November 2010

LEH Supported Events

Abbeville - Abbeville Main Street presents "If Headstones Could Talk ... St. Mary Magdalen Old Catholic Cemetery Tour," a living history presentation of one of the two oldest cemeteries located in downtown Abbeville, that illuminate the lives of "residents" interred at the historic French Catholic cemetery. This is the fourth in a series of productions featuring the old cemeteries of Abbeville. Tours are scheduled throughout Saturday, Nov. 12, at the St. Mary Magdalen Cemetery located at Old Kaplan Highway and Gauraud Street. For more information, call 337-898-4110, or visit www.stmarymagdalenparish.org.

Alexandria - Until Nov. 24, the Alexandria Museum of Art, located 933 Main Street, presents The Patricia and Juan Ruiz-Healy Collection of Contemporary Oaxacan Art, a collection of significant contemporary Latin American artwork from the last quarter of the 20th century. It collectively tells the story of life in South and Central America from the end of Cold War containment through late-20th century military regimes, the restoration of democracy, and the rise of the leftist "Latin Americanist" movement. For more information, call 318-443-3458, or visit www.themuseum.org/Homepage.aspx.

Baton Rouge - The Louisiana Art and Science Museum, located at 100 River Road South, presents Keith Sonnier: Fort Crevecoeur, until Jan. 2. Keith Sonnier, a globally recognized artist best known for large-scale installations and sculptures that include neon, has never forgotten the allure of his Acadian birthplace. After completing his studies at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette) and, later, Rutgers University, he moved to New York City, where his career quickly took off. This exhibition, his first major one-person museum show in Louisiana, features a dozen large sculptural works created in direct response to his origins. Sympathetic to Louisiana's crisis as a result of the recent oil spill in the Gulf, Sonnier has named this exhibition Fort Crevecoeur, or "fort broken heart." The name references the Illinois fort where the French explorer LaSalle took refuge before his famous expedition down the Mississippi River in 1682. For more information, call 225-344-5272, or visit www.lasm.org.

Gonzales - The Louisiana Indian Heritage Association presents its 44th Annual LIHA Fall Powwow, on Nov. 27 and 28, at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, located 9039 St. Landry Road. Rain or Shine, plan ahead for a Thanksgiving weekend of celebrating American Indian heritage - America's heritage - with audience, and intertribal dancing, music, storytelling and much more.

The powwow is a family-friendly event in an alcohol and drug-free environment, open to everyone, regardless of ethnic origin. Bring your kids to learn about the rich culture that is so much a part of American history. The American Indian warrior culture holds the military, veterans and first responders in highest esteem, and honors them in every session. Powwow highlights include:

Intertribal dancing
Gourd dancing
Native American crafts and craft demonstrations
Food - including fry bread and Indian tacos
Exhibitions
Storytelling
Children's activities

For more information, call 504-367-1375, or visit liha-news.com

Dylan Leblanc
Lake Charles, Lafayette, & New Iberia - Over the course of more than 160 live events and dozens of live radio and Internet broadcasts, the Louisiana Crossroads series has provided a top-notch showcase for regional and visiting artists in an intimate and accessible format. In November, Crossroads presents performances by Dylan Leblanc, a gifted young singer-songwriter and his fine five-piece band.

The caress of finger-picked acoustic guitars and pedal steel guitar swells float through Leblanc's acclaimed debut release Paupers Field. The laid-back album features a cameo from Emmylou Harris and is drawing raves from the national and international press for the way it mixes the easy gait of rural soundscapes with the plaintive songs of a soulful original voice.

Leblanc is just 20 years old and these three evenings of original music promise to be truly extraordinary.

Live Broadcast! 7 p.m. Nov. 10, Central School Theater, 326 Pujo St., Lake Charles.
7 p.m. Nov. 11, Acadiana Center for the Arts Theater, 101 W. Vermilion St., Lafayette.
8 p.m. Nov. 12, Sliman Theater, New Iberia 129 E Main St, New Iberia.
For more information call 337-233-7060, or visit acadianacenterforthearts.org/louisiana-crossroads.

Lafayette - The Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism at University of Louisiana at Lafayette seeks to engage communities and spark dialog among the various peoples of Louisiana with the In Your Own Backyard series. On Nov. 9, join Dr. John Laudun and architect Eddie Cazayoux, at the Vermilionville Performance Center located 300 Fisher Road, for Vernacular Architecture in Louisiana, a presentation and a discussion on the early architecture of Acadiana, including Native American structures and Acadian and French colonial homes. For more information, call 337-482-1320, or visit ccet.louisiana.edu.

Metairie - In collaboration with the Jefferson Parish Library, the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival presents "Coffee and Conversation," a lively discussion and interview program that features Louisiana authors and scholars. On Nov. 10, at the East Bank Regional Branch located 4747 West Napoleon, discover StreetWalker, the architectural history and diverse texture of New Orleans neighborhoods as Times-Picayune columnist Stephanie Bruno talks us through the city streets. John Lawrence will moderate. For more information, please call 504-581-1144, or visit www.tennesseewilliams.net/article.php?story=2010coffeecon.

New Orleans - On Nov. 18, ReNew Schools invite you at SciTech Academy, located 820 Jackson Ave., to attend Advancing Understanding of WWII, a presentation on factors that contributed to World War II, its major political figures, the countries involved, the timeline, and its impact on post-war life, the economy, politics, and government alignments. For more information, call 504-458-9662, or visit www.renewschools.org/?p=1.

New Orleans - On Nov. 13, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation presents, as part of its annual Tom Dent Congo Square Symposium, Triumph of the Spirit: Culture's Role in Overcoming Tragedy in New Orleans and Haiti, a presentation on the relationship between Haitian and New Orleans cultures. The event will take place at the Old U.S. Mint, 400 Esplanade Ave., and will be comprised of a series of short lectures on topics such as Haiti's influence on Antebellum America, the cultural connection between Haiti and New Orleans, and rum; its history and how it was an integral aspect of Caribbean and Louisiana culture. For more information, call 504-558-6100, or visit www.jazzandheritage.org/events/tom-dent-congo-square-symposium1.

PRIME TIME Family Reading Time

PRIME TIME engages families in central city New Orleans
Prime Time Family Reading Time (PRIME TIME) is now in full swing at the newly opened Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood Family Learning Foundation (ECFLF) in Central City, New Orleans.

This new model for PRIME TIME is a collaborative between the Early Childhood Family Learning Foundation and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and involves having year-round PRIME TIME programming for families at the center. At the onset, families seem eager to participate. Twenty-two families have enrolled in the first program that is scheduled to conclude Nov. 16. Dr. Pat Cooper, CEO of the Early Childhood Family Learning Foundation, expressed his confidence in the program: "We feel like PRIME TIME is an integral part of what we are doing relative to community change. Without family literacy the children we are teaching may be lacking the parental support they deserve."

Three more PRIME TIME programs are scheduled at the center within the next nine months, with additional programming sure to take place next fall. Other innovations to PRIME TIME are also planned as part of the collaborative, such as a family book club and newsletter, and teacher professional development surrounding the use of the PRIME TIME methodology in the classroom. "This is an opportunity for PRIME TIME to explore new innovations, while offering sustained programming for the families in the Central City community," said Miranda Restovic, PRIME TIME Director. "We are thrilled to be an integral part of this community-based and community-focused effort." Visit www.childrenarewaiting.org to learn more about the program. For additional information on the PRIME TIME programming at the Mahalia Jackson Center, contact Holly Bell.

PT workshop dates
The next PRIME TIME Training Workshop has been tentatively scheduled for Jan. 15 - 16. Updates and additional information will be provided as necessary. The workshop will be hosted at the Louisiana Humanities Center at Turners' Hall in New Orleans. Please contact Shantrell Adams about the January Training Workshop.

RELIC: Readings in Literature and Culture

An essential part of the RELIC program experience is what scholars and audiences do after having read the program materials. The books serve primarily as a platform for discussion, but often the content of the different programs trigger discussions about the communities themselves. Although this experience is common to all RELIC programs, the specific themes and the uses made by the scholars offer insights into how we choose to think about ourselves.

The program "Folktales and Stories of the South and Louisiana," for example, demonstrates a transcendent inclusivity through its fables, tales and folk stories about human experiences. In Bastrop, scholar Georgiann Potts zeroed in on element in various tales as a means of getting people to talk about themselves. "I challenged the participants," she said, "to come to our final session ready to present a folktale from their own family experience. We heard 14 unique tales, each crafted according to the form the teller had selected, and each told to the delight of us all." One of the enduring experiences of many RELIC programs is when people learn how much they have in common.

RELIC programs that end in November and December:

Natchitoches - Natchitoches Parish Library, "Louisiana Characters: Biographies of the Bayou State," Oct. 12-Nov. 16.
New Iberia - Parkview Branch, Iberia Parish Library, "The Creole Identity and Experience in Louisiana Literature and History," Oct. 7-Nov. 11.
Ruston - Lincoln Parish Library, "Where Is North Louisiana?" Nov. 2-Dec. 7.
Stonewall - Desoto Parish Library, "The Louisiana Purchase: Impact and Legacy," Sept. 30-Nov. 4.

LEH has grants for historians, writers and documentary photographers

Writers and documentary photographers, exploring Louisiana-related cultural topics, may be eligible to receive special grants up to $4,000 through the LEH's annual Louisiana Publishing Initiative grants program.

Grants are available for authors writing about non-fiction topics such as literature, history, languages, music, cultural anthropology, folk life or other humanities disciplines. Grants of $4,000 also are available for documentary photographers to document various aspects of Louisiana's diverse culture. All awards must culminate in a completed non-fiction, book-length manuscript. Novels, poetry and other forms of fiction are not eligible. The application deadline is Feb. 15.

Past recipients include Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole and American Indian Communities; Bliss Broyard's One Drop; Philip Gould's Louisiana's Capitol; Gwendolyn Midlo Hall's Africans in Colonial Louisiana; Elizabeth Mullener's Eyewitness: Tales of New Orleanians in World War II; and Plantations by the River by Jay Edwards.

For additional information, contact John R. Kemp at the LEH, 504-620-2481, kemp@leh.org, or visit Louisiana Publishing Initiative listed under Grants at www.leh.org.

LEH seeks nominations for 2011 Humanities awards

The LEH is now accepting nominations for the 2011 annual awards for outstanding achievement in and contributions to the humanities. Winners will be honored in a special ceremony next spring.

Individuals, institutions or organizations may submit nominations. Individuals, however, may not nominate themselves. Letters of nomination should not exceed two pages and should detail specific accomplishments that qualify the nominee for the award. A vita and other letters of support should accompany the letter of nomination.

Nominations, which must be received in the LEH office no later than 5 p.m. Nov. 15, should be addressed to: Chair, Humanities Awards Committee, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 938 Lafayette St., Suite 300, New Orleans, LA 70113. Nominations also may be faxed to Dr. Michael Sartisky at 504-529-2358 or emailed to Sartisky@leh.org.

Award categories include:

Louisiana Humanist of the Year
Award for Lifetime Contribution to the Humanities
Chair's Award for Institutional Support
Humanities Documentary Film of the Year Award
Individual Achievement in the Humanities Award
Michael P. Smith Award for Documentary Photography
Humanities Book of the Year Award
Humanities Teacher of the Year Awards

The "humanities," as defined by Congress, include the study of literature, history, philosophy, modern and classical languages, linguistics, archaeology, jurisprudence, art history and criticism, ethics, comparative religion, and those disciplines of the social sciences employing historical or philosophical approaches such as cultural anthropology or social theory.

The LEH Board of Directors will select nominees who best exemplify one or more of the above categories. No single humanities area will receive primary consideration, but the nominees' activities must reflect one or more disciplines in the humanities.

Awards criteria include:

Louisiana Humanist of the Year: The Louisiana Humanist of the Year award honors individuals who have encouraged public consideration of issues central to the humanities; participated in public programs in libraries, museums, or other cultural institutions; or published important works in the humanities. Last year's winner was Dr. Michael White, the internationally acclaimed jazz musician, composer and Xavier University in New Orleans music director.
Award for Lifetime Contributions: Honors citizens who have supported and been involved in public appreciation of issues central to the humanities. The 2010 winner of this award was University of Louisiana history professor Gloria Fiero. The first recipient of this award was the Lindy Boggs in 1992.
Chair's Award for Institutional Support: Honors those corporations or institutions that have made major sustained contributions to support public humanities. Last year's recipient was Phyllis Taylor of New Orleans, chair and president of the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation.
Michael P. Smith Award for Documentary Photography: Nominations may be for a complete body of work or for a single project. The 2010 winner was documentary photographer Syndey Byrd of New Orleans.
Humanities Documentary Film of the Year Award: Awarded to the documentary film that best exemplifies scholarship on Louisiana topics or by Louisiana documentary filmmakers. Last year this award went to Jennifer John Block of New Orleans for her film All Over but to Cry, a documentary about the 1957 Hurricane Audrey and its destruction in Cameron Parish.
Individual Achievement in the Humanities Award: Acknowledges the extraordinary qualities of people in their participation in public humanities events. The 2010 recipients were Ann Dobie, of Lafayette, a distinguished Professor of English Emerita at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and David Kunian of New Orleans, an award-winning radio documentarian and writer who has gained a considerable following for his work documenting and exploring New Orleans' rich musical culture.
Public Humanities Programming Award: Acknowledges extraordinary institutional achievement in public humanities events. The 2010 awards went to Todd Mouton, Louisiana Crossroads, of Lafayette, a founder and long-time executive director of The Acadiana Arts Council's Louisiana Crossroads Series, and Virginia Carter and Kathleen Poole of the Kentucky Humanities Council, who wereresponsible for the largest number of affiliate PRIME TIME sites in any state.
Humanities Book of the Year Award: Awarded to the book that best exemplifies scholarship on Louisiana topics or by Louisiana writers. Receiving the 2010 award was Bienville's Dilemma, by Richard Campanella, of New Orleans, the associate director of Tulane University's Center for Bioenvironmental Research and a research professor with Tulane's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Humanities Teacher of the Year Award: An annual awardwill be made to an outstanding elementary, middle or high school teacher who exemplifies excellence in the teaching of the humanities: English, foreign language, history, social studies, folk life, and art or music history, or who have participated in public humanities programs.

For additional information about the annual humanities awards, contact LEH President Michael Sartisky at sartisky@leh.org or visit the LEH website at www.leh.org.

Call for nominations to LEH Board

The LEH is seeking nominations for its Board of Directors. As the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the LEH is the major source of grants for public humanities programs in Louisiana. The LEH has supported such projects as the nationally acclaimed PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME literacy project, Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study, the RELICadult library reading programs, documentary films, conferences, lecture series and interpretive exhibits. In 2009-2010 the LEH provided in excess of $3 million for humanities projects.

Letters of nomination and resumes should be sent to the LEH by Nov. 15. Included should be a letter from the nominee confirming his or her interest in and potential contribution to the LEH board. Individuals may not nominate themselves. Nominations also may be faxed to Dr. Michael Sartisky at 504-529-2358 or emailed to sartisky@leh.org.

The LEH Board consists of 27 people, six of them appointed by the governor. They are from the academic community and from the general public. Board members are selected on the basis of their knowledge of or involvement with the humanities and represent a broad cross-section of the community including colleges, universities, museums, libraries, politics, business, journalism, labor, minorities, professions, and civic organizations.

Board members usually serve three-year terms. Membership is voluntary, but all LEH related travel expenses are reimbursed. Members attend four or five meetings a year to review applications or to formulate policy and conduct on-site evaluation of LEH funded projects. Board members are responsible for fund-raising, political contacts, and the development of the LEH program.

According to the act that established the Endowment, the term "humanities" includes, but is not limited to, the study of history, philosophy, languages; linguistics; literature; archeology; juris-prudence; the history, theory, and criticism of the arts; ethics; comparative religion; and those aspects of the social sciences that employ historical or philosophical approaches. Other areas include cultural anthropology; folklife; and political or social theory.

LHC panel commemorates 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Orleans Public Schools

On Nov. 14, 1960, four young, African American girls entered the formerly all-white elementary schools William Frantz and McDonogh 19 in New Orleans. Despite the insults and threats cast their way, Ruby Bridges, Gail Etienne, Tessie Prevost, and Leona Tate provided the capstone of the hundred-year struggle to end segregation of the city's public schools.

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of this historic event in New Orleans, the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Louisiana Center for Civil Rights and Social Justice and the U.S. Marshals Museum in Forth Smith, Arkansas, will host a series of panels by participants in the school integrations, as

Photo by Corbis

well as scholars of the topic. These public presentations are free and open to the public.

On Nov. 11 at 6 p.m., at the LHC, Dr. Raphael Cassimere of the University of New Orleans will moderate a panel discussion on the conditions and activism in the city that led to the events of November 1960. The panel will feature Dr. Nikki Brown (UNO), Dr. Donald Devore (Univ. of South Alabama), and A.P. Tureaud, Jr.

On Nov. 13, at 6 p.m., Tulane's Freeman Auditorium will host a reunion discussion with Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost Williams, Gail Etienne Stripling and retired Deputy U.S. Marshals Herschel Garner, Al Butler, and Charlie Burks, who assisted with the integration efforts at McDonogh No. 19 and William Frantz.

For more information on these events, contact Brian Boyles at the LHC (504-620-2632) or Christopher Harter at Amistad (504-862-3222).

Media series continues on Wednesday, November 17 at 7pm

On November 17, the LHC continues "The New Orleans Media: A Series of Panel Discussions on the Fourth Estate in the City." The fourth installment, "Figaro, The Vieux Carre Courier, and The Lens: Investigative Journalism Past and Present." Moderated by Jack Davis and featuring Steve Beatty (The Lens), Karen Gadbois (The Lens), Jeanette Hardy (VC Courier) and Tom Fitzmorris (Figaro). Doors open at 6:45 and the panel begins at 7pm.

The LHC will post video of this and other panels on the Humid Beings news platform. Click here to view the previous panel, "Politics and Polarization in the Media."

Future panels (Wednesdays, 7pm):
December 1st: African-American Voices - moderated by Warren Bell
December 15th: Live at 6: Network News

The LHC is located at 938 Lafayette Street, on the corner of O'Keefe in the Central Business District. Parking is available in the rear of the building. For more information, contact Brian Boyles at boyles@leh.org.

KnowLA Online Encyclopedia

KnowLA staff continues to add entries, photographs, audio and video to the online encyclopedia of Louisiana history and culture. The project is on schedule to launch a beta or trail version of the site to the general public at the end of December. In early November, the LEH provided writers, reviewers, LEH staff and other contributors with a sneak preview of the site. The feedback responses will help us improve the site for its public premiere.