IBERIABANK - the fastest growing Louisiana-headquartered bank - was the prime sponsor of the LEH's 2011 Annual Awards Event held in April at Houmas House Plantation & Gardens. Nearly 150 people from across the state attended the event. This grant ($10,000) was in addition to IBERIABANK's recent $5,000 gift to sponsor PRIME TIME Family Reading Time in Orleans Parish.  The LEH thanks IBERIABANK Regional President Karl Hoefer and Executive Vice President and Commercial Manager M. Cleland Powell for their generous support.

"IBERIABANK is proud to sponsor the LEH Award Event," stated Mr. Hoefer. "The LEH does very important work and we appreciate being associated with such a worthwhile organization."

The LEH is now recruiting public school American history teachers in Northeast and Northwest Louisiana to attend summer institutes at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) and LSU in Shreveport (LSUS).

Underwritten by two, five-year $1.6 million grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the LEH has formed partnerships with Caddo, Ouachita, Morehouse, East Carroll, Richland and Monroe City public school districts to create educational opportunities in American history for public school teachers in those districts. Those opportunities include graduate level summer institutes at the ULM and LSUS, as well as professional development workshops during the school year. This summer, the LEH has organized three summer institutes for elementary, middle and high school teachers at LSUS and three at ULM. For more information, contact John Kemp, LEH Deputy Director, at 504-620-2481 or at kemp@leh.org or visit www.leh.org.    

Since 2003, the LEH has secured five Teaching American History grants, totaling $6.2 million, for the following school districts - Calcasieu, Caddo, East Carroll, Morehouse, Richland, Orleans and Ouachita parishes, and Monroe City schools. In each program, the LEH partnered with area universities and other humanities organizations to provide tuition-free graduate credit summer institutes and in-service teacher professional development programs for American and social studies elementary, middle and high school teachers.

New Orleans: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation presents "New Orleans & Haiti: Cultural Crossroads," a series of scholar-led presentations, highlighting the cultural connections between Haiti and Louisiana. The event will be held during the first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, from April 29 to May 1, in the folk village, at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, 1751 Gentilly Blvd. For more information, visit www.nojazzfest.com, or call 504-558-6100.

Plaquemine:  The Iberville Museum, 57735 Main St., presents the latest installment of its "People of Iberville" exhibition and public program series titled "French of Iberville: The exhibition," which opens May 15. The exhibit showcases the cultural, political and economic contributions of French settlers in the region. For more information, please visit  www.plaquemine.org or call 225-687-7197.

In April the LEH and PRIME TIME honored Louisiana PRIME TIME sites and the Nebraska Humanities Council 

This year's award ceremony took place April 2 at Houmas House Plantation and Gardens on River Road in Darrow, La. The LEH and PRIME TIME recognized Louisiana agencies and host sites that successfully completed their first PRIME TIME programs. The 2010 award recipients are, from left to right, Holly Bell, program coordinator of the Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood and Family Learning Center, New Orleans; Cindy Blanchard from the Central Intermediate School, Central, La.; Jim Howell and Sara Woodard (in red), Start the Adventure in Reading at Capdau University of New Orleans Charter School, New Orleans. Also receiving awards, but not pictured, were Joe Johnson, program coordinator, Communities in Schools New Orleans at Fischer Charter School, New Orleans; Martha Baden, program coordinator, Alice Boucher World Languages Academy, Lafayette, La.; and Charee Theriot, program coordinator, St. Martinville Primary School, St. Martinville, La.  

Michael Sartisky, PhD, Erika Hamilton and Miranda Restovic

Each year, the LEH also honors individuals and agencies that have made outstanding contributions to the study and understanding of the humanities. This year, the LEH presented the Public Humanities Program Award to Jane Hood (former executive director), Chris Sommerich (current executive director) and Erika Hamilton (director of literary programs) of the Nebraska Humanities Council (NHC) for their role in expanding PRIME TIME's national initiative. Presenting the award to Erika Hamilton, center, were LEH Executive Director and President Michael Sartisky and PRIME TIME Director Miranda Restovic. 

From 2002 to 2010, the NHC implemented 71 highly successful PRIME TIME programs throughout the state (this is the second highest number of programs in any state outside of Louisiana). In 2002, the NHC received one of several NEH national expansion grants that provided funding and resources for the completion of one PRIME TIME program. In 2004, the NHC came on board as a self-funded affiliate. Since receiving the initial funding for a single PRIME TIME program, the NHC has not received additional national expansion grants from the LEH.  Each of the 70 additional programs occurred as a result of the council's diligent fundraising efforts and overwhelming commitment to bringing high quality humanities programming to families in need. The NHC plans to complete 14 additional programs in 2011.

In receiving the award Erika Hamilton, director of literary programs and state project director for PRIME TIME at the NHC, stated: "PRIME TIME has become a priority for the NHC because it addresses an important issue in our state - the achievement gap in reading scores and graduation rates for Hispanics, African Americans and Native Americans. This program helps strengthen participants' interest and skills in reading, discussing and applying what happens in the books to what has happened or may happen in their own lives." 

The annual conference of the American Library Association is returning to New Orleans this year!  "The world's largest and most dynamic library conference and exhibition" will take place at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center, just blocks away from Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and PRIME TIME headquarters in downtown New Orleans.  Please visit the 2011 ALA conference website for additional details on the conference. 

On June 25 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., PRIME TIME will host a session titled:  "ABC's of Sustainable Partnerships: Affiliations Build Communities." Across the nation, libraries and humanities councils have partnered to fund public programing in libraries and schools. A variety of successful outreach models, including the award-winning PRIME TIME Family Reading Time program, will be showcased. 

PRIME TIME Director Miranda Restovic will moderate as representatives from states including Louisiana, Georgia (Elaine Black, Georgia Public Library Service), and Michigan (Cynthia Dimitrijevic, Michigan Humanities Council), the ALA Public Programs Office (Lainie Castle, Project Director), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (Dr. Thomas C. Phelps, director of the Division of Public Programs) will share impressive results of collaborative efforts, including bilingual and multicultural programming. A recent study titled "Stemming the Tide of Intergenerational Illiteracy: A Ten-Year Impact Study of PRIME TIME Family Reading Time" will be presented.

Additionally, the LEH and PRIME TIME staff will host a reception for past, present and future PRIME TIME team members attending the ALA conference. This will be a fun and informal gathering for the national PRIME TIME community. The reception will be hosted at the Louisiana Humanities Center at Turners' Hall and will feature New Orleans cuisine. Additional details will be announced soon.

If you attend this year's ALA conference in New Orleans, we welcome opportunities to see old and new friends.Contact the PRIME TIME staff if you plan to be here. 

The PRIME TIME training workshop is set to take place the weekend of July 16 - 17.  Consultants and trainees from several states are expected to join the PRIME TIME staff for two days of intense instruction and practice based on the PRIME TIME methodology. 

The workshop will be hosted at the Louisiana Humanities Center at Turners' Hall in New Orleans. As always, it will be an enlightening and exciting occasion. Contact Shantrell Adams with questions regarding upcoming grant and training opportunities.

The RELIC library reading program schedule for winter and spring is beginning to wind down in May at the following locations: LaPlace - The Louisiana Purchase: Impact and Legacy; Lafayette - Louisiana History: Perspectives on the Pelican State; and Winnsboro, The American West in Fact and Fiction. Planning for the fall programs is now underway.  A list of confirmed locations and programs follows:

• Abbeville, Vermilion Parish Library."Folktales and Stories of the South and Louisiana." Sept. 15-Oct. 20. 
• Bossier City, Bossier Parish Historical Center, Bossier Parish Library. "The Louisiana Purchase: Impact and Legacy." Sept. 8-Oct. 13.
• Alexandria, Westside Regional Branch, Alexandria, Rapides Parish Library."Encounter in Louisiana." Sept. 8-Oct. 13.
• Covington, St. Tammany Parish Library."Encounter in Louisiana." Sept. 7-Oct. 12. 
• Houma, Terrebonne Parish Library."The Louisiana Purchase: Impact and Legacy." Sept. 12-Oct. 17.
• Ringgold, Bienville Parish Library."Battleground Louisiana: Civil War Events and Experiences." Sept. 20-Oct. 25.
• Vidalia, Concordia Parish Library."In the Cross Hairs: Louisiana's Hurricane Experience." Sept. 29-Oct. 13.

For additional information about RELIC programs, contact Jim Segretto at 504-620-2477 or segreto@leh.org.

May 2 - Public Humanities Grants

June 1 - Outreach Grants

For additional information about LEH grants and deadlines, contact LEH Grants Director Walker Lasiter at 504-620-2631 or lasiter@leh.org.

Tired of re-fighting the Civil War but not enough of re-thinking it?  The American Library Association (ALA)Public Programs Office, in partnership with the National Constitution Center and with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), is accepting online applications for a large-scale tour of the traveling exhibition "Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War." All institutions that would make this exhibit free and open to the public may apply.

"Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War" offers a fresh and innovative perspective on the Civil War that brings into focus the constitutional crises at the heart of this great conflict. The exhibition identifies these crises - secession of the Southern states, slavery and wartime civil liberties - and explores how Lincoln sought to meet these political and constitutional challenges. 

Each site will receive a $750 grant to support expenses related to hosting the 1,000 square foot exhibition for a period of six weeks and also for presenting at least two free public programs featuring a lecture or discussion by a qualified scholar on exhibition themes. The programming must occur any time from Sept. 2011 through May 2015. Enough funds are available to award two hundred sites. Given the shortage of state funding for the humanities, this is an opportunity to provide programming for library patrons in Louisiana.

"Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War" is supported by NEH's "We the People initiative," which aims to stimulate and enhance the teaching, study and understanding of American history and culture. But hurry: the online application is May 5! For more information, including project guidelines, programming resources and the online application, visit www.ala.org/civilwarprograms