1 July 25, 2013 Open Letter to All Senators

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

1 July 25, 2013 Open Letter to All Senators July 25, 2013 Open letter to all Senators: As Congress moves forward with comprehensive tax reform, we ask that the charitable deduction be preserved in its current form and that the IRA charitable rollover, enhanced deduction for contributions of food inventory, and the special rules for the contributions of capital gain real property for conservation purposes in the annual tax extenders package be made permanent in the tax code. America’s charitable and philanthropic community, among many other contributions, provides educational and economic opportunities for families in need; works to alleviate poverty and suffering at home and abroad; assists victims of disaster; provides essential health services; enhances the cultural and spiritual development of individuals and communities; facilitates scientific advances; and fosters worldwide appreciation for the democratic values of justice and individual liberty that are part of the American character. The charitable sector’s broad community impact and public support is evidenced by the fact that Americans donate nearly $300 billion each year to support the work of charitable nonprofit organizations. This charitable giving, which supports both the employment figures as well as the vital programs and services outlined above, is encouraged through the charitable deduction and other incentives in the tax code. More than 80 percent of the 46 million Americans who itemize their tax returns claimed the charitable deduction. These individuals and families, who represent barely one quarter of all taxpayers, are responsible for more than 75 percent of individual contributions to charitable organizations. Congress has long recognized the value of the tax code and its effect on donations to charitable organizations, dating to the inception of the charitable deduction in 1917. The generosity of Americans, further encouraged through tax incentives, has made possible extraordinary contributions of charitable organizations in local communities, large cities, and rural areas all dedicated to improving life for all. The power of the incentive can be seen in the timing of charitable gifts. Between 2003 and 2009, charitable organizations in the U.S. received $281 million in online donations. More than 22 percent of those donations are made on December 30 and 31 each year, underscoring the extent to which donors are aware of, and influenced by, the tax implications of their giving. The charitable deduction is an extremely efficient way for the federal government to spur investment in communities. When an individual in the highest tax bracket donates $1,000 to charity, the government foregoes just under $400 in tax revenue. However, communities benefit from the entire $1,000 gift. The government is unlikely to find another vehicle that can leverage private spending for community services at better than a 2.5-to-1 ratio. The charitable deduction also treats every taxpayer who claims it equitably; regardless of the rate at which their income is taxed, people are not required to pay taxes on the portion of their earnings donated to charity. The American people appreciate the fairness of the deduction, and also understand its positive impact on their communities. An April 2011 Gallup Poll found that 62 percent of Americans who do not claim the deduction support its preservation as an incentive for giving. Eliminating the charitable deduction would undermine significantly the ability of charitable organizations to continue creating jobs and delivering programs and services by drastically reducing the level of funding available to them through charitable donations. According to a 2012 survey by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, approximately half of high-net-worth donors said they would decrease their giving if 1 they did not receive a deduction for donations. Further, it has been estimated that repealing the charitable deduction would cause giving to decline by 36 percent, which would have resulted in an $82 billion decline in individual charitable giving in 2012. In addition to preserving the individual tax incentive to encourage charitable donations, we urge the committee to extend permanently the charitable giving incentives that are included in the tax code but must be renewed every year as part of the annual tax extenders package. IRA charitable rollover - The individual retirement account (IRA) charitable rollover tax incentive encourages older adults to make gifts to charities by enabling individuals age 70½ to donate up to $100,000 to a qualifying public charity directly from his or her IRA without incurring tax on the withdrawal. During the first two years the IRA charitable rollover option was available, it prompted more than $140 million in charitable donations, with the median gift just under $4,500, to beneficiaries that include social service providers, religious organizations, cultural institutions and schools – organizations that benefit communities and improve lives every day. Enhanced deduction for contributions of food inventory -This provision allows C Corporations to claim a tax deduction for donating surplus wholesome food equal to the donor’s basis in the donated food plus one-half of the ordinary income that would have been realized had the food been sold at fair market value (capped at twice the donor’s basis in the donated inventory). The expanded incentive has been vital, as community food pantries and other meal providers attempt to keep pace with the growing number of Americans who go to bed hungry every night. Special rules for the contributions of capital gain real property for conservation purposes - The enhanced deduction for donation of a conservation easement increases the maximum deduction a donor can take for donating a conservation easement in any given year, allows qualified farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100 percent of AGI, and permits taxpayers to carry forward excess contributions for up to 15 years. Within its first two years, the enhanced incentive helped America’s land trusts increase the amount of land conservation by at least 535,000 acres. The charitable giving incentives in the tax extenders package have encouraged individuals, large corporations, and small businesses actively to support the development and sustainability of their communities. They have spurred contributions, for example, to build cancer centers, develop counseling programs for at-risk youth, provide housing for homeless families, conserve wilderness areas, and offer art therapy for people with developmental disabilities. Thank you for your consideration of these critical issues. Sincerely, 2 12Stone Church Arden Theatre Company 1881 Courthouse Museum Argus Museum 24th Street Theatre Arizona Council of Human Service Providers 3rd Law Dance/Theater Arizona Museum for Youth 7 Stages Arizona Railway Museum A VannGerr Driving Improvement Clinic Arizona State Railroad Museum Foundation Abuse & Rape Crisis Shelter of Warren County Arkansas Arts Center ACCESS College Foundation Arkansas Foodbank Achievement Centers for Children Arkansas Tech University Museum Action for Children Armitage Gone! Dance ACTION OHIO Coalition For Battered Women Art Beyond Sight Acton Conservation Trust Art Complex Museum Addison Gallery of American Art Art Galleries at Stephen F. Austin State University Adrian Community Preschool The Art Institute of Chicago Ag Land Trust of Monterey County Art of Elan Agricultural Stewardship Association Artisans at the Dahmen Barn Alabama Council of Community Mental Health Boards ARTneo Alabama Forest Resources Center Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa Alachua Conservation Trust Arts Center of Coastal Carolina Alaska Wilderness League Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo Alaska Youth Advocates Asheville Art Museum Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art Asian Art Museum The Alcoholic Rehabilitation Services of Hawaii, Inc., Asian Story Theater dba Hina Mauka ASPIRA The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum ASPPIRE Alhambra Orchestra Association for Behavioral Healthcare - Massachusetts Allegheny Land Trust Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Allen County Historical Society Association of Art Museum Directors Alley Theatre Association of Fundraising Professionals Alliance for Children and Families Association of Nature Center Administrators Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence Association of Northern Front Range Museums Aloha Council, Boy Scouts of America (ANFRM) Aloha United Way Atchison County Historical Society Alutiiq Museum Athens Conservancy Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Atkins-Johnson Farm and Museum Alvis House Atoka Conservation Exchange, LLC Amarillo Opera Augusta Military Academy Alumni House Museum American Alliance of Museums Aurora Fire Station Preservation Corporation, dba American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Aurora Regional Fire Museum American Chemical Society Aurora Museum Foundation American Guild of Organists Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust American Heart Association Austin Lyric Opera American Indian College Fund AXIS Dance Company American Lyric Theater Center, Inc. B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center American Rivers Bainbridge Island Historical Society Americans for the Arts Balboa Park Online Collaborative Americans for the Arts Action Fund Baldwin Historical Society & Museum America's Charities BalletX Amon Carter Museum of American Art Bass Museum of Art The Andy Warhol Museum Basu Museum and Cultural Center APEX Museum Bay City Players Appalachia Ohio Alliance Bay-Atlantic Symphony Aquidneck Land Trust Bayfield Regional
Recommended publications
  • Scanned Document
    -~.:. Association of Performing Arts Presenters .. .. : . ". VIA ELECTRONIC FILING January 13, 2010 Ms. Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street SW Washington, DC 20554 Re: Ex Parte Communication, Revisions to Rules Authorizing the Operation ofLow Power Auxiliary Stations in the 698-806 MHz Band, WT Docket No. 08-166; Public Interest Spectrum Coalition, Petition for Rulemaking Regarding Low Power Auxiliary Stations, Including Wireless Microphones, and the Digital Television Transition. WT Docket No. 08-167 Dear Ms. Dortch: The Association ofPerforming Arts Presenters ("Arts Presenters") requests that the Commission recognize the legitimate use ofwireless microphones used in the performing arts by expanding eligibility for licensing ofwireless microphones to include performing arts organizations, by permitting incumbent wireless microphone operations to relocate to spectrum in the TV Core (on or below UHF Channel 51), by adopting appropriate technical and service rules for such operations and by affording interference protection for wireless microphone operations from co-channel and adjacent channel unlicensed fixed and mobile white space operations. Arts Presenters includes nearly 2,000 members representing the nation's leading performing arts centers, including civic and university performance facilities, as well as artist agencies, managers, touring companies, national consulting practices that service the field, and a growing roster ofself-presenting artists. Arts Presenters members operate in all 50 states and range from large performing arts centers in major urban cities, outdoor festivals and rural community-focused organizations to academic institutions, artists and artist managers. For the Commission's information, attached is a copy ofthe participants listings from the January 2010 Arts Presenters conference.
    [Show full text]
  • Get Charmed in Charm City - Baltimore! "…The Coolest City on the East Coast"* Post‐Convention July 14‐17, 2018
    CACI’s annual Convention July 8‐14, 2018 Get Charmed in Charm City - Baltimore! "…the Coolest City on the East Coast"* Post‐Convention July 14‐17, 2018 *As published by Travel+Leisure, www.travelandleisure.com, July 26, 2017. Panorama of the Baltimore Harbor Baltimore has 66 National Register Historic Districts and 33 local historic districts. Over 65,000 properties in Baltimore are designated historic buildings in the National Register of Historic Places, more than any other U.S. city. Baltimore - first Catholic Diocese (1789) and Archdiocese (1808) in the United States, with the first Bishop (and Archbishop) John Carroll; the first seminary (1791 – St Mary’s Seminary) and Cathedral (begun in 1806, and now known as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - a National Historic Landmark). O! Say can you see… Home of Fort McHenry and the Star Spangled Banner A monumental city - more public statues and monuments per capita than any other city in the country Harborplace – Crabs - National Aquarium – Maryland Science Center – Theater, Arts, Museums Birthplace of Edgar Allan Poe, Babe Ruth – Orioles baseball Our hotel is the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor For exploring Charm City, you couldn’t find a better location than the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor. A stone’s throw from the water, it gets high points for its proximity to the sights, a rooftop pool and spacious rooms. The 14- story glass façade is one of the most eye-catching in the area. The breathtaking lobby has a tilted wall of windows letting in the sunlight.
    [Show full text]
  • Download NARM Member List
    Huntsville, The Huntsville Museum of Art, 256-535-4350 Los Angeles, Chinese American Museum, 213-485-8567 North American Reciprocal Mobile, Alabama Contemporary Art Center Los Angeles, Craft Contemporary, 323-937-4230 Museum (NARM) Mobile, Mobile Museum of Art, 251-208-5200 Los Angeles, GRAMMY Museum, 213-765-6800 Association® Members Montgomery, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 334-240-4333 Los Angeles, Holocaust Museum LA, 323-651-3704 Spring 2021 Northport, Kentuck Museum, 205-758-1257 Los Angeles, Japanese American National Museum*, 213-625-0414 Talladega, Jemison Carnegie Heritage Hall Museum and Arts Center, 256-761-1364 Los Angeles, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, 888-488-8083 Alaska Los Angeles, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, 323-957-1777 This list is updated quarterly in mid-December, mid-March, mid-June and Haines, Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center, 907-766-2366 Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, 213-621-1794 mid-September even though updates to the roster of NARM member Kodiak, The Kodiak History Museum, 907-486-5920 Los Angeles, Skirball Cultural Center*, 310-440-4500 organizations occur more frequently. For the most current information Palmer, Palmer Museum of History and Art, 907-746-7668 Los Gatos, New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU), 408-354-2646 search the NARM map on our website at narmassociation.org Valdez, Valdez Museum & Historical Archive, 907-835-2764 McClellan, Aerospace Museum of California, 916-564-3437 Arizona Modesto, Great Valley Museum, 209-575-6196 Members from one of the North American
    [Show full text]
  • The Shubert Foundation 2020 Grants
    The Shubert Foundation 2020 Grants THEATRE About Face Theatre Chicago, IL $20,000 The Acting Company New York, NY 80,000 Actor's Express Atlanta, GA 30,000 The Actors' Gang Culver City, CA 45,000 Actor's Theatre of Charlotte Charlotte, NC 30,000 Actors Theatre of Louisville Louisville, KY 200,000 Adirondack Theatre Festival Glens Falls, NY 25,000 Adventure Theatre Glen Echo, MD 45,000 Alabama Shakespeare Festival Montgomery, AL 165,000 Alley Theatre Houston, TX 75,000 Alliance Theatre Company Atlanta, GA 220,000 American Blues Theater Chicago, IL 20,000 American Conservatory Theater San Francisco, CA 190,000 American Players Theatre Spring Green, WI 50,000 American Repertory Theatre Cambridge, MA 250,000 American Shakespeare Center Staunton, VA 30,000 American Stage Company St. Petersburg, FL 35,000 American Theater Group East Brunswick, NJ 15,000 Amphibian Stage Productions Fort Worth, TX 20,000 Antaeus Company Glendale, CA 15,000 Arden Theatre Company Philadelphia, PA 95,000 Arena Stage Washington, DC 325,000 Arizona Theatre Company Tucson, AZ 50,000 Arkansas Arts Center Children's Theatre Little Rock, AR 20,000 Ars Nova New York, NY 70,000 Artists Repertory Theatre Portland, OR 60,000 Arts Emerson Boston, MA 30,000 ArtsPower National Touring Theatre Cedar Grove, NJ 15,000 Asolo Repertory Theatre Sarasota, FL 65,000 Atlantic Theater Company New York, NY 200,000 Aurora Theatre Lawrenceville, GA 30,000 Aurora Theatre Company Berkeley, CA 40,000 Austin Playhouse Austin, TX 20,000 Azuka Theatre Philadelphia, PA 15,000 Barrington Stage Company
    [Show full text]
  • Curator of Native American Art DEPARTMENT: Curatorial SUPERVISOR: Chief Curator DIRECT REPORTS: None LAST REVISION DATE: August 2020
    POSITION DESCRIPTION POSITION TITLE: Curator of Native American Art DEPARTMENT: Curatorial SUPERVISOR: Chief Curator DIRECT REPORTS: none LAST REVISION DATE: August 2020 The Montclair Art Museum is conducting a search to fill a three-year position of Curator of Native American Art. Funded by the Luce Foundation, the position offers an exciting opportunity for the Curator to work with the Museum’s renowned collection of Native art of North America. Overview The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is currently accepting applications for a three- year, grant funded position of Curator of Native American Art. The Museum’s goal is to engage in further fundraising to establish this position as permanent. The selected hire will have a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the presentation of MAM’s renowned collection of Native art of North America in its dedicated Rand Gallery and throughout the Museum more broadly. The Curator will work to achieve key goals of engaging current, innovative ideas around the representation of Indigenous communities and art museum collections and exhibitions, via collaborative approaches. Throughout the three- year period, the Curator will have access to an eight member Advisory Board of leading Native and non-Native scholars and artists, as well as MAM’s Chief Curator, all of whom will offer ideas and perspectives for consideration in developing the Museum’s Native American programs. The Curator will oversee the presentation of the Fall 2021 incoming traveling exhibition, Color Riot!, from the Heard Museum, featuring Navajo textiles from c. 1860 to 2018. Additional projects will include curating a site-specific artistic intervention opening in early 2022, and will culminate in September 2023 with a new installation of the Museum’s Native American collections in the Rand Gallery.
    [Show full text]
  • MAM Annual Report July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011 Contents
    2011 MAM ANNUAL REPORT JULy 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011 CONTENTS Mission, Vision and Values, and Diversity Statements 3 From the President 4 From the Director 5 Board of Trustees 7 Statement of Finances 8 MAM at a Glance 9 Exhibitions 11 Snapshots from Special Events 12 Gifts and Purchases 13 Gifts to the Education Handling Collection 17 Contributions Individual Support 18 Corporate, Foundation, and Government Support 21 Matching Gifts 22 Honor and Memorial Gifts 23 Heritage Society 24 Gifts in Kind 24 Volunteers 25 Staff 28 All Museum programs are made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Vance Wall Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and Museum Members. 2 MISSION STATEMENT The Montclair Art Museum (MAM), along with its Yard School of Art, engages a diverse community through its distinctive collection of American and Native American art, exhibitions, and educational programs that link art to contemporary life in a global context. VISION AND vaLUES STATEMENT As the Montclair Art Museum approaches its Centennial in 2014, we seek to elevate our profile as a nationally recognized leader of mid-sized, regional art museums. Valuing diversity, innovation, and the importance of art to society, we will invigorate our curatorial presentations, expand our educational mission, promote greater connections to our community, engage in fruitful partnerships that reach deep into our region and beyond, embrace new media and technologies, pursue responsible facilities management and environmental impact, and secure our financial stability.
    [Show full text]
  • The Curatorial Intensive Teachers & Advisors Fall 2010
    INDEP INDEPENDENT CURATORS INTERNATIONAL THE CURATORIAL INTENSIVE TEACHERS & ADVISORS FALL 2010 ICI Key Personnel: Tracy Candido is the Program Administrator for The Curatorial Intensive at ICI. She is a cultural producer who organizes social practice projects and public programs in New York City and Brooklyn. Recent endeavors include Community Cooking Club, hosted by the Bruce High Quality Foundation University, which combines the concept of the potluck with the environment of the critical classroom, Sweet Tooth of the Tiger, a two-year experiment in baking with, eating, and selling sugar, and the Bake Sale Residency, a mico-granting project for artists. Tracy holds a Master's Degree from New York University in Visual Culture Theory. Kate Fowle is ICI’s Executive Director. She most recently worked as the International Curator at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. Prior to her time in Beijing, Fowle spent six years in San Francisco at the California College of the Arts, where she was the director of the MA Program in Curatorial Practice, which she founded in 2002 with Ralph Rugoff. This was the first graduate course of its kind on the West coast. During her tenure as program director Fowle built extensive international networks, bringing over 100 artists, curators and writers from places as diverse as Chiang Mai, Paris, São Paulo, Johannesburg, Copenhagen, Beijing, Vilnius, Frankfurt, Tokyo, London, and Mexico City, to share their knowledge and expertise through lectures, round-table discussions, symposia and an annual journal. Chelsea Haines is the Public Programs Manager at ICI. In addition to her position with the organization, she has worked on a range of independent projects and publications, most recently publishing a revised version of her thesis, A New State of the Arts: Developing the Biennial Model as Ethical Arts Practice, for the upcoming fall issue of Museum Management and Curatorship.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to the Merrimac & Monitor Post Card Company “Virginia in Dry
    Guide to the Merrimac & Monitor Post Card Company “Virginia in Dry Dock” Postcard, 1906 MS0429 The Mariners' Museum Library at Christopher Newport University Contact Information: The Mariners' Museum Library 100 Museum Drive Newport News, VA 23606 Phone: (757) 591-7782 Fax: (757) 591-7310 Email: [email protected] URL: www.MarinersMuseum.org/library Processed by Jay E. Moore, 2012 DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY Repository: The Mariners' Museum Library Title: Merrimac & Monitor Post Card Company “Virginia in Dry Dock” Postcard Inclusive Dates: 1906 Catalog number: MS0429 Physical Characteristics: 1 picture postcard Language: English Creator: Merrimac & Monitor Post Card Company (Firm); Richardson, Benjamin A. (Benjamin Adworth) HISTORICAL SKETCH The Merrimac & Monitor Post Card Company was formed in 1906 with the immediate purpose of issuing commemorative postcards to be sold during the Jamestown Tercentenary celebration in 1907. The company produced postcards commemorating the events of Mar.8 and 9, 1862 during the Battle of Hampton Roads. It also created postcards pertaining to the life of CSS Virginia. They range from the April 19, 1861 destruction at the Gosport Navy Yard of the US steam frigate Merrimack, from whose hulk Virginia was built, to the destruction of the ironclad on the shores of Craney Island, Virginia, on May 10-11, 1862 at the hands of its own crew. The paintings on the postcards were taken from a series of original works by Benjamin A. Richardson (1833-1909). Richardson, born in Portsmouth, was a self-taught, amateur artist. Early in life, he earned a living as a house and sign painter. During the Civil War, Richardson enlisted in Norfolk as a private in the Confederate States Army in the United Artillery under Captain Thomas Kevill.
    [Show full text]
  • Opportunity Zone Prospectus
    NORFOLK ® OPPORTUNITY ZONE PROSPECTUS N O R F O L K V I R G I N I A - I N V E S T M E N T P R O S P E C T U S 1 WELCOME For more than 300 years, Norfolk has served as the cultural and economic heart of Hampton Roads, mixing ideas, connecting people, creating new experiences and new businesses, and powering the growth of a region that is home to 1.75 million people and a real GDP approaching $84 billion. One of America’s oldest global trade destinations, Norfolk has been transformed into a global center for international security and coastal resilience. We are home to Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base, and NATO’s only headquarters in North America. We also serve as a national leader in health care, transportation, higher education, and visual and performing arts. Norfolk is investing in transformative projects that will enhance our assets, foster inclusive economic growth, and develop talented and motivated residents. In 2018, we launched the transformation of the St. Paul’s Area, which will reshape three public housing communities that encompass more than 200 acres near our thriving downtown. Investments in the people, physical infrastructure, and anchor institutions that are native to this area are helping us to attract new businesses and entrepreneurs that will drive regional productivity and growth. The neighborhoods of the St. Paul’s Area are just one example of the 16 qualified opportunity zones, the most of any city or county in the Commonwealth of Virginia, that we hope you will consider for investment.
    [Show full text]
  • 23Rd Annual International Meeting | May 19-23, 2018 | Baltimore, MD, USA
    23rd Annual International Meeting | May 19-23, 2018 | Baltimore, MD, USA Student Activities Event Date Time Location Description Student Sunday, 6:30- Ballroom 1 The Student Research Competition, is a quiz competition featuring teams from ISPOR Student Chapters. Questions are Research May 20th 8:30 (Level 400) from the ISPOR Book of Terms and ISPOR Good Research Practices for Outcomes Research. The top three winning Competition PM ET teams receive a cash prize for their ISPOR Student Chapter, sponsored by ISPOR. Student & Sunday, 8:30- Ballroom All students and faculty are welcome to attend the Reception where ISPOR will be distributing prizes and students and Faculty May 20th 9:30 Foyer faculty can network with their peers in a relaxed environment. The winning T-Shirt design for the Student T-Shirt Reception PM ET (Level 400) competition, sponsored by RTI Health Solutions, will be handed out to all students in attendance. New Monday, 11:00- 316-317 Career Advice Across the Globe: “Effectively Communicating & Presenting your Research” Professional May 21st 12:00 (Level 300) The New Professional Event, Career Advice Across the Globe, provides both New Professional and soon-to-graduate Event PM ET Student members with the opportunity to hear first-hand experiences from established ISPOR members around the world on various career related topics. Presenters: Michael Drummond, PhD; Surachat Ngorsuraches, PhD; Laura Pizzi, MPH, RPh, PharmD *Space for this event will be limited, students who have recently graduated or will be graduating soon are encouraged to attend. Student Monday, 12:30- 310 “Real-World Evidence, Digital Health, and the New Landscape for Health Decision Making.” Research May 21st 1:30 (Level 300) Featuring three outcomes research studies, conducted by ISPOR student members and presented during the Showcase PM ET conference.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2020 DEAR FRIENDS, We Are Pleased to Present to You the 2019-2020 Annual Report
    Annual Report 2020 DEAR FRIENDS, We are pleased to present to you the 2019-2020 Annual Report. In these uncertain times, Science matters—now, more than ever. With your generous support the Maryland Science Center continues its mission of underscoring the importance of science education in our everyday lives. In the more than 40 years that the Science Center has operated at its Inner Harbor location it is safe to say that there has never been a year quite like this one. When we closed back in early March, we thought it would be for a few weeks. We never anticipated that months later we would not only have to work to ensure that our mission endures, we would also have to reinvent ourselves to continue to serve our many audiences. That process continues today and we have adapted whenever, and wherever we can, as we have for decades. Initially, the Science Center migrated to a completely virtual presence. We worked to provide resources and programs to support parents suddenly faced with becoming in-home educators. We took our popular on-site experiences and moved them completely online. And our Education Team created innovative, livestream programs that allowed participants to work on activities at home with guidance from our team in real time. As summer arrived so did the in-person visits and a return to some familiar routines, but many others, especially our vital work in schools and Head Start programs, remained suspended. It was extremely gratifying to see visitors return to our building and we look forward to that day when we return to classrooms and day care centers, summer camps and libraries, and students on field trips return to the Science Center.
    [Show full text]
  • On Fellow Ous Ulletin
    on fellow ous L g ulletinH e Volume No. A Newsletter of the Friends of the Longfellow House and the National Park Service June New Study ExaminesThe Song of HiawathaB as Controversial Bestseller atthew Gartner’s recent work on noted in his journal: “Some of the MH.W. Longfellow’s most popular newspapers are fierce and furious about poem asserts that The Song of Hiawatha was Hiawatha,” and a few weeks later, he both a bestseller and a subject of contro- wrote, “There is the greatest pother versy as soon as it was published, and about Hiawatha. It is violently assailed, quickly became a cultural phenomenon. and warmly defended.” The historian Gartner, who is writing a book called The William Prescott, a friend of Longfel- Poet Longfellow: A Cultural Interpretation, will low’s, wrote the poet from New York of present his findings and analysis this July “the hubbub that Hiawatha has kicked up at the Society for the History of Author- in the literary community.” ship, Reading, and Publishing. At the heart of the controversy lay When Hiawatha was first published in Longfellow’s decision to use a poetic it sold rapidly. With an initial print- meter called “trochaic dimeter.” The ing of five thousand volumes, four thou- George H. Thomas illustration, The Song of Hiawatha, London, nineteenth century was an age of great sand were already sold as of its November nationwide by , making it not only sensitivity to the art of prosody, or poetic publication date. By mid-December Longfellow’s best-selling poem ever, but, meter, and Longfellow surely knew Hiawa- eleven thousand volumes were in print.
    [Show full text]