Podcasts

As Memorial Day approaches, we think about the best ways to honor our veterans. One of Maryland Humanities’ programs, an oral history project with Southern High School in Anne Arundel County, sought to do just that by connecting high school students with local Vietnam veterans in order to record and preserve their histories. Jennifer Davidson, social studies teacher at Southern High School and coordinator of this project, tells us more.

In response to the negative press coverage surrounding last year’s uprising, local nonprofit Wide Angle Youth Media was inspired to document and share positive images of Baltimore youth. The resulting compilation, the promotion of which was made possible in part by Maryland Humanities, shares photographs and essays showcasing Baltimore youth from more than 15 neighborhoods. Today we hear from three Baltimore students who participated in creating and curating the book—Latrell, Raymond, and Imani— on how the experience affected them.

Through its #BlackMindsMatter Baltimore Rising: Summoning the Village Call to Action series, sponsored in part by a grant from Maryland Humanities, the Black Mental Health Alliance for Education & Consultation, Inc. (BMHA) has created an innovative model of community engagement designed to infuse mental health strategies and solutions into the current and longstanding challenges facing Baltimore City. Jan Desper Peters, executive director at the BMHA, tells us more.

As we reflect upon last April’s unrest in Baltimore, we recognize the importance of collecting and preserving community histories. Capturing often-untold stories allows us to reflect on the past in order to shape the future. After discovering something new about his 95 year-old grandmother, attorney and political strategist Jason Green set out to preserve the memories of the residents of Quince Orchard, a post-Civil War predominantly African American community near Gaithersburg that thrived for a century before vanishing. The result was The Quince Orchard Project, a documentary film that examines the history and heritage of this lost community. Green tells us more.

Have you ever loved a book so much you wished you could write a letter to its author? That’s the foundation of our annual letter-writing contest for middle and high school students, Letters About Literature. A national Library of Congress program that is facilitated in Maryland by the Maryland Humanities Council, Letters About Literature promotes reading and writing skills and inspires creativity in its many participants. Kimberly Dyar, teacher librarian at Rising Sun High School in Cecil County and recipient of last year’s Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year award, tells us how this program allowed her to connect with one of her students.

Most veterans return home with important and varied stories to tell— but do they have an outlet to express and share those stories? Through humanities-based programs like the Maryland Humanities Council’s veterans book discussions, or the Washington D.C.-based Veterans Writing Project, veterans are able to come together to give voice to their experiences. Writer Dario DiBattista, an instructor in the Veterans Writing Project, tells us more.

Did you know that each year the Maryland Humanities Council coordinates the National History Day competition in Maryland? Last year nearly 24,000 Maryland students engaged in this year-long historical research experience. Dylan Rogers Elliott, a former Maryland History Day participant and current student at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, tells us about how this program has made a lasting impact on his life.

Ever wanted to follow in the footsteps of the famous authors, poets, and editors who lived in Baltimore? Every third Saturday in April through October, the Maryland Humanities Council offers a Literary Walking Tour of Mount Vernon, taking you through majestic cultural institutions, past elegant mansions, and into the minds of Baltimore’s literary luminaries, artists, and journalists. On April 2, we’re kicking off the season with a special tour coinciding with Light City Baltimore. Jessica Baldwin, Program Assistant for Maryland Center for the Book, tells us more about the tour.

On April 2, the University of Maryland’s School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies will hold its third annual Black Theatre Symposium, supported in part through a grant from the Maryland Humanities Council. Scot Reese, artist and professor at UMD’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and one of the co-organizers of the symposium, tells us how this event aims to build diversity and community in theater.

On March 23, the University of Maryland Arts and Humanities Center for Synergy, the Maryland Humanities Council, and other partners will kick off “Baltimore Stories,” a program designed to examine the roles of narrative in the life and identity of Baltimore, with a day-long public forum featuring David Simon and Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad. Sheri Parks, co-program director and associate dean at the College for Arts and Humanities at UMD, tells us more about Baltimore Stories.