3 Women Front and Center 9 Telling the Whole Story17 The Saving Grace of Spring Rolls 33 From Conversation to Collective Action
FA
LL
20
19
Earlier this year we launched a strategic plan that focuses our work on questions that are important and relevant to Virginians right now. It's organized around three themes: amplifying Virginia’s stories; investigating cultures in transition; and, exploring issues related to equity and democracy. In this edition of Views, you'll read about how these themes connect our programs, guide our partnerships, and help us make the humanities part of the daily life of all Virginians.
Since our founding in 1974, we have focused on Virginia's stories. Stories bring meaning to our lives, build our capacity for empathy, and connect us to one another. As we seek to amplify Virginia's stories, we will also high-light and celebrate experiences traditionally left out of mainstream narratives. In the following pages, you’ll find a piece about how our Encyclopedia Virginia helped third-grade teachers Alexa Weeks and Leatrice Woods and their students at Smithland Elementary School create virtual tours of a historically Black neighborhood in Harrisonburg. In another story, we take you on tour with Richmond’s Legendary Ingramettes as they spread the rich traditions of American gospel music across Serbia and Bulgaria. And you'll see how dozens of grants we gave this year are empowering Virginia’s communities to tell their own stories.
While our work uplifts and celebrates Virginia’s history and culture, it also explores difficult parts of our past and acknowledges that Virginians today are confronting economic, environmental, and technological change. When we look at cultures in transition, we try to understand how these major shifts in our world affect us and our future. One such story explores our Festival of the Book’s partnership with the Southern Environmental Law Center to honor writing that brings attention to environmental issues. In another story, a Fellow shares what it was like to grow up as a child of two cultures and how food can keep a family connected to their roots.
In all times, we must consider how our nation can strive to become a more perfect union and move toward the noble, but imperfectly expressed ideal that “all men are created equal.” Our programs exploring equity and democracy encourage civic dialogue, facilitate the exchange of experiences and perspectives,
COVERStudents at Charlottesville High School made letterpress
posters featuring proverbs and sayings important to them
when Detroit-based printmaker Amos Paul Kennedy Jr.
visited area art classes as part of his Frank Riccio artist
residency. To learn more, see “Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. –
Frank Riccio Artist-in-Residence” inside.
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
and investigate ways that American democracy both advances and inhibits the equality of all people. One story highlights the work of women who fought for suffrage and details how the Rosel Schewel Fund will support programming by and about women. Another piece focuses on our partnership with the Hampton Roads Community Foundation that brought psychologist and author Beverly Tatum to the Norfolk region to speak about the impact of privilege and implicit bias on the region. And we interrogate what it means for our Center for the Book to be housed in a building that was created to serve Charlottesville’s Black students during segregation.
By necessity, we are a diversely funded organization. This year we celebrate the fact that the Virginia General Assembly has granted an additional $300,000 per year of the biennium to our grants program, returning our grants budget to pre-recession levels. Out of these funds, $100,000 is specifically for grant-making and developing resources in south and southwest Virginia. We’re able to offer expansive programs and do all that we do across this Commonwealth because of state and federal investments, corporate and foundation gifts, and your belief in the power of stories to transform lives and build a vibrant future for our state. In the pages that follow, I hope you will see how far your support reaches.
With gratitude,
Matthew Gibson Executive Director
ABOVE - Matthew Gibson
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
9 Telling theWhole StoryVirginia Humanities helps reveal the lives of the enslaved and widen the scope of narratives presented at plantations statewide.
Women Front and CenterVirginia Humanities announces a new five-year initiative marking the centennial of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.
Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. – Frank Riccio Artist-in-Residence
22
The Saving Grace of Spring Rolls
17
Grants23
Annual Report35
Teaching Local History31
Content and Context: The Meaning of Book Arts
25
3
13Call andResponseTag along with The Legendary Ingramettes and Sherman Holmes as they spread the traditions of gospel and blues music across Serbia and Bulgaria.
17 The Saving Grace of Spring RollsKim O'Connell shares the ways food helped her family navigate the immigrant experience and maintain their cultural roots.
25 Content and Context: The Meaning of Book Arts
9 Telling the Whole Story
8 Festival Partnership Raises Awareness of Environmental Writing
Women Front and Center
3
13 Call and Response
Lyall Harris delves into what it means to be a book artist.
From Conversation to Collective Action
33
Women Front and
CenterBy Donna M. Lucey
the programming will focus on the nuances of the woman suffrage movement, with its internal divisions and political jockeying, as well as the suffragists themselves, many of whom performed extraordinary acts of physical courage.
Virginia played a central role in some of the more dramatic moments of the suffrage movement. In 1917, women peacefully protesting in front of the White House were arrested and jailed in the Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton, Virginia. There, some of the suffragists were beaten and left unconscious. The women began a hunger strike to demand recognition as political prisoners. Prison officials, unmoved by the women’s pleas, force-fed them. A number of the women brutalized in Occoquan—among them several Virginians—traveled across the country in 1919 on a speaking tour dubbed the “Prison Special." The former prisoners shared their horrific experiences and added a dramatic touch by wearing their prison uniforms.
ne needn’t look into a crystal ball to predict that 2020 will be a political roller coaster: a contentious presidential election will play out alongside celebrations
honoring the centennial of women achieving the right to vote. August 20, 2020, will mark 100 years since the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, and November 2, 2020, will commemorate the anniversary of the day women across the country went to the national polls for the first time. (A number of states—mainly those in the West—had already granted full suffrage to women before the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.)
A new, five-year initiative at Virginia Humanities exploring issues of particular interest to women will also begin in 2020. This ambitious undertaking is made possible by a recently announced endowed fund honoring Rosel Schewel, Virginia Humanities’ longest-serving board member, who passed away on September 28, 2017. The initiative will begin by examining the theme of “Women and Political Engagement” in a series of public events in the weeks before the presidential election. Part of
03 |
WO
MEN
FR
ON
T AN
D C
ENTE
R
|
WO
MEN
FR
ON
T AN
D C
ENTE
R
05
RIGHT These woman suffrage buttons, ribbons, and name badges date from 1909 to 1922 and are part of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia collection at the Library of Virginia. Ida Mae Thompson, longtime secretary of the league office in Richmond, collected memorabilia and papers dealing with the organization and donated them to the library in 1942.Photo courtesy of Library of Virginia
PREVIOUS PAGE A political poster produced by the Virginia League of Women Voters urges women to cast their ballots in the upcoming national election in 1920. Women gained the right to vote that year with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.Image courtesy of Library of Virginia
Suffragists fought an uphill battle in the Common-wealth against both men and women who believed suffrage for all would destroy traditional values. In 1912, two Virginia women went toe-to-toe debat-ing the suffrage question in the newspapers. Adèle Clark took up her pen to forcefully refute Molly Elliot Seawell, a popular and prolific writer who believed “woman suffrage to be an unmixed evil.” Seawell’s views were shared by the vast majority of the men in the state, as well as by the powerful liquor industry, which feared if women won the vote, prohibition would not be far behind.
Complicating the issue even further was the matter of race and the fear of what might happen if Black women voted. In 1916 the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia — an all - white organization— issued a broadside to reassure Virginians that woman suffrage would not “constitute a menace to white supremacy.” In fact, the league claimed it would have the opposite effect, with 191,000 more white women than African American women of voting age in the state. In addition, voters were subject to a literacy test and had to pay a poll tax—both of which were used to disfranchise so-called “undesirable” voters.
The suffragists' decades-long campaign reached a climax on May 21, 1919, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote, by the required two-thirds majority. On June 4, 1919, the U.S. Senate followed suit. It was then up to the states. Two-thirds of them—thirty-six states in all—had to ratify the amendment before it could be incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. Virginia rejected the amendment on February 12, 1920, one of nine southern states to do so. Tension mounted over the fate of the amendment, but on August 18, 1920, Tennessee—the thirty-sixth state—ratified the Nineteenth Amendment by a single vote. Though the victory had been won and Virginia women could henceforth vote, the Virginia General Assembly continued to express its legal disapproval, refusing to ratify the amendment for another thirty-two years. (Similarly, Virginia has failed to ratify the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, a guarantee of equal rights to all citizens regardless of gender, since it was submitted for consideration in 1973.)
Though Black women had been marginalized from the struggle in Virginia, they came to the fore once women won the vote. Women like Maggie Lena Walker, a prominent Black entrepreneur in Richmond, helped organize voter registration drives. Enraged at seeing women standing in long lines to register, Walker went personally to city hall to demand that more officials be employed to hurry up the process. Led by her and other energetic women, nearly 2,500 African American women in Richmond registered to cast their votes in the 1920 election. (More than 10,000 white women in Richmond also registered.)
As the centennial of the vote approaches, much has changed in Virginia. In this #MeToo era, women are taking an increasingly visible role as political power brokers. The 2017 election for Virginia’s General Assembly transformed the entire look of the halls of power, as more than one-quarter of the legislators are currently women. And the 2019 election may add to that total. Thus, the timing is perfect for Virginia Humanities to take a deep dive into issues from the past and present that are relevant and important to the women of Virginia—a venture made possible by the Rosel Schewel Fund.
Schewel, a graduate of the University of Lynchburg (then Lynchburg College) and a resident of that city, was an educator, philanthropist, and political activist. A fierce advocate for racial justice and women's rights, Schewel's influence was felt across the state over many decades. In the 1950s she succeeded in integrating a new Girl Scout camp over the protests of board members and helped found the Lynchburg League of Women Voters. In the 1970s she was instrumental in creating the Women's Resource Center in Lynchburg, and in the 2010s she was a leader in the establishment of Beacon of Hope, a nonprofit organization that actively encourages and mentors high school students to help them gain access to higher education. Appropriately, the kickoff for the fund named in her honor will take place at the University of Lynchburg in the fall of 2020. The planned public events will include a series of discussions examining the high level of current political activity by women on both sides of the aisle;
The first African American women to vote in Ettrick, Virginia pose for a photograph in 1920. Virginia State University, a historically black public land-grant university, is located in Ettrick. All of these women were on the faculty of the university. Pictured in the first row, left to right, are Mary Branch, Anna Lindsay, Edna Colson, Edwina Wright, Johnella Frazer (Jackson), and Nannie Nichols. In the back row, left to right, are Eva Conner, Evie Carpenter (Spencer), and Odelle Green.
Photo courtesy of Special Collections and University Archives, Johnston Memorial Library, Virginia State University
Learn more about the history of woman suffrage
in Virginia in Encyclopedia Virginia by visiting
EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Woman_Suffrage_in_Virginia.
the unsung achievements of women who fought to get the vote; and the work of local civic activists in Lynchburg’s past and present.
These events will mark the start of a five-year initiative by Virginia Humanities. During that time, woman-led and woman-focused projects will explore topics on an annual thematic basis. After starting with women in the political sphere, other broad topics will include women’s health, women in social movements, the hidden—or undervalued—labor of women, and women’s stories that have yet to be told. This initiative will coincide with a committee-led fundraising effort to grow the Rosel Schewel Fund to $500,000 by 2025.
Virginia Humanities is well positioned to add to the ongoing conversation about the expertise, challenges, triumphs, and diverse experiences of Virginia women; its programs already have a long history of exploring and amplifying these themes. Encyclopedia Virginia’s section on Women’s History contains more than 100 entries that supply rich historical context; the Virginia Festival of the Book has always been a prime showcase for rising young women authors as well as established ones, and
panel discussions often revolve around current issues of particular concern to women; grants and fellowships have been a prime avenue for advancing scholarship on these themes; the African American and Virginia Indian programs have highlighted the contributions of women ignored in traditional histories; the dynamic work of the Virginia Folklife Program has long provided evidence of the importance of women in traditional arts and crafts, from gospel singing to oyster shucking; and the Virginia Humanities radio programs BackStory and With Good Reason have offered engaging platforms for exploring women’s stories. If successful in reaching its fundraising goal, the Rosel Schewel Fund will protect and amplify this important programming for years to come.
More than ten years ago, a unique partnership formed between the Virginia Festival of the Book and the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) to celebrate some of today’s top environmental writers and journalists.
SELC created the Reed Environmental Writing Award in 1994 to increase awareness of the value and vulnerability of the South's natural heritage and to recognize and encourage writers who tell stories about the region's environment. In 2008, SELC and Festival staff began collaborating to honor winners of the annual award at a public event during the Festival each year.
The partnership has continued to grow, providing the opportunity for the Festival to present award-winning authors while also raising awareness of the topics their work addresses, from environmental racism to climate change and its impacts on people and animals alike. Bill Sublette joined the effort in 2014 as the SELC’s coordinator of the Reed Environmental Writing Awards.
“The authors and journalists are shining a light on some of the most pressing issues we face, from the effects of climate change to the impacts of pollution on vulnerable communities,” says Sublette.
In recent years, award winners have included J. Drew Lanham, author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature; Deborah Cramer, author of The Narrow Edge: A Tiny Bird, an Ancient Crab & an Epic Journey; and Earl Swift, former Virginia Humanities Fellow and author of Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island.
“There have been so many compelling moments and so many moving stories told during the Reed Award events over the years,” says Sublette. “Our partnership with the Festival has helped engage audiences that we might not have reached otherwise [and] it’s such a privilege to contribute to the energy and excitement that the Festival brings each year. The community just comes to life.”
In addition to SELC, the Virginia Festival of the Book partners with more than 170 community organizations each year. To learn more, visit https://www.vabook.org.
Festival Partnership Raises Awareness of Environmental Writing
07 |
WO
MEN
FR
ON
T AN
D C
ENTE
R
Reed Environmental Writing Award-winner J. Drew Lanham
(right) talks to SELC's Jeff Gleason and his mother, Betz
Gleason, during the 2018 Virginia Festival of the Book.
Photo courtesy of SELC
IM
PA
CT
ST
OR
Y
By Samantha Willis
Virginia Humanities helps reveal the lives of the enslaved and widen the scope of narratives presented at plantations statewide.
T E L L I N G T H E
09 |
TEL
LIN
G TH
E W
HO
LE S
TOR
Y
hroughout 2019, Virginia has reflected on the year 1619, when the first enslaved Africans were brought to its shores 400 years ago. This event was at the vanguard
of a brutal, uniquely American system of race-based slavery that kept Black Virginians captive for nearly 250 years. Helping plantations tell their histories more honestly—in a way that confronts false perceptions of "idyllic" Southern plantations, and elevates the lives of the African Americans whose toil sustained their white enslavers—is among the most critical and timely work Virginia Humanities has undertaken.
Virginia Humanities is working to "introduce new models and new ways of engaging the descendant communities at Virginia plantations," says Justin Reid, Virginia Humanities’ director of African American Programs. "We try to promote this knowledge through our programs like Encyclopedia Virginia, and some of our recent projects like
[working with] Google Street View to map slave dwellings across the state." With multi-year support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Encyclopedia Virginia has documented existing historic sites once inhabited by enslaved people - some at former plantations. Google Earth Outreach premiered a short film about the project this June in honor of the historic African American cultural holiday Juneteenth.
Reid also points to Virginia Humanities’ longstanding support of Virginia plantations through grants designed not only to preserve the tangible history in these spaces but also to widen the scope of the narratives they present. Over the years, Virginia Humanities has awarded grants for this kind of work to plantations including James Monroe’s Highland, James Madison’s Montpelier, Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, and Monticello.
Virginia Humanities has played a particularly important role in helping Monticello reframe its
history, says Niya Bates. Bates has been a public historian of African American life at Monticello for the past three years and heads its Getting Word oral history project. Monticello was the first plantation in the state to conduct such a project, which began in 1993, says Bates, thanks in part to a 1992 grant from Virginia Humanities.
"Getting to know the descendants, hearing their stories and their families’ stories, has been the most impactful part of this process for me," says Bates of Getting Word. More than 200 people, most of them descended from the enslaved families at Monticello, have contributed their time and family knowledge to the project. From its conception, Getting Word’s purpose has been to “locate the descendants of Monticello’s African American families and to record and preserve their stories and histories,” reads the original grant application the organization submitted to Virginia Humanities. These Black stories and histories had been excluded, obscured, or downplayed by traditional areas of research and focus at Monticello and other plantations, says Bates.
“Enslaved people were not bystanders in American history,” Bates says pointedly. Rather, Black people, including those enslaved at Virginia plantations like Monticello, were participants and provocateurs, pushing the nation forward economically, socially and culturally—even as it held them captive.
Virginia Humanities has expanded its work of illuminating the stories of Virginia’s enslaved by partnering with the Citizen’s Advisory Council on Furnishing and Interpreting the Executive Mansion. Located in Richmond, the Executive Mansion was
completed in 1813 to house Virginia's governors and their enslaved workers. “We are in the very early stages of assisting in the reinterpretation of the mansion’s kitchen,” says Reid. The 200-square-foot space is original to the building and was restored in 2017 under the auspices of former Governor Terry McAuliffe and his wife, former First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe. Reid says that in the future, Virginia Humanities hopes to facilitate a 360-degree virtual tour of the kitchen quarter in the manner of its Google Street View mapping project. “I have been advocating for a descendant-led model [of reinterpretation],” adds Reid, a method that will lend dignity and authenticity to the legacy of those enslaved at the mansion.
Bates says descendants of the enslaved must be included and empowered in the telling of their ancestors' stories at plantations.
“The only way to equitably involve the descendant community is to make them part of the leadership with these types of projects,” says Bates. When descendants advised Monticello to rethink how it presented the life of Sally Hemings, an enslaved Black woman who mothered at least six of Jefferson’s children, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation listened, says Bates. A new exhibition about Hemings—which presents a comprehensive, nuanced view of Hemings as a whole human, instead of as an object of mystery and scandal—was produced by Monticello last year, with direct input from Hemings’s descendants.
Bates’s and Virginia Humanities’ hope is that more plantations will include descendants as living experts in the reframing of their narratives and those of their ancestors.
“It’s their history,” says Bates. “We need to help them tell their own stories.”
Learn more about Monticello’s Getting Word
project by visiting Monticello.org/getting-word.
Watch a film by Google Earth Outreach about
Virginia Humanities’ work documenting slave dwellings at
VirginiaHumanities.org/mapping-slave-dwellings.
ABOVE Niya Bates (left) and Justin Reid (right) visited James Monoroe's Highland in December of 2018 as part of a documentary being filmed by Google Earth Outreach.
Photo by Peter Hedlund, Virginia Humanities
PREVIOUS PAGE This early nineteenth-century folk painting by an unknown artist, titled The Plantation, depicts a grand plantation mansion atop a hill.
Image courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Getting to know the descendants, hearing their stories and their families’ stories, has been the most impactful part of this process for me." - Niya Bates
11 |
TEL
LIN
G TH
E W
HO
LE S
TOR
Y
In a small Catholic church in Pleven, Bulgaria, the congregation sat in silence. The Reverend Almeta Ingram-Miller and her gospel group, The Legendary Ingramettes, were told it might be a tough crowd. But as their energy and command of American gospel reverberated through the pews, exuberance took over. The power of music pushed through the barriers of language, geography, and culture. And by the end, almost everyone in the crowd was out of their seat, dancing and cheering. The audience even joined together to sing a traditional Bulgarian folk song for their guests.
This response would come as no surprise to the folks back home in Richmond, where the Ingramettes are a gospel institution. The group was formed there in the 1960s by “Mama” Maggie Ingram, the Ingramettes' matriarch and leader for more than five decades. A single mother of five, Ingram received what Ingram-Miller—her daughter—describes as a “spiritual calling” to drive her children in their old Chevy from Miami, Florida, to Richmond in 1961—a risky journey through the segregated South. “Mama got a call,” from God, Ingram-Miller explains, “that if she came to Richmond and taught us all to sing we’d one day bless people all over the world.”
Maggie Ingram worked tirelessly toward this goal for more than fifty years until her death in 2015. It’s a dream Ingram-Miller kept pursuing. But the Ingramettes, while nationally recognized, had never left the United States.
By Greg Willett
CALL & RESPONSE
The Legendary Ingramettes and Sherman Holmes performed at the American College of Sofia, Bulgaria on 5/21/19.
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities13
| C
ALL
& R
ESP
ON
SE
That all changed in May of 2019, when the group—which now includes Maggie's granddaughter, Cheryl Maroney Yancey, and Carrie Ann Jackson—embarked on a cultural exchange tour that took them through Bulgaria and Serbia. Organized and produced by the Virginia Folklife Program in collaboration with the American embassies in those countries, and joined by blues musician Sherman Holmes of the Holmes Brothers, the Ingramettes took part in workshops, classroom discussions, and exhibitions, and even performed on late-night television.
They came during a sensitive time. The trip occurred during the twentieth anniversary of when NATO, led by the United States, bombed Serbian military targets in Kosovo over ten weeks in 1999. The airstrikes killed hundreds, and the anniversary had rekindled raw and tragic memories—and anti-American sentiment—in the region.
But in one town after another, when the Ingramettes took the stage, emotion gripped the audience. Concertgoers hugged, cried, danced, and posed for selfies. A sense of humanity and empathy permeated each performance. Kyle Scott, U.S. ambassador to Serbia, said, “Nothing that the U.S. could have brought over could have been better.”
When asked how it felt to be a cultural ambassador for the United States, Maroney Yancey replied, “It feels wonderful because I’ve never been out of my country. So to come to another country and be accepted by individuals who don’t even know me, they made me feel like ‘you’re my sister, you’re my aunt, you’re my cousin’ … it made my heart overwhelmed.”
For Jon Lohman, director of the Virginia Folklife Program, the international exchange highlighted the importance of the arts and humanities in bridging cultural divides. “We do this because we think the world needs it,” he said. “What we need is for people to see each other face to face. The arts are a wonderful lens for us to view one another, and they show the best of ourselves.”
The Legendary Ingramettes have been showing audiences their best selves for six decades—in Virginia, across the United States, and now, in Europe. When the Ingramettes call, the world responds.
Randall Cort instructs children on his drum set after a performance with the Rolling Tones Choir in Bulgaria.
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
THE LEGENDARY INGRAMETTESThe Virginia Folklife Program has enjoyed a long friendship with the Legendary Ingramettes, which has included many impactful collaborations. The Ingramettes have graced countless Virginia Folklife Program-produced festival and concert stages including those at the Richmond Folk Festival, Watermelon Park Festival, FloydFest, and many others. The late Maggie Ingram apprenticed her daughter Almeta in the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program in 2010, and Maggie’s granddaughter Cheryl participated as a Master Artist in 2014. The Virginia Folklife Program has produced two CDs with the group: Maggie Ingram: Live in Richmond, which won the Independent Music Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album of the Year in 2012, and most recently, Take a Look in the Book, to be released in early 2020.
This story was co-published with UVA Arts and appears in Volume 11 of UVA Arts magazine.
Cheryl Maroney-Yancey embraces an audience member following a performance.
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
The Legendary Ingramettes performed at a synagogue in Novi Sad, Serbia on 5/26/19.
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
“Mama got a call [from God] that if she came to Richmond and taught us all to sing we’d one day bless people all over the world.”
- Almeta Ingram-Miller
Watch video clips of the Ingramettes and Sherman Holmes
on tour at VirginiaHumanities.org/ingramettes-2019.
Growing up in the 1970s in College Park, Maryland with a Vietnamese-born mother and an American-born father, Virginia Humanities Fellow Kim O’Connell’s experience of identity has always been complicated. How can immigrants assimilate into a new place without sacrificing their heritage? What does citizenship mean in a state that includes nearly one million foreign-born residents? These are some of the questions that have shaped O’Connell’s work. Her forthcoming book, The Saving Grace of Spring Rolls, uses her own family history to navigate and illuminate the broader Vietnamese immigrant experience in the years during and after the Vietnam War.
The Saving Grace of
SpringRolls
By Nora Pehrson
RIGHT Kim O'Connell holds a photo of her parents on their wedding day.
Photo by Pierre Courtois, Library of Virginia17 |
TH
E SA
VIN
G G
RAC
E O
F SP
RIN
G R
OLL
S
The theme of O’Connell’s work happens to align with the recently concluded “Voices of Vietnam” series by Virginia Humanities' With Good Reason radio show. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, “Voices of Vietnam” explored the unresolved tensions in our understanding of the Vietnam War and the perspectives and people it forever changed. The final episode in the series, “A Lost Homeland,” shared the stories of some of the Vietnamese communities that formed in America after the fall of Saigon.
Sarah McConnell, host of With Good Reason, recently sat down to talk with O’Connell about her time as a Virginia Humanities Fellow. They discussed the complexities of having a biracial and cross-cultural heritage, dissected the idea of the United States as a melting pot, pondered intergenerational shifts in values, and examined the cultural significance of spring rolls and properly cooked rice.
SM: Most Americans remember the desperate, dangerous exodus of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese families after the fall of Saigon [in 1975]. But your own mother's journey to America began before the fall.
KO: That's right. My mother was a very bright student in school and got herself hired as an instructor by the U.S. Army to teach Vietnamese to American soldiers. She was at the Okinawa army base in Japan when my father landed there in 1964. They were back in the United States as a married couple by early 1967.
My mother was able to get out of Vietnam not as a refugee, but as a young bride with a bright future. That was the reality I accepted for a long time. But I feel more empathy now for the difficulties that she went through leaving home.
SM: Your mother made sure everyone in your family spoke English, listened to American music, ate American food. Did you feel like the all-American family?
KO: Yes and no. I lived in a suburban house in College Park, Maryland, and I had white skin like my father. My mother felt a great sense of gratitude towards the United States and her way of repaying that gratitude was to be as American as possible. She was a PTA volunteer and held potluck dinners with the neighbors. But we did experience some racism because my parents were an interracial couple. People yelled things at my family and I had a neighbor boy that liked to call my brother and me “VC,” for Viet Cong. That was his supposedly funny little nickname for us. And I don't think my mother had many close friends until the Vietnamese enclave was established in Arlington. There were many years when my mother was doing her absolute best to fit in, but was probably pretty lonely as a person.
SM: Tell me about your forthcoming book.
KO: My book is a hybrid of journalism and memoir. It builds on my own personal story of trying to understand what it is about me that makes me half Vietnamese. Many Vietnamese immigrants and refugees come here and have a hard time figuring out, “How do I become American, how do I stay Vietnamese?” It's a struggle for me as a child of this interracial union to try and understand that, as well.
SM: The title of this forthcoming book, The Saving Grace of Spring Rolls, is very poignant because it is one of the things that most notably bound you and your mother at your best.
|
TH
E SA
VIN
G G
RAC
E O
F SP
RIN
G R
OLL
S
19
KO: That's right. We have been cooking and eating spring rolls together for more than forty years. Whether it's spring rolls or some other dish, for a lot of Vietnamese immigrants, cooking and eating and shopping for food is such a strong way to feel connected. So that's why I chose that title.
SM: Tell me about your mother’s spring rolls and how she made them.
KO: Well, they're packed! She uses two different kinds of meat and a whole range of vegetables—carrots, onion, mushrooms, jicama, peppers, and bean sprouts. It’s all seasoned into this incredible mixture that’s even greater than the sum of its parts. Then you set up a factory on the table where you have the filling, the spring roll wrappers, and usually a little beaten egg which binds the wrapper together. And you have to fry them standing at the stove. It's a wonderful, aromatic, and very rewarding process.
SM: As part of our “Voices of Vietnam” series, we created a nationally broadcast mini documentary on the experience of Vietnamese Americans after the war. It's called “A Lost Homeland.” What stood out for you as you listened to the younger Vietnamese Americans in that episode talking about wrestling with their identity?
KO: I really related to that part of the program. The speakers talked about how the first generation of immigrants felt this kind of reverence and gratitude toward the United States, while the younger generation is more progressive. There's a little more dissent in the ranks. That's the same tension that I've experienced with my mother.
SM: You write about a Catholic priest who described the struggle to be from two countries this way: He said it's like catching two fish with two hands. It’s not easy.
KO: Yes. It's really kind of impossible, actually.
SM: I think there is a lack of understanding on the part of most of us. We think each little family, far flung from one another, will become Americanized. But sometimes the very opposite happens.
KO: That's right. We all remember the phrase about America being the great melting pot. The overarching idea of that is that people's selves kind of disappear as they melt. Now there's more of a sense that what we really need is a mosaic—
ABOVELittle Saigon was a Vietnamese neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, that served the refugee population that immigrated after the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.
Photo by Michael Horsley, courtesy Kim O'Connell
ABOVE Kim O'Connell and her mother pose for a family photo in front of a Christmas tree.
Photo courtesy Kim O'Connell
we need all the pieces to be there. The effort to spread out [immigrant communities] was an effort to make them melt away, but instead they kept sparkling and creating these enclaves, like Arlington’s former “Little Saigon.”
SM: A few years ago, you had a project that was funded in part by Virginia Humanities where you put together an oral history of the Vietnamese Americans who settled in the Arlington, Virginia area outside Washington, DC. That turned out to be the largest congregation of Vietnamese Americans on the East Coast. What did you learn about that community and what that gave to Vietnamese Americans who were settling here?
KO: It gave them a sense of home. The oral history program was really led by Virginia Tech students, and I served as a consultant. A Virginia Humanities grant allowed us to use those oral history interviews in support of a booklet that I wrote called Echoes of Little Saigon that was published with support from the Arlington County government.
What I discovered in that process was how important small acts—like shopping for a bottle of fish sauce—were for building a sense of home and a sense of peace. That's what allows you the strength to confront all the tasks that face you in terms of setting up a new life.
I was very much struck in your “Lost Homeland” program, in fact, by how some of the interviewees were talking about rice and how important it was to have rice cooked right. It sounds so basic, but actually, an investigation about the importance of rice is part of my research because rice is the lifeblood for so many cultures.
SM: Can you tell the difference between rice à la American and rice à la Vietnamese?
KO: I certainly can.
SM: Give me one tip about rice that's not just “add rice to salted boiling water.”
KO: Rinse it several times. You take all this surface starch off the rice and it just cooks up fluffy and perfect. My mother would always do that.
SM: What did your experience as a Fellow at Virginia Humanities last spring give you?
KO: The fellowship afforded me an office at the Library of Virginia for the spring semester of this year. Just to have that space and time to really think deeply about my project, to write, and do research, it was just such a gift.
Listen to With Good Reason’s “Voices of Vietnam” series and explore related lesson plans: WithGoodReasonradio.org/vietnam
Hear Vietnamese immigrant Nhi Le share the story of her journey from Vietnam to Virginia, part of the New Virginians exhibit we produced for the 2019 commemoration, American Evolution: VirginiaHumanities.org/nhi-le
Learn more about Arlington’s Little Saigon in the booklet mentioned by O’Connell: VirginiaHumanities.org/little-saigon
Hear Virginia Folklife master artist Nam Phuong Nguyen play a Vietnamese lullaby on the dan bau: VirginiaHumanities.org/dan-bau
In the spring of 2019, as the first Frank Riccio Artist-in-Residence, Amos Paul Kennedy Jr.’s collaborative project, Finding Wisdom, engaged thousands of young people and adults in Central Virginia in the production of letterpress posters featuring the proverbs and sayings important to them.
Local artists and organizations added their own aphorisms and printing to the mix. Spearheaded by UVa student artist and project coordinator Tia Nichols, venues throughout Charlottesville and the University of Virginia displayed a selection of the more than 7,000 posters generated by the project.
Kennedy’s energetic style focuses on power and poignancy over perfection. “It’s the flaw that makes you perfect,” he reflected in his March 24, 2019 artist’s talk during the Virginia Festival of the Book. “What I do, I make a perfect mess.”
In an event survey, one parent noted that they valued “the opportunity to engage with my daughter in a creative process led by an artist whose work she’s viewed, and to hear the artist speak on his work, its relevance, and the process.”
A noteworthy piece of Finding Wisdom engaged the descendants of individuals who were enslaved at Monticello. Book artists from the Virginia Center for the Book assisted in printing selections from their oral histories, as chronicled in Monticello’s Getting Word project. “The printing workshop resonated with descendants because they were able to see their family stories become art that would be shared with the community,” said Niya Bates, a public historian of Slavery and African American Life at Monticello.
The Riccio residency was created to produce meaningful interactions with a vibrant and growing community of book artists at the Virginia Center for the Book’s book arts studio in Charlottesville. The residency specifically honors and invites artists who can engage both youth and adults to inspire a lifelong love of books, paper, and printmaking. Its namesake, Frank Riccio, was a well-loved illustrator and book artist who was an integral part of the Center for the Book community before his passing in 2014. The fund and residency honor Riccio’s memory and recognize his legacy as a talented and tireless practitioner and educator in Virginia’s creative community.
To learn more about the Riccio Residency visit VaBookCenter.org.
Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. – Frank Riccio Artist-in-Residence
The Riccio Residency was generously supported in its first
year by UVA’s Executive Vice President & Provost’s Office.
Kim O'Connell was gracious enough to share her mother's recipe for Vietnamese spring rolls (Cha Giò) with us! Download it at: VirginiaHumanities.org/spring-rolls
21
Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. made prints with The Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia as part of his artist residency.
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
IM
PA
CT
ST
OR
Y
3
1
1. NorthamptonHistoricPreservationSociety "TheLastJailontheNorthamptonCountyCourtGreen"
2. Watermen'sMuseum TidewatertoTableTravelingExhibit
3. MaymontFoundation "InServiceandBeyond"
4. DanvilleMuseumofFineArtandHistory CamillaWilliams:Danville'sDiva
5. TheValentine VoicesfromRichmond’sHiddenEpidemic
6. TheCenterforCommunityEngagement andCareerCompetitivenessatAverettUniversity AfricanandAfrican-AmericanHistoryProgramming
7. NorfolkStateUniversity VirginiaEmigrantstoLiberiaDigitalProjectPlanning
8. WesternTidewaterVirginiaHeritage,Inc. TheVirginiaPeanutStory
9. TempleBethEl JewsinVirginia:LivingNewLives,FacingOldFears
10. NewYorkWomeninFilmandTelevision Alexandria'sDollhouseHistory
11. ChristiansburgInstitute,Inc. ChristiansburgInstituteWaysideSignage
12. Gallery5 "Richmond&..."DiscussionSeries
13. YMCAofPulaskiCounty CalfeeTrainingSchool:Honoringthe Past,PlanningfortheFuture
Virginia Humanities supported these humanities projects between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019.
To LEARN MORE about the Grants Program, visit VirginiaHumanities.org/Grants.
2
GrantsCamilla Williams: Danville's Diva Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History | Danville
Danville native Camilla Williams was the first African American soprano to appear with a major American opera company. She achieved international recognition, was honored as a “Distinguished Virginian” by Governor Linwood Holton, and was the first African American to be given a “key to the city” of Danville in 1959. Her legacy as a pioneer in the arts and civil rights is exceptional but not widely known, even within the community where she was born. This grant is to help plan a series of public programs exploring Ms. Williams’ life and achievements and is designed to introduce/re-introduce her story to local residents, including teachers and students.
Voices from Richmond’s Hidden Epidemic The Valentine | Richmond
Richmond currently ranks nineteenth among localities nationwide in the number of HIV/AIDS cases per capita. This grant supports a major new exhibit exploring the story of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Richmond through the experiences of advocates, caregivers, and people currently living with the disease. The demographics of HIV/AIDS have shifted since the first cases surfaced in the 1980s, and communities of color are now disproportionally affected. Likewise, assumptions that the disease is a thing of the past and easy to treat are false but still widely prevalent. We hope the exhibit will dispel these misconceptions and also give Richmond audiences a deeper understanding of the history and human impact of this disease.
The Virginia Peanut Story Western Tidewater Virginia Heritage, Inc. | Suffolk
It would be hard to overstate the importance of peanut farming to the history, culture, economy, and communities of Western Tidewater, which includes Southampton, Surry, Sussex, and Isle of Wight Counties and the City of Suffolk. Through a series of grants, the most recent awarded in October, 2018, Virginia Humanities has supported development of an hour-long documentary film exploring this unique Virginia story through the eyes and voices of local farmers, shellers, marketers and distributors, as well as historians, who trace the “Virginia peanut” from its origins in South America, to Africa and back across the Atlantic, and into the fields and tables of Western Tidewater as well as countless products sold throughout Virginia and worldwide.
Calfee Training School: Honoring the Past, Planning for the Future YWCA of Pulaski County | Pulaski
This grant supports a “community-based historical memory project” focusing on Calfee Training School in Pulaski, one of many such schools that provided education to African American children during the years of racial segregation in Virginia. What makes Calfee's story different is an extraordinary (and largely unknown) legal case (Corbin v. County School Board of Pulaski) that challenged unequal facilities under the prevailing “separate but equal” doctrine. The story includes landmark figures like Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Hill, and the case was one of only a few successful “equalization” cases filed by the NAACP before it shifted its strategy toward challenging segregated public education at its root.
Changing Arlington's Narrative About Race “Challenging Racism,” Encore Stage & Studio, John M. Langston Citizen’s Association | Arlington
In 2018-19, with funding from the W.K Kellogg Foundation, Virginia Humanities awarded six grants to support communities statewide in local efforts to “change the narrative” about race and the history of race. Arlington is one of these. The project there (grant to “Challenging Racism”) involved creating a digital repository of resources on race and racism, holding a series of public conversations, and bringing middle-school students together with African American musicians and historians from the local community to write songs based on local history. The energy generated by this project led almost immediately to proposals from two other local organizations: one (Encore Stage and Studio) to support development of an original play in which middle and high school students worked with local historians from the Nauck/Green Valley and Halls Hill/Highview Park neighborhoods to create the script; the other (John M. Langston Citizens Assn.) to create a walking tour, concert, and community discussion focusing on the history of the Halls Hill neighborhood and the (actual) “segregation wall” that was built to separate the African American neighborhood from the surrounding white community.
7
4 8
5
14. AmericanCivilWarMuseum EnactingFreedom:BlackVirginiansin theAgeofEmancipation
15. AmericanCivilWarMuseum VictoryinDefeat:TheDavisFamilyand theConfederateMuseumintheLostCause
16. ChallengingRacism "WeC.A.N."ChangingArlington's NarrativeAboutRace
17. AmericanFrontierCultureFoundation 2019SpringLectureSeriesatthe FrontierCultureMuseum
18. GeorgeMasonUniversity Virginia'sLostAppalachianTrail
19. CatticusCorp Backlash
20. UniversityofMaryWashington MuseumExhibitiononthe HistoryofAfricanAmerican EducationinSpotsylvaniaCounty
21. CapeCharlesHistoricalSociety AccessionofRailroadArtifactDonations toCapeCharlesHistoricalSociety(CCHS)
22. VirginiaCenterfor InclusiveCommunities ChangingtheNarrative-Roanoke
23. BloodrootMountain ImaginationinEducation: WritersinModernAppalachia
24. ChryslerMuseumofArt ThomasJeffersonArchitect:Palladian Models,DemocraticPrinciples,andthe ConflictofIdeals
25. WilliamKingMuseumofArt CulturalHeritageArchive,Online
26. VideoAction,Inc. Humanities'PowertoHeal: WritingThroughIllness
27. MenokinFoundation UncoveringMenokin'sHiddenHistory
28. Cheroenhaka(Nottoway)IndianTribal HeritageFoundation,Inc. Cheroenhaka(Nottoway)IndianTribe InterpretativeTrailSigns
29. PetersburgPreservationTaskForce TheTobaccoandWater-Powered IndustriesExhibits
30. VICTORYHALLOPERA "PerformingHistory:SallyHemings intheArtist'sImagination"
31. VirginiaChamberOrchestra MusicintheLifeofEisenhower
32. LongwoodUniversity HomeandAbroadWritingProgram forMilitaryVeteransandFamily
33. PrinceWilliamPublicLibraryFoundation “AnOutrage”DiscussionGuide forPublicLibraries
34. JohnM.LangstonCitizensAssociation HallsHillHistory-ConcertandWalkingTour
35. VirginiaOrganizing B.F.YanceyHeritageandHistoryProject
36. BowerCenterfortheArts D-DayEvents,June2019
37. CaswellCountyHistoricAssociations CaswellHistorySpeaks
38. NorfolkStateUniversity “ChangingtheRacialNarrative:UsingDrama toHealHistoricDivisionsinNorfolk,VA”
39. EasternShoreofVirginiaBarrierIslandsCenter,Inc. EasternShoreMuseumNetworkBrochure
40. EncoreStage&Studio FliptheScript
41. NortheastNeighborhoodAssociation(NENA) TRHTChangingtheNarrative:Harrisonburg,VA
42. PrioBangla,Inc. PrioBanglaFestivalBooklet
43. PrioBangla,Inc. InterviewsandBookletPublication
44. StorefrontForCommunityDesign GabrielWeek2019
45. VirginiaTechFoundation,Inc. JohnJacksonPiedmontBluesRappahannockFestival
46. SpringhouseCommunitySchool FindingLiberationandTrueBelonging inCommunityThroughSong
5, 12, 14, 15, 22, 44
6
9
1113
16
17
18
19
20
21
24, 38
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34, 40, 42, 43
35
36
3739
41
46
45
4
8
13
16
By Raennah Lorne Mitchell
By Raennah Lorne Mitchell
Book ArtsThe Meaning of
C O N T E N T & C O N T E X T
26
ABOVE This piece by Lyall Harris is called "Chronicles of Migration."
Photo courtesy Lyall Harris
TUR
NIN
G THE PAG
E |
09
On a cool morning last August, I met Lyall Harris as she prepared to teach a class on book arts at the Virginia Center for the Book in Charlottesville. An accomplished book artist, Harris had taped brown paper to countertops and spread out magazines and slim books to inspire her students. Book arts, Harris says, isn’t prescriptive. The medium may combine text, with or without a visual element, along with sequence and structure. It “requires the reader to engage with it in a different way,” than printed books do, says Harris.
In the sunlit studio, among broadsides and printing presses, Harris and I were joined by Sarah Lawson, the assistant director of the Virginia Center for the Book and a relatively new book arts student herself. Together, we delved into questions about Harris’s path as an artist, what constitutes book arts, and how art differs from craft. Harris considered these questions within the context of creating book arts at
the Center for the Book's new home in the historic Jefferson School City Center, originally constructed in 1926 for Charlottesville’s African American students, and the responsibilities of being a good tenant there.
SL: You grew up in Lynchburg, moved elsewhere and experienced a lot of different communities, but ultimately ended up back in Virginia. What drew you back?
LH: I think I was meant to return here and contend with my past as a white person growing up in Virginia in the 1970s. And I have to say, the Center for the Book is one of the reasons I chose Charlottesville. It was important for me to have a landing pad that could support my art medium. This is such a best-kept secret that I’m afraid to tell people what a best-kept secret it is. I think it’s an amazing thing that the Center for the Book exists in Charlottesville.
SL: How do you see the Center for the Book fostering conversations and projects that help address issues like those you’ve grappled with about growing up in Virginia?
LH: The fact that we’re now located at the Jefferson School is such a beautiful and complicated thing. We have an incredible opportunity to be humble and to be honest. We are a very white organization and, I might add, so is Virginia Humanities. It’s an interesting dance. I have to make my work and I want it to be heard. At the same time, I need to step aside and not be central in my whiteness. And here we are literally at the center of the Jefferson School. It’s a privilege to be in this space and it’s good if we recognize that every time we come in here. The location sets Virginia Humanities, and the Center for the Book, on a potential path of so much growth. But that requires us stepping aside to do it. We are not directing it. But we can open to it.
SL: What do you find unique about the Virginia Center for the Book?
LH: This space is lovely, the light is amazing, and there’s a lot that can happen here—poetry readings, for instance. The annual collaborative project and the Frank Riccio Artist Residency are truly unique to this center. And you only have to take a few steps to be immersed in deep history about the building and the area at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Then outside the building you’re in Vinegar Hill [the historically Black neighborhood that was razed in 1964]. You have a context here specifically that is a doorway.
SL: There is so much more to book arts than just the physical art making. It’s about relationships and context and the environment in which the work is being made.
PREVIOUS BOTTOM Lyall Harris leads the class, "What Is Book Art?" at the Virginia Center for the Book at Jefferson School City Center in Charlottesville.
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
PREVIOUS TOP This piece by Lyall Harris is called "Interior Landscape."
Photo courtesy Lyall Harris
|
CO
NTE
NT
& C
ON
TEXT
- T
HE
ME
ANIN
G O
F B
OO
K AR
TS
27
LH: That is the art part of book art. For me book art has always been that. Craft without context is just that—it’s craft.
RM: Why did you choose book arts as your medium?
LH: I think it chose me, honestly. I was a painter and dabbled in poetry. Then I found myself in Italy painting on these handmade papers in the early nineties. I started folding them and making them into sculptural objects. Then words started to appear. When I moved to San Francisco in 1998, someone told me about book arts and a place called the Center for the Book and I started taking classes. Next thing I know I got an MFA in book art and creative writing from Mills College. I had been thinking about getting a master’s for a while, but life conspired to have me wait for this because it was absolutely the right thing. I love the materials, the precision, and the craft. I love that you can speak through the structure. The first question is always, “Is book art illustration?” It can be. But it’s not only. It’s so much more.
RM: Can you speak a bit about the significance of book art in the digital age?
LH: I think it’s limitless. In the digital age so much is happening. There are books that have buttons, that light up, that get projected, that are video. “What is a book?” This is the question. I love materials so damn much I’m not that into the digital possibilities, but it’s an incredible time for people who are. The Center for the Book is all about the material and this old technology. That’s the beauty of a place like this. That’s not going to die.
SL: Talking about your work brings to the forefront that it’s meant to be engaged with, not just looked at in a case. You want people to read it and interact with it.
LH: This is the age-old question of, “How do you show book art?” You can’t experience book art unless you experience the book and hold it. It’s an intimate experience. It’s your relationship to this material, how you engage with the content and sequence.
SL: What would you tell someone who wants to learn more and become involved with the community?
LH: Google book art images and see what speaks to you. Stop by and look at some of the collaborative projects. That’s what I did before I moved here. You can alter books, you can cut into them to make them sculptural, you can create an erasure experience with the text, you can handcraft paper, you can even knit a book. There’s just everything. If you’re curious, ask yourself, what do you want to know?
SL: What do you hope to see happen here in the next couple of years?
LH: I’d love to collaborate with the kids at the Carver Recreation Center. I’d love for the African American Heritage Center to use our facility and ability to do something they want to do. If we could be of service that would be so cool. Again, not directing it. Stepping aside and letting the skills and equipment and human power help make manifest what some other people have to say.
To learn more about the Virginia Center for the Book or to sign up
for a class in book arts, visit VABookCenter.org.
BOTTOM LEFT This piece by Lyall Harris is called "Walk In My Shoes."
Photo courtesy Lyall Harris
TOP LEFT This piece by Lyall Harris is called "Sylvia Plath."
Photo courtesy Lyall Harris
Teaching Local History
Using technology to create a place-based curriculum resulted in a much deeper level of understanding for students in Woods’ and Weeks’ classes. “This project was birthed from a passion for students’ ability to see themselves in their curriculum or to provide a window to their classmates’ experiences and stories,” Woods said. Their work also inspired other Smithland classes to engage in similar projects. Their leadership and innovation was recognized in a presentation at the Lucy F. Simms Educator of the Year awards ceremony as well as at the second Virginia Humanities Changing the Narrative teacher institute in the summer of 2019.
Embracing stories of marginalized communities has undeniable benefits for inclusive education. One Smithland student explained, “It is important to learn about all history.” Another third-grader shared, “We uncover history by learning about people who made a difference in this world.”
The Changing the Narrative project is funded by a two-year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Its aim is to broaden and reframe narratives of Virginia’s past by engaging local communities and youth in addressing the present-day challenges of racism and bias.
In February 2019, as part of Virginia Humanities’ two-year Changing the Narrative project, Encyclopedia Virginia staff along with educators at Smithland Elementary School in Harrisonburg developed an innovative, engaging curriculum to teach students the historical meaning behind everyday places in their neighborhood.
To encourage investigation of lesser-known narratives, teachers Alexa Weeks and Leatrice Woods selected sites near their school with a connection to Black history. Smithland is surrounded by a number of such sites including the Dallard-Newman House, Newtown Cemetery, and Ralph Sampson Park, as well as the Lucy F. Simms School and a mural in her honor. Encyclopedia Virginia’s assistant editor, Miranda Bennett, helped Weeks and Woods research the sites so they could develop grade-level appropriate texts and corresponding lesson plans for their nearly fifty third-grade students.
Over the course of two weeks, the students explored the historical sites. They were first introduced to the sites in their classrooms through traditional study. In small groups, they researched and answered probing questions about each site: What happened here? Why was it important? Who did it impact? By answering these questions, students made compelling connections with factual narratives of the places they studied. Next, the students visited each location, captured 360-degree images, and produced virtual field trips of each site using a tool called the “Google Tour Creator.”
Learn more about Changing the Narrative at
VirginiaHumanities.org/changing-the-narrative.LEFT
Students from Alexa Weeks' and Leatrice Woods'
classes pose in front of a mural of Lucy F. Simms.
Photo by Bob Adamek, Harrisonburg Schools
|
TE
ACH
ING
LOC
AL H
ISTO
RY
31
IM
PA
CT
ST
OR
Y
|
IM
PAC
T ST
OR
IES
33
There is active racism, passive racism, and active antiracism, wrote clinical psychologist Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum in her groundbreaking, national bestselling 1997 book, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race. Tatum likens what she calls “the ongoing cycle of racism” to the moving walkways at airports. Active racism is equivalent to walking fast on the conveyor belt, says Tatum, while passive racism is standing still as you’re conveyed to the same destination. Active antiracism, however, requires walking in the opposite direction at a speed faster than the conveyor belt. Only through active antiracism can we build a society that’s equitable, just, and inclusive.
This year, Tatum addressed a crowd of nearly 1,000 people during the inaugural event of a multi-year partnership between Virginia Humanities and the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. The new Beneath the Surface: Race and the History of Race in South Hampton Roads initiative focuses on Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach. The goal is to deepen awareness of the role history and race play in contemporary issues confronting the region and to lay the groundwork for positive transformation. A diverse, twenty-five member local advisory committee is helping guide the project, which includes additional public programs and grantmaking around the region.
Over the course of two days, Tatum used the revised and expanded twentieth anniversary edition of her seminal work to frame the conversation, not only
at her evening town hall event, but also during several, more intimate dialogues with educators, government leaders, and public safety officials from across the region.
“Dr. Tatum’s work has created a lens through which I can relate to and teach my students from a place of empathy—empowering them in a world that often alienates, dehumanizes, and exploits along racial lines,” said Norfolk public elementary school educator Chris Mathews, who attended the Beneath the Surface launch.
Nearly 3,000 more people tuned in online to hear Tatum’s town hall remarks, which were livestreamed on social media. The night’s final audience question asked how we move from periodic conversations to action.
“My call to action,” responded Tatum, “is stop having episodic conversations.” Tatum encouraged everyone to commit to regularly-held, multi-racial/ethnic, small group dialogues. "In order to get beyond the superficial, in order to go deeper, you have to invest time."
It’s the exchange of stories, over time, that leads to trust, said Tatum. “And when you get to trust, then you can take action. You can take collective action.”
To watch Dr. Tatum’s town hall, visit VirginiaHumanities.org/tatum.
From Conversation to Collective Action
Dr. Beverly D. Tatum spoke with April Woodard at the Chesapeake Conference
Center in Chesapeake, Virginia on Thursday, 5/30/19. The event was the first in
a multi-year partnership between Virginia Humanities and the Hampton Roads
Community Foundation.
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
IM
PA
CT
ST
OR
Y
We are grateful for the individuals, foundations, and corporations whose involvement brings Virginia Humanities’ work to every area of the state.
You’ve helped us connect with more people, create timely and powerful programming, and share Virginia’s lost and under-told stories. Whether you’ve supported the organization as a whole, a specific program, or given a one-time donation to a named fund, these investments ensure that the future of the humanities in Virginia remains bright.
Partnerships with the community foundations in Hampton Roads, Danville, Charlottesville, Richmond, and Lynchburg have expanded our reach. From helping us create one-time public programs to multiyear initiatives, together we’re using the humanities to connect and strengthen our communities.
We especially thank those of you who gave unrestricted gifts to the Virginia Humanities Fund, which had its most successful year in history. Unrestricted support allows all of our programs to thrive and work more collaboratively to respond to the issues and questions Virginians are facing today.
To learn more about including Virginia Humanities in your will, or to explore
other opportunities to invest in our work, please call 434-924-3296, email
[emailprotected], or visit us online at VirginiaHumanities.org/support.
ANNUAL REPORT HUMANITIES CABINET
Gifts of $2,500 or more
Anonymous [5]
Abby Ayers and Edward L. Ayers 4*
Ballyshannon Fund 3
Bama Works, LLC 4
Katherine S. Brooks and George A. Beller, MD 7*
Megan Beyer and The Honorable Donald S. Beyer Jr. *
Melanie J. Biermann and Martin I. Younker 16*
Laura H. Boland 2*
Antoinette Brewster and Benjamin Brewster 2
Joan P. Brock
Candice Bruse and J. Charles Bruse 4
Diana L. Burruss and Melvin Burruss, Esq. 3
John P. Causey *
CFA Institute 2
Charles Fund, Inc. 5
Charlottesville Area Community Foundation 10*
Charlottesville Albemarle Airport 3
Chesapeake Corporation Foundation of the Community Foundation for a Greater Richmond 5*
Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau
City of Charlottesville 11
Susan R. Colpitts and Norman E. Colpitts 4*
County of Albemarle 5
Dominion Energy
Barbara J. Fried 17*
Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library 6
Virginia Geoffrey and John P. Andelin Jr. 8*
David T. Gies and Janna O. Gies 3*
GlynnDevins Advertising & Marketing
Susan S. Goode and David R. Goode 2*
Betsy B. Greene and James C. Greene
E. Renee Grisham and John R. Grisham 5*
Jerome S. Handler 24*
Charles Heiner 7*
Sally M. Herman and Stephen A. Herman 8*
Sandra Hodge and Robert Hodge 2
Jo Ann M. Hofheimer and Robert G. Hofheimer Jr. 21*
Clark Hoyt and Linda Kauss 3*
John W. Warner IV Foundation, Inc. 4*
Johns Hopkins University
George Kegley 9*
Anna Logan Lawson and Thomas T. Lawson 25*
Catherine B. Lemon and W. Tucker Lemon 7
LexisNexis 7
Lifetime Learning, UVA Office of Engagement
Margaret Lloyd and Robert Lloyd 7*
B. Thomas Mansbach 10*
Miller School of Albemarle
Elizabeth D. Merrill 31*
Katherine Neville
Estate of Robert Collier Nusbaum *
Old Dominion Capital Mgmt., Inc.
Michelle DuPont Olson and Chris Olson 9*
Kristin K. Onuf and Peter S. Onuf 25*
Orange Tree Foundation
Ann Wesley Ramsey and Richard L. Ramsey *
Gioia F. Riccio and David J. Sullivan III
Tara Riccio
Claire Veber Richardson and Brendan Richardson
Sally Rugaber and Walter Rugaber 12*
Jorian P. Schutz
Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital 2
Barbara Shifflett and Crandall A. Shifflett
Signature Family Wealth Advisors 2*
The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation 10
The Montpelier Foundation
Elsie Wilson Thompson and William M. Thompson Jr. 3*
TowneBank Portsmouth
Donna J. Treacy and Dennis H. Treacy 6*
UVA Gamma Knife Center
UVA Office of the President
Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc.
John W. Warner IV and Shannon Ford Hamm 4*
Wells Fargo 2
Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge
Susan Yesawich and Paul Yesawich 4
HUMANITIES ASSOCIATESGifts of $1,000 to $2,499
Albemarle County Rotary Club
Sandra L. Anderson
The Nathalie and James Andrews Foundation
Association of Print Scholars, Inc.
Diane T. Atkinson and Frank B. Atkinson 3*
Number in GOLD denotes a member of the Cardinal Society with consecutive years of giving to Virginia Humanities.
+ Deceased *Indicates a gift made in whole or in part to the Virginia Humanities Fund, our unrestricted fund. Report
reflects giving from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. Every effort has been made to list all donors accurately.
For inquires and corrections please contact the Advancement Office at 434-924-3296 or [emailprotected].
Honor Roll of DonorsVirginia Humanities acknowledges the following benefactors who provided critical financial support between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019. Their investments help create programs and opportunities for all Virginians to share their stories and learn about the experiences of others so we can explore our differences and connect through what we have in common.
FY19GIVINGBYTHENUMBERS
1,136 DONATIONS from individuals, corporations, and foundations
44% OF DONATIONS to Virginia Humanities Fund (unrestricted)
1,473,549 private dollars raised
320 new donors
NEARLY 20% OF DONORS increased their donation
Author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah reads from his book, Friday Black, during the 2019 Virginia Festival of the Book. Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities35
Josef S. Beery and Louisa Gay Beery
Terry Belanger 3
Bonnie Bernstein and Howard Dobin 3*
Mary Scott B. Birdsall and John H. Birdsall, III 2*
Kellee L. Blake *
Elizabeth Blue and Robert M. Blue *
Jane Turner Censer and Jack Censer 4
Elizabeth B. Smiley and Andrew S. Chancey 20*
Charlottesville Pride Community Network 5
Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission
Robert M. Coffelt Jr. 8*
Susan L. Coleman and Michael A. Coleman 31
COSLA 2
Creative Framing & The Art Box 3
Patsy Ann Dass and Dean A. Dass
Jane Noren Davis and Thomas J. Davis 3
Rhoda M. Dreyfus 10*
Janet U. Eden 7
Robert C. Fort *
Cynthia K. Fralin and W. Heywood Fralin, Sr.
Virginia Galgano and Michael J. Galgano 17*
Green Valley Book Fair 6
Wendy Ellen Mills and William M. Habeeb 3*
Eva S. Hardy and Patrick M. Hardy 2*
The Honorable Christopher T. Head and Elizabeth Head *
Heiner Family Foundation 7*
Maurice A. Jones and Lisa Beatrice Smith
Janice M. Karon 2*
Andrew C. King
McCrea S. Kudravetz and David W. Kudravetz 10
Elizabeth Bermingham Lacy and D. Patrick Lacy Jr. 9*
Frances J. Lee-Vandell *
Kirk Mariner *
Turk McCleskey 7*
Angie R. Hogan and Kevin J. McFadden 19*
Mental Health Services 3
Janet H. Miller and Edward M. Miller 2*
Mitford Children's Foundation *
Elizabeth H. Murphy and Michael K. Murphy 7*
New City Media, Inc. 4
Kelly O'Keefe and Cristy Drake O'Keefe 2*
Pamela F. Olsen and Grant D. Aldonas *
Charlotte K. Porterfield and Bittle W. Porterfield III *
Helen B. Reveley and W. Taylor Reveley III 18*
Nina Riccio
Lynda J. Robb and The Honorable Charles S. Robb 4*
Duane Roberts *
Andrea Cornett-Scott and Edward A. Scott 3*
Martha J. Sims and Hunter W. Sims Jr. 6*
Michael F. Suarez
David Sullivan
William D. Alexander and Terry Sykes
Jacqueline Langholtz and William R. Taylor 2*
William F. Trinkle and Juan Granados 2
UVA Community Credit Union 2
UVA Office of the Provost & Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts
Virginia Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars
Betty Watkins and Hays T. Watkins 30*
Camille Wells 2*
G. Michael Wildasin 3*
Martha R. Wilson and Richard T. Wilson, III 19*
Suzanne S. Youngkin and Glenn A. Youngkin 2*
BENEFACTORSGifts of $500 to $999
Wayne B. Adkins and Sandra Adkins 5*
Anonymous [1]
Clay H. Barr 5*
Elizabeth Stark Barton 5*+
Beacon Technologies, Inc. 2
Carolyn W. Bell and Alex W. Bell 12*
Bruce Black 3*
Lora Bottinelli and Brian Gilliland 2
Ellen Brock and Joseph F. Borzelleca Jr. 5*
A. Cary Brown and Steven E. Epstein
Susan V. Cable and Louis A. Cable 10*
Carolyn R. Cades and Daniel A. Engel 12
Rose Nan-Ping Chen 2*
Kathleen J. Craig and Brian H. Balogh 2*
Sara R. Dassance and Charles R. Dassance 5
Joseph J. David, MD, and Patricia J. Shipley, MD 8
William D. Elliot and Diane Elliot *
Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC *
Ann D. Foard 13
Joanne V. Gabbin 15*
Catherine W. Glover and David K. Glover 2
Erica V. Goldfarb and Adam N. Goldfarb, MD
Michael Jay Green 3
Julie P. Hamre and John Hamre
Sandra Heinemann and Ronald L. Heinemann 27*
Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton and Robert Fatton Jr. 12
Mary C. Huey 2
Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville 3
Jessica Kaplan and Joe Youcha *
Amos P. Kennedy Jr.
Brian B. King 2
Christine E. Kueter
Jane B. Kulow and Frederick C. Kulow 7*
Catherine Lynn*
Edith Reyer McHenry and Henry D. McHenry Jr. 2
Gretchen McKee 4
Cecilia Mills and Philip Schrodt 4
Jennifer D. Mullen and Edward A. Mullen 7*
Helen Persinger Parrish and David L. Parrish 2*
Mary Susan Payne and James R. Brookeman 2
Peabody School
Mary J. Peters 3*
E. Clorisa Phillips and Alexander B. Horniman 2*
Daphne Maxwell Reid and Tim Reid 6*
Mary W. Reiman 6
Lucy H. Rice and George V. Gilligan Jr. 10*
Francesco Ronchetti
Barbara K. Shea and Frank A. Shea, III 9*
Southern Bank
Jane Barbieri Stark
John W. Stark
Mary Ellen Stumpf *
Rebecca H. Sutton and Michael H. Sutton 12*
The Carter G. Woodson Institute
The Nicholson Companies
The Van Brimer Family Foundation 10
Virginia Consortium of Social Studies Specialists and College
Carole M. Weinstein and Marcus M. Weinstein
Jane B. White and Kenneth S. White 2*
Barbara J. Williams and Richard Williams 3
Jennifer H. Winslow, MD, and Frank Winslow
Peggy Wolf and Fred Wolf
Elizabeth Louise Young and Robert Lovell 15*
Karen Zeno 2
PATRONSGifts of $250 to $499
Susan R. Stein and Kenneth S. Abraham 3*
Anonymous [1]
Margaret S. Black *
Joanne T. Blakemore and J. Haywood Blakemore, IV
Blue Whale Books, Inc.
Tommy L. Bogger 12*
Jeffery C. Bromm *
Kara McLane Burke and Christopher F. Burke
George Carras
Sheila A. Carrico and Garry Carrico
Dulce M. Carrillo and Samuel D. Klein 2*
Leila Christenbury 2*
Christine H. Colley and John S. Colley 10*
Mary Vanden Eisenstadt *
Susan M. Feinour and Edwin R. Feinour *
Ingrid N. Fuquen Zeisler and Aaron M. Zeisler
Norma Geddes
Maya Ghaemmaghami, MD, and Chris A. Ghaemmaghami, MD 2*
Susan Goldman 2
Meredith Strohm Gunter and Bradley H. Gunter 29*
Stuart Hardwick Jr.
Charlotta Q. Helleberg and Mark S. Quigg, MD
Jody L. Hesler and Jeffrey L. Hesler
HHL Consulting, LLC *
Renee Afanana Hill and Oliver W. Hill Jr. 3*
Debora J. Hoard and Harry Hoard
Sandy Hodge and Robert Hodge 2
Karen E. Kigin 5
Julia McCrea Kudravetz 3*
Adria J. LaViolette and Jeffrey L. Hantman *
Diane Lawson and Eric Lawson 11*
Anne Heath Lee and James C. Lee *
Priscilla C. Little and David Little 3
Esther Mackintosh
Jane N. Manning and Preston C. Manning, MD
Winifred R. Martin 7
Charlotte J. McDaniel 7
Alice Parker Meador 2*
Marik Moen
Daryl B. Nemo and Stephen E. Nemo 8
Barbara J. Payne and James M. Childress 3*
Janet Swenson Pearson and Richard D. Pearson, MD *
Kathleen Placidi and John P. d'Entremont *
Elizabeth A. Ragosta and John A. Ragosta 4*
Angelita Reyes 9*
Elizabeth Roderick and John T. Kneebone 19*
Eleanor B. Shannon
Roger C. Sherry
Margaret Walton Smith and Thomas O. Cogill 5
Joanne H. Speiden and William H. Speiden
Sarah Kate Stephenson and James R. Funk 2
Robert E. Troxell 2*
Emma Violand-Sanchez 9*
Virginia Association of Museums *
Virginia co*cktail Peanuts 2*
Gregg Wilhelm
Susan S. Williams and Ronald A. Williams 24*
Ann Bagley Willms and Chris D. Willms 2*
FRIENDS Gifts up to $249
Eleanor P. Abbot *
Jennifer G. Ackerman
Chris Adams 2*
Kristin Adolfson
Marian S. Alexander *
Samantha Alleman *
Anne Betts Allen
Claudia Worrell Allen and Joseph P. Allen *
James C. Allison II 5
Aaron Altman
Harold Amos
Shirley Anne Andrews 2
Rachelle Ankney and Ryan Stavros 2
Anonymous [18]
Edward F. Ansello 4*
Rebecca Arenivar
Kristin Atelek
Jillian Avey and Teague Avey
Royanne H. Bailey *
Patricia A. Baker and Larry O. Baker 4
Rachel Baker
Anne Essic Barnes and Brooks M. Barnes 14
Louisa C. Barrett 3
Deborah Bartle
Pamela Bartlett and Gerald Bishop *
Lee F. Barton
Ruthe R. Battestin 3*
Lawrence Bechtel
Faith Andrews Bedford and Robert F. Bedford, MD 3
Patricia A. Benson and Peter Benson 4*
Joanna Berry *
Elaine Best 2
Betty F. Strider Trust 2
Daniel J. Bieker
Diane D. Bisgaier and Henry Bisgaier *
Walter Bissex
Tracy L. Black-Howell
ANNOUNCING THE VIRGINIA HUMANITIES GOLD CIRCLEAfter a record-setting year thanks to generous donors deepening their investment in Virginia Humanities, we are changing the way we recognize your increased support. Next year we will unveil the Virginia Humanities Gold Circle – a top-tier acknowledgment for individuals, corporations and foundations with a cumulative annual donation of $5,000 or more to Virginia Humanities and its programs and initiatives.
Mary Campbell Blanchard and Peter Blake 11*
Betsy Bloom and Thomas A. Bloom 2
Kathy A. Boi and Keith J. Boi *
Nancy B. Booker 2*
Jane E. Bowers and Gerald M. Bowers
Brooke Bowersox
Paddy Bowman 11*
Jeanine D. Braithwaite and Allan Nathanson
Alletta Du Pont Bredin-Bell and Neil J. Bell
Nancy M. Brewbaker and Robert S. Brewbaker Jr. 2*
Susan M. Brickman 2*
Robert H. Brink 4*
Elizabeth S. Brinson and Gordon K. Davies *
Nancy Brizendine
Cecilia Brown and Herbert Braun 2*
Katharine L. Brown *
Sumner Brown and Herbert L. Beskin
Browne Signet Publishing *
Henry J. Browne 2*
Dorothy T. Bryan 14*
The Honorable L. Preston Bryant Jr. and Elizabeth W. Bryant 5*
Carol W. Buckner and Murray D. Buckner
Anne H. Burch and William F. Burch, III 2*
S. Kay Burnett *
Julie A. Campbell 4
Alice P. Cannon and Jonathan Z. Cannon
Dorothy V. Carney 2
Kelly Carney *
Jeffrey Cartwright *
Scott E. Casper 9*
Carl Chappell
Charlottesville Opera 2
Janet Cheeseman and Charles A. Cheeseman 2*
Janis Chevalier and Robert L. Chevalier, MD 9*
C. Rick Chittum *
Linda R. Christenson and Eric Christenson 6*
Allison Church
Diane Frances Clark and David A. Clark
Keith Clark 3
Marjorie M. Clark and Edward Dale Clark 4*
Thomas Clark 3
Anne Cleveland 2
Sam Cleveland
Charles R. Cloud *
Teresa Lee Coffey and Mary A. Hostetter
Bobbye F. Cohen and Michael L. Cohen *
Judy Cohen and Ralph A. Cohen 4*
Joyce Galbraith Colony 4*
Jennifer Compton
Ann C. Connell 2
Tomoko Hamada Connolly *
Bettie Minette Cooper and Charles N. Cooper 15*
Dina Copelman
Eugenia A. Cornell 2
Lee Larson Cornwell
Margaret Cox 9
Brian Craine 2
Antje Crawford
Ellen Crosby
Patricia Davies Cummings and Russell M. Cummings 9*
Julia B. Curtis and John R. Curtis Jr. 16*
Sandra Bain Cushman and Stephen B. Cushman 16*
Lucas A. Czarnecki
Victoria B. Damiani 4*
Nancy Coble Damon and Frederick H. Damon 19*
Daryl Lynn Dance 5*
L. Karen Darner *
Karen Davenport 2*
Marty Moon and Butch Davies *
Joanne Davis and Maynard K. Davis 2*
Melinda Hope Davis *
Elaine Day 2*
Rajiv D'Cruz
Jane DeBernardo *
Pauline P. Deck and J. David Deck 3*
Marion Dembling and Bruce Dembling *
Ethel C. DeNeveu and Larry DeNeveu
Natalie Detert
Barbara M. Dickinson 2*
Betty Ann Dillon 16*
Jane De Simone Dittmar and Frank J. Squillace 2
Janet Dix 4*
Judy D. Dobbs and Robert J. Condlin
Honnor N. Dorsey 2*
Janie Dowdy and Roger Dowdy 2
Margaret B. Downing 4*
Lisa M. Draine and Joel M. Schectman, MD *
Ellen M. Dudley and Eric Seaborg *
Douglas R. Dunkel *
Dianne Duperier
Gail Lavene Dussere and David Dussere *
Bette Dzamba and David Sellers 8
Emma C. Edmunds 17*
Evelyn Edson and Andrew A. Wilson 11*
Deborah Ellis and Llewellyn B. Bigelow *
Janet A. Ellis and John C. Ellis Jr. 2*
Richard Emmett *
Carl F. Erickson *
Margaret Anne Eschenroeder and H. C. Eschenroeder Jr., MD
Stacey Evans and John F. Grant
Takako Ezell and James Ezell
Anne M. Farrell 4
Krista S. Farrell and Patrick Farrell 5
Denise Fehrenbach
Jane Elizabeth Fellows and Philip C. Fellows *
Laurie Howard Felton and Thomas F. Felton 4*
Cary S. Ferguson and Dean Ferguson
Rosewita Fernandez and Lionel Fernandez 2*
Corinne T. Field 3
Jenny G. Fife
Millie Hill Fife 2*
Elizabeth C. Fine 12*
Nani Finley and Lowery Finley 2*
Sarah Hopkins Finley and Donald J. Finley 2*
Brenda Fishel 8*
Bette Flickinger and Charles J. Flickinger, MD 2
Karen L. Foley and Daniel Foley *
Morgan E. Ford
Joan Seaver Forrest and Robert L. Forrest 2
Joanne R. Foster and James E. Foster 2
Julie Foster
Elizabeth Fowler and Victor Luftig
Leslie H. Friedman 4*
Susan B. Friedman and Frank Friedman
Elizabeth R. Fuller 6*
Judith B. Funderburk and J.Vic Funderburk 5*
Joyce Funston and Gary J. Funston *
Virginia Gardner and Stephen Gardner 2
Nancy Garretson and Stephen L. Fisher 2*
Clifford Garstang 3
Phyllis W. Gaskins and James E. Gaskins 5*
Leo Gasteiger
Christopher P. Gavaler
Elizabeth Gay
Georgia Humanities Council
Jennifer Billingsly and Matthew S. Gibson 10
Shirley M. Gibson 3*
Struthers H. Gignoux and Frederick E. Gignoux, III 2
Peter A. Gilbert and Cynthia A. Char
|
HO
NO
R R
OLL
OF
DO
NO
RS
39
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents $3,617,672 Investments $4,630,863 Grants Receivable $609,580 Pledges Receivable $69,070 Other Receivable $456,888 Prepaid Expenses $15,651
TotalCurrentAssets $9,399,724
Fixed Assets Leasehold Improvements $26,627
Equipment
Media Equipment $230,045 Furniture and Office Equipment $135,719 Computers and Software $311,254 Other Equipment $12,043
Sub-total $715,688Less:AccumulatedDepreciation (678,935)
TotalFixedAssets $36,753
Other Assets
Investments-Permanently Restricted Endowment $535,641
TotalAssets $9,972,118
LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable $37,093 Accrued Expenses $141,538 Grants Payable $182,940 Deferred Revenue $453,590 Current Portion of Long Term Liabilities $18,619
TotalCurrentLiabilities $833,780
Long Term Liabilities
CompensatedAbsences, $167,568 netofCurrentPortion
TotalLiabilities $1,001,348
Net Assets
Unrestricted $6,211,379 Temporarily Restricted $2,223,750 Permanently Restricted $535,641
TotalNetAssets $8,970,770
TotalLiabilitiesandNetAssets $9,972,118
StateAppropriation
19% FederalIncome
27%
Restricted&UnrestrictedCarryforward
18%
OtherIncome(All Other Sources)
3%
Individuals
13%
UniversityofVirginia
7%
Corporations/Foundations
8%
2018 - 2019 REVENUE SOURCES$7.9 MILLION**The balance of income over expenses is reserved for multi-year projects.
DigitalInitiatives
14%
Radio&Podcasts
20%
Cultures&Community
12%
Grants&Fellowships
17%Books&
Literature
10%
ProgramServices
5%
Management
12%
Advancement
10%
2018 - 2019 EXPENSES$5.9 MILLION
Figures for FY19 are Unaudited
*Includes restricted and unrestricted carryforward funds, and deferred income for FY19
VIRGINIA HUMANITIESSTATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AT JUNE 30, 2018 FOR VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES AND PUBLIC POLICY
EarnedIncome
5%
Atalissa S. Gilfoyle 4*
Katharine Scott Jones Gilliam and Alexander G. Gilliam Jr. 3*
Eddie Gilmartin 2
Marjory B. Giuliano
Molly Godby
Janet H. Goin and Robert G. Rogers *
Kim Rendelson and Gabriel Goldberg 11
Edith Brodhead Good 4*
Laura Goorvitch 2
Betty Lou Goss and Larry Z. Goss, MD *
Arnold B. Graboyes, MD and Kathleen B. Graboyes
Sharon Grazier *
Sandi Green 2
Judith R. Greenberg and Heywood L. Greenberg 2*
Dana Greene 5*
Gerri Gribi 8
Linnea M. Grim
Carol Gronstal 6*
Jacqueline R. Gropman and Alan L. Gropman 2*
Margaret M. Grove 2
Camille Gubello
Charles M. Guggenheimer and Connie C. Shannon 2*
Doniphan C. Guggenheimer 5*
Margaret Owen Guggenheimer and Timothy A. Litzenburg 6*
Edgar J. Gunter Jr. 3*
Richard B. Haines
Anne Hallerman
Peggy Halliday and John Halliday 2
Brownie Sales Hamilton
Kate Hamilton and Philip Loving
Susan Ford Hammaker 2
Barbara Y. Hamran 2*
Guy Handelman 2*
Sharon A. Harrigan and James E. Harrigan 2*
Christine A. Harris
Eleanor Marie Hartless 5
Wendy Hasenkamp
Adam Hecktman 2
Sandra Hedlund 2
Carolyn Hemphill *
Mary Jo Dollins Hendricks and T. Alan Hendricks 2
Carol A. Hendrix 25*
James M. Henry III
Millie Herget
Priscilla D. Hesford and John P. Hesford Sr. 5
Shari Heywood 2
Helen M. Hibbitts and David L. Hibbitts
Mimi Elliott Hirsch *
Wendy W. Hirsh and Jay Hirsh 10
Susan Tyler Hitchco*ck 3*
Jean L. Hitchins and John G. Hitchins Jr. *
Cathy B Hix and Charles R. Hix
Vicki Ingram Hobson and John T. Hobson
Vandivere P. Hodges and John H. Hodges 2*
Carol J. Hogg and David E. Hogg 5*
Theodore Homyk Jr. and Mona Homyk
Sarah Honenberger and Christopher J. Honenberger
Dolores Horan and Harold S. Horan
Lesley Howard *
Mary A. Reuman-Redenbaugh Howard and A. E. Dick Howard 3*
Corliss S. Hubert and Joseph Hubert 2
Barbara Humphrys and Tom Humphrys 2
Gayle Hunter Haglund and Kurt M. Haglund 2*
Almeta Ingram-Miller *
Tina Irvine
Timothy Isaacs
Anke Jackson and J.M. Russell Jackson 2*
Kathy Merlock Jackson and Joe W. Jackson 2
Flora Jacobson 5*
David J. Johnson Jr. 3*
Karen Johnson and Dennis L. Johnson, MD 2
Margaret H. Johnson and Jeffery M. Johnson
Mary C. Haycox Johnson and Pearce C. Johnson 2*
J. Ford Johnston Jr. and Susan D. Johnston 2*
David C. Jones
Diana T. Jones *
Heidi Jones *
Lewellyn S. Jordan and Daniel P. Jordan Jr. 2*
Georgia L. Joyal 2
Sydna W. Julian and William Julian *
Jeffrey Karako
Heather S. Karp and Ira W. Herbst 6*
Martha Katz-Hyman *
Barbara Milano Keenan and Alan E. Rosenblatt *
David B. Keever 2*
Aileen W. Kelly 2*
Kentucky Humanities Council
Catherine Kerrison
Evelyn Cottman Kessler and Gary D. Kessler 2
Robert D. Kidd Jr.
Judith W. Kirwan and Jeffrey L. Kirwan 10*
Roberta Kmiec and Dennis Kmiec 2*
Karen H. Knierim and R. Scott Knierim
Donna M. Knoell and Charles D. Meyer *
Dorothy B. Koopman and Mark Eaton 5*
Helen E. Kostel and George J. Kostel *
Enid Krieger
Michelle Krowl 2
Geraldine D. Kruger and Rob Myers *
Gail Kuchem and Kevin Kuchem
Barbara W. Kudravetz 2*
A. Robert Kuhlthau 4*
Lana Lambert
Nellie Pat Clements Landrum
John D. Lang *
Gabriel Laufer *
Bonnie Cooper Law *
Page R. Laws 2*
Laura Lay and David M. Lay
John M. Lee 6
Joseph P. Lehman
Mary Jean Redon Levin and G. John Levin Jr. *
David W. Levy 10*
Peppy G. Linden 3
Ginny Lindsey and Gordon R. Lindsey *
James R. Lindsey Jr. 2*
Margaret Edds Lipper and Robert J. Lipper 2
Adriana Lloyd
Marilyn Lloyd 2*
Anne R. Loach and Donald G. Loach 3*
John P. Lockney *
Marsha Login and Ivan S. Login, MD 2
Tori L. Talbot and Jonathan M. Lohman 16
Elizabeth Long *
Karen R. Long and Joseph K. Frolik
Teresa L. Long and Barry Long *
James D. Lott, Sr. *
Michael Anne Lynn *
Kathleen M. Lyons
Letty Ann Macdonald Macdonald and Robert C. Macdonald 4*
Zanne Macdonald 10*
|
HO
NO
R R
OLL
OF
DO
NO
RS
41
Virginia Humanities is committed to building a vital future through planned and endowed gifts. We recognize those who have remembered us through a planned gift, a simple bequest, real or personal property, or a charitable trust. As substantial, long-term gifts, they serve as the cornerstone for the future of Virginia Humanities.
If you have already included us in your estate plan but do not see your name listed below, please let us know so that we may thank you appropriately.
Melanie Biermann and Martin I. Younker
Frances H. Bulger
Lucy C. and Randolph W. Church Jr.
Tomoko Hamada Connolly
Emma C. Edmunds
Janet Eden
Ron and Kathe Feinman
William W. Freehling
Barbara J. Fried
Susan Gaeta
Virginia Geoffrey and John P. Andelin Jr.
Michael Jay Green
Jerome S. Handler
Sheryl B. Hayes
Jo Ann and Robert G. Hofheimer Jr.
Clark Hoyt and Linda Kauss
George A. Latimer
Robert C. Nusbaum+
Elizabeth P. Piper
Daniele C. Struppa
Mary Ellen Stumpf
Ellen P. and Robert C. Vaughan III+
Jorgen and Laura Burkhardt Vik
William and Jeanne Wiley
Martha R. and Richard T. Wilson III
Elizabeth Louise Young
Cornerstone Society
Contortionist Mandkhai Erdembat started studying contortion at the age of five in Mongolia. Her apprentices and first students Ella and Emma Chuluunbat were photographed on the set of Erdembat's show, Contortionist's Seed in Fairfax, Virginia, on 3/17/19
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
Linda Wilson MacIlwaine and William A. MacIlwaine IV, MD *
Kathryn MacKay *
Eric Magrum 2*
Elliot Majerczyk 2*
Faye Male 2
Edythe Manza and Louis A. Manza
Sara Virginia Mariska
Marjory B. Giuliano Living Trust
Ann Herndon Marshall and Richard Cappuccio 2
Laura K. Marshall and Howard Z. Horstman 7
Diane Sadler Martin 2
Eduardo J. Martinez
Nancy Martin-Perdue
John E. Mason Jr. *
Nicholas A. Mattsson 2*
Gerald P. McCarthy
Scott P. McClure 2*
Sarah B. McConnell and Robert R. Gibson *
Dorothy Martin McCorkle and Maston R. McCorkle *
Sharon A. McCurdy and Charles W. McCurdy 2*
Anne McFadden 6*
Linda A. McGee 6*
Mary Katherine McGetrick and Bradley H. McGetrick
Katherine McNamara
Christina Mead
MaryLewis Bowen Meador and Daniel J. Meador Jr. 2
G. Neil Means 22*
Lindsey Mears
Christine Medlin and Gary Medlin 12
Rita Roy and Jonathan R. Merril 7*
David T. Michel *
Elizabeth M. Michel *
Betty Lou Middleditch and Leigh B. Middleditch Jr. 9*
Jarrett Millard and Stephen E. Millard *
Joseph C. Miller 4*
Lorna D. Miller and Eugene J. Meyung 14
Susan Apperson Miller, MD, and Sean Miller
Raennah Mitchell 2*
Erika Mitchell and Trey Mitchell 11*
John R. Mitterling
Lane Mitterling
Judith A. Moody and Gary Moody 15*
Gwen Moore and John C. Moore
Brenda A. Morris
Kelly P. Mortemousque and Pierre P. Mortemousque
Shelley V. Murphy *
Lynda E. Myers 7*
Michael Nadler
Christine Nardi
Gail Shea Nardi 4*
National Society of the DAR
Albert E. Neale 3
Amanda Nelsen and William Abrahamson
Suzanne M. Nelsen
Jessica Newmark and Alexander M. Newmark *
Michael L. Nicholls 9
Jill Nogueras and Peter Nogueras
Elizabeth A. Obenshain 3*
Odyssey
Michaela Oldfield *
Helen V. Oliver and Charles M. Oliver 2*
Patty Olivieri and Vincent Olivieri *
Mona Orange and Richard L. Orange 2
Priscilla A. Ord 3
Susie Orr
Beatrix Ost-Kuttner
Michael J. Otte 5
Nancy Ottenritter 4
Martha Otto and Richard L. Renfro *
Susan M. Overstreet and George A. Overstreet 3
Amber Pace and Cyrus E. Pace *
Arlene Page 7*
S. Jean Palin and Philip J. Palin 19*
Parkway Quartet
Susan Parsons
Anna Patel
Henry Pawlowski 6
Jill T. Payne *
Lydia W. Peale and John S. Peale 26*
Heather Peck
Susan Holbrook Perdue and Martin C. Perdue 11
A. Elizabeth Perry 3
Marc Pessar
Jacqueline B. Pickering and John W. Pickering 5
Jeff Pike
David S. Pildas
Pildas-Campbell Trust
Hermine Pinson 2
Elizabeth Prentice Piper 9*
Donna S. Pitt and Joseph C. Pitt 8*
The Honorable Kenneth R. Plum and Jane Plum 6*
Carol J. Pollock and James A. Pollock 5
Elizabeth Anne Powell and Robert D. Sweeney 2*
Deborah M. Prum and Bruce E. Prum Jr., MD 3
Barbara M. Raizen and Michael B. Raizen 13*
Robin Randall
Judy Rasmussen 4*
Margaret L. Rawls and Sol W. Rawls III *
Christine Cascella Reider and Frank Reider 8*
Alice L. Reilly and Kevin F. Reilly
Harriet Reynolds *
Julie Richter and Douglas H. Baker 6*
Cindy Ritter and Ted Ritter *
Eric Rizzi 5
Gale Abbott Roberts and William L. Roberts 2*
Kay T. Roberts and George H. Roberts Jr.
Tracy F. Robertson
Janet Rochester and Haydon Rochester Jr. 8*
Lois B. Rochester and Dudley F. Rochester, MD *
Rockbridge Historical Society
Douglas E. Rogers
Deborah Rolfe *
Ann R. Rooker and Dennis S. Rooker 2*
Hubert C. Roop 9
Aleene L. Rose and Robert K. Rose
Christine A. Rosenquist and Eric Rosenquist
Rodney A. Ross
Laura E. Rossmore and Edward F. Rossmoore
Whitley V. Rotgin and Charles Rotgin Jr.
Edward W. Rucker IV *
Della C. Rucks *
Carol Sacks and Robert Sacks 4*
Judith P. Sams and Coy R. Sams
Lois Jean Harrington Sandy and Claude A. Sandy 2*
Shelley Sass and Michael Geisert
Leonard R. Scharf Jr. *
Virginia R. Schiappa and Andrew Schiappa
John T. Schlotterbeck 7*
Elizabeth K. Schneider 2*
Jane Vinacour Schneider and Allan Schneider *
Claudine Schweber 4
Timothy S. Seibles
Susan M. Seidler and Robert O. Whaley Jr. 5*
Aileen Selmeczi and Gary Selmeczi
Beverley Martin Sessoms and William D. Sessoms Jr.
Barbara Shansby *
Jayne Shaw and Brian Shaw *
Julia L. Shields 12*
Gail Shirley-Warren and Thomas E. Warren
Mitchell Shively 7
Ellen Olin Shrum
Mary U. Sihler and William W. Sihler
Jeanne A. Siler 10
Shamim Sisson and James M. Cooper 6
Allison M. Sleeman and John K. Sleeman 9
Janet L. Smalley 2
Ashlin W. Smith 2*
Karla Smith 10*
Louise Smith
Diane W. Solatka and Michael J. Solatka 4
St. James Armenian Church
Janice F. Stalfort and John A. Stalfort, II 3*
Lucia C. Stanton 5*
Myra L. Stephenson 6*
Grace M. Stillwell 2*
Anne E. Strange and Keith Strange 9*
Lynda Strickler and Steve Strickler *
Betty F. Strider 2
Catha Stroupe
Christine Sweeters 3
Kristin M. Swenson and Craig L. Slingluff Jr., MD *
Jill Sykes and Daniel E. Sykes
Ina Szekely
Cynthia P. Szwajkowski and Leslie M. Szwajkowski
David G. Taylor
Jean M. Taylor 9*
Jordan P. Taylor 2*
Heather M. Thomas and William G. Thomas, III
Suzanne L. Thorniley
Barbara Caryl Tobey 5
Rebecca Tollefson
Robert B. Toplin *
Susan S. Tremblay and Richard M. Tremblay 4*
Laura M. Troy and Robert J. Troy *
Tom Trykowski *
Betsy Tucker and Herbert F. Tucker 2*
Abigail Turner and Dave Watson 2
Jack Turner
Sam R. Uppala 3
Rose M. Van Epp
Charlotte P. Black-Van Groll and Theo van Groll
Varian Medical Systems
Michelle E Venuti and Frank Venuti 2
Virginia Department of Education
Lucie L. Vogel 2
George I. Wagner 2
Gloria Wallace 6*
Sally Trapnell Warthen and Harry J. Warthen III 10*
Elizabeth Baldwin Waters and David B. Waters 2
Krista L. Weih and Kevin Quirk 2
Lola Weir and Mark Barnhill *
Judy Weiss
Anne Dudley Wescott
Charles W. White *
Patricia H. White and Stephen K. White 3*
Duncan M. Whittome 3
Susan Wight and Richard C. Wight III *
Wild Birds Unlimited
Wildlife Center of Virginia
Llwanda K. Williams and D. Alan Williams 5*
Roger D. Williams 12
Margaret Ruth Spurlin Willis and Lloyd L. Willis II 2*
Eric S. Wilson
Jennifer N. Wingard
Brendan M. Wolfe 9*
Sharon Woltz *
Joyce N. Wooldridge and William C. Wooldridge 4*
Rafia M. Zafar
Beverly G. Zinck and James R. Zinck 10*
|
HO
NO
R R
OLL
OF
DO
NO
RS
43
Rita Dove, Esi Edugyan, and John Edgar Wideman discuss the meanings of race, violence, and freedom, as explored in their acclaimed fiction during the 2019 Virginia Festival of the Book.
Photo by Peter Hedlund, Virginia Humanities
2nd Act Books
A Pimento Catering
Jennifer Ackerman
Kristin Adolfson
Albemarle Baking Company
Sandra Anderson
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards presented by the Cleveland Foundation
Anonymous (2)
Rachel Baker
Josef Beery
Bonnie Bernstein
Daniel Bieker
Jeanine Braithewaite
Carolyn Cades
CalmingPoints Therapeutic Massage
Charlottesville Radio Group
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Allison Church
CitySpace
Common House
Congregation Beth Israel
Lee Cornwell
Creative Framing, LTD. & The Art Box
C-VILLE Weekly
Lucas Czarnecki
Dean Dass
Gifts In KindEach year Virginia Humanities recognizes in-kind contributions from those who have hosted events, contributed artwork to the Raucous Auction, provided goods and services for programs, and promoted our programming. Their contributions help us reduce expenses, secure additional funding, increase programmatic quality and exposure, and focus on our important work throughout the Commonwealth.
Natalie Detert
Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville
Flanders State of the Art
Norma Geddes
Carol Gilbert Sacks
Grit Coffee
Lyall Harris
Wendy Hasenkamp
Charlotta Helleberg
Sandy Hodge
Jefferson Madison Regional Library
Jefferson School African American Heritage Center
Karen Johnson
Margaret Johnson
Amos Paul Kennedy Jr.
Andrew King
Lana Lambert
Kevin McFadden
Katherine McNamara
Lindsey Mears
National Book Foundation
Parkway Quartet
Heather Peck
Portico Church
Douglas Rogers
Francesco Ronchetti
Roger Charles Sherry
Jeanne Siler
Janet Smiley
Louise Smith
SPAIN Arts & Culture
Michael Suarez
The Daily Progress
The Paramount Theater
Unity of Charlottesville
UVA Contemplative Sciences Center
Rose Van Epp
Theo Van Groll
Vault Virginia
Village School
Virginia Film Festival
Elizabeth Waters
Wild Birds Unlimited
Wildlife Center of Virginia
Williams Sonoma at Stonefield
Jennifer Wingard
WMRA / WEMC Public Radio
WTJU 91.1FM
WVPT / WHTJ PBS Community Idea Stations
WVTF Public Radio
Cauline Yates
Elizabeth Stark Barton
Leonard Dreyfus
George K. Kudravetz
Robert Collier Nusbaum
Robert C. Vaughan, III
Karenne Wood
In MemoriamThe Board and Staff of Virginia Humanities remember with gratitude the following donors who passed away during the year. Their heartfelt contributions helped to shape our organization, develop new programs, and provide enthusiastic support for our work.
WHAT WE DO
49Made 49 virtual tours of historic sites available
53Conducted 53 projects with K-12 schools
42 Live streamed 42 public events
21%
42% 3%
3%
9%
8%
5%
3%
6%
343,000+IN-PERSONEVENTATTENDEES
9,500+VOLUNTEERHOURSWORKED
337COMMUNITYPARTNERSHIPS
NONPROFITSRECEIVEDMORETHAN$300KINGRANTS
TOTALMINUTESOFRADIO/PODCASTS
5,200+
Here'saquickbreakdownofthenearly1,000 activitiesourprogramsandgranteesconductedlastyear.
AUTHORVISITSINSCHOOL
RADIO/TV/PODCASTAUDIENCE 48,000,000+
TV, RADIO, PODCASTS
WEBSITES/DIGITAL
PUBLICATIONS
EXHIBITIONS
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
K-12 PROJECTS
OTHER
PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS
FESTIVALS & PERFORMANCES
In Memory of Elizabeth Stark BartonKristin AtelekDiane T. Atkinson and Frank B. AtkinsonDeborah BartleLee Forrester BartonJane E. Bowers and Gerald M. BowersNancy BrizendineDiane Seckora Clark and David Alan Clark Takako Ezell and James EzellDenise FehrenbachSarah Hopkins Finley and Donald J. FinleyDr. Elizabeth Fowler and Dr. Victor LuftigLinnea M. GrimCamille GubelloKate Hamilton and Philip LovingChristine A. HarrisJohn T. Hobson and Vicki Ingram HobsonCathy B. Hix and Charles HixJo Ann M. Hofheimer and Robert G. Hofheimer Jr. Timothy IsaacsMary C. Haycox Johnson and Pearce C. JohnsonDavid C. JonesJohn T. KneeboneGail Kuchem and Kevin KuchemLaura Lay and David M. LayJoseph P. LehmanAdriana LloydBradley H. McGetrick and Mary Katherine McGetrickJill Nogueras and Peter NoguerasSusie OrrAlice L. Reilly and Kevin F. ReillyTracy F. RobertsonLaura E. Rossmore and Edward F. RossmoreSaint James Armenian ChurchVirginia R. Schiappa and Andrew SchiappaBeverley M. Sessoms and William D. Sessoms Jr.Martha J. Sims and Hunter W. Sims Jr.John W. Stark and Jane Barbieri StarkJill Sykes and Daniel E. SykesCynthia P. Szwajkowski and Leslie M. SzwajkowskiRebecca TollefsonAnne Dudley Wescott Virginia Association of MuseumsVirginia Department of EducationVirginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium
In Honor of David BearingerCamille WellsBrooks Miles Barnes and Anne Essic BarnesKatherine L. BrownMelanie J. Biermann and Martin I. Younker
In Memory of Lewis T. Booker Sr.Nancy B. Booker
In Memory of Robert D. BrickmanSusan M. Brickman
In Memory of Sandra Crawford CampbellMargaret Ruth Spurlin Willis and Lloyd L. Willis, II
In Honor of Nancy Coble DamonEnid Krieger
In Memory of Leonard DreyfusLydia W. Peale and Dr. John S. Peale
In Honor of Renee GrishamLinda Wilson MacIlwaine and William A. MacIlwaine, IV
In Honor of Doniphan C. Guggenheimer and Charles M. Guggenheimer
Margaret O. Guggenheimer
In Honor of Margaret O. GuggenheimerCharles M. Guggenheimer and Connie C. ShannonDoniphan C. Guggenheimer
In Memory of Charity T. HainesRichard B. Haines
In Honor of Jo Ann M. Hofheimer and Robert G. Hofheimer Jr.
Fred Wolf and Peggy Wolf
In Memory of Maggie L. IngramAlmeta Ingram-Miller
In Honor of Kirkland M. Kelley and Margerite K. Vail
Harriet Reynolds
In Memory of James L. KellyAileen W. Kelly
In Memory of George K. KudravetzBarbara W. Kudravetz
Honorary and Memorial GiftsIn Memory of Carol J. Troxell
AnonymousElizabeth R. FullerBetsy Bloom and Thomas A. Bloom Louisa Barrett
In Honor and Memory of Robert C. Vaughan III
Anne Betts AllenSusan E. Bacik and R. Andrew Wyndham Faith Andrews Bedford and Robert F. BedfordCarolyn W. Bell and Alex W. BellJennifer Billingsly and Matthew s. GibsonBrooke BowersoxCharlottesville Area Community FoundationAnne Cleveland and Sam ClevelandSusan L. Coleman and Michael A. ColemanDina CopelmanJennifer ComptonRajiv D’Cruz and Sara V. MariskaNancy Coble Damon and Frederick H. DamonJudy D. DobbsDiane DuperierEmma C. EdmundsCorinne T. FieldAnn D. FoardMorgan E. FordCynthia K. Fralin and W. Heywood Fralin Sr.Joanna V. GabbinGeorgia Humanities Council Peter A. GilbertMolly Godby
Janet H. Goin and Robert G. RogersArnold B. GraboyesMeredith Strohm Gunter and Bradley H. GunterBrownie Sales HamiltonSusan Ford HammakerJerome S. HandlerStuart Hardwick Jr.Carol A. HendrixJames Marshall Henry IIIMillie HergetJay Hirsh and Wendy W. HirshSusan T. Hitchco*ckLewellyn S. Jordan and Daniel P. Jordan Jr.Kentucky Humanities CouncilCatherine KerrisonJohn T. Kneebone and Elizabeth RoderickNellie Pat Clements LandrumAnna Logan Lawson and Thomas Towles LawsonPeppy G. LindenJames David Lott Sr.Esther MackintoshEdythe Manza and Louis A. ManzaGerald P. McCarthyKevin J. McFaddenMental Health ServicesJoseph C. MillerLorna D. MillerSusan Apperson Miller and Sean MillerJohn R. Mitterling and Lane MitterlingMarty Moon and Butch DaviesJohn C. MooreLynda E. MyersChristine NardiSuzanne M. Nelsen
Priscilla A. OrdArlene PageJanet Swenson Pearson and Richard D. PearsonE. Clorisa PhillipsElizabeth Anne Powell and Robert D. SweeneyJohn A. Ragosta, Esq., and Elizabeth A. RagostaRaymond James Charitable Endowment FundGeorge H. Roberts Jr.Rockbridge Historical SocietyCharles Rotgin Jr.Edward W. Rucker IVJohn B. RudderEleanor B. ShannonEllen Olin ShrumMary U. Sihler and William W. SihlerElizabeth B. Smiley and Andrew S. ChanceyJohn W. Stark and Jane Barbieri StarkHeather M. ThomasJack TurnerLlwanda K. Williams and D. Alan WilliamsEric Stephen Wilson
In Honor of Emily A. WoodrumBarbara M. Dickinson
In Honor of R. Andrew WyndhamPeter S. Onuf and Kristin K. Onuf
In Honor of Jane B. KulowPeggy Halliday and John HallidayJane De Simone Dittmar and Frank J. SquillaceMartha J. Sims and Hunter W. Sims Jr.
In Memory of Constance C. LawsPage R. Laws
In Honor of John Wingo LongElizabeth Long
In Honor of Kirk MarinerKellee L. Blake
In Honor of Sarah B. McConnell Leigh B. Middleditch Jr.
In Honor of Kevin J. McFaddenTeresa L. Long and Barry Long
In Honor of Nancy K. O’BrienJenny G. Fife
In Memory of Charles L. Perdue Jr. and Nancy Martin-Perdue
Susan H. Perdue and Martin C. Perdue
In Honor of Read It Again, SamBarbara Caryl Tobey
In Memory of Frank J. Riccio IIKristin AdolfsonCarol W. Buckner and Murray D. BucknerKevin McFaddenDavid Sullivan
In Memory of Rosel H. SchewelPriscilla Anne Burbank and Michael J. SchewelPriscilla C. Little and David Little
In Honor of Martha J. SimsJanet A. Ellis and John C. Ellis Jr.Susan Wight and R.C. Wight III
In Memory of Lloyd T. Smith Jr.Ashlin W. Smith
In Memory of David G. TaylorNancy Coble Damon and Frederick H. Damon
In Honor of W. McIlwaine Thompson Jr.Janet H. Miller and Edward M. Miller Mark Cline and his apprentice Brently Hilliard brought
several sculptures to the 2019 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase at James Monroe's Highland in Charlottesville on 5/5/19.
Photo by Pat Jarrett, Virginia Humanities
Friends of Folklife is an annual giving circle connecting Virginia Folklife Program donors of $1000 or more; it helps deepen and sustain the dynamic cultural legacy created by the program.
2018-19 FRIENDS OF FOLKLIFE:Anonymous
Bama Works Fund at the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation Lora Bottinelli
Community Foundation of Greater Richmond
Janet Eden
Sally Herman and Stephen Herman
Julia McCrea Kudravetz
Tucker Lemon and Catherine Lemon
Marc Lipson and Ellen Climo
B. Thomas Mansbach
LIssa Merrill
National Council for The Traditional Arts
Michelle Olson and Chris Olson
Elsie Thompson and Mac Thompson
Trade Root Music Group, LLC
Donna Treacy and Dennis Treacy
UVA Community Credit Union
Venture Richmond
Literary Leaders is an annual giving circle connecting Virginia Festival of the Book donors of $2500 or more; it supports the vitality of Festival programming each year, including author visits to K-12 schools.
2018-19 LITERARY LEADERS:Anonymous
Astraea
Antoinette and Benjamin Brewster
Katherine Brooks and George Beller
Candie and Chuck Bruse
Diana and Melvin Burruss, Esq.
Special FundsIn addition to donations to the Virginia Humanities Fund and our programs, Virginia Humanities receives contributions to giving circles, named funds, and endowments that have been established for special purposes and to sustain our programs over time.
Betsy and James Greene
Renee and John Grisham
Jerry Handler
Charles Heiner
Katherine Neville
Susan and Paul Yesawich
The Authors Fund was established in 2016 to support the Virginia Festival of the Book’s continued excellence in recruiting high-caliber and diverse authors to speak at programs for broad public audiences.
2018-19 AUTHORS FUND DONORS:Lawrence Bechtel
Candie and Chuck Bruse
Melinda Davis
Debora Hoard
Brian King
Kathleen Lyons
Cecilia Mills and Philip Schrodt
Suzanne Thorniley
Judy Weiss
Carol Troxell Fund was established in 2017 in memory of former New Dominion Bookshop owner Carol Troxell; it celebrates voracious reading and supports a solo featured author during the Virginia Festival of the Book.
2018-19 TROXELL FUND DONORS:Candie and Chuck Bruse
Elizabeth Fuller
Clifford Garstang
Cindy Hoehler-Fatton and Robert Fatton
Mary Huey
Shamim Sisson and Jim Cooper
Betty Strider
Chris Sweeters
Frank Riccio Fund was established in 2018 to honor Virginia Center for the Book member artist and educator Frank Riccio; it supports an annual visiting book artist: the Frank Riccio Artist-in-Residence.
2018-19 RICCIO FUND DONORS:Kristin Adolfson
Anonymous
Josef Beery and Gay Beery
Bonnie Bernstein and Hank Dobin
Joanna Berry
Blue Whale Books, Inc.
Carol Buckner and Murray Buckner
Carolyn Cades and Daniel Engel
Jim Childress and Barbara Payne
Janet Eden
Erica Goldfarb and Adam Goldfarb
John Grant and Stacey Evans
Sandra Hodge and Robert Hodge
Angie Hogan and Kevin McFadden
Ann Marshall and Richard Cappuccio
Katherine McNamara
Nina Riccio
Tara Riccio
Shelley Sass and Michael Geisert
Gioia Riccio and David J. Sullivan III
The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation
The Van Brimer Family Foundation
George A. and Frances Bibbins Latimer Fund was established by George Latimer in 2018 to honor his late wife, Eastern Shore native and prominent community historian Frances Bibbins Latimer; it supports grant projects that document, preserve and celebrate African American life in Virginia.
Rosel Schewel Fund was established by an anonymous donation in 2019 to honor the vision, leadership and achievements of Virginia Humanities’ longest-serving board member and Lynchburg-based educator, philanthropist and activist, Rosel Schewel; it aims to amplify the voices of, support the work of and honor the achievements of women in Virginia.
Edna & Norman Freehling Fellowship was established by historian and Virginia Humanities Senior Fellow William W. Freehling in memory of his parents; it supports research and writing on the South Atlantic region, including the Caribbean South.
Emilia Galli Struppa Fellowship was created by Chapman University Chancellor and former Virginia Humanities board member Daniele Struppa in memory of his mother; it supports research and writing in history and literary studies.
Encyclopedia Virginia Endowment was established to support the ongoing financial needs of Encyclopedia Virginia; it was established by then-Board chairman Barbara J. Fried.
Virginia Center for the Book Endowment supports the Center's book-related activities; it was established by donor Michael Jay Green.
Virginia Humanities Endowment was established to support the ongoing financial needs of Virginia Humanities.
|
SPE
CIAL
FU
ND
S
49
Endowed Funds
Vaughan Fund for Strategic Initiatives was established in 2017 to honor founding president Rob Vaughan and ensure the organization’s thriving future; managed by the Executive Director, it supports strategic initiatives for Virginia Humanities’ most pressing needs. We are grateful to the numerous donors that gave to the fund this year in honor and memory of Rob and his profound legacy of public service. Please see the “In Memory Of” section for a full list of Vaughan Fund donors.
Karen Cogar Abramson
Alexandria, VA
Wayne B. Adkins
New Kent, VA
Edward L. Ayers
Charlottesville, VA
Megan Beyer
Alexandria, VA
Kellee Blake
Parksley, VA
Dulce Carrillo
Falls Church, VA
Marjorie Clark
North Chesterfield, VA
Susan Colpitts
Norfolk, VA
Howard (Hank) Dobin
Lexington, VA
William Mark Habeeb
(Mark)
Arlington, VA
Chris Head
Roanoke, VA
Lenneal J. Henderson
Claremont, VA
Steve Herman
Bethesda, MD
Jo Ann M. Hofheimer
Virginia Beach, VA
Iris E. Holliday
North Chesterfield, VA
Clark Hoyt
Great Falls, VA
Rishi Jaitly
Charlottesville, VA
Sylvester Johnson
Blacksburg, VA
Lauranett L. Lee
North Chesterfield, VA
General Lester L. Lyles
Vienna, VA
Kelly O’Keefe
Richmond, VA
Edward Scott
Staunton, VA
W. McIlwaine (Mac)
Thompson Jr.
Charlottesville, VA
Will Trinkle
Charlottesville, VA
VIRGINIA HUMANITIES145 Ednam Drive
Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629
434.924.3296 fax [emailprotected]
Facebook: VirginiaHumanitiesTwitter: VAHumanities
Virginia Humanities is an independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization.
StaffOFFICEOFTHEDIRECTOR
Matthew Gibson, Executive Director
Raennah L. Mitchell,
Assistant to the Executive Director
ADVANCEMENT
Maggie Guggenheimer, Chief Advancement Officer
Kevin Hoffer, Advancement Associate
Trey Mitchell, Director of Communications
Greg Willett, Advancement Associate
PLANNINGANDMANAGEMENT
Kevin McFadden, Chief Operating Officer
Cary Ferguson, Fiscal Assistant
Judy Moody, Receptionist
Jeannie Palin, Receptionist
Gail Shirley-Warren, Business Manager
Tori Talbot, Events Manager
Grants and Fellowships David Bearinger, Director, Grants
Carolyn Cades, Associate Director, Grants
Jeanne Nicholson Siler, Director, Fellowships
Community ProgramsAFRICANAMERICANPROGRAMS
Justin Reid, Director
HISTORYUNITED
Karice Luck, Program CoordinatorChad Martin, DirectorEmma Edmunds, Project Historian
VIRGINIAFOLKLIFEPROGRAM
Jon Lohman, DirectorLilia Fuquen, Project Director, Food & Community
Pat Jarrett, Media Specialist
Digital InitiativesDISCOVERYVIRGINIA
Sue H. Perdue, Director of Digital Strategy
ENCYCLOPEDIAVIRGINIA
Miranda Bennett, Assistant Editor Peter Hedlund, DirectorDonna Lucey, Media Editor
John Rhea, Web Designer/Developer
Radio and PodcastsBACKSTORY
Matt Darroch, Associate Producer
Melissa Gismondi, Senior Producer
Gabriel Hunter-Chang, Digital Media Associate
Jamal Millner, Studio and Technical Director
Charlie Shelton-Ormond, Associate Producer
Diana Williams, Digital Editor and Strategist
WITHGOODREASON
Cassius Adair, Associate Producer
Sarah McConnell, Executive Producer and Host
Allison Quantz, Senior Producer
Virginia Center for the Book Jane Kulow, Director
Sarah Lawson, Assistant Director
Garrett Queen, Book Arts Program Director
Bellamy Shoffner, Youth Programming Associate
BOARD OF DIRECTORS VIRGINIA HUMANITIES IS THE STATE HUMANITIES COUNCIL. WE AIM TO TELL THE STORIES OF ALL VIRGINIANS—OR, BETTER YET, FIND WAYS FOR PEOPLE TO TELL THEIR OWN STORIES.
We want to connect Virginians with their history and culture and, in doing that, help bring us all a bit closer together.
Virginia Humanities is headquartered in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia, but our work covers the Commonwealth. Founded in 1974, we are one of fifty-six organizations created by the National Endowment for the Humanities to make the humanities available to all Americans. To learn more visit VirginiaHumanities.org
Our supporters make the programs featured in this publication—and so much more—possible.
Make a donation to Virginia Humanities online at
VirginiaHumanities.org/Support.
SUSTAINABLY PRODUCED Virginia Humanities is committed to being a good steward of our shared resources. This publication was produced with sustainably sourced paper and soy based ink at an approximate cost of $1.94 per copy.
Named to honor the vision, leadership, and achievements of Virginia Humanities’ longest-serving board member, the Rosel Schewel Fund supports humanities programs and initiatives that are developed and managed by women, or that address topics of importance in the history and cultural contributions of women.
The commitment to honor the untold stories of Virginia has been at the center of our work for the past forty-five years. It’s a commitment that Rosel Schewel passionately shared, and one that she advanced both as a member of the Virginia Women’s Cultural History Project Advisory Committee and as a chairwoman of the Virginia Humanities Board.
The Rosel Schewel Fund builds on that legacy by making it possible for us to support exciting new women-led and women-focused projects.
Thanks to an anonymous donation of $100,000 and in honor of Rosel Schewel’s active participation in the League of Women Voters, Virginia Humanities will formally launch this fund in 2020, with statewide programming in Lynchburg that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment (see "Women Front and Center").
Contributions to the Rosel Schewel Fund are encouraged and will support women's programming in the public humanities for many years to come.
The Rosel Schewel Fund for Women’s Programming
FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact
the Virginia Humanities Advancement office at 434-924-6562.
Views is coordinated by the Office of the Director, with content editing by Trey Mitchell, Raennah Mitchell, Carolyn Cades, and Caitlin Newman. Contact Trey Mitchell at [emailprotected] with inquiries or comments.
WANT TO KEEP UP WITH VIRGINIA HUMANITIES?
• Visit VirginiaHumanities.org to sign up for our biweekly e-newsletter.
• Explore our program websites and extensive resources, starting at VirginiaHumanities.org.
• Like us on Facebook: VirginiaHumanities
• Follow us on Twitter: VAHumanities
WANT TO GO PAPERLESS?
If you no longer want to receive a print copy of
Virginia Humanities' Views, please let us know
by emailing [emailprotected]. We
will unsubscribe you and can sign you up for our
biweekly e-newsletter if you wish.
VIRGINIA HUMANITIES GRANTS DEADLINES
Open Grant applications are considered in two
grant cycles per year, with these deadlines:
OCTOBER 15 APRIL 15
Draft proposals due Draft proposals due
October 5 – decisions April 5 – decisions
in early December in early June
Discretionary Grant applications may be submitted
at any time throughout the year. For full application
guidelines, please visit VirginiaHumanities.org/
grants.
BOARD NOMINATIONS
The Virginia Humanities Nominating Committee
welcomes suggested names for nomination,
specifically individuals who, when brought
together as a board, broadly represent the
geographic regions and demographic makeup
of today’s Virginia. The committee strives
to sustain a balance among scholars in the
humanities, civic and business leaders, and the
general public. Nominations are coordinated
by the Office of the Director. Please send
suggestions to [emailprotected].