September 2010
LEH awarded new $1.6 million grant for Caddo Parish teachers
The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, in partnership with the Caddo Public School System and Louisiana State University in Shreveport, has secured a new $1.6 million U.S. Department of Education "Teaching American History" five-year grant for Caddo Parish public school teachers.

This is the second Teaching American History grant the LEH has obtained for Caddo public schools. Last year, the LEH completed a three-year, $1 million grant that enrolled 210 elementary, middle and high school history and social studies teachers in a series of graduate level, American history summer institutes at LSU Shreveport. During the new five-year, $1.6 million grant, Caddo parish public school teachers will attend a series of graduate level summer institutes as well as fall and spring in-service workshops in American history. In addition to university credit, teachers will receive stipends for attending the summer institutes along with free textbooks and teaching materials to take back to their classrooms. As it did in the earlier grant, LSU Shreveport has waived tuition and all but mandatory fees for teachers attending the summer institutes.

Because of our past competitiveness at a national level due to a state appropriation that funded more than 200 graduate seminars the LEH was able to secure five Teaching American History grants totaling $7.2 million for public school districts in Louisiana. Earlier grants included Orleans, Calcasieu and Caddo parishes. In addition, the LEH recently completed the first year of a five-year, $1.6 million TAH grant for public school American history teachers in Ouachita, Morehouse, Richland and East Carroll parishes, and in Monroe City Schools.  In LEH's annual budget the current grant funds replace the Calcasieu TAH that was just completed.

Fall 2010 NEH-sponsored PRIME TIME programs
neh_logoPRIME TIME in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, selected public libraries in Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Michigan to participate in the national expansion of the LEH's award-winning family reading and discussion program, PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME. National expansion of PRIME TIME is made possible through a $250,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which also supported earlier grants for implementation of programs in Louisiana and initial national expansion. Four states, representing 16 community libraries, have been chosen to participate in this latest PRIME TIME national expansion.
    
Selected states will receive grant funds and materials to work with library staff to present the PRIME TIME series at participating library sites. Each series will meet once a week for six weeks at participating libraries. Common Ground, PRIME TIME's latest syllabus, offers a proven vehicle for libraries to engage a multicultural audience including non-English speakers.  Through a discussion leader and a storyteller, children ages 6 to 10 years and their parents or guardians will hear classic children's stories; watch reading aloud demonstrations; discuss humanities themes in each book; and learn about library resources and services. Translators will be available where bilingual or multilingual audiences will be recruited. Younger siblings, ages 3 to 5 years, will participate in separate pre-reading activities. The new national expansion sites include:

Arizona - State Project Director:  Erica Kinias, Arizona Humanities Council.
Host sites:  Quincie Douglas Branch Library and Southwest Branch Library, Tucson.
Florida - State Project Director:  Patricia Putman, The Florida Humanities Council.
Host site:  Selby Public Library, Sarasota.
Georgia - State Project Director:  Elaine Black, Georgia Public Library Service. Host sites:  Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Library, Fitzgerald, and Dogwood Branch, Atlanta.  
Michigan - State Project Director:  Cynthia Dimitrijevic, Michigan Humanities Council.
Host Site:  The Peter White Public Library, Marquette.

Mahalia Jackson Center hosts its first PRIME TIME program
early_childhoodIn March 2010, the LEH and PRIME TIME formally joined the Early Childhood & Family Learning Foundation (ECFLF) by committing to deliver a year-long project that includes initiatives based on the PRIME TIME methodology at the Mahalia Jackson Center (MJC) in Central City, New Orleans.

Holly Bell, PRIME TIME assistant director and MJC coordinator, will implement this multilayered project beginning with a traditional 6-week PRIME TIME Family Reading Time program that starts Oct. 12 and ends on Nov. 16. Currently, over 40 families have enrolled to participate in the program that will feature Dr. Bobbie Stevenson as scholar and Donald Lewis as storyteller.  

In addition to the PRIME TIME Family Reading Time program, Holly will also provide on-going parent/child literacy support via monthly PRIME TIME book clubs and professional development and classroom support via PRIME TIME teacher workshops for Central City elementary schools.  

With the goal of enrolling every Central City child in the MJC early education program, the foundation has partnered with vital institutions to provide much-needed services to entire families within the community. Services include job training, health care, child care and a public library, as well as arts and humanities programming to include PRIME TIME. The LEH is pleased to have a presence at this ground-breaking community center. "The Mahlia Jackson Center is an ambitious and dynamic undertaking, and a wonderful model for collaborative programming," Bell said. "The response of the community for the PRIME TIME program has been tremendous. This is a win-win partnership that can only result in a positive experience for all the parties involved."  

The Mahalia Jackson Center opened this year on May 15 and is located at 2405 Jackson Avenue, New Orleans. Click here to learn more about the Center and the Early Childhood & Family Learning Foundation. Contact Holly Bell for more information about PRIME TIME at MJC.

PRIME TIME travels Louisiana for the annual LALAMP tour
lalampThe Louisiana Library & Media Professionals (LALAMP) group will host its annual tour Sept. 13-17. PRIME TIME staff will join other exhibitors to meet librarians from around the state and to survey these professionals about their programming needs.  Approximately 50% of PRIME TIME programs are implemented in schools.

The LALAMP group was created 10 years ago to provide Louisiana librarians with opportunities to continue their professional development, and to offer additional resources through exhibits and workshops. The dates, sites and attending PRIME TIME staff members for LALAMP 2010 are listed below. Details about the locations and programs are available at www.lalamp.org.
  • Monday, Sept. 13 - Ruston area (Dianne Brady)
  • Tuesday, Sept. 14 - Alexandria area (Faye Flanagan)
  • Wednesday, Sept. 15 - Lake Charles area (Holly Bell)
  • Thursday, Sept. 16 - New Orleans area (Chris Robért and Shantrell Adams)
  • Friday, Sept. 17 - Baton Rouge area (Holly Bell)

Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine
lcvfall2010The fall 2010 Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine debuts in mid-September with extensive coverage of the Gulf oil spill from a cultural perspective. The issue will contain 20 pages devoted to photographic and artistic documentation of the Gulf of Mexico and its importance to Louisiana, including the works of Elemore Morgan, Jr., Jacqueline Bishop, Fonville Winans, Ellsworth Woodward, Philip Gould, Cheryl Gerber, David Rae Morris and Debbie Fleming Caffrey.  New Orleans writer Jason Berry writes an eloquent Forum column on the effect of the spill upon Louisiana's future. Other features will include:
  • The rise and fall of Seven Oaks Plantation, a Jefferson Parish landmark demolished in 1977.
  • Excerpts from Oliver A. Houck's series of essays on the Mississippi riverfront titled "Down on the Batture."
  • Biographical sketch of the late novelist Frances Parkinson Keyes, largely known for her best-selling book Dinner at Antoine's, and the flamboyant former Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis, the country musician and Hollywood actor who made a hit from "You Are My Sunshine."
  • A history of New Orleans professional baseball at the turn of the 20th century.
Subscriptions to Louisiana Cultural Vistas cost a mere $20. Share the best of Louisiana with your friends and family as a gift. Subscribe by logging on to www.leh.org.

RELIC: Readings in Literature and Culture
RELIC's fall schedule lost another program when the Jefferson Parish Library had to drop out because of cuts in state funding to the LEH. To help satisfy patrons' interests, the library will mount an abbreviated version of the RELIC experience with its own funding while acknowledging it is not a desirable substitute RELIC. In response to this development, Chris Smith, JPL's new programming officer, said he plans "to do my best to get more money for these programs." RELIC's fall schedule is as follows"
  • Abbeville, Vermilion Parish Library. "Louisiana History: Perspectives on the Pelican State."  Tuesdays, Sept. 7-Oct. 12, 6-8 p.m., 337-893-2674.  
  • Alexandria, Westside Regional Branch, Rapides Parish Library. "Where Is North Louisiana?"  Tuesdays, Sept. 7-Oct. 12, 6-8 p.m., 318-445-2411.  
  • Bastrop, Morehouse Parish Library. "Folktales and Stories of the South and Louisiana"  Tuesdays, Sept. 7-Oct. 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 318-281-3696.  
  • Bossier City, Bossier Parish Historical Center. "Where Is North Louisiana?" Thursdays, Aug. 19-Sept. 23, 6-8 p.m., 318-746-7717.  
  • Galvez, Ascension Parish Library. "The Creole Identity and Experience in Louisiana Literature and History." Tuesdays, Sept. 21-Oct. 26, 6-8 p.m., 225-622-3339.  
  • Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish Public Library. "The American West in Fact and Fiction."   Thursdays, Sept. 23- Oct. 28, 6-8 p.m., 337-721-7170.  
  • Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish Library. "Louisiana Characters: Biographies of the Bayou State." Tuesdays, Oct. 12-Nov. 16, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 318-357-3280.    
  • New Iberia, Parkview Branch, Iberia Parish Library. "The Creole Identity and Experience in Louisiana Literature and History." Thursdays, October 7-November 11, 6:00-8:00 p.m., 337-364-7024.  
  • New Roads, Pointe Coupee Parish Library. "Battleground Louisiana: Civil War Events and Experiences." Thursdays, Sept. 9-Oct. 14, 2-4 p.m., 225-638-9841.     
  • Ringgold, Bienville Parish Library. "Where Is North Louisiana?" Tuesdays, Sept. 14-Oct. 26, 6-8 p.m., 318-894-9770.   
  • Ruston, Lincoln Parish Library. "Where Is North Louisiana?" Tuesdays, Nov. 2-Dec. 7, 6-8 p.m., 318-251-5030.   
  • Stonewall, Desoto Parish Library. "The Louisiana Purchase: Impact and Legacy." Thursdays, Sept. 30-Nov. 4, 4-6 p.m., 318-925-9191.   
  • Winnfield, Winn Parish Library. "Where Is North Louisiana?" Tuesdays, Sept. 7-Oct. 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 318-628-4478.

LEH funded events
catherinederieuxBaton Rouge: The LSU Museum of Art, located at the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette Street, presents Caroline Durieux: A Radioactive Wit, through Nov. 2. From the smoky bistros of Mexico to the regal debutant balls of New Orleans, no one escaped the satirical eye of Caroline Durieux. This retrospective will celebrate Durieux's prolific career. Included in this exhibition is a wide range of topics, from her astute observations of South American society to her satirical representation of upper crust New Orleans. Perhaps her most interesting contribution to the field was the development of the electron print that employed nuclear energy. For more information, call 225-389-7200, or visit www.lsumoa.com.

Shreveport: The Meadows Museum of Art, located on the campus of Centenary College, 2911 Centenary Boulevard, presents an exhibition entitled Past and Presents: Works by Hunt Slonem from Albania Plantation, through Oct. 24. Hunt Slonem is a well known New York artist whose connection to Louisiana includes a deep passion for plantation life and historic restoration. The artist has recently purchased and restored Albania Plantation where the works featured in this exhibition are located. Included are paintings of parrots, monkeys, butterflies and rabbits as well as free-standing sculptures of exotic flowering plants. For more information, call 318-869-5040, or visit www.centenary.edu/meadows/calendar.

Upcoming events at the LEH Humanities Center
oilrigOn Sept. 30, the Louisiana Humanities Center (LHC) will host "Drilling: A panel discussion on the history of the petrochemical industry in Louisiana."  Panelists include Craig Colten of LSU, John Laudun of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, George Pietrogallo of ExxonMobil, and Eric Smith of Tulane University. David Hammer of the New Orleans Times-Picayune will serve as moderator for discussions that will center on the economic, environmental and social impact of the industry's evolution in the state.

Continuing its efforts to provide historical context on current events, the LHC presents the panel to inform public dialogue surrounding the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.  Panelists will speak for approximately 50 minutes, with an audience Q&A and short reception to follow.  The event also celebrates the publication of the fall 2010 issue of Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine, which features a selection of artistic works reflecting on the Louisiana coast.  

The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. and discussions begin at 6 p.m.
For additional information, contact LHC Program Director Brian Boyles at 504-620-2632 or boyles@leh.org. Visit www.leh.org for more information about the Louisiana Humanities Center.