A publication of Mass Humanities
Fall 2015
¿Quiénes Somos? Who Are We? Gilded Age homes line the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, an area known colloquially as the Pioneer Valley and, as its nickname would have you assume, the legacies of white European settlers are enshrined around the region’s still pastoral landscape. The waves of late 19thcentury arrivals from across the Atlantic brought Irish, Italian, and Polish immigrants, among others, to the basin for mill work and agriculture. Towns in the area carry mostly English names, attributable either to their founders or the landholders’ cities of origin. Their infrastructure memorializes notable historical figures like Daniel Shays. A lesser-told story, that of the Latino Americans who have contributed to the Valley for more than a century, is occluded by the canonical narrative about western Massachusetts, but with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the American Library Association (ALA), and Mass Humanities, Herencia Latina will bring that history to the fore. Over the course of nine months, from September, 2015 to May, 2016, Herencia Latina will endeavor to find and present the Latino history and culture of the Pioneer Valley and beyond. The expansive event series includes fourteen film-anddiscussion panels, four exhibits, and six cultural programs and festivals, as well as related events in Springfield, Holyoke, Northampton, and Turners Falls. The PBS documentary series, Latino Americans: 500 Years of History, is at the heart of Herencia Latina, which will include multiple screenings of the series’ six episodes in area libraries and museums, many followed by community discussions moderated by local In This Issue scholars. Art and culture exhibits will take place at the Springfield MuseLetter from the ums, the Wistariahurst Museum in Director Holyoke, and in Turners Falls. Two page 2 of those sites, Springfield and Turners Board Members Falls, will also host festivals and page 6 music performances. Recent Grants page 6
Fall Forum
Citizenship, Justice, and Racial Conciliation page 8
The convener of these events, the Pioneer Valley History Network (PVHN), was selected to receive a competitive Latino Americans: 500 Years of History grant from
The Latino Americans: 500 Years of History series culminates with a question: is a new Latino world being created or will Latinos in America eventually assimilate into invisibility? Photo still from PBS series trailer.
the NEH and the ALA. The grant is part of a joint nationwide public programming initiative that supports the exploration of the history and experiences of Latinos. The national effort awarded grants to over 200 organizations—libraries, museums, state humanities councils, historical societies, and other nonprofits—to produce programming like Herencia Latina. Mass Humanities advised on the grant application and supplemented the national funding with financial and logistical support for Herencia Latina’s outreach and program planning.
“ Latino Americans have been present in our Pioneer Valley communities for more than a century, yet many people are unaware of their rich and varied history and culture.” The award-winning Latino Americans series chronicles the history of Latinos in the United States from the 16th century to present day. The series was created for PBS in 2013 by the WETA public television station, and it is the first major documentary series for television to record the story of the largest US minority group. At the conclusion of the project, PVHN will donate DVDs of the documentary series to Holyoke Public Library and to Holyoke Community College. Continued on page 5
Letter from the Director
We Have to Decide
By David Tebaldi
In a speech at to the National Press Club launching the current National Endowment for the Humanities initiative, “Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square,” NEH Chairman William D. “Bro” Adams argued that a more “public-facing” humanities profession will be good for the academy and good for the nation. Regarding the latter point, he elaborated as follows:
MASS HUMANITIES 66 Bridge Street Northampton, MA 01060 tel (413) 584-8440 fax (413) 584-8454 www.masshumanities.org STAFF
The challenges that define our times and determine our future are not essentially scientific or technical in nature. They are about our values, our fundamental beliefs, ideas and assumptions, our histories and our cultures. These are the proper domains of humanities learning and thinking. The public-facing humanities can help us understand where we’ve been, what we value and believe, and where we’re headed. By way of example, and at the risk of being a bit too topical and slightly provocative, consider the scorching experience we have been through in the last few months in this country regarding the issue of race. This is hardly a new topic in modern American life and history, but it’s one that appeared to some, for a brief time, to have become less pressing. It’s hard to believe now, but recall that in the wake of the election of 2008, some people even spoke of a post-racial society.
David Tebaldi EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
dtebaldi@masshumanities.org Pleun Bouricius DIRECTOR OF GRANTS & PROGRAMS
pbouricius@masshumanities.org Carolyn Cushing ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
ccushing@masshumanities.org Deepika Fernandes FISCAL OFFICER
dfernandes@masshumanities.org David Morgan COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER EDITOR OF MASS HUMANITIES
Then came Ferguson, Staten Island, and Bedford-Stuyvesant. It’s not clear how this difficult passage, and the broader conditions from which it comes, will be resolved, and what exactly resolution might mean. But I think most people would agree that there can be no adequate understanding of our current situation without a better appreciation of the history of race relations in the United States, of our cultural assumptions and divisions, and of the ways in which we actually live and perceive the world. . . . The result is not the sudden disappearance of the things that vex us, but a deeper understanding of who we are, how we got here, and how we might lead better lives.
I have been thinking a lot about these “vexing” events (and the more recent ones in Cleveland, Charleston, and Baltimore—sadly, they occur all too frequently) and the public response to them and how Mass Humanities might contribute to the much needed public discussions around issues of racial injustice. At about the same time as the Chairman’s National Press Club appearance, in an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered regarding the NYPD’s work slowdown in the weeks following the shooting deaths of two police officers (alleged by some to be in retaliation for police killings of unarmed black men), NewYork City (and former Boston) Police Commissioner William Bratton acknowledged that African American men experience harsher treatment than their white counterparts, but noted it was not just at the hands of the police (citing “shopkeepers” as another example). “We’re talking about a much more complex, larger national issue—don’t go blaming the police,” he went on to say. “I’m sorry; we’re not going to be the whipping boy . . . for this issue in America.” Setting aside the astonishing fact that one of the nation’s pre-eminent law enforcement officials appears to be excusing blatant acts of racial injustice perpetrated by the police on the grounds that racial prejudice is endemic in our society, the question remains why —150 years after the nation fought a bloody war over the issue and a half century after the passage of the Civil Rights Acts (of 1964, 1965, and 1968)—does racial injustice persist in America? Can we imagine, with Dr. King, an America in which “sons of former
2
dmorgan@masshumanities.org Anne Rogers SYSTEMS MANAGER
arogers@masshumanities.org Rose Sackey-Milligan PROGRAM OFFICER
rsackey-milligan@masshumanities.org John Sieracki DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
jsieracki@masshumanities.org Jeannemarie Tobin ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
jtobin@masshumanities.org Melissa Wheaton ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT AND GRANTS ADMINISTRATOR
mwheaton@masshumanities.org
Mass Humanities promotes the use of history, literature, philosophy, and the other humanities disciplines to deepen our understanding of the issues of the day, strengthen our sense of common purpose, and enrich individual and community life. We take the humanities out of the classroom and into the community. Mass Humanities, a private, nonprofit, educational organization, receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; and private sources.
slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood?” What needs to happen in order to make this dream a reality? Clearly, legislation alone is insufficient. 2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR
Nancy Netzer
BOSTON COLLEGE VICE CHAIR
James R. Burke
In one of several opinion pieces about the police controversy, New York Times op-ed columnist Charles Blow wrote, “We have to decide what racial conciliation should look like in this country” (“Who Should Apologize in Police Conflict?” January 7, 2015). He then poses three pointed questions:
HINCKLEY, ALLEN & SNYDER LLP TREASURER
Jeffrey Musman
SEYFARTH SHAW, LLP CLERK
Ellen Berkman
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
“ Does [racial conciliation] look like avoidance and go-along-toget-along obsequiousness, or does it look like justice and acknowledgment of both the personal parts we play and the noxious structural bias enveloping us?”
Glynda Benham MEGAWAVE CORPORATION
Lauren Cohen PURE COMMUNICATIONS
Javier Corrales AMHERST COLLEGE
Elliot Bostwick Davis MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
Alice DeLana CAMBRIDGE
Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY
Alfred L. Griggs NORTHAMPTON
Andrew Helene RBS CITIZENS, N.A.
Ronald B. Hertel WELLS FARGO ADVISORS, LLC
Lindsey Kiang CHESTNUT HILL
Michael Pappone GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
Marisa Parham AMHERST COLLEGE
Thomas Putnam
JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY & MUSEUM
Margaret Shepherd BOSTON
Lisa Simmons
“ How is mutual understanding achieved without mutual respect being given and blame taken?” “ How do we reconcile ourselves to one another without the failures of the systems that govern us being laid bare before us?” These may appear to be rhetorical questions, but just below the surface lay crucial and difficult issues that demand and deserve both personal soul searching and vigorous public discussion. What is (racial) justice and what does it require of us? How do we achieve mutual respect and understanding? There are costs associated with the elimination of racial injustice; who should bear these costs? These are humanities questions and we plan to explore them at our November 1 forum with classicist and political philosopher Danielle Allen, author of Talking to Strangers, Anxieties of Citizenship Since Brown v. Board of Education (among other works) and newly-named director of the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University; Yale Law School Professor James Forman, Jr., a former Washington DC public defender currently writing a book about African American attitudes towards crime and punishment in the age of mass incarceration; Tommie Shelby, professor of philosophy and African American studies at Harvard and author of We Who Are Dark: The Philosophical Foundations of Black Solidarity; and Beverly Daniel Tatum, former Mt. Holyoke College professor, former president of Spelman College, and author of books on the psychology of race (Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?) and the re-segregation of schools since Brown v. Board (Can We Talk About Race?).
MA OFFICE OF TRAVEL & TOURISM
Ron Slate POET AND LITERARY CRITIC
Kathleen Stone ATTORNEY AT LAW
Ken Vacovec VACOVEC, MAYOTTE & SINGER LLP
Bianca Sigh Ward
Our forum moderator will be the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian Douglas Blackmon, author of Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II and director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. Blackmon is currently at work on a project, called “The Harvest,” documenting the legacy of the Civil Rights Acts among an entire generation in the small town of Leland, Mississippi where he grew up.
NYSTROM BECKMAN & PARIS, LLP
G. Perry Wu
STAPLES, INC.
This is an important conversation. Please join us on November 1 at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute at Columbia Point, Boston. Full details about our forum can be found on page 8.
33
Close Collaboration
Herencia Latina is the result of local organizing by the Pioneer Valley History Network in response to a call from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.
Supported by Mass Humanities, the Pioneer Valley History Network is working in collaboration with Latino organizations to sponsor the Herencia Latina events. Partners include Casa Latina Northampton, Holyoke Community College, L.I.S.A. (Latin American Students Association at H.C.C.), Holyoke Public Library, Springfield Museums, Springfield Public Library, Turners Falls RiverCulture, and Wistariahurst Museum. Programming is also supported by El Sol Latino, Nuestras Raices, and WGBY Public Television.
Herencia Latina Pioneer Valley 2015-16 Event Listings September 16 Kick-off at Forbes Library, Screening of Episode I: Foreigners in Their Own Land September 17 Latino History Day in Turners Falls, Screening of Episode VI: Peril and Promise September 22 – March 20 “Faces of the North End” at Springfield Museums September 24 Screening of Episode II: Empire of Dreams at Springfield City Library September 24 “Latino Migrants and Agriculture in Franklin County” at Great Falls Discovery Center September 30 Ibero-American Film Festival at Holyoke Community College: Cows Wearing Glasses (Las Vacas con Gafas) October 6 Ibero-American Film Festival at Holyoke Community College: 339 Amín Abel Hasbún. Memory of a Crime (339 Amín Abel Hasbún. Memoria de un Crimen) October 9 – November 8 “A Commitment of a Lifetime: the Instruments of Will Cumpiano” at Springfield Museums
4
October 14 Ibero-American Film Festival at Holyoke Community College: Paradise (Paradiso) October 15 Screening and Discussion of Episode IV: The New Latinos at WGBY, Springfield October 17 Family Fiesta Day at Springfield Museums, Screening of Episode V: Prejudice and Pride October 21 Ibero-American Film Festival at Holyoke Community College, Screening of Episode III: War and Peace October 22 Ibero-American Film Festival at Holyoke Community College: Southern District (Zona Sur) October 28 Ibero-American Film Festival at Holyoke Community College: Mr. Kaplan November 3 Screening of Episode I: Foreigners in Their Own Land at Holyoke Public Library November 5 Screening of Episode II: Empire of Dreams at Holyoke Public Library November 10 Screening of Episode III: War and Peace at Holyoke Public Library
November 12 Screening and Discussion of Episode IV: The New Latinos at Holyoke Public Library November 17 Screening of Episode V: Prejudice and Pride at Holyoke Public Library November 19 Screening and Discussion of Episode VI: Peril and Promise at Holyoke Public Library November 19 Screening and Discussion of Episode VI: Peril and Promise at Springfield Technical Community College December 3 “Celebracion: Film Festival, Food, Families, and Fun” at Chestnut Middle School, Springfield March – April 2016 “Nuestras Abuelas/Our Grandmothers” at Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke April 16, 2016 Screening and Discussion of Episode II: Empire of Dreams at Holyoke Community College Spring 2016 “The Immigrant City” exhibition at Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke
Continued from page 1
Events within the Herencia Latina series offer first-hand knowledge of the issues facing Latinos in the Pioneer Valley. At many events, community members and facilitators alike will share personal stories of their American journey, Latino identity, and the histories that shape both. “The migration of Puerto Ricans is as relevant today as it was 100 years ago,” Holyoke City Councilor Jossie Valentin explains. This November, she will moderate a discussion following a screening of episode two of Latino Americans, which chronicles the Depression-era deportations of Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Cuban migrants. Originally from Puerto Rico herself, Councilor Valentin came to Massachusetts in 1998 to attend graduate school and stayed to contribute to a city she loves. “The search for employment and educational opportunities are some of the many reasons why Puerto Ricans continue to leave the island and venture into the States, leaving behind family members, memories, and their patria. The number of Latinos leaving Puerto Rico to come to the US continues to increase, particularly members of the young professional community who are coming to the states in search of more opportunities to grow.” Personal stories such as these will enable Herencia Latina to connect a racially segregated area through the humanities. This spring, near the end of the series, Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke will host a bilingual exhibit on Latino heritage in collaboration with local residents. Guest curator Waleska Santiago will work with members of the local Latino community to develop an exhibit focused on the relationships of the subjects with their grandmothers who, due to the family’s migration history, may be far away, yet remain figures of towering importance and formative influence. The city-owned museum is a large mansion with gardens situated in the middle of an economically struggling migrant population. Wistariahurst is using the exhibit as an opportunity to rekindle its relationships with Latino community organizations and to reach out to its neighbors. This kind of effort isn’t unique to the Herencia Latina series; the museum is one of the few in the area that have responded to changing demographics by collecting, for
Episode V discusses the leadership of organizers Eliseo Medina and Dolores Huerta, pictured above at a march in Chicago in 1971. Photo courtesy of Eliseo Medina.
example, the archival history of area Latino organizations. To encourage and support Wistariahurst’s track record of serving Latino audiences, Mass Humanities has awarded Wistariahurst a grant for their upcoming program under its Engaging New Audiences initiative. “Latino Americans have been present in our Pioneer Valley communities for more than a century, yet many people are unaware of their rich and varied history and culture,” said Cliff McCarthy, president of the Pioneer Valley History Network. “I’m thrilled that PVHN has this opportunity to celebrate Latino culture and bring this history to our museums, libraries, and our communities.” The Herencia Latina series launched September 16th, 2015, with a kick-off at Forbes Library in Northampton. The rich offerings continue through spring of 2016. Herencia Latina’s substantial content and involvement with Latino communities has drawn support from a considerable coalition. The public intellectuals and scholars on its schedule agree with University of Massachusetts Amherst Professor Mari Castañeda, who is participating in the series, that the program is “critical for all of us to better understand the history of Latino communities in the region as well as acknowledge the vast contributions these communities are making today.”
A group of Puerto Ricans that arrived at Newark airport, 1947. Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.
Board Member Salutations
Recent Grants
Several of the grants fall under special c CCCC: Crisis, Community, and Civic
Welcome to New Board Member MARGARET SHEPHERD is a noted calligrapher and author who brings with her a well-known talent for making the humanities more public and accessible. A Sarah Lawrence College graduate and Boston resident, she has written and hand-lettered 17 titles, all books on communication and calligraphy. She taught high school in pre-war Saigon, and continues to educate about the history and practice of her art. She takes special interest in presenting calligraphy and its history for beginners and for artisans in related fields. Her most recent book is Learn World Calligraphy, from Watson Guptill/Random House. Margaret lives in Boston with her husband, David Friend.
And a Fond Farewell JAMES LOPES, practicing attorney and adjunct professor of entertainment law at Southern New England School of law, ends six years of board service.
JOHN STAUFFER, leading Civil War and antislavery scholar at Harvard University, completes five years of service to the Mass Humanities board this year.
JESSIE LITTLE DOE BAIRD, a linguist known for her efforts to revive the Wampanoag language, was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2013 and rounds out her term this year.
At its June 19, 2015, meeting, the Mass Humanities board of directors approved $120,120 in awards to 21 organizations serving 16 different communities.
Northeast $5,000 to the Tsongas Center for Industrial History at the University of Massachusetts Lowell for the production of a 3-minute film for an upcoming exhibit that focuses on immigration NSC $4,630 to the Essex National Heritage Commission for a one-day symposium familiarizing regional historic and cultural resource organizations with the history and legacy of slavery in the north and helping them develop programming and materials NSC
Southeast $10,000 to the Center for Independent Documentary in Sharon for short-film social media efforts to support the creation and distribution of the full-length documentary film DAWNLAND, about the Maine WabanakiState Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission Media SMOG $2,500 to the Fall River Preservation Society for research for and fabrication of six historical plaques to be awarded to property owners for their efforts in maintaining the historical integrity and condition of their property
Mass Humanities welcomes nominations for board membership, including self-nominations, at any time. Members serve once-renewable three-year terms. Nominees must live or work in Massachusetts and share a deep commitment to the public value of the humanities. Anyone interested in knowing more about the responsibilities and rewards of board service may contact Mass Humanities Executive Director David Tebaldi.
Property owners in Fall River will be recognized for maintaining their historic homes.
6
categories: Culture
Media
NSC: Negotiating the Social Contract
ENA: Engaging New Audiences
SMOG: Social Media Outreach Grant
RIG: Research Inventory Grant
$5,000 to the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center to develop an educational website about the history of the commercial fishing industry in New Bedford, providing online access to oral histories and other materials gathered by the Working Waterfront Festival
Gardner, the former capital of chair manufacturing, will reflect on its history through oral history and bookmaking.
Central $4,000 to The Gardner Museum to support a community art and discussion project that will engage former chair manufacturing workers in producing 400 copies of eleven oral histories recorded in 2009, after the closing of the city’s last chair manufacturer
Greater Boston $5,000 to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge for the creation of two short films by Roberto Mighty featuring historical figures, their monuments, and the cemetery landscape, to be included in a series of twenty shorts that will be the basis of a walking tour mobile app $5,000 to the USS Constitution Museum in Boston for a short film featuring an animation of the 1790s building of the USS Constitution to be shown while Old Ironsides is in dry dock and can be seen in her entirety $9,848 to the William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black History and Culture in Boston for a reading, discussion, and performance program for Boston cab drivers based on Dmitry Samarov’s memoir Where To? ENA
$5,000 to the Asian American Resource Workshop in Boston for the seventh Boston Asian American Film Festival, a four-day themed festival on intergenerational immigrant experiences $10,000 to MataHari: Eye of the Day in Boston for a multimedia oral history project with workers and employers about the MA Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, including two public events NSC ENA $10,000 to Documentary Educational Resources of Watertown for preproduction work on a documentary covering the role of music in the maintaining of cultural identity among Tibetan exiles Media $1,500 to the Chinese Historical Society of New England in Boston to inventory, translate, and assess client files from the Harry H. Dow papers archived at the Suffolk Law School Library RIG
How do first-generation immigrants interface with their new country? A play performed by Silverthorne Theater Company ventures to find out.
$2,900 to Silverthorne Theater Company in South Hadley, in residence at Greenfield Community College, to produce a play by Yussef El Guindi, host post-performance talks with the playwright, and host a free, public symposium on the role of the arts in challenging stereotypes $5,000 to the Mary Lyon Foundation in Shelburne Falls for a local history day at Mohawk Trail Regional High School uniting teachers, students, and the public with local history organizations
Metrowest Boston $10,000 to the Indochina Arts Partnership in Wellesley to create a trailer, script, and fundraising plan for a one-hour documentary film by Bestor Cram about the post-war realities in Vietnam and American veterans’ ongoing involvement there Media
$6,200 to Wistariahurst Museum for a bilingual exhibit on Latino heritage created in consultation with Holyoke residents and focused on the relationships of the subjects with their grandmothers ENA
Berkshires Connecticut River Valley $5,000 to WGBY in Springfield for a five-totwelve minute pilot video about Portuguese cuisine and its history hosted by Manny Lopes of Cooking with Dad TV Media $5,000 to the Springfield Public Forum to support the 80th season of the speaker series consisting of five free public lectures
$3,542 to the Lenox Library Association for the production of an 80-minute documentary featuring footage from more than 50 oralhistory interviews of elderly Lenox residents to mark the town’s 250th anniversary
Cape & Islands $5,000 to the U.S. Slave Song Project in Oak Bluffs for the writing of the libretto of a “folk opera” about the mid-nineteenthcentury African American experience on Martha’s Vineyard
1854 is a folk opera inspired by an abolitionist movement on Martha’s Vineyard in the mid-19th century.
7
CITIZENSHIP, JUSTICE, AND RACIAL CONCILIATION Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate Columbia Point, Boston Killings of black men and women by police have ignited an already potentially explosive issue, that of the state of racial Sunday, November equity in our country. Black Lives Matter protesters have 3:30 – 5:00 PM taken up the mantle of responding to these issues and, in doing so, have brought a new vibrancy to civil rights organizing, challenging the status quo and would-be allies alike to recognize and elevate the issue of race. In this context, our fall forum will inquire after the question posed recently by New York Times columnist Charles Blow, “Does [racial conciliation] look like avoidance and go-along-to-get-along obsequiousness, or does it look like justice and acknowledgment of both the personal parts we play and the noxious structural bias enveloping us?”
Panelists
Co-presented by
Danielle Allen Political Philosopher and Author
James Forman, Jr. Former Public Defender and Law School Professor
Tommie Shelby Author and Professor of Philosophy and African American Studies
and the
Beverly Daniel Tatum Author and former President of Spelman College
1, 2015 FREE and open to the public
Douglas Blackmon Pulitzer Prize-winning Historian and Journalist (moderator)
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate
Register now for this free public forum: masshumanities.org/programs/symposium