Tam Kernewek “ A bit of Cornish” Volume 31 Issue 1 Spring 2013 The Electronic Age See Living Color! If you receive your Tam Kernewek electronically, by e-mail, you receive a much livelier product. The photos are in color and show things as they really are. Color photos give the newsletter more punch and verve, the color making it come alive Save Money! Printing and mailing four issues of TK to each member of the Cornish American Heritage Society costs over $10 per member. That leaves practically nothing of our dues for any of the other expenses of running CAHS. Save Time! TK will arrive in you inbox just seconds after it is sent. You will not have to wait for the printed edition to be collated, folded, fastened, labeled, stamped and mailed. You will not have to wait the three days to two weeks it takes to arrive in your mailbox. And it will arrive in pristine shape without the tears or wrinkles that are inevi- table when it goes through the postal system. Save Trees! For the environmentalists among us, it is important that the electronic version of TK uses no paper and no ink and therefore destroys no trees or other precious resources. Save Space! Printed newsletters do take up space. And I would never think of throwing one out! For those of you who read it and recycle it, space is not a problem. But, after collecting the pages of TK since 1983 as I have, space be- comes a real concern. With an electronic copy received through email, you just store it in your TK folder and it takes no space. When you do your regular back up, you can store it (and everything else on your computer) on a flash drive small enough to wear around your neck (if you wish). Do a good Cornish deed for CAHS! Please tell us that you wish to receive your Tam Kernewek by e-mail. You will achieve all of the above and, in so doing, helping CAHS financially and cooperatively. Of course, if you have no computer or need to receive a Cornish American Heritage Society Cornish American Heritage hard copy, it will continue to come in the mail. Thank you! Nancy Heydt Ist VP-Education 1 President’s Message Anger at Gypsy and Cornish in same box on form We are getting closer to specifics about The 17th Gathering of the Cornish American Heritage Society! Members of Gathering Committee from the Cornish Society of Greater Milwaukee (of which I am a member) met with John Gleeson from the Center for Celtic Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Mil- waukee to discuss a co-sponsored Gathering in probably late summer 2014. John, director and sen- ior lecturer of the Center, was very open to our ideas for the Gathering. He, on behalf of the Center, looked forward to having a possible opportunity to help host something Cornish. The resources availa- ble at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee A benefits form which grouped Gypsies, travellers and the Cornish would be great! At this point we have three possible together is being withdrawn after complaints. The tick box for eth- centers on the campus, plus other side venues, such nic backgrounds was included in a Cornwall Council housing form. as an art gallery. Lodging could be in nearby hotels Liberal Democrat group deputy leader Alex Folkes said: "Being a at special state prices or in dormitories. gypsy and traveller or being Cornish are two different things." Cornwall Council said it was "inappropriate wording" and a It promises something new, but on the other hand, it "genuine error" which had been rectified. “It's offensive to Cornish is a Gathering, which promises to maintain the op- people and offensive to gypsies and travellers” wrote Alex Folkes portunity to recognize the contributions of our Cor- Deputy leader, Cornwall Council Liberal Democrat group nish ancestors, further a closer relationship with the Mr Folkes wrote in his blog: "Some people will suggest it is offen- other Cornish societies affiliated with the CAHS and sive. And they are right. Not because being likened to a gypsy or throughout the world, and continue our relationship traveller is an insult. It isn't. But because the two backgrounds are with Cornish: past, present, and future. so entirely different. What Cornwall Council has done in designing this form is to create a 'bucket' category for anyone who doesn't The planning committee will continue to put infor- appear to fit into 'normal' definitions. mation together and a final “feasibility” vote of the Councillor Dick Cole, leader of Cornish nationalists Mebyon Ker- Cornish Society of Greater Milwaukee will take now, called it "madness". He said: "The whole point is to make people's identities clear, so if you amalgamate it, what's the place at the annual St. Piran’s celebration. With the point?" next President’s Letter I hope to give more specif- Cornwall Council said in a statement: "We would like to thank the ics! Until then “Gool Peran Lowen” (Happy St. individual who has pointed out the inappropriate wording on this Piran’s Day)! form and apologise unreservedly for any offence this may have caused. "We are already in the process of updating the form as Tom part of the welfare reform changes. In the meantime, we will en- sure that any remaining forms in circulation will be manually amended. We are very proud of our culture and heritage and are committed to promoting the Cornish identity as well as celebrating the diverse cultures which make up our communities." Maggie Smith-Bendall of the The National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups said identifying Gypsies and travellers separately was a help to the community in the provision of council services. "The mistake was that they did not have an additional box. I think someone was rushing the job." BBC News Cornwall 31 January 2013 From the newsletter of the Cornish Assoc. of New South Wales 2 Correspondence from Societies Fire at Michigan Tech Library and Cousin Jack website On September 30 the following story was reported by Ga- brielle Mays. "The preservation of Michigan Tech archive documents Sue Cox of Toronto Cornish Association has started a continues Monday after a fire broke out in the library base- new international newsletter. It is called “Cousins Jack ment last Friday. The State Fire Marshall was on the scene and Jenny Conquer the World”. Monday, but the exact cause of the fire has not been deter- CORNWALL IN IRELAND: Distances matter, and the mined. Michigan Tech says the fire did not damage an ex- London Cornish travel widely in the British Isles. One tensive amount of material, but water from the sprinkler found an old Cornish mining settlement in Ireland at the system damaged 200 square feet of materials. Six hundred site of a copper mine (not surprisingly). This is located at eighty eight boxes of wet documents were sent to a freezer Allihies, on the Beara Peninsula. There is also an old facility in Green Bay. The documents will then be sent to Methodist Church built by Cornish miners, now a muse- Fort Worth, Texas to a freeze-drying facility to remove the um. If you fancy a trip to Ireland, I note there are the moisture from the wet documents. Coppermine holiday homes in Allihies . "There's certainly going to be some items that probably will ANNUAL SERVICE: Speaking of Methodists, the London not be usable again. We think at this point that maybe as Cornish have their own chaplain (Rev. Michaela Young- few as a dozen boxes, maybe 20, so it's a very small por- son, born in Redruth) and an annual church service at the tion that probably will never be back here and usable Methodist Central Hall Westminster. In what seems to me again," said Erik Nordberg, MTU archivist. a strikingly non-Wesleyan approach, the preacher, Rev. Some of the documents that were damaged include rec- Stephen Wild, gave a PowerPoint presentation on Chris- ords of some area mining companies, records from the tian life in Cornwall and some of John Wesley's activities steelworkers union at the White Pine Mine, and photo- there. I wonder what Wesley would of thought of Power- graphs. Nordberg says the items that were pulled out im- Point? Next year the preacher will be the Anglican Bishop mediately and saved from damage include genealogy rec- of Truro. ords. According to officials, less than 20 percent of the doc- METHODIST ANCESTORS: An earlier Family History uments in the archives were affected. Their collection of Day explored tracing one's Methodist ancestors. One newspapers and blueprints are safe. Some documents source was materials held by the Library of the Wesleyan are also being housed in a dry room within the basement." Historical Society at Oxford Brooks University, including The university reported that dozens of staff, faculty and the main Methodist periodicals and Conference minutes students came from all over the campus to the scene to which have been made available online by MAP help. Custodial staff worked into the night removing water (Microform Academic Publishers) at and setting up humidifiers to begin the drying out process www.britishonlinearchives.co.uk. Records of various of the library. Archives service will operate on a limited ba- Methodist missionary societies are held by the Library at sis starting on Monday, Nov. 19. An area will be accessible the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. through the library’s north stairwell and will operate from 1 Editor: Excellent read—Congratulations to 5 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday .