PHI BETA KAPPA

THE KEY REPORTER FALL 2006 From the Secretary: Unmentionable Morality 2

ΦBK Receives $100,000 Grant 5

Priscilla Long on “Genome Tome” 6

Paul Humphreys Sets New ΦBK Record 7

Elizabeth Peabody by Megan Marshall 8

From No House to Morehouse 10

ΦBK Triennial Council ● October 26-29, 2006 ● Atlanta, Ga. Unmentionable Morality

t keeps coming up. Occasionally, we need to explain the stars on the Phi Beta Kappa key, and we disclose that one of them stands for morality. Article III of our constitution stipulates “good char- Iacter” as a criterion of selection for membership. And there is this persistent notion — despite counter examples we could all cite — that education in the liberal arts and sciences should help us toward a life well lived, a life which, if not actually noble, is at least ethically respectable and decent. Yet we argue endlessly about the cash value of talk about morality, ethics and character. “Who’s to say?” someone will ask, challenging whether these matters are useful to discuss at all. We might hope that this question is not the last word, when we look at the state of things in our nation and in the world. If anything matters, it matters that we should be able to deliberate reasonably about right and wrong, better and worse. If we let go of that, then we are left with Thucydides’ account of Athenian ruthlessness in the Peloponnesian War that has the Athenians telling the Melians: The strong do what they wish, and the weak suffer what they must. But how does such deliberation go? How does it start? As a matter of fact, it just starts. I make a claim about what is good or right, and you ask me why I think that. I give a reason. You weigh it and come back with a countervailing reason. I weigh that . . . and so on. The word “deliberation,” by the way, comes from libra, the Latin word for “scales,” and so the metaphor of weighing reasons is a deeply rooted one. This is what deliberation about values is like, until and unless we have been contaminated by sophisticated theo- “Arguments aimed at ries or wearied with the endlessness or ugliness of debates. When we are exchanging reasons, we may not agree. We may developing and refining not agree about what is true. We may not agree what it makes sense each other’s moral to bring up. We may not agree how strong this or that reason is. sensibilities have a Disagreements notwithstanding, the back and forth of such peculiar feature. They exchanges presuppose that I want you to take my reasons as I do are not won when one and that you want me to take yours as you do. I want my reasons to party gives up. They are strike you as they strike me, and vice versa. In other words, when won when one party we are deliberating in disagreement, each of us is trying to shape the other’s moral sensibility. We do this by presenting facts, with comes to see things as the the implication that the facts presented bear upon something that other does.” matters. Arguments aimed at developing and refining each other’s moral sensibilities have a peculiar feature. They are not won when one party gives up. They are won when one party comes to see things as the other does. I don’t want you to say, “Okay, okay. I quit. You win.” I want you to say, “Oh! Now I see. Now I understand.” A conflict in ethics is won not by defeating the other side but by winning them over. Ideally, this is a process in which all parties enter imaginatively into the other side’s vision of the world, asking with sympathy, “How could they see it like that?” It is a process of seeking common humanity while respecting differences. Suppose we thought of Phi Beta Kappa’s commitment to morality in this vein. The half-million and more of us will not agree on substantive issues. But we could agree that a deliberative approach, offering reasons to refine the moral sensibilities of our interlocutors and weighing their reasons to refine our own, is the way to handle disagreements over values. If we can agree on that, then Phi Beta Kappa can, without blushing, say something important about the place of morality in the public dis- course of our nation and the world.

John Churchill Secretary

2 The Key Reporter SPOTLIGHT THE KEY REPORTER Volume 71, Number 3 Fall 2006 Editor & Designer: Kelly Gerald Consulting Editor: John Churchill The Key Reporter (ISSN: 0023- 0804) is published quarterly by the Phi Beta Kappa Society, 1606 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. Periodicals postage is paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional addresses. IPM #1213423 Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editors or the officers of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Circulation for this issue: 517,734 For nonmembers, single copies are available for $2; one year’s subscription is $5. Printed by Cadmus Specialty Publications, Richmond, Va. Copyright © 2006 by the Phi Beta Kappa Society. All rights are reserved. The Phi Beta Kappa name, key and The Key Reporter name are registered trademarks of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Karen and Howard Baldwin at the premiere of The Phi Beta Kappa Society’s privacy Sahara (2005), a film they produced policy prohibits the distribution of member information. Postmaster: Send change-of-address “I’ve always had a passion for the humanities, and I use that knowledge notices to: The Key Reporter, Phi Beta constantly in my work. Acting, writing, psychology — believe me, all of Kappa, 1606 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. the liberal arts come in extremely handy when you’re trying to take a Web site: www.pbk.org movie from the idea stage to the multiplex.”

— Karen Baldwin Circulation Policy All four quarterly issues of The Key Reporter are sent to members who sup- port the Society’s programs by donating s the producer of films like Ray (2004), which was nominated for Best to ΦBK’s annual giving program. Checks Picture at the 77th Annual Academy Awards and which won a Best Actor made out to the Phi Beta Kappa Society AOscar for star Jamie Foxx, and the Matthew McConaughey and Penelope may be sent to the attention of Annual Cruz action hit Sahara (2005), Karen Baldwin is a Hollywood insider with a Gifts, 1606 New Hampshire Ave. NW, commitment to bringing smart, commercial motion pictures to the big screen. She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, an achievement she considers just Washington, D.C. 20009. Contri- as impressive as her work in the entertainment business. butions are fully tax-deductible. “Getting inducted into Phi Beta Kappa was a very proud moment for me,” The spring and fall issues are mailed she says. “It’s something I will always treasure.” to every ΦBK member for whom the Karen serves as Senior Vice President of Creative Affairs for Baldwin Membership Records office has an Entertainment Group, the independent development and production company she address. Newly initiated members receive co-founded in 2004 with her husband and partner, producer Howard Baldwin. all four issues for one year. Since attending Wellesley College and the College of the Holy Cross, where she was inducted into the Society in 1985, Karen has worked as a local sports talk show co-host, an actress with several feature film credits, a produced screenwriter and, most recently, an accomplished film producer. On the Cover In addition to Ray and Sahara, Karen has helped develop and produce films such as Sudden Death (1995), Resurrection (1999), Mystery, Alaska (1999), Harkness Tower at Yale University Gideon (1999), Joshua (2002), Children on Their Birthdays (2002), Danny Alpha of Connecticut, 1780 Deckchair (2003), Where the Red Fern Grows (2003), Swimming Upstream Continued on 11

www.pbk.org Fall 2006 3 NATIONAL NEWS The 41st Triennial Council of Phi Beta Kappa October 26-29, Atlanta, Ga. Delegates from 270 Phi Beta Kappa chapters and more than 60 associ- ations are expected to attend the 41st Council of Phi Beta Kappa on Oct. 26-29, in Atlanta. Delegates to the 41st Council will elect the Society’s national leaders for the 2006-09 triennium and will vote on the chartering of new chapters. This year’s meeting will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Society’s Visiting Scholar Program with special presentations by Elaine Fantham, Giger Professor of Latin, Emerita, Princeton University; Linda Greenhouse, Supreme Court Correspondent, The New York Times; N. Katherine Hayles, Hillis Professor of Literature, University of California, Los Angeles; Dennis O’Brien, President Emeritus, University of Rochester; Yi-Fu Tuan, J.K. Wright and Vilas Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Michael S. Turner, Rauner Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago. All have served as scholars for Phi Beta Kappa’s Visiting Scholar Program. Charles Tilly, Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science at Columbia University, is the winner of the triennial Sidney S. Hook Memorial Award. He will address the Council banquet on Oct. 28. A spe- cial award will be given to Gerald Early, Merle King Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis, for distinguished service to the humanities. Recipients of both awards are selected by the ΦBK Senate from nominations received from chapters, associations and individual members. Photo Credit: Gabriel Benzur The headquarters for the Council will be at the Westin Peachtree Plaza. The Carter Center is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. On Friday, Oct. 27, the Council reception and the second session of speak- Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter ers from the Visiting Scholar Program will be at the Carter Center. and his wife, Rosalynn, the Atlanta-based center has If you are interested in attending any of the 41st Council events, please helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 65 countries. Jimmy Carter is an honorary member contact Cameron Curtis at (202) 745-3237 or [email protected]. „ of Phi Beta Kappa (Kansas State University, 1991).

Visiting Scholar Program Celebrates 50th Anniversary The Visiting Scholar Program at 2006 Triennial Council 50th Anniversary Celebration Since 1956, Phi Beta Kappa has supported its chapters by making it possible for distinguished October 26-28, 2006 scholars in the liberal arts and sciences to visit Atlanta, Ga. ΦBK sheltering institutions, spend time with facul- Thursday, October 26, Westin Peachtree Plaza ty and students there and offer a free public lecture open to the entire campus and the surrounding “American Higher Education: 50 Years Back, 50 Years community. Ahead” by Dennis O’Brien and N. Katherine Hayles “Although Phi Beta Kappa is generally thought of for what it is rather than what it does,” a chapter Friday, October 27, Carter Center officer from Clark University observed, “it clearly makes significant contributions to the intellectual “The Transformation of the Roman Year” by richness of its member institutions through its Elaine Fantham Visiting Scholar Program.” The Society has received hundreds of such “A Problem in Human Geography: What If the Objects of comments over the years testifying to the Our Study Are Our Intellectual Peers?” by Yi-Fu Tuan program’s popularity and its success. This year, Phi Beta Kappa is proud to celebrate the 50th anniver- “From Before the Big Bang until the End of Time” by sary of the program. Michael S. Turner The Visiting Scholar Program will be showcased at the 41st Council with three events Saturday, October 28, Westin Peachtree Plaza featuring prominent scholars who have previously participated in the program. “Change and Continuity on the Supreme Court” by For a complete schedule with times and exact Linda Greenhouse locations, contact Kathy Navascues at (202) 745- 3231 or [email protected]. „

4 The Key Reporter NATIONAL NEWS Teagle Foundation Awards $100,000 “Fresh Thinking” Grant to Phi Beta Kappa for Teaching and Learning Deliberative Skills on College Campuses The Phi Beta Kappa Society tion,” said John Churchill, ΦBK secre- initiative, which supports projects received a grant of $100,000 from the tary. “This project will attempt to look intended to bring new ideas to the lib- Teagle Foundation to support more deeply into the art of teaching eral arts. “Deliberation about Things that and learning these skills.” “Our goal at the Teagle Foundation Matter,” a series of events for teaching Ten colleges and universities will is to ensure that students obtaining a and learning deliberative skills through be selected to participate in liberal arts education experience the the discussion of major issues of mean- “Deliberation about Things that most intellectually stimulating curricu- ing or value. These events will be held Matter.” At each location, a series of la possible,” said W. Robert Connor, on college and university campuses symposia, discussions, forums and president of the Teagle Foundation. across the country. other forms of instructional engage- “This round of Fresh Thinking grants For 230 years, ΦBK has advocated ment will be organized by the Phi Beta seeks to explore how the liberal arts excellence in the liberal arts and sci- Kappa chapter and incorporated into can help students examine and deal ences. “Deliberation about Things that the school’s curriculum. The program with ‘Big Questions’ of meaning and Matter” emphasizes the first purpose of will be informed by the research of the value.” the Society: to encourage the applica- Carnegie Foundation for the Over the last two years, the Teagle tion of learning and scholarship in the Advancement of Teaching and that of Foundation has made more than $1.9 examination of important issues. the Center of Inquiry in Liberal Arts of million in grants through its Fresh “When asked about the value of Wabash College. Thinking initiative. ■ their liberal arts educations, our The funding for “Deliberation members consistently point to the about Things that Matter” extends the cultivation of the skills of delibera- Teagle Foundation’s Fresh Thinking

ΦBK in the News (Burke, Cathy. “Daughter’s 19-Year Œ Wan J. Kim (Johns Hopkins, 1990) Hunt for Hoffa A ‘Labor’ of Love” The was confirmed on Nov. 4, 2005, as Œ James S. Tisch (Cornell, 1975), New York Post 28 May 2006: 18.) Assistant Attorney General for Civil president and CEO of Loews Corp., Œ Patrick Fitzgerald (Amherst Rights at the U.S. Department of has been named chairman of the Board College, 1981), special counsel for the Justice. Kim is the first immigrant, the of Trustees of the Education Broad- Department of Justice, was named first Korean American and the first casting Corporation (EBC). EBC is the 2005 Lawyer of the Year by National Asian-Pacific American to serve in this parent company of public broadcasters Law Journal. (Jones, Leigh. “Lawyer position. (“Washington in Brief” The Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21. of the Year Relentless Man on a Washington Post 5 Nov. 2005, final ed.: Among the most watched public sta- Mission” Palm Beach Daily Business A5.) tions in the country, both are major Review 29 Dec. 2005: 1.) producers of programming for the Œ William Ratliff donated $100,000 Φ Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). to the University of Indianapolis to BK in Popular Culture (“James S. Tisch Named Chairman of establish the annual “Katharine Ratliff Œ Carson Kressley (Gettysburg Education Broadcasting Corporation’s Memorial Conference on Ethics, College, 1991) is one of the five fabu- Board of Trustees” Business Wire, Inc. Values and Human Responsibility” to lous stars of Bravo’s Emmy-winning 27 June 2006.) honor his daughter, a Phi Beta Kappan show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Œ Westley Moore (Johns Hopkins, whose life was marked by achievement In addition to his work in television, 2001) is one of 14 White House and service to others. Katharine Ratliff Kressley has acted on the big screen in Fellows for 2006-2007. A former (University of Florida, 1978) was an The Perfect Man (2005) and is the Rhodes Scholar, Moore is an invest- assistant professor in psychology at the author of Off the Cuff: The Guy’s ment banker with Deutsche Bank and a university when she died in 1990. (“U Guide to Looking Good (Dutton, 2004) paratrooper with the U.S. Army of I Gets $100,000 Gift” The and a book for children, You’re Reserves. He is currently writing a Indianapolis Star 17 Dec. 2005: 1S.) Different and That’s Super, with Jared book on the African-American involve- Œ Former Presidents George Bush Lee (Simon & Schuster, 2005). ment in international affairs. The non- (Yale, 1948) and Bill Clinton (“Carson Kressley: Fashion Savant” partisan White House Fellows Program (Georgetown, 1968) have raised more BRAVO 1 Aug. 2006 www.bravotv. is among the nation’s most prestigious than $100 million for the Bush-Clinton com/Queer_Eye/bio/Carson_Kressley) public policy fellowship programs. Katrina Fund since the project began. Œ Madelyn “Maddy” Curley (Univer- (“City/ County Digest” The Baltimore On Dec. 7, 2005, they announced that sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Sun 20 June 2006: 3B.) $30 million would go to 32 universities 2003) plays rising-star gymnast Mina Œ St. Louis Circuit Judge Barbara and colleges along the Gulf Coast. An Hoyt in the Disney film Stick It Ann Crancer (Albion College, 1960) additional $60 million will support (2006). (“UNC Grad to Star in continues to search for her father, other rebuilding efforts in the region. Gymnastics Movie” The News & Jimmy Hoffa. Crancer pressured the (Salmon, Jacqueline L. “$90 Million in Observer, Raleigh, N.C. 2 April 2006: FBI to open its file on Hoffa. “I need to Katrina Relief Awarded” The G10.) know the end of his story,” she said. Washington Post 8 Dec. 2005: A16.) Continued on 7

www.pbk.org Fall 2006 5 NATIONAL NEWS Priscilla Long Talks about Her Essay “Genome Tome,”The American Scholar and the 2006 National Magazine Awards Current events like war and global Tome.” Just when the ghazal project warming are unnerving. I do what I can began mating with the “Genome but also — for whatever reason — find Tome” project I can’t really say. These it comforting to peer into the deep past, things happen. to consider how long we Homo sapiens My long-running workshop of have been on earth. peer poets and visual artists is a great “Genome Tome” took three years boon. It includes Jack Remick, M. to write, and all of it was fascinating Anne Sweet, Irene Drennan, and Geri and, to me, revelatory. I discarded the Gale, as well as Gordon H. Wood, first two versions, twice stripping it whose images grace the piece. Gor- back to the title plus that haunting don’s art reflecting on biologic and Linda Hogan epigraph (“Suddenly all cosmic matters seemed to me (and to my ancestors are behind me. Be still, the Scholar’s Robert Wilson) especial- they say. Watch and listen. You are the ly fitting. result of the love of thousands”). Some It’s also fitting that I serve as sen- of it, actually all of it, is quite per- ior editor of HistoryLink.org, the sonal. I’m an identical twin, and it was online encyclopedia of Washington my good fortune to draw as fellow- state history. Our staff’s obsession with clone the brilliant Pamela O. Long. the past (going back as far as When I told her “Genome Tome” and Kennewick Man’s ancient bones The American Scholar won, she said, unearthed in eastern Washington) also Priscilla Long holds the “Ellie” her essay won for “Wow!! I’m completely wowed!” I stimulated this work. Noam Chomsky The American Scholar at the National Magazine can’t say it better. graciously inspected its colorless green Awards in May. Following the award ceremony The piece required considerable ideas, still sleeping furiously. Other in New York City, the sculpture was given to her reading on old bones, DNA, chim- insightful readers included my good by The American Scholar. panzees, language, human evolution, et friends Bethany Reid, Kit Oldham, cetera. It was catalyzed by a 2002 Saul Slapikoff and Louis Kampf. exhibition on the Human Genome Above all, I’m grateful to Wilson Project at the University of Washing- and the staff of The American Scholar essays from ton’s Henry Art Gallery, curated by for seeing the worth of “Genome Robin Held and titled “Gene(sis): Tome,” for getting its jokes, for appre- The American Scholar Contemporary Art Explores the ciating its innovations, for liking its Human Genome.” For a time, Seattle poem, for comprehending its funny- continue to was in a whirl over genomics, includ- looking shape and for all their kindly receive praise ing readings at the Henry and at Open support in shepherding it into print. Books, the city’s poetry-only book- And then, my goodness, how com- store. The proprietors of Open Books, pletely thrilling to go to Manhattan, to Edward Hoagland’s “The Christine Deavel and John W. meet Wilson and Allen Freeman, to go Glue Is Gone” (Winter Marshall, got so excited, they even to the perfectly amazing black-tie 2005) has been selected sponsored a PowerPoint lecture on event at the Lincoln Center for Jazz. for The Best American DNA, deviating from their virtually And then, to actually win! Well. It was Spiritual Writing 2006, unassailable poetry-only policy. the experience of a lifetime. I have yet edited by Philip Zaleski. I consider “Genome Tome” one to come down. ■ direct result. Emily Bernard’s “Teaching I’m a poet, and I enjoy working Priscilla Long’s essay “Genome the N-Word” (Autumn with forms. I like the idea of a form Tome” from the Summer 2005 issue of 2005) will appear in The taking the shape of its content. Our The American Scholar won the 2006 Best American Essays genomes have 23 pairs of chromo- National Magazine Award in the cate- 2006, edited by Lauren somes, and so it seemed fitting for gory of Feature Writing. The award Slater. “Genome Tome” to have 23 “chapters.” was announced May 8 at a ceremony The chapter titled “Questions” con- held by the American Society of Brian Doyle’s “Joyas tains 23 questions. It took me a Magazine Editors in New York City. Voladoras” (Autumn considerable amount of time to puzzle News of the award was first shared 2004) appears in The out what seemed to me to be the impor- with ΦBK members in the summer Pushcart Prize XXX: Best tant questions bearing on who we are, issue of The Key Reporter. This is the of the Small Presses, given what we now know. fourth time The American Scholar has 2006, edited by Bill The ghazal, that ancient Arabian been recognized with a National Henderson. form of poem, deserves mention. In Magazine Award. To purchase back 2002, the Seattle Arts Commission issues of The American Scholar, call contracted me to compose 10 ghazals, (202) 265-3808. one of which you have in “Genome

6 The Key Reporter NATIONAL NEWS Paul Humphreys Celebrates His 100th Birthday with Phi Beta Kappa Induction It was a wonderful party surround- His 43-year career as a minister ed by friends and several generations took him to parishes in Philadelphia, of family, including a number of Hightstown, N.J., and Waterbury, Bucknell University graduates. But Conn., and he has written several Paul’s son, Richard Humphreys, Class books on church history. He taught of 1962, had a special surprise in store: religion at the Peddie School in membership in the nation’s oldest aca- Hightstown, N.J., and, among other demic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. honors, received the Bucknell Paul had graduated before a ΦBK University Alumni Award in 1960, was chapter was established at Bucknell. profiled in Bucknell World in 2001 and, But in May 1942 he received a letter along the way, served in numerous from the newly established Mu of community volunteer capacities. Pennsylvania chapter telling him that On Saturday, June 24, as he cele- he was one of 20 members of the Class brated his 100th birthday (his actual of 1928 to be nominated for member- birth date is June 28), Paul became the ship. Such invitations were a common newest member of ΦBK and was pre- practice for new chapters. sented with his official membership As Richard tells the story, his pin and certificate — more than 78 father put the letter aside. The dark years after graduation and more than days of World War II were upon the 64 years since he received the member- nation. Pearl Harbor had been attacked ship invitation. It made a milestone Paul Humphreys poses with his ΦBK certificate only months earlier. Who could think birthday celebration even more special. following his induction on June 24. about honor societies when the world “Phi Beta Kappa was a real sur- was at war? “Everything was in tur- prise,” said Paul from his home in interim dean of the College of Arts and moil, and other things seemed to take Northampton, Mass. “My goodness. It Sciences. “Rev. Paul M. Humphreys is precedence,” Richard quoted his father was a real bump for me to hear that and a shining exemplar of ΦBK’s motto: as saying when asked about the letter. to know that folks were interested in Love of wisdom is the guide of life.” When Richard discovered the let- me. It made for a wonderful time.” Zappe adds, “His life has continually ter, it had been safely tucked away all Remembering that letter from affirmed the key aims of this honor these years in his father’s personal 1942, Paul says, “I treasured it — that society: friendship, morality and litera- papers. He wondered, was it too late to I was even considered. I’ve always had ture.” see his father presented with member- a profound respect for Phi Beta Kappa “Mr. Humphreys’ membership in ship? An idea took hold. Wouldn’t as a very important part of your life, if Phi Beta Kappa is both an unusual and membership in ΦBK make a great you were honored enough to receive a heart-warming story. To our knowl- 100th birthday surprise? the award.” edge, it is the first of its kind,” says As Paul’s birthday neared, Richard Richard takes great pleasure in John Churchill, ΦBK secretary. “We prepared the necessary documentation pulling off the birthday surprise for his welcome him to a society that has pur- that showed “clear evidence of the pos- father. sued its mission of fostering and recog- session of distinguished scholarly “It was just spectacular. Everyone nizing excellence in the liberal arts capacities” that would open the way had a marvelous time, and Dad was in since our country was founded.” for the present-day nominating com- great form,” he says. “The ΦBK mem- Paul Humphreys is the oldest ΦBK mittee to advance his nomination. bership was a complete surprise and a inductee on record. ■ It is, indeed, a noteworthy career. big hit. He was absolutely delighted.” After graduation from Bucknell, Paul “The Mu of Pennsylvania chapter This story was prepared and submitted continued his studies at the Crozer is honored to celebrate this remarkable by Sam Alcorn, Web editor in the Theological Institute, where he was man’s life through membership in our Division of Communications at awarded bachelor’s and master’s society,” says Chris Zappe, president of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. degrees in theology. the Bucknell chapter of ΦBK and

ΦBK IN POPULAR CULTURE the Future, but Anchored in the Past” well as talented — Phi Beta Kappa, Continued from 5 The New York Times 8 Dec. 2005, late which they don’t give out for negotiat- ed.: F6.) ing with your teachers.” Arlene Weiss Œ Producer Gale Anne Hurd (Stan- Œ Arlene Weiss Alda’s (Hunter Alda is a musician, photographer and ford, 1976) has made nearly 30 College, CUNY, 1954) membership is celebrated author of children’s books, movies, including three of the noted by husband Alan Alda in his new including Did You Say Pears? (Tundra Terminator films, two of the Alien autobiography, Never Have Your Dog Books, 2006) and The Book of ZZZs films and Aeon Flux (2005), a futuris- Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve (Tundra Books, 2005). Submitted by tic sci-fi thriller starring Charlize Learned (Random House, 2005). He Wendy J. Shadwell, New York, N.Y. ■ Theron. (Diamond, Jamie. “Inventing writes: “I found out she was smart as

www.pbk.org Fall 2006 7 Elizabeth Peabody Transcendentalism’s “first-rate academician”

by Megan Marshall

he three Peabody sisters were boat and onto Plymouth Rock. an extraordinary group — our Elizabeth had mistaken her mother’s American Brontës, albeit a lot term “ancestors” for one of her own more outgoing. The youngest, devising, “Ann Sisters”: a group of Sophia,T was an artist whose painting “sisters” who “strangely enough were and sculpture were shown and sold at a all named Ann.” As Elizabeth heard her time when few women practiced in the mother’s story, these sisters immedi- field; she married Nathaniel ately built a school house and began Hawthorne. The middle sister, Mary, teaching the children of the communi- was more politically inclined. An edu- ty. In Elizabeth’s young mind, women cator, writer and translator, she married were the founders of the new world; her soul mate, the reformer Horace women were the educators of a new Ralph Waldo Emerson Mann. Elizabeth, the eldest, was the breed of citizen. 1803-1882 most extraordinary of all: an intellectu- Margaret Fuller is well-known for al prodigy as a girl; a creative thinker her Conversations for women, held in Ralph Waldo Emerson, among the New England Tran- Boston in the early 1840s, sometimes widely recognized and celebrat- scendentalists and a promoter of thought of as America’s first con- ed as the father of American Transcendentalist causes in her 30s and sciousness-raising groups. But a full Transcendentalism, was a 40s; and the founder of American decade before Fuller attempted the philosopher, a poet, an essayist kindergartens, a cause she promoted project, Elizabeth Peabody was hold- and one of the most powerful from her 50s until she died at almost 90 ing what she called Historical and inspiring orators of his day. years old. Conferences for women. These were His 1837 Phi Beta Kappa But above all and through it all, year-long courses in which participants oration at Harvard University, Elizabeth Peabody was a historian. were held responsible for researching “The American Scholar,” is an Elizabeth was so much a historian by the history of an era or a civilization, essential text for any student of nature that the Transcendentalists — under Elizabeth’s supervision, and then the history of American letters. ever intent on cultivating “newness” — reporting to the class, while also read- Oliver Wendell Holmes called almost couldn’t accept her as one of ing together historical works of great their own. After reading an essay seriousness, or listening to Elizabeth’s “The American Scholar” “Our Elizabeth Peabody had sent him, which paraphrases if the books were written Intellectual Declaration of happened to include the first use of the in German. Independence.” term “transcendentalism” in America, And now I think of Emerson’s Emerson’s performance on Ralph Waldo Emerson dismissed it observation that Elizabeth might have this occasion has become the because of her reliance on the ancient been “a learned professor,” if of anoth- gold standard for all Phi Beta Biblical prophets to make her points. er sex. By Elizabeth’s account, there Kappa orators who have fol- He told her that reading the essay had was not at this time (the 1830s) any lowed him in a tradition that been a little like encountering “octoge- professor of history at Harvard, the our chapters across the country narians at a young party.” Yet Emerson only college in the neighborhood. still maintain. also acknowledged Peabody’s intellec- Many of her female students had broth- The Society’s literary legacy tual prowess, writing in his journal ers enrolled at Harvard, and some of is also a constant reminder of that, “of another sex, she would have them came to her, “sub rosa,” she said, his influence. The title of his been a first-rate academician; and, as it for instruction. As a woman, Elizabeth Phi Beta Kappa oration was was, she had the ease and scope and Peabody adopted a role she might not later adopted as the name of the authority of a learned professor.” have been able to play even if she had Society’s award-winning literary Of another sex. Actually, Elizabeth been a man. and intellectual quarterly jour- Peabody never felt disadvantaged in As the decade of fervent Tran- nal, The American Scholar. her work as a historian by the fact of scendentalism arrived, Elizabeth’s being female. One of her earliest child- classes began to drift from history as a Image courtesy of the Joel hood memories was of hearing her subject. The women raised larger ques- Myerson Collection of mother, a school teacher, tell the story tions: “What is character?” “What is of the Pilgrim settlement of New the meaning of life?” They decided, as Nineteenth-Century American England. As Mrs. Peabody repeatedly true proto-Transcendentalists, that cul- Literature, Thomas Cooper evoked their Pilgrim “ancestors,” tivating an inner spiritual life was Library, University of South Elizabeth began to imagine a “proces- important. But, under Elizabeth’s Carolina sion of fair women in white robes” direction, they also reached the conclu- who were “streaming along” from their sion that “trying to do something our-

8 The Key Reporter selves” was just as important. “We must act out our impulses,” for, in the end, “the measure of our Life is our Power.” What did Elizabeth do? She opened a foreign language bookstore where many of her favorite history books were for sale. The Transcenden- talists used the shop as a gathering place; the Brook Farm Association drew up its plans there; Margaret Fuller held her Conversations there. And then, as the era of “the newness” faded, Elizabeth found another way of impart- ing historical knowledge — a system of charts that purported to represent all of world history at a glance, if you knew how to read them. Students young and old were entranced. Mary Peabody Mann wrote that even her husband’s sister, Lydia — a cranky born-again Baptist — was attending “Elizabeth’s lesson in history twice a week, which she thinks the most inter- esting lesson she ever heard in any- thing.” Elizabeth traveled the East Coast during the 1850s, promoting the system and enjoying what she called her “rolling residence” in railway cars. Of course, Elizabeth Peabody never attended college; in the 1820s, when she was in her late teens, women weren’t allowed as students, let alone professors. Her chief female mentor was her mother, who was also her only classroom teacher. But this lack of institutional connection worked to her advantage. Her mother’s curriculum featured books by and about women, with the result, Elizabeth once wrote, that “the idea that women were less capable of the highest education in literature and science, and of author- Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804-1894) Courtesy of the Concord Free Public Library ship on any subject, truly never entered my mind.” Indeed, even in an era that Elizabeth Peabody’s prodigious should read from youth to age, whatev- we think of as extremely limited in intellectual drive led her to master er else she does.” ■ opportunities for women, Elizabeth many fields of learning — from lin- grew up believing that “women could guistics to metaphysics — all on her The Phi Beta Kappa Association of take and were allowed to take any own. But history was the subject that Boston hosts an annual lecture series course [in life] they were fitted for, if she felt everyone should make the engaging ΦBK Fellows lecturers and they chose.” effort to master. Writing 150 years ago other renowned scholars. The Boston Elizabeth and her mother and on “The Place of History in the Association’s 2006 speaker was Megan sisters, and even many of the men in Education of Republican Men and Marshall. Her biography, The Peabody their circle, were essentially self- Women” for the early feminist journal Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited educated and, as we might call them The Una, she expressed her concern American Romanticism (Houghton today, “life-long learners.” One of that “people are not sufficiently Mifflin, 2005), was awarded the 2006 Elizabeth’s first published works was a instructed in the social science which Francis Parkman Prize, the Mark translation from the French (a language history teaches, to be worthy of a gov- Lynton History Prize and the she taught herself) of the philosopher ernment which is acknowledged to be Massachusetts Book Award in nonfic- Baron Joseph Marie Degerando’s work the better the less it governs.” Women, tion; it was also one of two finalists for of that very title: Self-Education. she believed, “inevitably give [society] the Pulitzer Prize in biography and Emerson read her translation, and it its character,” and for them the study memoir. Marshall majored in English informed his own thought as, early in was all the more crucial. “As the art of and American Literature and his career, he resigned his pulpit and life is the universal vocation of Language at Harvard University, began to re-form himself as a lecturer, woman,” Elizabeth wrote in a late rem- where she was elected to ΦBK in 1977. an essayist and a secular prophet. iniscence, “history is what woman

www.pbk.org Fall 2006 9 Student Goes from No House to Morehouse Donald Washington Jr. Graduates from Historically Black College after Spending Early College Life in Shelters

by Liza Gutierrez Donald Washington Jr.’s life as a Washington graduated. But she col- college graduate in Georgia is a far cry lapsed under it all while dealing with from his earlier years as a homeless chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia — student in Montgomery County, Md. pains in the muscles, legs and liga- A full scholarship took him from ments. local shelters and soup kitchens to ‘‘It was painful because my moth- Morehouse College, an all-male, his- er always wanted to be able to support torically black school in Atlanta, Ga. me financially while I was going to During his time at Morehouse, school . . . to be able to help out with Washington studied abroad in Ghana, the basics,” Washington said. traveled to Israel with a student group, She still apologizes to him today and also saw Egypt — even more dis- for not having been able to do that, he tant worlds away from his former life. said, ‘‘but it’s all right. I find ways to Washington celebrated his May 12 make do.” graduation with his mother, Harriet It was during Washington’s first Donald Washington Jr. with his mother, Harriet Wilkes, who also worked herself out of year at Montgomery College in Wilkes of Gaithersburg, Md., on graduation day homelessness and is living in Rockville, Md., when the two found at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. Gaithersburg, Md. themselves without a home. And since Washington, 23, earned a Bachelor men and women are kept separate in Washington knew that focusing on of Arts degree in African-American the county’s shelter system, school and excelling academically Studies, graduated summa cum laude Washington was on his own. could potentially lead to a scholarship. and Phi Beta Kappa, and received a He found himself in a homeless A staff member at the center advocated Compton Mentor Fellowship to con- shelter for men in Rockville’s East that Washington be allowed to study duct a youth program in Atlanta until Gude Drive industrial zone. full time and released from the work next summer. ‘‘At the time, it was like walking requirement, and the center agreed, he Numerous people in the same situ- through the valley of the shadow of said. ation would blame others and not suc- death,” he said. ‘‘It was difficult.” Washington’s support system at ceed, said Marcellus Barksdale, direc- Washington encountered a myriad Montgomery College worked like an tor of the African-American Studies of people who influenced him in differ- extended family. People saw potential, Program at Morehouse, but ent ways during that tumultuous period and pitched in. Washington is a shining example of of his life. Different people from different cir- how people can make a difference in In the shelters, there are people cles at the school rallied around their lives if they take the initiative. with highly manipulative personalities Washington to provide necessities like ‘‘I concluded early that he was an who have spent their lives trying to get food and transportation to keep his outstanding student, and he proved to over on others, Washington said, so he spirits up, said Denise Simmons be just that,” Barksdale said. ‘‘He’s so had to learn how to discern what peo- Graves, a professor and counselor at brilliant and so intellectually gifted.” ple’s motivations were when he came Montgomery College. When he needed Washington was active in the com- into contact with them. to be appropriately dressed for an munity both on and off campus, But, Washington emphasized, not event, he was taken shopping for an Barksdale said, adding that he encour- all people in the shelter system are cal- outfit and also to the barbershop, she aged Washington to pace himself. culating. said. ‘‘You need a little social life, too,” One man named Kevin reached out ‘‘But he had an internal drive that Barksdale would tell him. to Washington and showed him how to bolstered him,” she added. Washington was among the better get to a soup kitchen in Silver Spring, Washington’s scholarship plan students when he entered Morehouse, Md., that provided the types of meals worked. During his third year at he said. Many students at the school the shelter was not always able to with Montgomery College in 2003 he come from elite homes, and some do reliance on donated food. Kevin also earned a full scholarship that would not do nearly as well as Washington connected Washington with a case cover education and housing expenses. did, he added. manager, he said. He was on his way to Morehouse. Washington’s past has not been Washington was placed in a transi- ‘‘It was real deep,” Washington ‘‘an anchor around his neck,” tional housing center, worked and said about the moment he knew the Barksdale said. ‘‘He is not embar- attended school part time. He traveled scholarship was his. ‘‘I guess you rassed by it.” more than three hours round-trip on could say that my cup of blessings was After Washington’s parents public transportation to get to and from running over. That’s how I felt.” divorced around 2001, Wilkes worked class, he said, and often could not For the next year, Morehouse hard to make ends meet, her son said. study at night because the lights at the Professor Angela Campbell will work She worked several jobs to keep an shelter were shut off at a certain time. as Washington’s mentor on the project, apartment near Northwest High School Although the center required resi- ‘‘The Peacemakers: Redeem the in Germantown, Md., from which dents to work in order to live there, Continued on 15

10 The Key Reporter Asilomar — What is that? to the treatment of evolution in the sci- access to programs and activities our ence curriculum to the adventures of a conference goers enjoy. In previous by Jean James single woman traveling alone in years, we have learned about the Northern California Association Russia. Monarch butterflies wintering in Local universities and community Pacific Grove, Ca., and heard about Asilomar, which means “refuge by colleges have become rich resources marine mammals and deep sea life; we the sea,” is a California conference for outstanding speakers as well. have visited the nearby Defense center and state park located on the Professors regularly join us at Language Institute and the Naval Post Pacific Coast between Monterey and Asilomar to talk about topics as wide- Graduate School and traveled to the Carmel, Ca. Originally developed as a ranging as genetically engineered Steinbeck house and museum in YWCA retreat in 1913 on land donated crops, the importance of place in the Salinas, Ca. In addition, the site of by Charles Crocker, Asilomar boasts work of John Steinbeck, shipwrecks Asilomar itself affords the opportunity 16 buildings designed by Arts and and other disasters on the Monterey for tide pool, nature and historic archi- Crafts architect Julia Morgan. Peninsula, the history of wine making tectural walks. Twenty years ago, our then in California and the music of Bach, The conference registration fee, president, Svetlana Thomson, inaugu- Mozart and Beethoven. brain child of former President Mel rated the Northern California We have been able to attract out- Shattuck, covers expenses beyond Association’s first President’s Day standing speakers from a variety of those of room and board and generates conference at Asilomar. Through the fields not only because of Asilomar’s between eight and ten thousand dollars years, the conference has grown into an reputation but also because of the for our scholarship fund. In April, our annual event, offering our members the prestige of the Society. Speakers are association awarded twelve $5,000 opportunity to enjoy themselves in a often flattered to be invited and are scholarships to outstanding graduate beautiful, historic setting and to hear willing to forgo their usual fees, espe- students from the northern California an interesting array of speakers from cially when we emphasize that the pur- area. all areas of the liberal arts and sciences. pose of the conference is to raise The Asilomar conference is In the early years of the confer- money for scholarships. equally important to the administration ence, most of the programs were If the lineup of speakers is not of our association because it provides provided by our diverse and talented enough to pique the interest of northern fertile ground for recruiting board and members and included a range of California’s Phi Beta Kappans, the committee members. Years ago, topics from the “Greatest Generation” location of Asilomar also provides Continued on 15

BALDWIN Continued from 3 (2003), A Sound of Thunder (2005) and The Game of Their Lives (2005). Baldwin Entertainment Group has numerous projects in various stages of development, including a biopic about the environmentalist Julia Butterfly Hill; a big-screen adaptation of Ayn Rand’s classic novel Atlas Shrugged, for Lionsgate Films; a film about the incredible true story of the integration of baseball, seen through the eyes of Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers’ general manager Branch Rickey, to star Robert Redford as Rickey; a film adaptation of Frank McCourt’s memoir Teacher Man, to be written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ron Bass; and a stage musical based on the life of Ray Charles, with a book by Pulitzer Prize- winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. “My work is incredibly challeng- ing, but the rewards are immense,” Karen says. “I remain a very proud member of Phi Beta Kappa, and I would be more than willing to help and advise young people in Phi Beta Kappa who have an interest in the film indus- try.” To learn more about Karen and Howard Baldwin’s work in films, visit Baldwin Entertainment Group on the Web at baldwinent.com. ■

www.pbk.org Fall 2006 11 From Our Book Critics By Germaine Cornelissen consider group visits and community- keeping. As a student and colleague of based programs to provide patients the father of chronobiology who with multidisciplinary information and coined circadian, I particularly appre- Meeting the Challenge support. Information technologies ciated seeing the topic included in the of Chronic Illness. should facilitate communication book, notably since evidence is accu- Robert L. Kane, between patients and health care mulating for a much broader time Reinhard Priester and providers, extending from clinicians to structure shared by living organisms Annette M. Totten. The advanced practice nurses and other with their cosmos, far beyond circadi- Johns Hopkins personnel who likely will see their an and circannual rhythms. University Press, 2005. responsibilities broaden. A review of different calendars $55.00 Whereas the continued develop- and clock designs through the ages ment and dissemination of new tech- emphasizes how profound an effect Today’s medical system is orient- nologies, such as the integration of Galileo’s discovery of the simple pen- ed primarily to attend to acute care. therapeutic devices with information dulum’s isochronism had: its suitabili- Acute conditions, such as infectious capabilities or devices allowing the ty as a timing device became apparent. disease and injuries, tend to have a sud- remote monitoring of patients, is likely Eventually, it led to the first truly accu- den onset, to last only a relatively short to offer greater independence to rate mechanical timepiece, which in time and usually to be remedied by patients with chronic illnesses, finan- turn enabled John Harrison to solve the appropriate interventions without cial and other barriers still need to be longitude problem, making the safe requiring ongoing treatment. The addressed. Prevention and health pro- navigation of ocean-going ships possi- authors address the silent worldwide motion provide the means to avoid fur- ble. Scientific work, especially astron- epidemic of chronic illnesses affecting ther functional decline and poor life omy, could also flourish. Curiously, the nearly half of the American population, quality. Also, adverse drug events must designation of Greenwich Mean Time resulting from the increase in risk be considered, particularly when and the adoption of the coordinated related to smoking, obesity and other chronically ill patients take multiple universal time scale arose from the lifestyle and environmental factors and medications. need by railroads for geographical uni- from a longer average life span associ- Paying for chronic care should formity in the telling of time. ated with the availability of preventive reinforce the goals of that care. Both The book would not be complete and therapeutic measures. the professional and lay communities without a section devoted to the current The authors provide a long needed need to be convinced that it is worth- definition of time based on atomic comprehensive analysis of the problem while to invest in better chronic care. clocks and its implication for deter- of caring for chronic illnesses. The The authors call on policymakers, mining the coordinates of any point on nearly $1.5 trillion per year the United health care providers and educators to the surface of the earth within a few States now spends on a health care sys- address the challenges facing the feet via satellites of the Global tem, that is second to none in trauma, health care system. In addition to a Positioning System. The second is now transplantation and other high-tech redistribution of resources, a reform is the most precisely defined unit in care, fails to address the needs of needed to align the health care system physics, expected to reach an accuracy patients with chronic conditions such with the mounting reality of chronic of one part in 1016 in the next few years, as arthritis, asthma, depression, dia- illnesses. The book provides a much with further improvement on the hori- betes, heart disease or Parkinson dis- needed assessment of the greatest chal- zon threatening to upset what we mean ease, who require long-term attention lenge in health care today, pointing to by “keeping time” (Physics Today and management of their conditions. the fact that improving the system is 2006; 59(3):10-11). The task of restructuring a health care not a choice but a necessity. To wrap up this fascinating story, system centered on the patient rather the author takes us on a tour of the than on the disease condition is mas- Galileo’s Pendulum: basic physics of the pendulum’s prop- terfully addressed in this book. From the Rhythm of erties. From Sir Isaac Newton’s equa- Fragmented and uncoordinated Time to the Making of tion of motion, Léon Foucault’s pendu- services at the root of the insufficiency Matter. Roger G. lum and Joseph Fourier’s decomposi- and ineffectiveness of caring for chron- Newton. Harvard tion of any function in terms of sine ic illnesses affecting individuals, fami- University Press, 2005; curves of different frequencies to the lies and society lead the authors to pro- paper $13.95 vibrations of sounds and light waves, pose a better integrated health care sys- and Albert Einstein’s theory of relativ- tem and to suggest directions to This delightful short book address- ity, quantum mechanics and quantum achieve this goal. To succeed in miti- es the problem of time measurement, electrodynamics, the far-reaching and gating functional limitations and maxi- viewed in its different aspects through pervading properties of the harmonic mizing quality of life, the authors history. It is centered on the keen oscillator are presented clearly and emphasize the interdependent nature of observation made anecdotally in the concisely as a crucial building block multiple conditions, paying particular cathedral of Pisa by Galileo Galilei, for our understanding of nature in this attention to the need for a longitudinal when he was only 17, that the time it very interesting and engaging book. follow-up best achieved by empower- took the hanging chandelier to com- ing patients to monitor their own plete one oscillation was independent health. of how far it was swinging. Surprising The authors advocate a greater but quite fitting is the author’s intro- emphasis on patient education and duction dealing with biological time-

12 The Key Reporter By Rick Eden so much so that one chapter takes the izers, Edelman rarely provides analo- form of a drawing room play. To read gies and metaphors that would connect The Economics of Lanham is rather like watching close- our understanding of the brain’s func- Attention: Style and up as a sleeveless magician performs tions to other phenomena with which Substance in the Age of card tricks. As he explores the implica- we are familiar. Instead, he relies on Information. Richard A. tions of oscillatio for all manner of the scientific nomenclature to which he Lanham. University of human endeavor — art, morality, mar- is accustomed (and some of which he Chicago Press, 2006. keting, design, law, education and, of may have originated). When a 148- $29.00 course, economics — again and again page book has a 30 page glossary, that he surprises us with reversals and is a sure sign of trouble. Moreover, the It is ironic that Richard Lanham’s inversions of our expectations: structures and processes he describes newest book is a book at all because its “Foreground and background, stuff are truly complex, and the few black central subject is what happens when and nonstuff, begin to oscillate before and white drawings he provides to our reading moves from books to com- our eyes, indeed have to oscillate, if we illustrate them are inadequate; puter screens. Unlike some English are to make sense of what is going on.” sequences of graphics would have been professors, Lanham has a cheery view If you are willing to be dizzied, The more effective (and animation ideal). of this move, believing that, once read- Economics of Attention offers an exhil- As a result of these shortcomings, this ing goes “off book” (to borrow an act- arating ride. primer on consciousness is very diffi- ing term), it should get even better. cult reading. Still, for some general Potentially, text on a screen can regain Wider Than the Sky: readers, it may be worth the effort, some of the orality of speech that it lost The Phenomenal Gift of because Edelman offers innovative with the advent of silent, solitary read- Consciousness. Gerald perspectives on a fascinating subject. ing, and it can regain some of the M. Edelman. Yale graphic artistry that it lost with the University Press, 2005. Gate of the Sun. Elias advent of the printing press. Compared $24.00 Khoury. Translated to printed text, electronic text can be from the Arabic by readily augmented with image and Humphrey Davies. sound. Gerald Edelman is a highly hon- Archipelago Books, This enriched mode of reading is ored research physician and neurosci- 2006. $26.00 demanding and requires an artful allo- entist best known for winning the cation of our limited attention, hence Nobel Prize for Physiology or Although marketed as the title’s allusion to an “economics of Medicine in 1972 in recognition of his a sort of Palestinian epic, Gate of the attention.” Drawing on anthropology discoveries regarding antibodies. In Sun is actually a tragicomic novel in as well as aesthetics, Lanham posits later research, among many other sci- the absurdist tradition of Franz Kafka, two poles of human attention: attention entific achievements, he developed a Samuel Beckett and Joseph Heller. to the substance of what one is reading theory of higher brain functioning and The situation is comically absurd: and attention to its style, which its development. In Wider Than the in a dingy, almost deserted hospital includes aural and graphic elements. Sky, near the end of a long scientific within a Palestinian refugee camp near We read best, he says, when we attend career, he takes the role of his own Beirut, a male nurse converses with a alternately to substance and to style — popularizer. It is his effort to “present comatose patient. The patient is Yunes, and when we are conscious of the an account of consciousness to the an elderly Palestinian fighter who has alternation. Leave it to the compiler of general reader.” been unconscious for three months. the Handlist of Rhetorical Terms to That account is compressed into The male nurse is a 40-year-old come up with a classical term for this 12 very short, dense chapters. Chapter Palestinian medic named Khalil, to trope: oscillatio. three, for instance, is a detailed neuro- whom Yunes has been like a father. Beyond trying to teach us how best biological tour of the structure and Believing he can restore Yunes to to read, Lanham advocates a renewed functioning of the human brain, which consciousness, Khalil talks to him con- emphasis on the study of rhetoric: he introduces as “the most complicated stantly. The novel comprises his asso- “Rhetoric teachers . . . were, and still material object in the known universe.” ciative monologues over the course of are, the primary economists of atten- Edelman defines consciousness as a four months talking about their lives tion.” In the tradition of apologists for process that depends on the brain, and and the lives of those like them who rhetoric, he wants to redeem his pro- he distinguishes primary conscious- either fled or were forced from their fession, to rescue it from chronic neg- ness from higher-order consciousness. villages in Galilee in 1948. Khalil lect and misunderstanding and to Primary consciousness he describes as struggles with the realization that their return it to its historical position at the the state of being aware of the world; lives have become absurd, senseless, center of the educational curriculum: higher-order consciousness includes almost fictional: “This isn’t a hospital, “At [the] core must stand some version the consciousness of being conscious. it just resembles a hospital. Everything of the discipline that for most of Both, he insists, arise biologically: here isn’t itself but a simulacrum of Western history supplied the ‘econom- there is nothing “metaphysical or nec- itself.” ics’ for the economics of attention: essarily mysterious” about them. There is surprisingly little of poli- rhetoric.” As an account of consciousness tics in this novel and less of religion. Lanham’s own prose is a pleasure suitable for the general reader, Wider Through Khalil’s often perplexed rem- to read: the substance is learned, yet Than the Sky unfortunately falls short. iniscing, Khoury captures the sensitive hip and eclectic. The style is highly There are several reasons why. One is complexity of a region filled with per- oral (“Aha!”) and full of theatricality, that, unlike the most effective popular- sons displaced by war and by religious

www.pbk.org Fall 2006 13 intolerance. Like many of the by galaxy, the size and scale of the uni- Michael Carlowicz, who once shared Palestinian characters, many of the verse was revealed for the first time. an office at Goddard with Hill, has Jewish ones are also displaced, Cepheids are still at the basis of our written introductions to the seven refugees not only from Europe, but understanding of the scale of the uni- chapters. also from Islamic countries such as verse, and measuring their periods in The introductory chapter shows a Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. dozens of nearby galaxies was a key range of beautiful phenomena, from Khoury’s main interest lies in how project of the Hubble Space Telescope. the distortions of the sun when seen being on the losing side of war has Johnson writes engagingly, bring- low on the horizon to rainbows to affected the relationships between ing a view of the individuals involved space images. Chapter one shows a Palestinian men and women. His major in the story, even though little is known variety of solar effects from sunlight. themes are loss, betrayal and love. He about Leavitt herself. The villain of the Did you know that the street grid in weaves these in stories that are story is the observatory’s eventual Manhattan is aligned so that the sun ambiguous and layered. The result is a director, Harlow Shapley, who provid- shines down the streets each year on a great and beautiful novel. ed important measurements to “cali- May 28 and July 12? We see the sun on brate” Leavitt’s period-luminosity rela- one of those dates shining down past By Jay Pasachoff tion by providing context, but who the Empire State Building. Chapter showed that he would have rather had two shows fabulous rainbows plus Miss Leavitt’s Stars: the Nobel Prize for himself than have related phenomena such as halos and The Untold Story of Leavitt receive it when a Swedish sun dogs. I love the photos that are a the Woman Who mathematician wrote for information. I series taken on single pieces of film, Discovered How to think that Johnson is too hard on including an analemma over a Greek Measure the Universe. Shapley in the end, though, since he temple and the midnight sun seen from George Johnson. summarizes modern-day astronomers’ Ireland and from Antarctica. Chapter W. W. Norton & views of his accomplishments too mea- three’s images range from archaeoas- Company, 2005; gerly. Shapley indeed deserves credit tronomy to historic solar images to paper $13.95 for calibrating Leavitt’s law (as we eclipses. may call it, in parallel to the common Chapter four’s auroras demon- If you look at a star, you can see use of the term “Hubble’s law” for a strate the sun-Earth interaction in the how bright it appears, but it is quite dif- dependent relation that carries most beautiful way. Chapter five’s fan- ficult to figure out how far away it is. Leavitt’s work to the far reaches of the tastic set of images from current solar The binocular vision your eye and universe). And he deserves credit for spacecraft from NASA and the brain use to judge nearby terrestrial realizing that our sun is not in the cen- European Space Agency are leavened distances can be extended to the near- ter of our galaxy, a Copernican step of by a couple of famous ground-based est stars by taking advantage of the removing our specialness. photographs of huge solar eruptions, earth’s orbit around the sun, but indi- Johnson brings the cosmic dis- one taken at the Big Bear Observatory rect methods must be used beyond that. tance scale up to date, though he in California just as I was finishing my George Johnson tells the fascinating skimps on the current work (and, in a postdoctoral work there. Chapter six story of how Henrietta Swan Leavitt, a sign of minor ignorance, writes includes mainly similar space solar human “computer” paid 30 cents per “Mount Palomar” instead of “Palomar images but with an emphasis on erup- hour by the Harvard College Mountain”). Still, this charming book tions that can and do hit our Earth. Observatory about a hundred years brings an important episode in the his- Such eruptions are at the moment a ago, discovered how to measure the tory of science into the hands of gener- major impediment to the possibility of inherent brightness of a certain type of al readership. It is a book that all sending astronauts to Mars. The final star. By comparing a star’s inherent should read, if they care to broaden chapter includes a few astronomical brightness to its apparent brightness, it their knowledge into both of C. P. views, among them an unusual analem- is easy to find its distance. Indeed, if Snow’s “Two Cultures.” ma in the Martian sky and a Hubble that star is in a galaxy outside our own image of a nebula beyond our solar Milky Way, the distance to that galaxy The Sun. Steele system. comes as a bonus. Hill and Michael I can recommend Hill and Leavitt studied photographic Carlowicz. Harry Carlowicz’s collection showing the sun plates taken by Harvard’s telescopes. N. Abrams, Inc., to everyone of any age. She realized that, in a satellite galaxy 2006. $19.95 of our own, one type of star that varies By Rebecca Resinski in brightness — a Cepheid variable Sunlight contains after an example in the constellation all the colors of the rainbow, and all The Past from Above: Cepheus — has a remarkable property. these colors are put to good use in the Aerial Photographs of In a set of these stars at the same dis- six-inch by six-inch book entitled sim- Archaeological Sites. tance from us, the brighter ones take ply The Sun. About 200 photographs Georg Gerster. Edited longer to vary. Once this relation is printed on heavy stock were selected and with an introduc- established, one can then simply meas- by Steele Hill, a photo specialist at tion by Charlotte ure the period of any Cepheid variable, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Trümpler. Getty and go back to the basic relation — a who has worked with and manipulated Publications, 2005. straight line on a graph of period ver- solar images for many years. The pic- $65.00 sus luminosity — to deduce its intrin- tures, with only occasional double- sic brightness. Once Edwin Hubble page spreads, appear with accompany- This collection is culled from the was able to apply the method to a near- ing brief captions. Science writer work of Georg Gerster, who has pho-

14 The Key Reporter tographed archaeological sites from The Norton anthology, and so you might be sur- the air for four decades. Charlotte Anthology of prised not to find some of your Trümpler’s introduction to the volume Children’s Literature: favorites here. But you will certainly traces the intersection of aerial photog- The Traditions in meet up with some old friends and raphy and archaeology, especially English. Edited by make new ones. For those who still drawing out the relationship between Jack Zipes, Lissa need to be convinced to give this vol- aerial archaeological photography and Paul, Lynne Vallone, ume a place on their bookshelves, I the military during and after World War Peter Hunt and offer W. H. Auden’s observation about I. Gerster provides two essays for the Gillian Avery. W. W. children’s verse and suggest that his volume: a collage of memories and an Norton & Company, 2005. $65.00 remark pertains to all types of chil- account of the relocation of the two dren’s literature: “There are no good temples at Abu Simbel in the 1960s. Etymologically speaking, an poems which are only for children.” ■ Through Gerster’s pieces, we learn anthology is a “gathering of blossoms.” about the whims of pilots, the political The Norton Anthology of Children’s hurdles facing aerial photographers, Literature is quite a bouquet. Designed MOREHOUSE Continued from 10 the quest for the right light and efforts primarily as a textbook for college Dream Youth Leadership Program.” to record a site before it disappears. courses in children’s literature, this As part of the program, he plans to Although the introductory materi- volume is not intended for children. train young adults in conflict resolution als discuss some of the difficulties Rather, it provides students, scholars and nonviolent methodologies, she involved in aerial photography, Gerster and serious leisure readers with a sur- said. is so masterful that his photographs vey of various genres of literature writ- ‘‘He’s sincere. He’s driven. He’s convey no sense of effort. The more ten for children in English over the past motivated to really, really help human- than 250 images selected for the vol- three and a half centuries. The editors ity in very profound ways,” Campbell ume run the global gamut — from Peru take a descriptive rather than normative said. ‘‘He has the makings of the next to Australia, from England to Iran — approach: they do not set out to estab- transformative leader, like a Dr. and give us a privileged view of sites. lish a canonical list of the best works [Martin Luther] King Jr.” ■ Sometimes the novelty of the perspec- for children but instead provide exam- tive is refreshing: imagine seeing the ples of significant trends in children’s Liza Gutierrez is a staff writer for The outside of the Pantheon’s dome, for literature and its development. Gazette. The story originally appeared instance. Other times the photographs The volume is divided into cate- on July 12, 2006, and is reprinted with lead us to reflect on the relationship gories of children’s literature, ranging permission from The Rockville Gazette between artificial structures and the from alphabet books and school stories in Montgomery County, Md. natural environment. Still other photo- to cross-over genres like comics and graphs give us a sense of the whole science fiction. Within each category, unattainable on the ground (as with the an introductory essay compactly pro- ASILOMAR Continued from 11 geoglyphs of the Americas) or allow us vides social and literary background Svetlana Thomson took my arm at to see the ghostly outlines of all but for the texts themselves, which are then Asilomar and convinced me, with just vanished sites. Each photograph is presented chronologically. The “Texts a bit of twisting, that I could serve on paired with commentary from an and Contexts” section within some cat- the nominating committee. Who would archaeologist or specialist in heritage egories affords a sustained look at have thought that little job would lead management. While the commentaries perennial favorites — such as “Little to being corresponding secretary, con- vary in their effectiveness at explaining Red Riding Hood” or “Twinkle, ference chair and, now, president? I, exactly what a reader is seeing, all of Twinkle Little Star” — and their varia- and others, have carried on the tradi- them provide general background tions across time. Throughout the vol- tion of recruiting at Asilomar. As many information and offer suggestions for ume, the editors take pains to demon- of our members well know, it is diffi- further reading. Photographs are strate the diversity of genres and voic- cult to decline a request for service to grouped into basic categories, thus es in children’s literature. Although the the association when one is surrounded facilitating comparisons across time majority of texts are drawn from North by such natural beauty and intellectual and space (of burial mounds around the America and Britain, New Zealand and company. After being in charge of the globe, for example). Gerster and Australia are represented, and many of conference for six years, I have passed Trümpler conclude the volume with the texts bear witness to the ways in the torch to Jae Emenhiser, whom we two especially sobering groups of pho- which other traditions — Native recruited — where else? — at tographs, one set showing the unmis- American, Hispanic and Chinese, Asilomar. takable marks of looters and the other among others — have contributed to To learn more about the Northern commemorating sites now lost or on the traditions in English. California Association and the the verge of being lost. The last photo- Format and illustration play spe- Asilomar conference, visit us on the graph in the series gives us a bird’s eye cial roles in the experience of reading Web at www.pbknca. org. ■ view of houses in the marshes of the children’s literature. Although this Euphrates; the commentary tells us that anthology focuses primarily on words, Jean James (DePauw University, 1968) the ancient way of life that the houses it does pay tribute to these aspects of is the current president of the Northern represent came to an end only in the children’s literature with a fair number California Association and past chair 1990s, when the course of the of color plates and an even larger num- of the association’s Asilomar confer- Euphrates was diverted. Gerster’s glo- ber of black-and-white illustrations. ence. rious photographs remind us of both Some publishers initially contact- the monumentality and the ephemeral- ed by Norton did not give permission ity of human constructions. for their books to be included in the

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