhibit, Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum will promote the beauty, power, and conservation of water, our global resource.

Reading Development and Preventing Learning Loss
May 30, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Did you know that third grade is a pivotal year for students learning to read? Reading proficiently by the end of that grade can be a marker for successes through a student’s college years. Angelique Jessup, Program Director at the Baltimore Campaign for Grade Level Reading, tells us more about reading development.

ANGELIQUE JESSUP: School is almost out, which means summer break is just around the corner. We often think of summer as a time to take a break from school and have fun with our kids. As a mom of two, I am surely looking forward to the change of weather and busy pace. But, I also want to make sure my kids have opportunities to explore and learn new things while having fun. Did you know that low-income students can lose up three months or more of reading progress by the start of the next grade, much more than their higher income peers? We call this summer learning loss and it is a real challenge impacting the opportunity gap.

According to the National Summer Learning Association “by the fifth grade, summer learning loss can leave low-income students two-and-a-half to three years behind their peers.” So as we head into the warmer weather, it’s important to remember that one of the best and simplest ways to stem this challenge and keep kids learning is reading.

The Campaign for Grade Level Reading is a coalition of non-profits, public agencies, and other organizations working to build strategies, resources, and programs that help all children read well by the end of third grade. Studies show that third grade marks a turning point between learning to read vs. reading to learn. Children who are successful readers by the end of third grade are more likely to succeed in school, less likely to repeat a grade, and more likely to graduate from high school and attend college.

If you’re wondering what you can do to make sure your child or the children in your community are staying on track over the summer, we’ve got some ideas:
• At the Enoch Pratt Free Library Summer Challenge, your child can earn prizes for completing learning activities each day. There are programs for all ages, so the whole family can sign up!
• Your child can take advantage of summer programming with Rec. and Parks, Baltimore City Public Schools, Parks and People or SummerREADs programs at participating Weinberg Foundation Libraries or other locations across the city.
• Grab a book from one of our 37 Little Free Libraries located throughout Baltimore or volunteer to help keep them filled.
• Read for 20 minutes a day with your child. I’ve found the summer to be a great time to read with no schedules or school projects to worry about. Explore your child’s latest curiosities or interests in the pages of a book. Have fun while you read and mix it up! You can tell or make up a story, or have your child read you a recipe as you’re making dinner.

By working together as a community to keep children reading, we can fight summer learning loss.

STEIN: Learn more about the Campaign for Grade Level Reading at bmorereadmore@ffee.org. The Campaign is managed by the Fund for Educational Excellence, which you can learn more about by visiting ffee.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Pride and Prejudice and Gender Construction
May 23, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Over 200 years after Jane Austen’s death, Kate Hamill published a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. How is one theatre using the play and community programming to explore the construction of gender? Suzanne Beal, Director of Pride and Prejudice at Maryland Ensemble Theatre, tells us more.

SUZANNE BEAL: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of the most frequently adapted books for the theater and film. The Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick is producing Kate Hamill’s 2017 adaptation exploration of Austen’s “Marriage Game.” Through a grant from Maryland Humanities, we’ll offer a series of programs to enhance the audience experience of their upcoming production.

I call Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice a Regency production with a post-modern sensibility. All of the major characters and iconic incidents in the novel are present. There are bonnets and minuets and much of the dialogue is lifted directly from the novel. However, some of the language is definitely contemporary and the setting seems to morph from one place to the next. Actors play multiple roles with cross-gender casting embedded in the script. Hamill’s take on the Austen classic focuses on women’s decidedly limited choices within the highly gendered world of Regency England. I find her exploration of the gendered world so much fun! The New York Times called it a “screwball Pride and Prejudice.”

Our first piece of grant-supported programming is a dramaturgical lobby display focusing on ideas about gender during late 18th- and early 19th-century England. The display also explores how the various adaptations reflect gender notions of the period in which it was produced. We are very grateful to Tara Olivero, the Director of Special Collections at Goucher College. She not only allowed us access to view their extraordinary Austen Collection but also gave us a six foot poster used in their Pride and Prejudice exhibit depicting covers of scores of editions of the novel.

We’re looking forward to welcoming Dr. Trevor Dodman, who teaches an Austen seminar at Hood College, for a pre-show lecture on June 9. His talk will analyze the numerous ways Austen explores 19th century gender construction and its limitations on women’s agency.

On May 26 and June 2, we will hold post-show discussions on the continued relevance of Austen’s ideas, with special outreach to Frederick County High Schools. For the three matinee performances with additional programming, high school students and their teachers can attend both the performance and the additional program free of charge. One of our cast members is a Frederick County High School senior, and our costume designer a theater teacher at Thomas Johnson High School. With our outreach effort we hope to encourage a cross-generational conversation between our traditional, older audience members and local high school students. We look forward to a wide age-range joining us as we examine past and current mentalities about gender and class.

STEIN: Pride and Prejudice opens at Maryland Ensemble Theatre on May 24. Learn more about the production and related programming at marylandensemble.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Autism Through a Literary Lens
May 16, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How can language used to write about autism make an impact on public discourse? The Writer’s Center in Bethesda explores this and more in “#OwnVoices: Autism Through a Literary Lens,” a one-day-only symposium. The event focuses on characters and writers with autism and features workshops for autistic individuals and parents of autistic children, as well as a panel. Panelist and writer Hannah Grieco is the mother of an eleven-year-old son with autism as well as a former teacher. Her byline has appeared in The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, and more. Today, Hannah talks about how her son’s influence on her writing and how writing can help create a more inclusive world for those with autism.

HANNAH GRIECO: I started writing because I wanted my son to read about characters and experiences that felt both familiar and appealing to him. There just weren’t stories about kids like him, and the rare ones we found that included unusual, outlier kids painted them as characters who learned, over time, to become more typical. The story arc was always one of a character who changes to fit the world around him or her, and thus, finally, finds acceptance.

I wanted to write about him and his friends. About a different kind of world.

It became my life’s goal to write about disability, parenting, and education in a way that reframed the conversation.

I want to encourage authentic representation of autistic people and characters: in articles in newspapers and magazines, in books and short stories, on TV and in the movies.

It’s what we all owe to the people around us that we push to the margins, that we overlook so thoughtlessly instead of taking a second look and discovering the many gifts we’ve missed.

STEIN: “Autism Through a Literary Lens,” supported in part by a Maryland Humanities grant, takes place on June 8. Learn more about the event at writerscenter.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Voices of Baltimore Youth
May 9, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Did you know that since 2013, a student-produced literary magazine has featured feature the poetry, fiction, essays, and artwork of 450 students in Baltimore City Public Schools? CHARM: Voices of Baltimore is a literary organization as well as a magazine. Whitney Birenbuam, Humanities teacher at Midtown Academy, and Executive Director of CHARM, tells us more about the organization.

WHITNEY BIRENBAUM: “Daybreak in Baltimore.” “At Thirteen.” “Alternate Names for Her.” “My House on Conkling Street.” “We, Too, Sing America.”

These are titles of poems and prose published in the most recent literary magazine from CHARM: Voices of Baltimore Youth, both a student-produced magazine and literary organization. CHARM was founded on the importance of kids’ voices.

As a middle school Humanities teacher for thirteen years, I saw that my students learned the most when their work had a real purpose, and served an audience outside our classroom walls. They wrote podcasts calling citizens to action around gun violence. They published a book of immigration narratives from our school. I knew the impact this work had on my students, but was routinely surprised at the reaction from adults: “Middle schoolers wrote this?”

It was with this conviction—that kids’ voices matter and have a real place in our city’s discourse—that CHARM was born. Our mission is to help young people develop the skills of successful writers, cultivate a love of writing, and amplify their own voices. Since 2013, we have published seven literary journals with poetry, fiction, essays, and artwork from 450 students from more than 35 Baltimore City Public Schools.

CHARM magazine is produced by a dynamic student editorial board made up of middle and high school students from across the city. They determine what is published, as well as the design and feel of the magazine.

We’ve recently expanded our programming to further develop and celebrate youth voices. Our Young Writers Workshops are opportunities for youth to develop their writing skills through engaging, small-group sessions with local authors. The roster of authors includes D. Watkins, Elissa Brent Weissman, Sheri Booker, and journalist Erica L. Green. What better way to develop your own skills and confidence than working with a real author?

This year, we are piloting two new programs that drill deeper into skills and content. Through the Class Book Project, we partner with a teacher and class to develop a book based on class content, and publish a book of student work. CHARM Creative Writing Clubs offer young writers ongoing support with their writing, and take inspiration from famous works.

CHARM magazine’s student editors just completed production of a volume titled CHARM: For Your Inspiration that consists of nearly 50 pieces inspired by famous writers. They exemplify the varied and vibrant voices within our city–voices that are wise, passionate, silly, thoughtful, resilient, angry, hopeful, and deserving to be heard.

Ninth grader Marian Tibrey, here with me today, was inspired by Langston Hughes’s “I, Too” and wrote her own version” “We, Too, Sing America.”

STEIN: Learn more about Charm, a Maryland Humanities grantee, at facebook.com/CharmLitMag. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Water/Ways at Baltimore County
May 2, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Did you know more than 100,000 creeks, streams, and rivers flow toward the Chesapeake Bay across parts of six states? Historical Society of Baltimore County’s James G. Keffer talks about the history and stories of water in the County. The Historical Society is the first of six Maryland sites to host Water/Ways, a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition brought to smaller communities across the state by Maryland Humanities. Local Water/Ways host sites add their own local exhibits to complement the Smithsonian’s exhibition.

JAMES G. KEFFER: Water is perhaps the most fundamental ingredient of life on our planet. It makes up most of our bodies and covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface. Our cultures and societies have been greatly shaped by our proximity to, use of, and reverence for water. Our relationship to water, while obvious on the surface, runs much deeper than most of us think about on a daily basis.

The Water/Ways exhibit explores the influence of water on our past, how we connect to it in the present, and why we must fortify and secure it for our future. We will also tell the local water story of Baltimore County and our surrounding region. Less than 7% of the total area of the United States is covered in water, while that number is 12% for Baltimore County, and 21% for Maryland. When you look at a map of water in our region, it is clear that you are always near water, even when you don’t realize it.

From the earliest times, the bay and its tributaries were central to the lives of indigenous people in the region. People who colonized Maryland harnessed the power of water to fuel industry with a variety of types of mills. The location of the fall line between geological levels made this possible. Iron, gunpowder, cotton duck canvas, flour, paper, and more were manufactured at mills in Baltimore County. The next time you drive in the county, notice how often you find a road or place with mill or falls in the name.

The harbor and bay were a highway connecting our region to the world. The Port of Baltimore has been notable for many different exports over its history such as flour, oysters, and steel. In the other direction, over a million immigrants entered the country through the port.

To serve the growth of our communities, engineers controlled the flow of water to provide clean drinking water, create a sanitation system, and generate electricity. These advancements were not achieved quickly or easily. Now, we must balance this growth with the need to sustain the health of our rivers, streams, reservoirs, and their watersheds. We rely on our waterways for our essential needs, but also for our enjoyment. We vacation at the beach, sail on the bay, and tube on the Gunpowder River. Our collective love of activities like boating, fishing, swimming, and eating seafood like crabs and oysters, demonstrates our remarkable focus on water-based recreation in Maryland.

With the help of 33 partner organizations, there will be over 70 public events, complementary exhibits, and educational programs in support of Water/Ways. The exhibit will be free and open to the public from May 25th through July 6th at the Historical Society of Baltimore County, located inside the historic Almshouse in Cockeysville.

STEIN: Visit marylandh2o.org for information on Museum on Main Street and for local listings. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Weaving a New Narrative at Towson University and Beyond
April 26, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: “What Were You Wearing? Weaving a New Narrative” is an installation revealing pervasive cultural attitudes about sexual assault while working to change those attitudes. Molly Cohen, a theatre artist and graduate of the Department of Theatre Arts at Towson University, talks about her work on the installation. This project is funded in part by a grant from Maryland Humanities to Towson University.

MOLLY COHEN: A couple of years ago, one of my professors, Julie Potter, came across an article on social media about the exhibit called the “What Were You Wearing?” Survivor Installation. The exhibit originated 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.”

The first installation was a collection of stories from survivors of sexual assault on campuses. The stories hung next to recreated outfits bought at thrift stores. The installation has since been recreated at a number of campuses in both the United States and in Europe. When Julie came across the article about these installations, she was immediately interested in doing it on Towson’s own campus. She felt that as a costume designer, teaching about design and character building, body Image and the history of dress, it was within her wheelhouse. We are both passionate about the topic of sexual assault, and the assumptions we make about people’s character based on their attire.

Julie and I both wanted to create meaningful work around this topic for our research and scholarship: We also wanted to give this powerful idea a greater production value and visual impact. I was awarded an undergraduate research grant from the University in the fall semester of 2017, and our work began. We began thinking of how to move the conversation beyond the original theme that survivors are not responsible for their assaults and incorporate the history of the original collection of antique clothing that Julie manages and curates at Towson University. We decided we would look for historic, true stories of local people who were assaulted in different decades and add them to this display of outfits for a greater impact. Assault has always happened. No matter what type of clothing was in fashion, assault happened. That fact is striking when you look at the collection in the exhibit. Through the process, we re-named it “What Were You Wearing? Weaving a New Narrative” and the stories we found helped to illustrate a point about how deeply held these notions are in the history of our culture.

We also focused on ways to incorporate interactive elements meant to focus on positive outcomes like body reclamation, freedom and empowerment in dress, and survivor strength. We then put outfits and private viewfinders holding slides of an outfit and a story in 4 locations, 3 on our campus and 1 in MICA’s library. We hoped by putting pieces in different locations we would generate more exposure to this important topic.

Julie and I also gained access to the Baltimore Sun archives. With the research help of librarian Joyce Garczynski, we dug through those archives for stories about sexual assault. That process was unsettling and also illuminating. We found that, naturally, what made the papers were almost exclusively stranger attacks until the 1940s. Even then, “date rape” was mentioned only a handful of times. What stuck out as repetitive was the number of times we read statements like, “she was at a bar,” “she had been drinking.” “it may have been consensual.” Judges often dismissed charges of rape, even blaming the women for fabricating stories. Additionally, we gathered more recent news stories that continue to discredit accusers by calling attention to their choice of dress. We included a case from 1852 where there was a court ruling that victims and witnesses should not be deemed not credible based on their “character”, their profession, the fact that they were drinking, but women continued to be discredited for those reasons and still do today. This became the theme we wanted to accentuate.

This discreditation leads us to understand better why people don’t always report assault, and how, whether we consciously consider it or not, it’s part of our internal narrative to wonder if the victim did anything to bring it on themselves. Objectifying women, historically, is so much a part of our culture that it is almost impossible to consider a woman, a victim, without wondering what she looked like.

The exhibit developed through this research, resulting in 16 chosen stories and outfits dating between 1852 and 2017. Examining our local history helped us show how deeply these attitudes are woven into the fabric of our history and culture. Once we recognize that, we can work to change it.

STEIN: The installation closes on April 30. Learn more about the project on Molly’s post at mdhumanities.org/blog. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Faith Community Dialogues on Immigration and Race
April 18, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How is one partnership encouraging open and honest dialogue about faith and race? Drs. Felipe Filomeno & Tania Lizarazo – professors at University of Maryland, Baltimore County – talk about “Honest Conversations: Faith Community Dialogues on Immigration and Race.” The partnership between UMBC and the Latino Racial Justice Circle is funded with a grant from Maryland Humanities.

FELIPE FILOMENO The practice of dialogue is a long-standing human tradition with a goal of achieving mutual understanding and shared meaning about a given issue, not to win an argument. Dialogue can feel like a lost art, especially when we approach contentious issues.

TANIA LIZAZARO: In the project Honest Conversations: Faith Community Dialogues on Immigration and Race, UMBC and Latino Racial Justice Circle bring together members of local communities to talk about religion, race, and immigration. Race and religion are essential to how the United States – and Maryland in particular – have experienced immigration. Today, about 15% of Maryland’s population were born in another country.

FILOMENO: In the Honest Conversations, participants meet once a week for three consecutive weeks. They share personal stories, feelings, and ideas about immigration and its connections with race and religion. Participants talk about commonalities and differences between immigrants and native-born citizens. At the end, participants discuss actions they and their faith communities could take to cope with racism and other issues involving immigration.

A trained facilitator is present in every dialogue session to guide the conversations and enforce ground rules for effective dialogue.

LIZAZARO: As a strategy to share what we learned during the dialogues with a broader audience, we use digital storytelling, a collaborative process of creating narratives mixing images and audio. Participants in the dialogues volunteer to create these audiovisual stories in collaboration with research team members to extend the conversations. Storytellers decide what to highlight and which images to use to tell the story of their experience as participants in the dialogues.

FILOMENO: Committed to recognizing and producing knowledge that circulates beyond the university, Honest Conversations centers community members as storytellers and agents of change while recognizing the multiplicity of perspectives and voices represented in the communities and conversations.

The result is the possibility for solidarity across differences when we decide to listen to each other and work together.

LIZAZARO: Our first Honest Conversations happened between February and March at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Baltimore City. We had engaging conversations and learning moments. Based on this project, we will also produce the Latino Racial Justice Circle Guide for Faith Community Dialogues on Immigration, which will be available to the public for free on June 30 on the Latino Racial Justice Circle’s Facebook page.

STEIN: For more information about this programming, visit facebook.com/LatinoRacialJusticeCircle. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The Humanities, The Outdoors, and Social and Emotional Development
April 11, 2019

This January, the Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development released its findings. The commission spent two years listening, watching, and researching students and educators from around the country.

Here is an excerpt from their introduction:

The consensus is that these are not skills and attitudes that young people just attain naturally. They must be repeatedly taught, modeled, and practiced.

Because we believe, to quote poet Archibald MacLeish: “There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience, and that is not learning from experience.”

We look forward to seeing new ways to fulfill our mission in the future! We’ll continue to work to create powerful experiences that help young people develop crucial skills for a better world.

PHOEBE STEIN: For more information about Outward Bound and its Character Curriculum, visit outwardboundbaltimore.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Students Sharing Stories Through Film
April 4, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How is a local organization providing an opportunity for young people to share their stories through film, and to speak publicly about their own work? Jessica Baroody-Saada, Events Manager at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Foundation Parkway Theatre/Maryland Film Festival, talks about the Baltimore Student Film Showcase.

JESSICA BAROODY-SAADA: A young deaf man explores the social scene of his new college.

A returning veteran processes his traumatic stress.

Self-portraits document struggles with depression, and answer the question “Why do black lives matter?”

Documentaries of neighborhood heroes and mentors.

Animations, 16-millimeter shorts, triptychs, and cinematic poems.

These are the kinds of stories we hear and images we see at the Baltimore Student Film Showcase, now in its third year at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Theatre in Station North.

At the student showcase, young storytellers from Baltimore city and county have the chance to present and speak on behalf of their work on the big screen. It gives them the opportunity the Maryland Film Festival gives to established local and visiting filmmakers when they screen their works, either at the annual international festival in May or at special screenings throughout the year. This program enriches young people with the invaluable experience to confidently share their stories and discuss their work with audiences while they reflect on their creative processes alongside peer producers.

The Maryland Film Festival pursued the Parkway Theatre to provide a year-round home for bold, independent, and emerging cinema. Originally built in 1915, this newly revitalized theater is located at the geographical center of the city at the southwest intersection of North Avenue and Charles. This uniquely positions the Parkway as a destination and hub where Baltimore’s young film and media producers can express themselves, share their stories, hone their skills, network with other peer producers, and hopefully collaborate with one another in the future.

These are scholars from programs like Wide Angle Youth Media, Baltimore Youth Film Arts, the new Film and Visual Storytelling Department at the Baltimore School for the Arts, and the City School Media Team at Baltimore City Public Schools. Showcase participants also come from Root Branch Film Academy, New Lens Productions, and Griot’s Eye Program.

Students from Johns Hopkins and MICA, who are both partners for the film festival and Parkway, presents an incredible body of work, as do students from the programs at Stevenson, UMBC, Morgan State, Towson, and the University of Baltimore.

These showcases are a mosaic of student-produced film and media that include diverse genres and formats from all over the Baltimore region; documentaries, personal essays, animations, narratives, science fiction, Avant-Garde, and more. The variety of content demonstrates the incredible creativity and diversity of perspectives of students in the region.

Baltimore students curate these showcases through youth-led screening committees. This offers even more opportunities for young people to collaborate and engage with one another, and organize and produce a program that is emblematic and representative of the region as a whole.

With the support of Maryland Humanities, we have been fortunate to expand these showcases to occur quarterly. The Spring Showcase will take place on Tuesday, April 30^th at 7 pm in the historic Parkway Theatre. The program will be comprised of high school and college-produced film and media works and will be hosted by Johns Hopkins Professor Lester Spence.

PHOEBE STEIN: Learn more about the programming at the Parkway at mdfilmfest.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Shared Place and Poetry in Salisbury
March 28, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Salisbury Mayor Jacob Day will soon announce the city’s first-ever Poet Laureate to coincide with the annual Salisbury Poetry Week, April 1 – 7. Tara Elliott, Salisbury Poetry Week’s founder, tells us more about this year’s week of programming. Elliott is also an English and Language Arts Teacher at Salisbury Middle School. She received the Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year Award, presented by Maryland Humanities, in 2018. Launched in 2017, Salisbury Poetry Week is supported in part by a Maryland Humanities grant.

TARA ELLIOTT: In 2017, Salisbury Mayor Jacob Day issued an official proclamation making the first week of April Salisbury Poetry Week. Eastern Shore Voices – a collective of local educators, students, poets, and more – created the week of poetry events to instill a sense of shared place through the community. We also wanted to introduce poetry as way to explore our changing world, and to provide multiple opportunities for Eastern Shore citizens of all ages to develop and hone their writing skills, and to enjoy the written and spoken word.

In partnership with the City of Salisbury, we host a Poet-in-Residence in Salisbury for a week-long series of writing workshops, open mic nights, classroom visits, after-school workshops, and poetry readings. Former Salisbury Poets-in-Residence include Fulbright Scholar and the author of the upcoming The Suicide Son James Arthur and Frostburg State University Professor of English and the author of The Story of Ash, Gerry LaFemina.

This year, we’re proud and excited to welcome author of four volumes of poetry, Jane Satterfield, Associate Professor of Loyola University’s writing department. Her latest book, Apocalypse Mix, won the 2016 Poetry Prize from Autumn House Press.

During Poetry Week, we’ll pilot a lesson plan designed by our current Poet-in-Residence. This year, dystopia takes the forefront and students will compose poetry focused on science. This lesson will be shared with all middle and high school English Language Arts teachers in Wicomico County for use in their classrooms.

In addition to hosting the Poet-in-Residence Jane Satterfield, we’re excited to award the first ever Salisbury Poet Laureate title. The two-year appointment will introduce the work of a significant local writer with the goal of increasing awareness and appreciation of Salisbury’s rich cultural life, expressed through poetry.

Salisbury is known as the “Crossroads of Delmarva”, and as such, we cherish our yearly Eastern Shore Voices poetry reading, featuring seven Eastern Shore poets in addition to our Poet-in-Residence. Our region’s reputation as a home for amazing writers is growing. This year’s reading takes place on Thursday, April 4^th from 7 – 9 PM in the Worcester Room of the Salisbury University Commons. Mayor Day will also be in attendance to announce the inaugural Salisbury Poet Laureate!

We’re overjoyed at the partnerships that successfully foster the poetic voice of our city, which include community ties between our public schools, libraries, writer’s associations, art studios, colleges and universities. We’re also thankful for the past patronage of the Perdue Foundation, as well as foundational and ongoing support from Salisbury Wicomico Arts Council, and further significant support from The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore and of course, Maryland Humanities.

PHOEBE STEIN: Learn more about Salisbury Poetry Week at facebook.com/EasternShoreVoices. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Fashion as Historical Documentation
March 21, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Did you know that an article of clothing can be interpreted as a historical document? What can we learn about figures from Maryland’s past by looking at what they wore? Allison Tolman, Chief Registrar and Associate Curator of the Fashion Archives at the Maryland Historical Society, tells us more.

ALLISON TOLMAN: Articles of clothing are excellent tools for museums to tell stories from their region’s social history. Fashion historian Lydia Edwards writes in her book, How to Read A Dress, “[Clothing] can be the ultimate signifier of a person’s gender, age, class, employment, and religion down to more subtle indications such as aesthetic predilection, political standpoint, and marital status.” We select our clothing every day as a representation of ourselves to others. This was as true in the eighteenth century as it is today, and we can learn a lot about people and families from the past by looking at their clothing.

At the Fashion Archives at the Maryland Historical Society, there is a child’s dress from the 1860s. The dress is lined with 5 different fabrics visible only on the interior. This tells us that the mother was frugal, reusing bits of fabric and trimmings from her own dresses or other children’s dresses to save money during the Civil War. The Archives also include a pale pink evening gown, designed and worn in the 1940s by Claire McCardell, a native of Frederick, Maryland. On the gown, we can see a dirtied hem and many repairs to the skirt and underarms, which tell us that the dress was a personal favorite of the designer. It features many of her signature, self-named “McCardellisms,” such as a yard-long sash, proving that she really did design clothing that she herself wanted to wear.

We can also learn a lot by looking at what people choose to save and donate to museums. For example, the Ridgely family of Hampton Mansion in Towson, Maryland donated a royal blue, watered silk gown in nearly pristine condition. Worn by Margaretta Sophia Ridgely, the gown dates to a trip to Europe trip she took with her husband Charles Ridgely around 1870. The dress is in such great condition for a sobering reason: Charles Ridgely died in 1872, after which Margaretta Sophia went into mourning. She then wore only black and dull dark shades until her own death in 1904. Perhaps Margaretta Sophia chose to save this dress as a memory of a good time with her husband just prior to his death, or in hopes that her daughter Eliza would one day wear it, just as some save their wedding dresses today. The dress was clearly important to her, as it was so carefully preserved until its donation to the Maryland Historical Society in 1956.

Clothing, even decades or centuries after it was worn, is symbolic of the person who wore it. Using close examination, we can uncover untold stories from Maryland’s history through the people who lived it.

STEIN: Tollman recently wrote a guest post on the Maryland Humanities blog: read her entry at www.mdhumanities.org. Visit mdhs.org to learn more about the Maryland Historical Society. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Brown Girls Museum Blog
March 14, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How are two women pushing past the gatekeeping that sometimes occurs within cultural institutions? Amanda Figueroa and Ravon Ruffin started Brown Girls Museum Blog, a platform that aims to promote the visibility of people of color, especially women, in the museum field and in academia.

AMANDA FIGUEROA: In 2015, Ravon and I met and learned that we both had a desire to lend our voice to the museum field—as an outlet and as a resource for those coming from marginalized communities navigating institutions. Museums often perpetuate the barrier between themselves and their proposed community; a relationship that needs renegotiating. We insert our presence in these spaces so that the institution can live up to its promise: to hold space for us, our communities, and our stories.

Conversations on art become tired when the language we tether to fails to expand the field and our ability to see. Words like: diversity, inclusion, intersectionality, and bias become the same, interchangeable, and more dangerous. Much like our existence, these words cannot be collapsed.

RAVON RUFFIN: As two brown girls, our paths to museums reflect the communities we come from, and the radical shift in politics that must occur in order to support those communities. Our approach to the museum field is guided by our academic interests in critical theory, performance studies, and cultural geography.

FIGUEROA: With these interests, we take to digital spaces to amplify the voices of artists and culture workers of color, and hopefully, broaden the scope by which black and brown people see themselves as stakeholders in local and national cultural institutions. We see opportunities within the museum industry that lack institutional support, which privilege some and silence others. We created our platform to raise our voices to the conversations being had without invitation. It is why we proclaim, “If we don’t tell our stories, who else will?”

RUFFIN: When we empower visitors to make meaning on their own terms, we make room for multiple lenses in our institutions, although it requires that we share authority and acknowledge our privilege. Decolonizing the institution is uncomfortable work, but that’s how you know you’re moving in the right direction.

STEIN: Learn more about Figueroa and Ruffin’s work at browngirlsmuseumblog.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The Multifaceted Legacy of Ida B. Wells
March 8, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Did you know that journalist, suffragist and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells was also one of the founders of the NAACP? Harford Community College will host screenings of Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice, which includes selections of Wells’ writing read by Toni Morrison. The screening complements figures of Wells and Mary Church, on loan from the Great Blacks in Wax Museum. Sharoll Love, Student Diversity Specialist in Harford Community College’s Office of Student Life, tells us more.

SHAROLL LOVE: Most known for her fierce opposition to the lynching of Black people in post reconstruction America, Ida B. Wells conducted investigations, compiled statistical data and published her findings. This work challenged the false narrative of black men raping and assaulting white women throughout the south as an excuse to murder innocent men, women and children.

Born on the eve of emancipation, Wells learned that freedom from by the passage of the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments was only theoretical. The abrupt termination of reconstruction and the resulting political concessions to appease southern interests sought to maintain slavery and left Black Americans unprotected – legally, socially and politically.

Nevertheless, Ida asserted herself. In 1883, she fought Tennessee’s “Separate Car Act.” The Act relegated black passengers to substandard accommodations, violating the Constitution’s 14^th amendment. Ida won her case in 1884, only to have the decision reversed in 1887 by the state’s Supreme Court.

Committed to exposing and stopping the lynchings of innocent people, Wells traveled the country and abroad to galvanize support. Her seminal works include Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases and The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States. Her books, editorials and public appearances all served as a platform to shine a floodlight on the atrocities committed through mob violence.

Ida lived a full life as an activist, entrepreneur, journalist, wife, and mother to four. In 1896, she joined hundreds of black women from around the country in Boston to organize the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs. They addressed their needs and aspirations. They discussed how race intersected as well as issues such as education and programs for youth, voting rights, housing, fair labor contracts, hunger, health care, social security and world peace.

Refusing to be relegated to the rear, Ida defied organizers of the Women’s Suffrage March in 1913, saying “Either I go with you or not at all . . . I am doing this for the betterment of my whole race.” Consequently, she marched alongside the white delegates of her home state, Illinois. Ida died at the age of 69 after having lived her life in service to humanity. Because of her vision, we are a more just society today.

The wax likenesses of Ida B. Wells and first president of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club, Mary Church Terrell, are now on display at Harford Community College. Located at the campus’s Hays-Heighe House, the figures are on loan from Baltimore’s National Great Blacks in Wax Museum until June. Their presence at the college is sponsored by Harford Community College’s Soar2Success program and the Harford Community College Library.

STEIN: Harford Community College will screen the documentary on March 12 at 12:30 and 1:40, and on April 18 at 12:30. Learn more about the college at harford.edu. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The Why Black Lives Matter Curriculum
February 28, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How can the humanities help teens process current-day issues and create a more equitable society? Staff at Wide Angle Youth Media have developed a curriculum called “Why Black Lives Matter: Discussing Race Through Film, Photography, and Design.” The curriculum pairs youth media projects with instructional content. Dena Robinson –Wide Angle Youth Media’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Facilitator – tells us more.

STEIN: Maryland Humanities has funded the Why Black Lives Matter curriculum with a grant. Learn more about curriculum and Wide Angle Youth Media at wideanglemedia.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The Katipunan Filipino-American Association of Maryland and “Locating Filipino Americans in Maryland: Our Immigrants Journeys”
February 21, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How can immigration experiences shape behavior, storytelling, and humanities scholarship? Dr. Maryanne Akers, Board Member at Katipunan Filipino-American Association of Maryland, shares her perspective. Maryland Humanities recently awarded the organization a grant for their project entitled “Locating Filipino Americans in Maryland: Our Immigrant Journeys.” Akers is Dean and Professor at Morgan State University’s School of Architecture and Planning.

DR. MARYANNE AKERS: Immigrants offer perspectives that may be missed by those born here. The Filipino journey to America has its roots in the 1500’s when seafarers landed in Moro Bay, California as part of a Spanish fleet. However, it was in southern Louisiana during the mid-1700’s that the first a Filipino settlement was recorded. Since then, waves of immigrants came as the United States forged and built their colonial relationship with the Philippines. Farm workers, nurses and doctors, school teachers, college educators, cruise ship workers arrived in surges —- many pulled by gaps in the American labor force and the promise of being economically uplifted in this land of opportunity.

Filipino immigrants have had a long journey. Our experiences are complex and multi-faceted. As a Filipino immigrant myself, I came to this country to pursue a Ph.D. in urban planning. My intention when I left the Philippines in 1984 was to learn as much as I could and then return to serve my country. But going back was not one of those paths that appeared before me. I stayed. But I am persistent about serving my homeland. I travel there every year to give lectures, conduct research about topics like women vendors, street architecture and every day urbanism, and heritage preservation. I go back to re-discover and re-learn our Filipino ethos and ever-evolving cultural soul.

Filipinos are marginalized, even in contrast to other Asian American groups who also face marginalization. For example, when Asian Americans are cited, the journalists imply or give emphasis to the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, and, to a certain extent South Asian Indians. Filipinos are hardly mentioned. We are invisible but we are everywhere —- scattered in schools, health facilities, government offices, retail stores, parking garages, employer homes, and elsewhere. We are invisible because we often mute our voices, some intentionally and some without realizing it. We bend our heads in submission. We try not to make waves, hesitant to draw attention. Often, feel we are “inferior”, “not worthy”, “not good enough” or “inconsequential” because colonization’s impact on how we perceive ourselves.

All these behaviors contribute to a dearth of scholarship in the humanities, film, and other storytelling endeavors. But Maryland Humanities is changing that significantly. They believed in us, Filipino immigrants, and the power of VOICE. Maryland Humanities has opened the door of opportunity to amplify our experiences and exclaim that we are a people of value who contribute to American society and the world.

The Maryland Humanities grant will allow the Katipunan Filipino American Association of Maryland to document, analyze, and reflect on our immigrant journeys. We have planned for multiple projects to glean compelling aspects of our experiences settling in Maryland. There are almost 50,000 Filipinos living in the state and we will conduct in-depth interviews with a group of 15 Filipinos who have diverse backgrounds and varying insights. We will also hold book conversations on two literary texts that reveal common and distinct immigrant stories, an event at the Philippine Embassy to feature a panel of immigrants, an art and photography exhibit, and a book launch that describes these immigrant realities.

The Maryland Humanities grant jump starts us. Supporting this project will empower the Filipino immigrant community to shape a collective narrative that embodies the vibrancy of our stories. We will proudly share our cultural tapestry made of rich memories and traditions that continue to connect us with the motherland, and at the same time, honor intricate patterns that weave our struggle and celebration of survival, adaptation, and integration. We have merely scratched the surface, but we are on the roll. Maraming Salamat sa Inyong kabutihang-loob. Thank you, Maryland Humanities, for your generosity.

STEIN: The first event in Katipunan’s series is a discussion of Elaine Castillo’s novel America is Not the Heart at the Cockeysville Public Library on February 28. Learn more at katipunan.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The African-American History of the B&O Railroad
February 14, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Did you know before serving on the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall worked on the B&O Railroad? A new exhibit at the B&O Railroad Museum explores the railroad’s African-American history. Kris Hoellen, the museum’s executive director, tells us more.

KRIS HOELLEN: Best In Service, our new temporary exhibit this month, consists of paintings and photographs from the B&O archives not previously displayed. The artwork honors the unsung known service of African Americans and the contributions they made to the railroad. The exhibit features original paintings by American illustrators Dan Content and Roy Federick Spreter. Commissioned by the B&O in the early 1930s, these artists painted full-page, oil-on-canvas scenes of railroad service used for creating advertisements for publications such as the Saturday Evening Post.

Photographs show the roles African Americans held on the B&O, including a photo of the dining crew that served President Roosevelt. While the jobs provided by the B&O offered little to no advancement, they were considered elite for their time period.

The exhibit also features Thurgood Marshall, Fearless M. Williams, Charles Wright and Maggie Hudson who were all B&O Railroad employees at one point. Thurgood Marshall, the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, worked as a waiter and porter on dining cars while earning a college degree at Lincoln University. Marshall obtained his position with the B&O because of his father, William Canfield Marshall, who was a B&O Railroad porter and waiter. Fearless M. Williams – [Thurgood] Marshall’s “Uncle Fee” –, also served the B&O for 46 years as a floor porter for executive staff. Williams ultimately became a prominent member of the Baltimore business community.

Musician Charles W. Wright began his 33-year career with the B&O Railroad in 1884 as head butler for B&O president John W. Garrett. In 1910 he was promoted to head cook for B&O president, Daniel Willard.

Maggie Hudson, born in Shuqualak, Mississippi in 1919, moved to South Baltimore in the early 1940’s because she heard that the B&O Railroad was “hiring girls”. The B&O hired Maggie in 1943 as one of its first female African-American QUOTE “porterettes,” a position she held for 36 years. This year on April 13, Maggie will turn 100 years old, still living in Baltimore, making her the oldest living known B&O Railroad African-American employee.

While the B&O offered positions for African Americans and supported the Union causes during the Civil War, the B&O also had a complicated history with race relations. Beginning in 1912, the B&O began publishing an employee magazine, where African American employees were rarely depicted. From 1913 through the 1920s, several of the magazine covers featured caricatures of the African-American employees along with cartoons and other offensive images. Several of these images are on display in context in the exhibit.

This exhibit offers a unique snapshot into American culture and history as portrayed through the photographs and paintings of African-American employees of the B&O Railroad.

STEIN: Best in Service is open through February 28. Learn more about the exhibit at BORail.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Political Reform in Nineteenth-Century Maryland
February 7, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Just last year, Johns Hopkins University Press published a history of our state: the second edition of Maryland: A History, which covers 1634 to 2015. Today, co-author Sue Chapelle brings to life Maryland in the 1800s as she shares a chapter of the book, amended for radio. During this time, national, state, and local governments became more involved in social and economic problems than they were previously. Some alliances were undermined, new ones were formed, and Maryland saw the introduction of political machines.

SUE CHAPELLE: Political organizations called “machines” emerged in the late 1800s: in exchange for votes and kickbacks, politicians would offer favors, ranging from jobs to government contracts to individual financial help in times of need. Reform groups in Maryland and beyond quickly challenged these machines, calling their tactics unethical.

These groups decried the machines’ corrupt practices, the political payoffs (called graft), and the favor swapping. They criticized politicians for tolerating dirty streets and hazardous working conditions. As their power grew, the reformers won elections in some cities and states across the country. The reformers collectively known as progressives included Democrats, Republicans, and members of a third party called the Progressive Party, with a capital P.

In Baltimore County a coalition of reform Democrats and Republicans known as the Potato Bugs beat the machine in 1875, but the machine Democrats regained control in 1877. Progressives were active in many counties, including Prince George’s, Montgomery, and Anne Arundel.

In Baltimore City in 1885, leading opponents of machine bosses Arthur Pue Gorman and Isaac Freeman Rasin joined together in an organization called the Reform League. Charles J. Bonaparte, the grandson of Napoleon’s youngest brother Jerome, was one leader of the Reform League. The organization crusaded for fair elections and supported efforts to enact civil service reform by putting government jobs under the control of a nonpolitical, nonpartisan commission instead of the bosses.

The Maryland reform movement gained momentum when Charles H. Grasty bought the Baltimore Evening News in 1891. Grasty used his newspaper to attack abuses and reveal scandals about well-known public figures. The News attacked the high prices and poor service of the Consolidated Gas Company. It criticized the telephone and streetcar companies for their high rates and poor performance and suggested that a public utilities commission be created to regulate the operations of all such companies.

Grasty published an exposé on the city’s street-paving contracts: who got them, why, and how much money changed hands as part of the deal. He ran a series of articles on slums, pointing up the city’s failure to regulate housing standards and to collect garbage in poor neighborhoods. He revealed the inner workings of the Policy, an illegal lottery run by the Democratic Party to raise cash for campaigns. Grasty’s work kept readers informed, and some them then voted to remove from power the bosses of the political machines. However, due to the strength of the machines, these successes did not always last.

Over the years, support for the progressive movement grew. Finally, in 1895, progressives won their first big victory in Maryland as reform candidates swept elections across the state and began to enact the programs they had campaigned for.

STEIN: Chapelle co-authored Maryland: A History with Jean B. Russo an a team of local historians. Learn more about the book at press.jhu.edu. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Deepening Student Engagement with History Through Art
January 24, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: How can schools and museums team up to give students agency and deepen their engagement with history? The Sandy Spring Museum in Montgomery County and the Barnesville School of Arts and Sciences recently collaborated for a student exhibit entitled, “Honoring Our Past, Celebrating the Future.” The museum’s Marketing Director, Lauren Peirce, and the school’s art teacher, Sarah Eargle, tell us more.

LAUREN PEIRCE: We gather community to build a sense of place and belonging. At Sandy Spring Museum, we support community-driven cultural arts and educational programs. In recent years, the museum has evolved from a traditional history museum into a dynamic, participatory cultural arts and humanities community center. So when we started talking about a partnership with Barnesville School of Arts and Sciences to celebrate its 50th anniversary, we knew the classic, docent-led, guided tour experience no longer aligned with our mission. We worked closely with the school’s faculty to create a program for their middle school students that was both engaging and empowering.

SARAH EARGLE: This partnership with Sandy Spring Museum melds beautifully with Barnesville School’s emphasis on cross-curricular education. The experience was designed to have students explore how artists can be inspired by history. As the school’s art teacher, I follow a progressive educational philosophy called “Teaching for Artistic Behavior,” whereby every student is viewed as an artist and the art room their shared studio. Students develop skills common to all artists, yet design and produce artwork that is completely their own. The museum’s own progressive vision and diverse collection proved an ideal laboratory to explore this concept of “history as artistic inspiration”.

PEIRCE: We took down the proverbial velvet ropes and opened the doors to collections storage to allow students an up-close experience with the artifacts. The students visited the Museum in November where they learned how to safely handle museum objects. We entrusted the students to carefully interact directly with historical collections and provided them with the tools to do this. This empowered them to connect with material culture in ways that were largely inaccessible to them before. We believe that by making the museum experience multidimensional and multi-sensory, students can transition from passive consumers of information to active agents of historical interpretation.

Students examined biographically-grouped artifacts assembled around 4 key historical figures from the area: 1920s major league baseball legend and lifetime Sandy Springer Jack Bentley; store owner, postmaster and bank founder Alban Gilpin Thomas; 19th-century shingle maker, landowner, and free-born African American Remus Hill, and suffragist Mary Bentley Thomas. Students also explored a permanent historic installation and a temporary artisan’s exhibit.

During the visit, students demonstrated an observable intensity and interest when examining the objects relating to suffrage and slavery. These objects included original letters penned by Susan B. Anthony, manumission papers releasing enslaved individuals from bondage, and photography of both figures.

By contrast, interactions with objects representing baseball player Jack Bentley and businessman Alban Thomas naturally elicited different reactions. Students appeared animated, delighting in the finer details and direct connections such as clothing materials and graphic design features. They enthusiastically noted direct comparisons between historic and contemporary culture embodied in the objects.

EARGLE: We planned the interaction so that students experienced a balance of both structured and unstructured engagement. They were invited to create artwork inspired by either the items from the collection specifically or the general field trip experience. The range of resulting artwork is equally divided between directly referencing the museum’s collection – like a mixed-media piece that speaks to Women’s Suffrage – to tangentially relating to the physical space the museum inhabits – such as paintings inspired by the museum’s rustic grounds. The artwork, alongside many of the inspirational museum objects, are currently on display at Sandy Spring Museum in an exhibition titled “Honoring our Past, Celebrating the Future”.

The diversity of work in the exhibition embodies new perspectives on the people, places, and things of the community’s history. Authentic artmaking experiences play an essential role in developing these perspectives and children’s relationships to the past. Through creating, students are empowered to look critically at the past and present, and to visualize the kind of future that will belong to our youngest members of society.

STEIN: The Sandy Spring Museum is hosting a free closing reception on February 2 at 4:00 p.m: the exhibit officially closes on February 3. Learn more at SandySpringMuseum.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Humanities and Young Baltimoreans
January 24, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Published in LA Weekly and Ms. Magazine, Baltimore native Jordannah Elizabeth returned home to teach after the Baltimore uprising. She talks about the impact of her mother instilling a love for reading at a young age, her love for humanities, and their value for a young person Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

JORDANNAH ELIZABETH: When my mother visited my home in Baltimore in June, she sat at my kitchen table of a large lunch I prepared for her and my older brother who was in town from his military stay in South Korea to receive his MBA. My mother boasted to our guests about how she implemented D.E.A.R (Drop Everything and Read) in our household and upbringing. She would also always say, “Readers are Leaders!” when I was a child. While D.E.A.R is a nationally recognized independent reading campaign, the program was a way of life in my family’s home. My mom was a single mother who made sure we all went to the library together every weekend. Her diligence, which never felt forced, helped me and my brothers become independent thinkers and self-educators. I honor my mother for that. Over 20 years later, I became a professional writer and journalist.

Books to this day are my best friends. I truly believe that the presence and comfort books provided in my life has made me a more stable human being. I never deeply yearned to find love and validation outside of myself because books filled a void of loneliness. Research quenched my thirst for adventure, so instead of jumping from relationship to relationship, I jumped from question to question, traveling, reading and searching for answers. I am certainly not against relationships. But with the resurgence of justified civil rights protests, feminist demands, and so much more, I still find peace in my home library.

I came back to my hometown of Baltimore in 2015 after the Baltimore Uprising. I was in San Francisco watching the news cycles accuse the young protestors in the city of being thugs and unruly anarchistic Black criminals. I thought that it was necessary for me to head home and teach. The people who were trapped in the violent chaos at Mondawmin Mall during the insurgence and beginning of the Uprising were children. As a Black woman and Baltimore native, I could see the kids running in fear in their school uniforms, but the rest of the world seemed to only see angry, violent young people. I knew that was not completely the case. I wanted to go home and share what I had learned, in the same city, so the young people had a strong outlet and a personal safe space outside of community centers and social programs. These are all wonderful and needed in Baltimore, but I feel that a self-reliant foundation of stability and education are also necessary.

When I say, “self-reliant,” I mean young people being encouraged to have the motivation to learn without the coaxing of outside entities like parents and teachers. The encouragement should always be there in the household and in schools, but for young Black students in Baltimore, that isn’t always the case. The distractions of social pressures in school and the pressure of an unstable home (which is not what all young Black people experience, but many do), can hinder them from keeping their eye on the ball. But with access, like my mother gave me to libraries and computers, I was able to travel to libraries and bookstores on my own as I got older. Self-motivation, and the enjoyment of learning can be embedded in any child. It is not good to assume that young Black children in Baltimore do not crave knowledge and have interests in topics of literature, science, and the humanities. I am one, and I do not consider myself to be rare or an outlier.

I have taught students from ages 3 to 63, and in every workshop and class I teach, I share tools on how to research, how to ask questions, how to think critically, and look at their work and interest as writers as an adventure. I allow children to interact, and even when they cannot read and write, they can tell stories and draw pictures to illustrate their experience and curiosities. I help teens learn which sources are reliable and which aren’t. I help them learn to decipher what a fact is, and what resources will help them uncover the truth. For adults, I share realistic scenarios on how to reach their goals as professional writers, eliminating complicated rhetoric, and allowing them to ask the specific questions so to not waste time with introductory information they may already know. I just want others to succeed as I have and beyond!

Literacy changed my life. It has taken me all over the world. I must admit, I don’t even hold a bachelor’s degree, what I hold is a relationship with libraries and supportive thinkers that has propelled me to lecture in universities to PhDs, graduate and undergraduate students with confidence. I am a very serious advocate of education, but when I left home at 16, I had to work. Like many young Black people in Baltimore, I didn’t have the finances to take four years of my life to completely immerse myself in a college education. Even with room and board, books and tuition paid for, there are needs like clothing, social activities, and cell phone, car payments, and internet bills that need to be paid.

Literacy and the love of all things Humanities have been so important for me. They can also be a very personal and proactive pursuit for any human being, particularly young Black people in Baltimore City.

STEIN: Read and learn more about Jordannah’s work at jordannahelizabeth.contently.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Continuing Poe’s Legacy
January 17, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: This Saturday, January 19, marks the 210^th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe. How is one organization celebrating the occasion and honoring the impact Poe continues to have on the arts, humanities, and pop culture? Enrica Jang, Director of The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum/Poe Baltimore, tells us more.

ENRICA JANG: Baltimore’s fondness for Poe shouldn’t surprise anyone who knows little of his history. Poe was the son of a proud Baltimore family. Baltimore is also the city where the father of detective fiction died unexpectedly and under mysterious circumstances.

Poe was among the early Americans writers who supported himself entirely by his pen: he had no other profession or family money. Prize money from winning a short story contest in The Baltimore Saturday Visiter – a 19^th century periodical – effectively launched Poe’s career. The professional contacts he made as the contest winner helped land him his next job as a writer/editor.

Poe wrote some of his short stories inside the tiny brick house on North Amity Street. Every year, over 12,000 Poe fans from around the world flock each year to our chamber door to see inside.

Last year, we hosted the inaugural International Edgar Allan Poe Festival, commemorating the anniversary of the author’s death here. This Saturday will mark Poe’s 210^th birthday. The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum has planned a slate of activities to celebrate the day, including a live performance at Poe House by actor Stephen Mead: an intimate opportunity to see Poe’s words come to life within the very walls he lived and worked. Festivities continue into the evening at PoeZella, a birthday party featuring Poe-themed art, food and an encore performance. And while January 19 is a special date for us every year, Poe House is especially proud to mark the day this year with the official opening of the Saturday Visiter Awards, a new honor presented by Poe Baltimore. The awards will recognize Poe’s continuing legacy in the arts and literature around the world.

Poe continues to haunt and inspire new generations. He’s referenced by some of the most brilliant creators of all time including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, Alfred Hitchcock, and Stephen King. Every year, new creative works are inspired by Poe’s life and writing, from poems to novels, comics to concerts, photography to feature films. The Saturday Visiter Awards will honor the best media, art, performance and writing in two categories: artistic works that adapt Poe’s life or writing (including biography, or true adaptations of his poetry or prose); and original works inspired by Poe’s life or writing. The awards will be presented at The International Edgar Allan Poe Festival in October.

The purpose of the Saturday Visitor Awards is to celebrate the creators who keep Poe in popular culture. Entries are open to any medium and genre of art and are not restricted to writing alone. Performance, music, photography and film are allowed and encouraged. And in addition to nominees in each category from all over the world, Poe Baltimore will also recognize and highlight a regional creator, with special preference for artists from here at home.

Pretty spry for a 210-year-old! Poe’s spirit and legacy live throughout Baltimore City, and continue to inspire authors, poets, playwrights, and artists alike.

STEIN: The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum is located at 225 North Amity Street. Learn more about this weekend’s festivities, the Saturday Visiter Awards, and the organization at PoeInBaltimore.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

The Great Migration in Prince George’s County
January 10, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: Between 1910 and 1970, six million African Americans left the South in order to escape racial violence there. Dubbed “The Great Migration,” Pulitzer-Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson reminds us that these people fled not only horrific physical violence but “human rights abuses and exclusion from voting and citizenship.” An exhibit from The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission examines The Great Migration in Prince George’s County, as well as migration and immigration that followed there. Dr. Dennis Doster, Manager of the Commission’s Black History Program, tells us more about the exhibit, called Moving Out, Moving In, Moving Up.

DR. DENNIS DOSTER: Over one hundred years ago, African Americans living in the southern United States began moving en masse to the cities of the North, West and Upper South. Fleeing increasing racial violence, they were in search of a better life with economic, political, and social opportunities that were unavailable in the South.

This movement has been labeled the “Great Migration.” Occurring in two waves, dating roughly from 1910 to 1940 and 1940 to 1970, this migration resulted in six million African Americans leaving the South. In the years following 1970, a reverse migration began to take form as thousands of African Americans moved back to the South. This was accompanied by increasing black immigration as blacks from the Caribbean and West African immigrated to the United States.

Moving Out, Moving In, Moving Up – an upcoming exhibit at Montpelier Arts Center – examines this migration and immigration from the viewpoint of Prince George’s County which borders the nation’s capital. At the dawn of the 20^th century, Prince George’s County was largely rural with a white majority. Today, the county is the only majority minority county in the United States and the most affluent black county in the nation. This huge demographic shift is due to the forces of black migration and immigration.

At the turn of the 20^th century, small numbers of African Americans began moving into the county. These migrants and existing black residents began to establish new communities. Early black migrants included William Sidney Pittman, a noted architect and son-in-law of Booker T. Washington; Henry Pinckney, White House steward to President Theodore Roosevelt; and Thomas J. Calloway, an African American teacher, developer, and attorney from Washington, D.C. Calloway famously worked with W.E.B. DuBois planning and creating the QUOTE “American Negro Exhibit” at the 1900 Paris Exposition.

Despite this early migration to the county, the black population remained in the minority until the late 1960s and 1970s when African Americans began moving in large numbers to Prince George’s County. This migration was spurred by the promise of a middle class lifestyle, affordable housing access, and the proximity to Washington, DC and its educational and economic opportunities. People who migrated to Prince George’s County at this time were also motivated by the desire to escape crime and other problems in urban areas, specifically D.C.

By 1990, African Americans would constitute the majority in Prince George’s County. This change in the county’s demography laid the foundation for increased political power and the growth of black businesses and churches in subsequent decades. And this migration was supplemented by the immigration of blacks from throughout the African diaspora to Prince George’s County, creating a diverse black population and a rich local culture.

STEIN: Moving Out, Moving In, Moving Up opens on January 21 and lasts through February 8 at Montpelier Arts Center, with a public reception on January 27. Learn more at blackhistory.pgparks.com. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Music in the Stacks at Peabody Library
January 3, 2019

PHOEBE STEIN: This year, Baltimore magazine named In the Stacks one of eleven local organizations moving classical music forward. The series produces classical music concerts in the George Peabody Library, with programming inspired by the library’s contents and history. Horn player Same Bessen, Founder and Artistic Director of In the Stacks, tells us more.

SAM BESSEN: The George Peabody Library is one of Baltimore’s hidden gems, but it’s also consistently ranked one of the most beautiful Libraries in the world. So in the summer of 2017, I approached the curator of the Library, Paul Espinosa, to ask if he’d allow me to host a small performance among the 300,000 volumes of books. The program would be about the Industrial Revolution—its role in the building of the Library, and how it spurred technological advancements in musical instruments that opened up a whole new world of possibilities for both architecture and music. We called the event “Music in the Stacks” and made a Facebook event so we could invite 50 or so friends. Within a few weeks, about 500 people had RSVP’d. While this did cause a minor logistical panic, we came up with a plan to let as many people in as possible safely and within fire code.

Sure enough, on the day of the event, hundreds of people were lined up around the block. We put on another performance in November of 2017 where musicians played pieces inspired by specific works of literature including Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Baltimore’s Edgar Allen Poe. When we had another standing-room-only show, we knew that the first show wasn’t a fluke and that we had tapped into a substantial community interest. At this time, the Library was about to take on a significant but necessary project to install a modern fire-prevention system, and so Music in the Stacks was put on hold. However, this gave me plenty of time to boil down the values of the program and come up with a formal proposal for a recurring series.

From a Humanities perspective, the series has a single goal that directs our programming – to highlight and draw inspiration from the George Peabody Library. Luckily, the Library is part of Johns Hopkins University’s Sheridan Libraries, which means we have access to their massive and very diverse collections. For example, our next performance on January 17, 2019 will showcase the Library’s collection of what are called “fore-edge paintings” — books with hidden works of art in the pages, so the whole concert will feature hidden themes and secret codes in music.

From a performing arts lens, the series is an attempt to remedy what I’ve noticed are some of the major factors contributing to budget deficits and low audience turnouts at classical concerts. Issues include a lack of accessibility and lack of collaboration between different mediums and art forms. Accessibility here is referring both to financial and contextual– all of our performances are free with a suggested donation, and we also explain what’s happening inside the music to help our audiences make a personal connection to what they’re experiencing. With respect to diversity, we feature female composers and composers from communities of color. And as for collaboration, we’ve found that the most engaging performances mix the arts with the humanities and different art forms together: — music and literature, visual art and music– the combinations are endless.

STEIN: In the Stacks returns on January 17 at 6:30 PM. Learn more about the series at inthestacks.org. Maryland Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities. Humanities Connection is produced by Maryland Humanities for WYPR. For Maryland Humanities, I’m Phoebe Stein.

Contact Us About Humanities Connection

Here you can find transcripts of all Humanities Connection segments—both those broadcast on WYPR and those that are exclusively podcasts—beginning in 2019.

Piecing Together Stories in the Chesney Medical Archives October 22, 2020

African American Art Through The Eyes of High School Students with Disabilities July 16, 2020

Why Black Lives Matter: A Curriculum May 7, 2020 (Repeated for June)

Complex

Writing About Autism March 26, 2020

Complex Histories Along the Potomac March 19, 2020

Exploring Maryland History Through Original Theatre March 12, 2020

The Humanities in Maryland: A Reflection March 5, 2020

Water/Ways in Calvert County February 27, 2020

Connectivity and the Anthropology of Places February 20, 2020

African-American History Month in Wicomico County February 13, 2020

Heritage and Inclusivity February 6, 2020

African American Art Through The Eyes of High School Students with Disabilities January 31, 2020

See Also: A Performance Inspired by the Peabody Library’s History January 16, 2020

Army and Navy Hospital Ships January 9, 2020

Chronicles of the African American Journey Through Fiber Arts January 2, 2020

A Season of Giving: Dorothy Day and the “Undeserving Poor” December 26, 2019

Elizabeth Catlett: Artist as Activist December 19, 2019

Maryland Witches December 12, 2019

Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled December 5, 2019

Tracing Maryland’s History Through Food November 28, 2019

Amplifying Black History and Youth November 21, 2019

Amplifying Black History and Youth November 21, 2019

The Affirming Power of LGBTQ Storytelling November 14, 2019

A “Life-Altering” Experience with Maryland History Day November 7, 2019

Día de los Muertos and Artesanas Mexicanas October 31, 2019

The Mythic Life of Amelia Earhart October 24, 2019

A Global View of Water at Calvert County October 17, 2019

Collective Memory, Shared History, and Healing October 10, 2019

Making the Humanities Accessible October 3, 2019

The Humanities in Person September 26, 2019

The Humanities, The Outdoors, and Social and Emotional Development September 19, 2019

The Legacy and Future of the Enoch Pratt Free Library September 12, 2019

Journalism and Poetry in Baltimore Neighborhoods September 6, 2019

Preserving the Maritime History of Annapolis August 29, 2019

Agricultural History in Western Maryland August 22, 2019

Piecing Together Stories in the Chesney Medical Archives August 15, 2019

Documenting and Interpreting History Through Quilting August 8, 2019

From Invisibility to Remembrance: Commemorating Slavery in St. Mary’s City August 1, 2019

Heretic to Housewife and Finding Your Voice July 25, 2019

Documenting the Fall of Bethlehem Steel in Maryland July 18, 2019

Doors Open Baltimore July 11, 2019

Creativity, with a capital WHY? July 4, 2019

Unruly Bodies: An Art Exhibition at Stevenson University June 27, 2019

Maryland’s Own Lambda Literary Award Winner June 20, 2019

Documenting Maryland’s LGBTQ History June 13, 2019

A Global View of Water at Calvert County June 6, 2019

Reading Development and Preventing Learning Loss May 30, 2019

Pride and Prejudice and Gender Construction May 23, 2019

Autism Through a Literary Lens May 16, 2019

Voices of Baltimore Youth May 9, 2019

Water/Ways at Baltimore County May 2, 2019

Weaving a New Narrative at Towson University and Beyond April 26, 2019

Faith Community Dialogues on Immigration and Race April 18, 2019

The Humanities, The Outdoors, and Social and Emotional Development April 11, 2019

Students Sharing Stories Through Film April 4, 2019

Shared Place and Poetry in Salisbury March 28, 2019

Fashion as Historical Documentation March 21, 2019

Brown Girls Museum Blog March 14, 2019

The Multifaceted Legacy of Ida B. Wells March 8, 2019

The Why Black Lives Matter Curriculum February 28, 2019

The Katipunan Filipino-American Association of Maryland and “Locating Filipino Americans in Maryland: Our Immigrants Journeys” February 21, 2019

The African-American History of the B&O Railroad February 14, 2019

Political Reform in Nineteenth-Century Maryland February 7, 2019

Deepening Student Engagement with History Through Art January 24, 2019

Humanities and Young Baltimoreans January 24, 2019

Continuing Poe’s Legacy January 17, 2019

The Great Migration in Prince George’s County January 10, 2019

Music in the Stacks at Peabody Library January 3, 2019

Piecing Together Stories in the Chesney Medical Archives
October 22, 2020

African American Art Through The Eyes of High School Students with Disabilities
July 16, 2020

Why Black Lives Matter: A Curriculum
May 7, 2020 (Repeated for June)

Writing About Autism
March 26, 2020

Complex Histories Along the Potomac
March 19, 2020

Exploring Maryland History Through Original Theatre
March 12, 2020

The Humanities in Maryland: A Reflection
March 5, 2020

Water/Ways in Calvert County
February 27, 2020

Connectivity and the Anthropology of Places
February 20, 2020

African-American History Month in Wicomico County
February 13, 2020

Heritage and Inclusivity
February 6, 2020

African American Art Through The Eyes of High School Students with Disabilities
January 31, 2020

See Also: A Performance Inspired by the Peabody Library’s History
January 16, 2020

Army and Navy Hospital Ships
January 9, 2020

Chronicles of the African American Journey Through Fiber Arts
January 2, 2020

A Season of Giving: Dorothy Day and the “Undeserving Poor”
December 26, 2019

Elizabeth Catlett: Artist as Activist
December 19, 2019

Maryland Witches
December 12, 2019

Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled
December 5, 2019

Tracing Maryland’s History Through Food
November 28, 2019

Amplifying Black History and Youth
November 21, 2019

Amplifying Black History and Youth
November 21, 2019

The Affirming Power of LGBTQ Storytelling
November 14, 2019

A “Life-Altering” Experience with Maryland History Day
November 7, 2019

Día de los Muertos and Artesanas Mexicanas
October 31, 2019

The Mythic Life of Amelia Earhart
October 24, 2019

A Global View of Water at Calvert County
October 17, 2019

Collective Memory, Shared History, and Healing
October 10, 2019

Making the Humanities Accessible
October 3, 2019

The Humanities in Person
September 26, 2019

The Humanities, The Outdoors, and Social and Emotional Development
September 19, 2019

The Legacy and Future of the Enoch Pratt Free Library
September 12, 2019

Journalism and Poetry in Baltimore Neighborhoods
September 6, 2019

Preserving the Maritime History of Annapolis
August 29, 2019

Agricultural History in Western Maryland
August 22, 2019

Piecing Together Stories in the Chesney Medical Archives
August 15, 2019

Documenting and Interpreting History Through Quilting
August 8, 2019

From Invisibility to Remembrance: Commemorating Slavery in St. Mary’s City
August 1, 2019

Heretic to Housewife and Finding Your Voice
July 25, 2019

Documenting the Fall of Bethlehem Steel in Maryland
July 18, 2019

Doors Open Baltimore
July 11, 2019

Creativity, with a capital WHY?
July 4, 2019

Unruly Bodies: An Art Exhibition at Stevenson University
June 27, 2019

Maryland’s Own Lambda Literary Award Winner
June 20, 2019

Documenting Maryland’s LGBTQ History
June 13, 2019

A Global View of Water at Calvert County
June 6, 2019

Reading Development and Preventing Learning Loss
May 30, 2019

Pride and Prejudice and Gender Construction
May 23, 2019

Autism Through a Literary Lens
May 16, 2019

Voices of Baltimore Youth
May 9, 2019

Water/Ways at Baltimore County
May 2, 2019

Weaving a New Narrative at Towson University and Beyond
April 26, 2019

Faith Community Dialogues on Immigration and Race
April 18, 2019

The Humanities, The Outdoors, and Social and Emotional Development
April 11, 2019

Students Sharing Stories Through Film
April 4, 2019

Shared Place and Poetry in Salisbury
March 28, 2019

Fashion as Historical Documentation
March 21, 2019

Brown Girls Museum Blog
March 14, 2019

The Multifaceted Legacy of Ida B. Wells
March 8, 2019

The Why Black Lives Matter Curriculum
February 28, 2019

The Katipunan Filipino-American Association of Maryland and “Locating Filipino Americans in Maryland: Our Immigrants Journeys”
February 21, 2019

The African-American History of the B&O Railroad
February 14, 2019

Political Reform in Nineteenth-Century Maryland
February 7, 2019

Deepening Student Engagement with History Through Art
January 24, 2019

Humanities and Young Baltimoreans
January 24, 2019

Continuing Poe’s Legacy
January 17, 2019

The Great Migration in Prince George’s County
January 10, 2019

Music in the Stacks at Peabody Library
January 3, 2019