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LEH presents annual humanities awards
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 On March 21, the LEH presented the 2009 Humanist of the Year Award to Dr. Barry Jean Ancelet, of Scott, La., and long-time professor of French and Acadian culture and language at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Also receiving LEH awards for 2009 were:
- Lifetime Contribution to the Humanities Award - Priscilla Lawrence, executive director of The Historic New Orleans Collection.
- Chair's Award for Institutional Support - Friends of the Humanities of Lafayette, for its excellent work in humanities studies and activities in Louisiana.
- Humanities Documentary Film of the Year Award - Louisiana Story: The Reverse Angle by Tika Laudun and Charles E. Richard, a production of Louisiana Public Broadcasting.
- Michael P. Smith Memorial Award for Documentary Photography - Lafayette photographer Philip Gould.
- Legislative Awards - State Senator Cheryl Gray of New Orleans and State Rep. Joe Harrison of Labadieville.
- Individual Achievement in the Humanities Awards - Dr. John W. Hall, professor emeritus in geography at LSU Shreveport, and Dr. Thomas Fick, a resident of Covington and English professor at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.
- Public Humanities Programming Award - Karen McPheeters, director of the Farmington Public Library in New Mexico, and Gail Garcia, community relations manager for the Iberia Parish Library.
- Humanities Book of the Year Award - Ned Sublette for his new book The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square.
- Humanities Teacher of the Year Award - Cathy Mills, a middle school art and Louisiana history teacher at Episcopal School of Acadiana in Lafayette, and Jennifer Williams, an elementary school teacher at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.
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2009 PRIME TIME Award Recipients
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In addition to the many Louisianians honored by the LEH for their outstanding contributions to the humanities, PRIME TIME recognized its partners who implemented the program for the first time in 2008. PRIME TIME presented awards to representatives from 16 sites across the state, including two awards to Sicily Island Elementary School and Tensas Elementary School which implemented the first PRIME TIME programs in Catahoula and Tensas parishes. Congratulations to all PRIME TIME awardees and thank you to every team member at every site contributing to PRIME TIME's success!
 Award Recipients
- Albert Wicker Elementary School; New Orleans
- Allen Parish Libraries - Oakdale Branch; Oakdale
- Converse High School; Converse
- East Bank Regional Library; Metairie
- Esperanza Charter School; New Orleans
- Lake Arthur Branch Library; Lake Arthur
- Lincoln Elementary School; Marrero
- Lusher Charter School; New Orleans
- Ouachita Valley Library; West Monroe
- Riveroaks Elementary School; Baton Rouge
- Sicily Island Elementary School; Harrisonburg
- Tensas Elementary School; St. Joseph
- Urban League of GNO/Even Start; Marrero
- Volunteers of America-Lighthouse at Ingersoll; Shreveport
- Volunteers of America-Louisiana Promise; Shreveport
- Watson Branch Library; Denham Springs
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Governor Jindal names new LEH board member
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 Governor Bobby Jindal has appointed New Orleans lawyer Deborah Duplechin Harkins to the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities' Board of Directors. Ms Harkins is a member of the law firm McGlinchey Stafford's New Orleans office where she chairs the firm's governmental relations section. Harkins and her team represent a wide spectrum of national and international clients in diverse areas, including insurance, healthcare, banking, education, gaming and pharmaceuticals. In addition to her participation in numerous professional associations, she is active in several community and non-profit organizations, including the Board of Directors of the French Market Corporation and the New Orleans Film Commission. She also served on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation advisory board in 2006 and 2007. Harkins received a juris doctorate degree from Loyola University in 1979 and a bachelor of arts from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, in 1969.
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LEH appoints new institutional advancement director
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 Jeff A. Hale, PhD, recently joined the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH) as Director of Institutional Advancement. A two-time graduate of Louisiana State University culminating in a doctorate in U.S. and European History, Jeff has resided in Louisiana for nearly 25 years. He has worked in corporate relations and all areas of fundraising for more than two decades. From 2002 through 2008 he was the LSU Foundation's director of corporate and foundation relations, also holding the titles of Associate Vice Chancellor with LSU and Interim Vice President with the LSU Foundation.
In his Institutional Advancement role, Dr. Hale will coordinate the LEH's fundraising from individuals, corporations, and private foundations, while also working to integrate the organization's public relations and marketing functions. Dr. Hale works closely with the LEH's Board of Directors, composed of business, academic, and cultural leaders from across Louisiana.
The creation of this new position is the next step of LEH's strategic planning, intended to build on the recent success of our $4.3 million Capital Campaign by transitioning and expanding the relationships developed during that project into sustainable private sector support for LEH programs and operations both in Louisiana and nationally.
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Louisiana Cultural Vistas Spring 2009 issue
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 Marking its 20th year of publication with the debut of its Spring 2009 edition, Louisiana Cultural Vistas (LCV) continues to bring the best of state's art, culture, literature and history to the printed page. In keeping with LCV's mission to be the preeminent forum of humanities scholarship in Louisiana, the spring issue covers a wide range of personalities, topics and geographic locales, including:
- A photo essay of cargo vessels and oil tankers plying the Mississippi River by Kevin Levine, a captain of the Associated Branch Pilots for the Port of New Orleans whose perch at the helm of these ships provides a unique vantage point. Levine's photographs are currently on view at Jonathan Ferrara gallery in New Orleans' Warehouse District.
- Yale doctoral candidate Ryan André Brasseaux offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the 1948 docu-drama Louisiana Story, a film hailed as an artistic success that simultaneously sealed the stereotypical image of Cajun Country.
- The rich history and present-day plight of New Orleans' Lower Mid-City, a neighborhood slated for mass demolition to make way for a new LSU/VA hospital complex, is explored by M.L. Eichhorn, a research assistant at the Historic New Orleans Collection.
- Lake Charles's Nellie Lutcher, a jazz pianist and vocalist who performed with the likes of Nat King Cole and Lena Horne in the 1940s and '50s, faded into obscurity after a short-lived career. Delma McLeod-Porter, professor of English at McNeese State University, gives this unsung entertainer her due in a biographical feature.
- Archeologists continue to unearth remnants of a Spanish colonial outpost at the former site of Galveztown in Ascension Parish. LEH board member Mary Ann Sternberg examines the village's harrowing existence in the 18th-century and 21st-century efforts to reveal its buried history.
- Maggie Perriod-Collins pens a tale of family discord and a young girl's racial awareness in a work of fiction titled "The Curse of the Mulatto."
- George Long revisits "Katrina Days" with a photo essay of the destruction wrought by the natural and man-made disaster of 2005.
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RELIC: Readings in Literature & Culture
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 Where is North Louisiana?
"Where Is North Louisiana?" is a new RELIC pilot program taking place - of all places - in north Louisiana. Having observed sessions of this pilot program in Monroe and Natchitoches, RELIC director Jim Segreto was struck by how great a challenge it was for audiences to distill from exchanges of backgrounds, experiences and analytical thinking any unifying features that characterize what has been referred to as "the other Louisiana," as a region distinct from the New Orleans and Acadiana regions. Although RELIC participants in Monroe and Natchitoches have not figured out where north Louisiana is, other participants might have better luck. If you are interested in having this new program "Where is North Louisiana?" in your community, please contact your local library.
RELIC spring schedule:
- Morgan City Public Library. 985-380-4646. "Folktales and Stories of the South and Louisiana." Wednesdays, April 15-May 20, 6-8 p.m.
- Napoleonville, Assumption Parish Library. 985-369-7070. "Louisiana History: Perspectives on the Pelican State." Tuesdays, April 14-May 19, 4-6 p.m.
- New Orleans, Alvar Branch, New Orleans Public Library. 504-596-2667. "Louisiana Characters: Biographies of the Bayou State." Wednesdays, April 15-May 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
- Winnsboro, Franklin Parish Library. 318-435-4336. "Louisiana Characters: Biographies of the Bayou State." Tuesdays, April 7-May 12, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
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KnowLA: Louisiana online encyclopedia
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 KnowLA is the LEH's forthcoming on-line encyclopedia of Louisiana history and culture. To date, Joyce Miller, KnowLA associate editor, has assigned a total of 310 entries and received 116 entries. Andrea Ferguson, KnowLA digital media editor, has researched and identified nearly 500 images. Joyce attended the 2009 conference of the Louisiana Historical Association in Monroe. Cathy Corder, KnowLA editor, also delivered a paper at that conference. Her presentation, L'Encyclopédie Louisiane: From Diderot to Wikipedia, explored ways in which we might learn from encyclopedias of the past about how best to collect knowledge, identify artifacts to be digitized for transmission, and, most importantly, to teach and to learn. Cathy provided illustrations from past encyclopedias and created pseudo-encyclopedia entries on Huey Long and Congo Square, which demonstrated various issues related to points of entry, ease of use, paths to follow, aids, mediation, collaboration, exploration, and artifacts.
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Putting PRIME TIME in New Orleans Public Schools
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 From June 8 to July 2, the University of New Orleans will host a LEH-funded PRIME TIME Teacher Institute for Advanced Study (TIAS) at the Louisiana Humanities Center at Turners' Hall in New Orleans. K-8th grade teachers from the Recovery School District (RSD) and other Orleans Parish Public Schools are invited to apply to participate in this unique professional development opportunity. The institute will provide instruction in the PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME® methodology and will be directed by Dr. Nancy Dixon, Retained Instructor of English at the University of New Orleans and experienced PRIME TIME scholar. Participating teachers will explore elements of PRIME TIME methodology and learn how to use books as prompts for encouraging students to talk and write about the humanities. Teachers will learn to combine award-winning children's literature with universal humanities themes to initiate open dialogue focused on real-life issues with their students as well as to create lesson plans during the upcoming school year. Participants will receive the tools and learn the skills necessary to enhance their ability to teach reading and critical thinking skills as well as character education in the classroom.
Participating teachers will receive a $750 stipend and are eligible to receive 3 hours of graduate credit from the University of New Orleans, as well as 45 CLUs. UNO has waived tuition for participants. For additional information, applications and guidelines, contact Dr. Nancy Dixon at 504-202-0121 or ndixon@uno.edu
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PRIME TIME looking for French-speaking scholar |
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Bilingual French/English PRIME TIME FAMILY READING PROGRAM is looking for a special individual to fill the critical role of "scholar" during the 6-week pilot PRIME TIME program. The ideal candidate will hold a doctorate in a humanities field, lead bilingual (French/English) discussions, exhibit a love of children's books and reading, feel comfortable with young and adult bilingual audiences, feel comfortable asking questions in French and English, be a good listener, and attend a two-day training workshop in New Orleans (expenses paid). The application deadline is April 24. For additional information, contact PRIME TIME co-director Miranda Restovic at 504-620-2486 or restovic@leh.org.
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PRIME TIME: Important Upcoming Dates |
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 Application Deadline for La. Sites
April 15 is the deadline to apply for a PRIME TIME FAMILY READING grant for the fall 2009 session in Louisiana. Public libraries, schools, community centers and other public institutions are encouraged to apply. PRIME TIME grants are awarded twice per calendar year for fall and spring sessions. For more information about PRIME TIME, visit www.leh.org/html/primetime.html. For details on how to bring PRIME TIME to your community, contact PRIME TIME Co-Director Miranda Restovic at restovic@leh.org.
What The Grant Provides:
1. Training for 3 team members in New Orleans
2. Selected syllabus of books for 25 families (loan)
3. Team member stipends
4. Transportation for participating families
5. Promotional materials
6. On-going technical support
Note: Eligible applications will be provisionally approved for the PRIME TIME award pending potential rescissions to Louisiana's state budget. Approved organizations will be kept up to date on the status of their PRIME TIME grant. Click here for grant applications.
PRIME TIME July workshop dates announced!
Mark your calendars! The dates have been set for the next PRIME TIME training opportunity in Louisiana. The PRIME TIME
Training Workshop will be held July 18-19 at the Louisiana Humanities
Center at Turners' Hall in New Orleans. For additional details on the
event, contact Shantrell Adams at 504-620-2625 or adams@leh.org.
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LEH - Sponsored Events |
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 Baton Rouge: The Louisiana Art and Science Museum presents Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum, a LEH-funded exhibition consisting of 143 objects and interpretive text view, spanning 2,250 years of creativity, along with maps, historical data, photographs, and educational programs, focusing on the unique culture of the Inuit, or Eskimo peoples, indigenous to the Canadian Arctic. For additional information, contact the museum at 225-344-5272.
Gonzales: 43rd Annual LIHA Spring Powwow, Lamar-Dixon Arena Complex, April 26, 27 & 28, 2009. The Louisiana Indian Heritage Association powwows, which are inter-tribal, serve as vehicles to bring together isolated Native Americans from metropolitan New Orleans and Baton Rouge with Native Americans throughout Louisiana and the nation. At a powwow, the general public is totally immersed in Native American culture. The public benefits from personal experiences that cannot be obtained from book knowledge alone. The powwow allows the spectator to pen his/her mind into Native American ways of living and the essence of the Indian experience. For information, contact Andrea Randazzo at andi4769@aol.com, or at 504-391-5254.
Monroe: The Ouachita Parish Public Library presents readings and discussions with Louisiana State Poet Laureate Darrell Bourque. Programs are scheduled for the evening of April 27 at the Main Branch Library, and for the morning of April 28 at the library of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Ouachita Parish Public Library at 318-327-1490.
New Orleans: Michael P. Smith: Twenty-Five Jazz Fests. Opening April 17 at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), an exhibition that brings together 125 photographs taken at the Jazz Fest during a 25-year period, from its inception in 1970 to 1995, by the late Michael P. Smith. All works come from the Michael P. Smith Archive of the Historic New Orleans Collection. A panel discussion "Representing Music" will take place at the CAC, 900 Camp St., on April 23 (time to be announced). For information, call 504-528-3805.
 New Orleans: The Louisiana Museum Foundation presents From Tramps to Kings: Celebrating One Hundred Years of Zulu, 1909-2009, a LEH-funded year-long special exhibition at the Presbytere on Jackson Square, covering the 100-year history of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club. For more information, contact the Presbytere at 800-568-6968 or 504-568-6968.
Shreveport: The Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College presents the LEH-funded Open the Vault: The Journey of Jean Despujols Concludes, an exhibition that includes paintings, drawings, photographs, and newly acquired antique costumes and textiles of the Dao, Tien and Man peoples depicted in Despujols' works. Programs developed in tandem with this exhibition include: Women Weavers of Laos Vietnam, a lecture scheduled for 2 p.m. April 12 at the Meadows Museum of Art, 2911 Centenary Blvd. For more information, call 318-869-5014.
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LEH Grants deadlines |
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April 1: Drafts due for proposals submitted at the May 1 Public Humanities deadline. Draft submission is required for requests exceeding $10,000. For more information, contact Erik Charpentier at 800-909-7990 x125 or charpentier@leh.org.
April 15: Drafts due for proposals submitted at the May 15 Outreach Grant deadline. Draft submission is required for requests exceeding $2,000. For more information, contact Rachel Norman at 800-909-7990 x131 or norman@leh.org.
April 27: Deadline for Documentary Film and Radio grant proposals. For more information, contact Walker Lasiter at 800-909-7990 x132 or lasiter@leh.org.
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Give the gift of Louisiana! |
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 Need a gift for loved ones, your friends from college, a neighbor or maybe a few business associates? If they love to read about Louisiana's unique history and culture or visit the intriguing back roads of our state, you should consider a gift subscription to Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine!
Four times over the next year they will be able to paddle the bayou, walk the French Quarter, and explore the Cane River. They will learn Louisiana's history from Hot Sauce to Hot Jazz and travel our towns from Abbeville to Zwolle. And finally, they will enjoy the work of our finest writers, photo-essayists, and artists all bringing forth the magic that comes from Louisiana's people and places, history and culture. With this special offer, your first gift subscription is the regular price of $16, after that they are only $12 each - a full 25% discount! To purchase your gift subscriptions to Louisiana Cultural Vistas online, please click on www.leh.org for the order form or contact Jan Clifford at clifford@leh.org or call 504-620-2630.
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