6 7 8 10 New Folklife African and VABook! at Hyphens Apprenticeships Appalachian Strings Fourteen and Blogs

The Newsletter of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Spring 2008

The VFH and African American History in Virginia

everal weeks before this issue of VFH Views went to press, Mildred Jeter Loving died at her home in Milford, Virginia. Forty years earlier, she and her husband Richard had successfully challenged SVirginia’s anti-miscegenation laws in a landmark case known as Loving v. Virginia.

by david bearinger The Loving decision, handed down by the Supreme Court on June 12, 1967, removed one of the last grim pillars of legalized racial segregation in the United States. Its impact was profound. Accordingly, Ms. Loving’s death was acknowledged in scores of newspapers, large and small, both in Virginia and throughout the country. Some eulogized her; and many took note of the impact the Loving case continues to have on how we, as Americans, understand the meaning of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment and its guarantee of “equal protection of the laws.” And yet both Ms. Loving and her husband, who was killed in an auto accident in 1975, lived in relative obscurity. And their story—one of courage, love, and modest but steadfast commit- ment in the face of stubborn, deeply rooted legal and social obstacles—is still not widely known, even in Virginia. The Lovings never sought publicity; and they took little credit for the changes they had brought about. But their story is one of the most important—and inspiring—in Virginia’s history, one that deserves to be told alongside the better- known stories of our collective past. $ $ $ John R. and Lucy Turner Chiles were photographed with their children by African American photographer George O. Brown. The first of four generations of Richmond photographers, Brown began his career around 1875.Photo courtesy of Lillian Williams Lovett Continued on page 2 Virginia Foundation for the Humanities 145 Ednam Drive The VFH and African Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629

(434) 924-3296 AmericanContinued from cover History in Virginia fax (434) 296-4714 virginiafoundation.org [email protected] few days before Mildred Loving’s death, the Robert R. Moton Museum in Farmville hosted a reception to announce a major cor- III, President Robert C. Vaughan, porate gift in support of its efforts to establish a center Development A for the study of Civil Rights in Education. Sheryl Hayes, Director Lynda Myers, Program Associate The Museum is located in the former African

Encyclopedia Virginia American high school building, the site of a 1951 Matthew Gibson, Managing Editor student protest against poor conditions and against Media Editor Matthew Gaventa, blatant violations of the prevailing doctrine of “sepa- Tori Talbot, assistant editor Brendan Wolfe, Associate Editor rate but equal.”

Grants and Public Programs The student protest led to a lawsuit challenging David Bearinger, Director the separate-but-equal doctrine, in a case known as Program Associate Carolyn Cades, Davis v. Prince Edward County. The Davis case, in Jeanne Siler, Program Associate African American Heritage Program turn, was bundled together with four others from dif- Christina Draper, Program Director ferent parts of the country, including Brown v. Board of Virginia Folklife Program Education of Topeka, Kansas, leading to what is gener- Program Director Jon Lohman, ally regarded as the most important Supreme Court Virginia indian heritage program th Karenne Wood, Program Director decision of the 20 century.

Media Programs Since the mid 1980s, the Virginia Foundation Andrew Wyndham, Director for the Humanities has worked extensively with the Lydia Wilson, Program Associate Moton Museum, and with many other organizations “With Good Reason” Radio Show and scholars from throughout the state, in explor- Sarah McConnell, Producer and Host Jesse Dukes, Associate Producer ing the history and significance of what took place in nancy King, Feature Producer Prince Edward County. elliot Majerczyk, Associate Producer “backstory” Radio Show Tony Field, Producer Catherine Moore, research assistant Virginia’s African American history is a story that includes the achievements rachel Quimby, associate producer of writers, of artisans and builders, and of leaders in the fields of health care, Planning and Management politics, banking, journalism, law, education, and the arts. Andrew Chancey, Director gail Shirley-Warren, Business Manager Cary Ferguson, fiscal assistant This story includes the people—Barbara and Webmaster Vernon Johns, The Reverend L. Francis Griffin, Trey Mitchell Oliver Hill, Spotswood Robinson, and others—who Receptionists were among its central figures. It also includes the Judy Moody disastrous five-year closing of Prince Edward’s public Jeannie Palin

Research and Education schools in “Massive Resistance” to Court-ordered Roberta Culbertson, Director desegregation. ann White Spencer, Program Associate The VFH has supported films, books, scholarly Virginia Center for the Book conferences and public discussions, oral histories, Director Susan Coleman, research, exhibits, and websites—all devoted to Virginia Festival of the Book this complex story, which—like the story of Loving nancy Damon, Program Director Kevin McFadden, Assoc. Program Director v. Virginia—remains far less well known than it Newsletter Staff deserves to be. $ $ $ David Bearinger, Advisory Editor Christina Draper, Text/Web Editor Kevin McFadden, Co-editor he first Africans arrived in what is now Distribution Manager Lynda Myers, Virginia in 1619. For nearly four centuries Ann White Spencer, Co-editor Lydia Wilson, Text/Web Editor leading up to the present day, the struggle of Africans and of African Americans for freedom and The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities T for equal rights has had a profound significance, both Newsletter is published three times a year. The VFH is an independent, nonprofit, tax- for Virginia and for the nation as a whole. But it is exempt organization. only part of the story.

2 Spring 2008

Virginia’s African American history is also the story of communities, large and small; and of distinctively African American institutions that strengthened community. It’s a story that includes the achievements of writers, of artisans and builders, and of leaders in the fields of health care, politics, banking, journalism, law, education, and the arts. It’s also the stories: of how they, along with the other essential aspects of a community’s identity and culture, are preserved—through music, oral traditions, and the arts of everyday life. And finally, in recent decades it’s also been the story of history itself: of African American history being explored, acknowledged and generally accepted as part of the mainstream of Virginia history, where it has really been all along. We believe the VFH has played an important role in this transformation. Exploring the broader story of African Ameri- can history and culture in Virginia has been one of the central commitments of the VFH since we were established in 1974. It’s a commitment that goes to the provided a solid foundation for the Heritage Program, heart of our mission and purpose. along with a number of much larger-scale projects Apart from local and regional history, broadly such as the 1986 version of the Don’t Grieve After Me defined, there is probably no area of the humanities in exhibit and catalogue (developed in partnership with which the VFH has contributed more, invested more, Hampton University) and the Piedmont Blues Guitar- or worked as consistently over the past 34 years. ists Tour, an early contribution by the Virginia Folklife And the results of this long-term commitment Program to the understanding and appreciation of can be seen in, literally, hundreds of projects, includ- African American musical traditions in the state. ing scores of publications, developed in partnership Likewise, in almost every other program area of the VFH—from the radio series “With Good Reason” to Encyclopedia Virginia, from Folklife to the Virginia Festival of the Book, from Fellowships to the work of the VFH regional councils—exploring African American history and culture in the state has been among our highest priorities.

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uch important work remains to be done. But at times, especially in recent years, observing the many regional and community-basedM efforts to explore Virginia’s African American history and heritage taking place through- out Virginia has been like watching an orchard coming into bloom. PHOTOS, FROM LEFT: This has been both an inspiration and a Creating their own music, often with with local organizations and humanities institutions, challenge: to make the most of the opportunities African instruments like the banjo, blacks have bequeathed a rich legacy to Virginia. work that has drawn both on the expertise of scholars presented to us. Circa 1890. Cook Collection, Valentine and on the wealth of knowledge within African The humanities have an important role to play in Richmond History Center, Richmond American communities statewide. exploring Virginia’s African American history and the Christiansburg Institute students in the school Library, circa 1915. Photo courtesy The creation of the VFH African American cultures of African American communities, past and of Christiansburg Institute Heritage Program in 2000 gave a focus to this present. The Foundation’s commitment to this part Arguing for desegregation, decades-long commitment, and the achievements of of our essential mission remains strong after nearly U.S. District Court, Alexandria, 1957. AP/World Wide Photos this Program to-date are summarized by Christina 35 years of working in the orchard. And we welcome Protesting segregated libraries, Draper in her article beginning on page 5. new partnerships and new opportunities to continue Alexandria, 1939. But scores of grants and fellowships preceded and this work in the months, years, and decades ahead. Alexandria Black History Museum

3 Africanby david bearinger American History-Related Grants and Fellowships Over the past twenty Laurel Grove School Mapping Local Knowledge: years, VFH has In the late 1990s, Laurel Grove Colored School, the last Danville, Va. 1945-1975 awarded hundreds of remaining African American school building in Fairfax County, In the summer of 1963, Danville, Virginia, was the scene of narrowly escaped “redevelopment,” along with its adjoining civil rights protests, violence, and subsequent legal and politi- grants and scores of Baptist Church and Cemetery. A group of concerned citizens cal challenges to the underpinnings of Jim Crow segregation. research fellowships formed the Laurel Grove School Association and raised funds Local resistance to change was so pronounced that the New to restore the one-room schoolhouse. An interdisciplin- York Times called it “the most unyielding, ingenious, legal- focusing on African ary group of historians, teachers, museum curators, and istic, and effective of any city in the South.” The Southern American history and members of the local community conducted archival research Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Nonviolent and oral histories, restored the classroom space to reflect its Coordinating Committee, and the NAACP all dispatched state culture in Virginia. appearance and use in the 1920s, developed a fourth-grade and national leaders to assist the Danville protestors. Still, the curriculum to teach the history of slavery, the Civil War, jails overflowed; and the impact of the violence and its legal In 2001, Virginia Tech history professor Reconstruction, and life under Jim Crow segregation, and cre- aftermath continues to be felt. But until very recently, the his- (and two-time VFH Fellow) Peter ated a museum that is now a site on Virginia’s African Ameri- tory and legacy of these protests and their importance within Wallenstein published his book about can Heritage Trail. Significant portions of this work—the oral the broader context of the Civil Rights Movement remained the history of the Loving case, entitled history interviews and research to develop a series of eleven largely unexamined. “Tell the Court I Love My Wife”: individual lesson plans—were supported by two grants from Race, Marriage, and Law—An the VFH, both awarded in 2002. In 1998-99, Emma Edmunds, a native of Halifax County and a American History. Research for this former Executive Editor of Atlanta Magazine researched the The new VFH grant builds on these earlier efforts. Seven of book was completed while Professor history of the 1963 events in Danville and the racial history of the original lessons are being revised and updated, primary Wallenstein was a Fellow at VFH in the surrounding region, beginning a long-term effort that has sources are being digitized, local teachers will participate in a the 1990s. resulted in more than thirty in-depth interviews with current five-day institute to fine-tune the lessons for classroom use, and former residents of Danville and Halifax County, black and A grant awarded in April 2008 to the and the results will be field-tested at the elementary, middle, white, as well as a traveling exhibit based on the research Robert R. Moton Museum is sup- and high-school levels, in Fairfax and five other localities— and interviews. porting two public lecture-discussion Frederick, Fauquier, Culpeper, and Loudoun Counties and the City of Alexandria. The entire effort is an exemplary VFH funds awarded this past March are supporting the programs featuring the authors partnership between the School Association, local residents, creation of an online version of the physical exhibit and ad- of recent books that deal explic- curriculum experts, teachers, and scholars at the Center for ditional research and interviews. This work is being done in itly with the subject of civil rights in History and New Media at George Mason University. partnership with the University of Virginia’s Center for Digital education—former Virginia Governor History, which is also serving as the grantee. The project also Linwood Holton and John Stokes, who Improving the way African American history is taught in the complements other current efforts by the VFH in Southside was one of the leaders of the 1951 public schools and providing teachers with access to high- Virginia, including a Teaching American History grant which student protest and a plaintiff in the quality teaching resources is one of the most effective ways focuses in part on the history of civil rights in this region. Davis case. to bring Virginia’s “untold stories” into the mainstream of Virginia history. Danville’s is an important story within the broader context of Two other recent grants, both the Civil Rights Movement, but one that is largely unknown awarded in March 2008, suggest the today, even within the community itself, and one that has not range of African American history- been explored in depth by other scholars. related projects VFH has supported.

In these and many other projects supported by VFH grants and fellow- ships, the primary goals are to bring little-known aspects of Virginia’s complex history to light, and to make this history accessible to the widest possible audience.

Danville, 1963. Courtesy of the Danville Register & Bee

4 Spring 2008

Virginia’s African American Heritage Program:

Documentingby Christina Draper Almost 400 Years of History or more than 30 years, the VFH has A mini-grant program was also been working in the field of African established in 2000, as part of the Heri- American history and heritage to tage Program, to encourage organizations share the untold stories of communi- to develop and strengthen components ties throughout the Commonwealth. In 2000, of their interpretive African Ameri- Fthe VFH strengthened its focus by establish- can materials and programs. Targeted ing the Virginia African American Heritage mini-grant initiatives have included the Program to spotlight the extraordinary sacrifice African-American Heritage Trail Project, and astonishing accomplishments of African community discussions on the impact of American communities in Virginia. During the the Brown decision, and projects relating past eight years, the Virginia African American to Virginia’s Rosenwald Schools. Heritage Program has: The VFH and the VAAHP share • increased public understanding of African a commitment to supporting the work American history and heritage of scholars and institutions that remem- ber, interpret, and celebrate the African • supported research and documentation of American experience. In 2004, the sym- African American Virginians developed social organizations designed to African American historic sites provide community support. Picnic, circa 1900, probably Montgomery County. posium “A Half Century After Brown v. Radford University Archives, Radford • strengthened institutions that interpret Board of Education: To Remember and To Virginia’s African American history, and Act” was organized, focusing on the communi- regularly attended professional development ties in Virginia which experienced public school workshops and group meetings designed to • provided a solid intellectual foundation for closings in response to desegregation. Following build institutional capacity. This regional project African American tourism in every region a keynote address by Virginia Congressman is seen as the first step in a longer-term effort to of Virginia. Robert “Bobby” Scott, this event included work- create a statewide network of African Ameri- What is unique about this program? shops, book and film discussions, and a guided can history museums. Initially, the program focused on the promo- walking tour of Farmville and Prince Edward In preparation for the 2007 commemora- tion of heritage tourism, which was achieved County, where participants learned more about tion of the founding of Virginia, the African by the creation of the VAAHP Database. This the 1951 Moton School strike, which became a American Heritage program produced Don’t database has become a resource supporting catalyst for the national Civil Rights movement. Grieve After Me: The Black Experience in Virginia both tourism and education, documenting In June 2004, the VAAHP embarked from 1619-2005. Co-published with Hampton over 500 African American sites and includ- on a two-year community history project in University, this work contributes to the under- ing multi-media sound and graphics, as well Martinsville, Virginia, which highlighted the standing of the African American experience in as lesson plans, listings of historic tours, online ways the humanities can be used for commu- Virginia since 1619. exhibitions and other resources. nity development by encouraging citizens to The exhibit has been placed in numer- examine their own history. Oral histories, public ous museums and educational institutions Fayette Street Historical Marker forums, lectures, and exhibitions were produced. throughout the state; and the book is arguably The publication of the first documented history the best, most complete introduction to the of this important African American business history of African Americans in Virginia. Each district, entitled Fayette Street: A Hundred Year narrative explores themes in African American History of African American Life in Martinsville, history, including migration patterns and the Virginia, led to the area’s designation as a establishment of black Virginian culture; family, national historic district and the erection of a community, and religious life; the contributions Virginia Department of Historic Resources of blacks to Virginia society through skilled and historical marker. professional work; and the social and educational In 2006, the VAAHP partnered with achievements and struggles of black Virginians. the Legacy Museum of Lynchburg to create And these are just a few of the success- a network of African American museums ful projects of the African American Heritage located in central Virginia. This two-year Program at the VFH that have contributed to project was funded by the Institute of positive change in the Commonwealth. The Museum and Library Services as part of AAHP is also currently planning for the 400th the first-ever awards for the Museum Grants anniversary of the arrival of Africans in Vir- for African American History and Culture. ginia, in 2019. These projects and publications Six museums from Appomattox, Hali- fuel change in the way we view ourselves, our fax, Lynchburg, and Roanoke have since communities, and our history. 5 Master-Apprentice Spotlight

Family Ties & 2008 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Teams FriedBy Carolyn cade Apples Pies Old Time Fiddler Mark Campbell and Apprentice Isaac Akers of Richmond he Virginia Foun- Education teacher in the dation for the Franklin County public Appalachian Storyteller Kathy Coleman and Apprentice Humanities has schools, she is known all Callie McCarty of Albemarle County, announced the around the county for originally Wise County recipients of the 2008 Virginia her lovingly-prepared Traditional Appalachian Cooking Master Folklife Apprenticeship awards. homemade cakes and pies, Frances Davis and Apprentice Annie T During the apprenticeship period, prepared “on commission” Elaine James of Franklin County the master artist and apprentice for friends, special occa- Oyster Shucking Champion enter into a mutually enrich- sions, church fund-raisers, Deborah Pratt and Apprentice Teddy ing relationship which is both and festivals. Bagby of Middlesex County cultural and personal, connecting In her kitchen in Frances Davis to lessons and memories from Rocky Mount, Virginia, the past and shared visions for Davis is teaching her sister money and provide for them- the future. (younger by 18 years) to make selves and their families…When One pair already honing pastries and desserts. While you come to my house, you know their craft are sisters Frances James is an experienced cook, you’re not going to go hungry. Davis and Annie Elaine James. her days of pound cakes and My daddy taught me that you Davis, the “Fried Apple Pie Lady,” biscuits “out of a box” are over as plant your food, you harvest your has been offering her delicious she learns to bake from scratch. food—and then you go to the

Deborah Pratt fried-dough pies at church fairs The sisters make a good team store to get what you want.” and festivals around the state, and have a good time together. The first five years of the Brick Work Master Jimmy Price and Apprentice Alex Handley including last year’s National Davis says, “When I grew Folklife Apprenticeship Program of Amherst County Folk Festival in Richmond and up, my whole life as a child— are chronicled in In Good Keeping: the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival well, I didn’t have a life as a child, Virginia’s Folklife Apprenticeships. Guatemalan Sawdust Carpet (Alfombra) Artist Ubaldo Sanchez and Apprentice at Ferrum College. because I had a big responsibil- Written by Jon Lohman, with Jorge Cabrera of Arlington Growing up on a farm as ity. Even today, I feel it is very 224 pages of evocative photo- Ethiopian Church Worship Singer the oldest child in a large family, important for every female and graphs of Virginia Master Folk Moges Seyoum and Apprentice Davis learned how to cook and every male to be able to care artists and their apprentices, In Bililign Mandefro of Alexandria bake from her mother. By the age for themselves. You cannot Good Keeping celebrates a wide Traditional Leatherwork Master Danny of 12, she had taken over all the buy everything you want over variety of folk traditions both Wingate and Apprentice Matthew cooking for her family, as well as the counter and still be able to old and new to Virginia. Visit Todd of Grayson County childcare for her five siblings too make ends meet. If [the next the Virginia Folklife Program’s Wooden Bowl Master Clyde Dylan young to work in the fields. Now generation] knew how to cook, website at virginiafolklife.org to and Apprentice Melba Seneff retired from her job as a Special they would be able to take a little order your copy! of Franklin County

Did you hear Frank Newsome singing Sweet Beulah Land on NPR? Did you hear the Paschall Brothers appearance See What on American Routes? Did you catch James Leva and Cheick Hamala Diabate trading licks on banjo and the n’goni? What about that new CD from Crooked Road Recording artists Gerald Anderson and Spencer Strickland? Else Is If you missed out on any of these news items, don’t worry, you can relive it all on the Virginia Folklife website Cooking virginiafolklife.org. And don’t forget to check out the Virginia Folklife Calendar. Take a look at all the great events filling up the left side of the Folklife in Virginia website. There’s always something going Folklife on that you wouldn’t want to miss! virginiafolklife.org 6 Spring 2008

ABy Caro Travelinglyn cades Instrument Comes Around

What do the American of the music he learned first hand. He teaches fiddle, banjo, and singing, and plays at numerous banjo and the Malian music festivals in the U.S. and in France, cur- n’goni have in common? rently performing and recording with his band Purgatory Mountain. n April 17 in Charlottesville, VFH Master musicians Diabate and Leva played resident fellow Cecelia Conway, for an enthusiastic audience, illustrating the rich Professor of English and Appalachian connections between the American banjo, its OStudies at Appalachian State University, was gourd “banjar” ancestor, and other stringed lute prepared to answer this and other questions instruments of Africa—like the n’goni (half- about the African roots of the instrument we spiked lute) and the akonting (spiked lute). now know as the banjo. Conway’s video lecture, According to Conway, the five-string banjo which included film clips and recordings of has come to symbolize the music of Appalachia, traditional musicians in Africa and the Chesa- popularized by the bluegrass-style playing of peake, was enlivened by the presence of two Ralph Stanley and the old-time singing and James Leva folk artists schooled in the traditions of their playing of the Blue Ridge. However, the banjo respective musical cultures. arrived in Maryland before 1740, carried by 1781. By 1840, white Virginian musician Joel Cheick Hamala Diabate of Mali is a griot, enslaved Africans. Early references cite the Sweeney of Appomattox learned to play the a storyteller, and transmitter of cultural memory, banjar or bandor (pronounced ban-jor) as an gourd banjo from blacks and popularized, if not and master of the n’goni. In West African African instrument, a “large gourd, or pumpkin” invented, the new 5-string banjo. Over the years, tradition, a griot—a French word for various “with a long neck attached to it,” “strung with the African roots of the banjo and its songs master musicians—is a hereditary poet, praise catgut,” “somewhat in the manner of the violin.” developed into the American traditions of singer, and wandering musician, a repository (All references from Cecelia Conway, African minstrelsy and old-time string bands, ragtime, of oral tradition, whose repertoire may include Banjo Echoes in Appalachia, Knoxville: University blues, country music, bluegrass, rock and roll, satire, political commentary, and wise counsel. of Tennessee Press, 1995.) hip-hop and rap. Diabate, now a resident of northern Virginia, In the Chesapeake region of the American In a set played together, Diabate and Leva is a composer and descendent of a long line of South, Africans kidnapped from West Africa joined n’goni and banjo in an improvisation Malian jeli (griots), who has played the n’goni, a developed vibrant African American traditions embodying the richness that can arise from the four-stringed lute, as well as the n’tamani (“talk- incorporating the playing of the gourd banjar meeting and mingling of two vital traditional ing drum”) since childhood. Diabate has played with the singing of improvisatory songs, art forms—bringing to life Conway’s theme of at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and which expressed their deepest fears and the ongoing vitality of cultural exchange. The the Kennedy Center, and was honored hopes. Appearing especially in Mary- strong musical heritage of Africa and of the with a Grammy nomination for his most land and Virginia, the instrument British Isles came full circle on a warm spring recent CD. was “strung with two or more hemp, evening in Virginia. James Leva, based in Lexington, horsehair, or gut long strings and a Virginia, is a skilled performer on the fiddle, short-drone thumb string”; it had guitar, and clawhammer banjo, as well as a a sound chamber covered Winter-Spring 2008 gifted singer and songwriter who has with a membrane, a long Fellows Seminars been practicing the art of Southern neck, and was played in Other VFH Fellows seminars sponsored by the Appalachian traditional music since clawhammer fashion, Foundation this spring included: “Legends of the Beat the 1970s. accompanied by Generation,” by Hilary Holliday, Professor of English Appren- improvised songs. at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell; “Jobs ticed to Thomas and Freedom: The Black Revolt of 1963 and the Contested Meanings of the March on Washington,” old-time Jefferson by Tom Jackson, Associate Professor of History at fiddler Tommy described the the University of North Carolina, Greensboro; and Jarrell, banjo player Chesapeake “Jewish Theater During the Holocaust: Art in Extreme Fred Cockerham, Gourd Banjar Situations,” by Viktoria Sukovata, Associate Professor and balladeer Doug from Africa of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at Kharkiv National University in Ukraine. Wallin, Leva has mas- at Mon- tered the techniques ticello in and traditions of mountain music, transmitting the beauty and depth Cheick Hamala Diabate

7 Fourteen’sVABook! 2008 Draws a Attention Crowd

by kevin mcfadden

he14th annual Virginia Festival of the Book in March was among the best-attended in Festival history—23,580 in Tattendance—with crowds surging to 900 for a single event. The VFH was pleased to see its five day celebration of Hopkins (a note from Mike Farrell while Evans books and literacy doing exactly what it is meant to was in prison helped him turn his life around, and do: bringing readers together with authors to discuss toward writing). There was even a surprise visit Record Audio the topics that touch and inform our lives. and question from a dear friend from M*A*S*H Author Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea) who happened to be in town...Alan Alda. and Video and his message of building positive dialogue in Arlene Alda (Here a Face There a Face) made Captures in 2008 the Middle East one school at a time drew that a splash at the youth StoryFest event and at 900-person crowd which filled the UVa Culbreth schools—more than 8,000 area students were Do you know the Festival has Theatre (600 seats); those turned away would have visited by an author during the week. 30 programs from the Festival to wait a day to see him at Blue Ridge Mountain Hundreds turned out for participating recorded on audio? Ten more Sports, where an ever-growing crowd of 400 were book-world luminaries including Margaret Coel, audio programs are available on hand. (Audio is now available at vabook.org.) Claudia Emerson, Nathan Englander, James W. through the Charlottesville The signs for high interest were there since Hall, Homer Hickam, David Ignatius, Charles Podcasting Network. September, when response for the Luncheon with Simic, Colm Toibin, Natasha Trethewey, Adri- Jan Karon, author of the Mitford series, was so ana Trigiani, Jacqueline Winspear, and Charles The City of Charlottesville has great that a second event—a tea with the author— Wright. The week of more than 225 events closed posted 16 videos from the was added to the schedule. with another crowd-pleaser, bestseller Walter Festival programs held in the During the Festival, M*A*S*H-star and Mosley, discussing “The Literary Life.” City Council Chambers. memoirist Mike Farrell (Just Call Me Mike) Festival organizers were pleased with another brought out more than 500 fans and supporters great year, saluting the work of the many volun- to the Paramount Theater. Among the authors teers and partners who make the event possible. There’s more available than th ever before. So what are in that audience was Festival participant Evans The 15 ­ anniversary Virginia Festival of the Book you waiting for? Get links to will come to Charlottesville March 18-22, memorable photos, audio, 2009. Go online to vabook.org for details. and video here: vabook.org/site08/ about/2008highlights.html

Mike Farrell (Just Call Me Mike) got a surpise visit from M*A*S*H castmate, Alan Alda. Walter Mosley signs books for a crowd gathered to hear him talk on “The Literary Life.” 8 Spring 2008

Letters About Literature: Bringing Books to Life by susan coleman

he story of Seabiscuit and the people in his life not only kept me fascinated for a summer, but also inspired me to get through my own trying times,” wrote“T Courtney Harnett of King George, Virginia. Courtney was the state Level III winner of the 2007-08 Letters About Literature competition. Her letter to Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit, went on to become a national Honorable Mention, and $1,000 was given in her honor to the L.E. Smoot Memorial Library. Placing first at Level I, Zack Rieman wrote to Gerald Morris, author of The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady, noting that the book helped him to learn “the importance of guarding my honor and character and behaving morally straight.” Zack is part of the McLean Home School Group. Brian Desgrosiellier of Fluvanna Middle School received Luncheon Speaker Jan Karon, if she had to choose one word to describe Virginians, chose “generous.” first place at Level II with his letter to Andy McNab, author of Traitor. Brian wrote in his letter that “my attitude has com- pletely changed toward reading and life itself.” All three were honored at the March 28 Opening Cer- emony of the Virginia Festival of the Book and each received a $100 check and a $50 Target gift card. Letters About Literature is sponsored in Virginia by the Virginia Foundation’s Center for the Book. Nationally, it is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Target Stores. Guidelines and an entry form for the 2008-09 Letters About Literature competition will be available at virginiafoun- dation.org/bookcenter in early September.

Book Festival Poster Competition

The Festival honored Letters About Literature contest winners Courtney Harnett, Zack Rieman, and Brian Desgrosiellier.

Arlene Alda (Here a Face, There a Face) participated in StoryFest, finding faces in the oddest places. 9 Edgar Allan Poe is not always Edgar Allan Poe, hyphenation can turn political, and reenacting sometimes involves vexing philosophical paradoxes.

by brendan wolfe

hese and other issues are the subject And a smart and lively of Encyclopedia Virginia’s new conversation it has already eponymous blog. Debuting on become. A short post on April March 24, the site brings to the 22 explained how the encyclo- Internet a sampling of what already makes the pedia relies on the Library of Tproject so exciting—a curiosity for all things Congress for the last word on a Virginian, an obsession with history and culture, writer’s name or the beginning The Encyclopedia Virginia blog can be found at and a respect for the rigors of scholarship. and ending dates of wars. This According to the blog’s first post, EV prompted a great comment blog.encyclopediavirginia.org plans to use the site for a variety of purposes: from Kati Singel of the • to explain what EV is doing and what it’s National Park Service about good for; why 1861 is the official start military veteran who agreed that there are limitations to the hobby. In the end, though, • to illuminate some of the encyclopedia’s date of the Civil War and not, say, 1859 when such events show the world that “we still have editorial processes; John Brown raided Harper’s Ferry. In the end, though, she agreed with EV that “history, of all pride in our history and we haven’t forgotten the • to tell readers about what other historical things, is a moving target.” cruelty of war.” work is happening in Virginia; Another post from April 15 considered Media Editor Matt Gaventa has used • to link EV’s efforts with those of the ups and downs of Civil War reenact- the blog to demonstrate how photographs can the VFH; ing. “There’s a mystical element to reenacting,” create new scholarship. He even uncovered a • to tease readers with samples of the encyclo- EV Associate Editor (and former reenactor) famous image of Edgar Allan Poe that is not pedia in progress; Brendan Wolfe wrote, “but I don’t get it. These actually of Edgar Allan Poe. “It all reads like a • to ooh and aah over some of the history guys—the hardcore ones, anyway—know their very disappointing episode of Antiques Road- being uncovered; history chapter and verse. But it’s micro- show,” he wrote on April 29. “Some days, you find a rare Poe daguerrotype on the cheap, and • to connect that history to the people who history. They know their shirt buttons. The real some days you find out you have a fake.” lived it; and answers—whatever those are—can’t be found in shirt buttons I don’t think.” History is a moving target and so is Poe. • to provide an opportunity for readers to join And keeping up with it all will be the challenge in on the conversation. This prompted a strong, personal, and thoughtful reaction from a reenactor and of the Encyclopedia Virginia blog.

Virginia Indian Heritage: New Edition and Teachers’ Institute he Virginia Indian Heritage distributed 40,000 copies of the first the legends and reality concerning the Program is pleased to announce edition, and the book won an award from life of Pocahontas, and issues facing the publication of The Virginia Scenic Virginia. It is the first tourism- contemporary tribes. They will visit the T Indian Heritage Trail, Second related publication to ever receive such Mattaponi Reservation, established in Edition. With funds provided by Virginia an award. the mid-1600s, with a tribal tour guide, Tourism Corporation, VFH has published This summer, the Virginia Indian and they will receive numerous new 30,000 copies of the new edition, which Heritage Program will sponsor its materials designed to address the newly features additional recommended second annual teachers’ institute for revised Virginia Standards of Learning sites, colorful new maps, an updated teachers of grades K-12, at the College in the Social Sciences. Last year’s calendar of public events, and a new of William and Mary. Working through attendees will reunite at the Monacan section on Virginia Indian archaeology by a new partnership arrangement with tribal headquarters in Amherst to visit Jeffrey Hantman, Associate Professor the College’s School of Education, the tribal museum and its one-room log of Anthropology at the University of teachers’ knowledge will be formally schoolhouse, circa 1870, which is now Virginia. The new guidebooks will be assessed before and after the four- a National Historic Landmark. They will distributed to Virginia Welcome Centers, day institute. They will hear from meet to report on how they implemented to public libraries, and at various Virginia Indian leaders and academic what they learned in their classrooms, events and presentations throughout authorities on such topics as regional and how their acquired knowledge is Van Holmes, Chickahominy potter, 1979. the Commonwealth. Last year, we ecology, Virginia Indian archaeology, being passed on to their students. From The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail, Second Edition

10 Spring 2008

Online Giving hat’s quick, easy, cheap, accessible, and secure? Online W giving to the VFH, of course! When you make a contribution via computer, you save the time, trouble, and expense of writing a check. You can make your contribution at any VFH E-Newsletter Online time—you don’t have to wait for a request letter or Great Source for News and Announcements a giving envelope. Online security is an issue for everyone these days; The VFH E-Newsletter was launched this year to deliver useful and timely news that’s why VFH uses PayPal to process online on VFH programs and partners. Activities, deadlines, upcoming events, and contributions. PayPal is a secure website with data news reach our constituents monthly (except during those months when the encryption and other online safety tools to safeguard VFH Views is published). your identity and prevent fraud. You’re not required to open a PayPal account, even though that is a safe The e-newsletter is an easy-to-use news roundup with a vibrant and compelling and convenient way to use your credit card online. format. So how do I take advantage of this simple, low-cost method of philanthropy, you may ask? Simple: Go “The e-newsletter is on our website,” explains VFH Webmaster Trey Mitchell, to the VFH website (virginiafoundation.org) and who designed the product. “Audiences can view the e-newsletter there or sign click the “Support VFH” button. You can designate up for delivery to their e-mail addresses. This newsletter was started to help our your gift for a specific program or support the Annual audiences stay up to date on activities that are happening now.” Unrestricted fund. When you do, you’ll know that you’ve safely supported the VFH programs you love. To view and/or sign up for the new VFH E-Newsletter, visit virginiafoundation.org and select “Reports and Newsletters.”

New Staff Members Join the VFH Carolyn Cades Engel joined Cary Ferguson became Catherine Moore has joined the VFH's new the VFH in February 2008 as the newest member of history-focused public radio program BackStory Program Associate for the the VFH Staff in April as a part-time research assistant. Catherine Virginia Folklife and African 2008 as part-time Fiscal works closely with Producers Tony Field and American Heritage Programs. Assistant. Cary sup- Rachel Quimby to book potential guests, schedule Carolyn provides all logisti- ports all VFH programs callers, and research background materials for cal support for the Folklife by working closely with the program's weekly themes. Catherine recently Apprenticeship Program and Gail Shirley-Warren to relocated to Charlottesville from Missoula, Showcase, advises potential prepare deposits, Montana, where she grantees, and has already process payments, received her M.F.A. in traveled on outreach trips to and reconcile Creative Writing from the Highland County, Abingdon, accounts. Originally University of Montana at Ferrum, and Farmville. Carolyn from Clifton Forge, Missoula. Her masters previously served as Assistant Cary enjoys work- thesis project, "Wishing Director for Administration ing at the VFH Trains," explored the at Rare Book School at the because it allows relationship between the University of Virginia. Carolyn her to return to the railroad and Montana's moved to Charlottesville from field of accounting lands and people through Philadelphia, PA, in 2004 and while still being at sound, photography, film, said she was quickly “drawn to the VFH because home when her eight-year-old son Owen gets poetry, and nonfiction. of its connections in the community and creativ- home from school. Cary and her husband Catherine taught courses ity that is publicly visible.” Carolyn is married to Dean have been married for fourteen years and in composition and poetry while in graduate Daniel Engel, a microbiologist who plays Klezmer also have a four-year-old daughter Sara. Cary school and has interned at humanities-related fiddle with the UVa band “Simcha!” Carolyn previously worked as a medical transcriptionist organizations around the country, including the has a BA in English literature from Wesleyan for Martha Jefferson Hospital and has a degree West Virginia Division of Culture and History, the University in Connecticut. in Accounting from Piedmont Virginia Community Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the George College in Charlottesville, VA. Edward Woodberry Poetry Archive. 11 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 170 Virginia Foundation Charlottesville, VA for the Humanities 145 Ednam Drive Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629

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Virginia Foundation for the Humanities 2008 Board of Directors

Brooks Miles Barnes Charles M. Guthridge Eastern Shore Public Library Charles M. Guthridge Associates Accomac, Virginia Richmond, Virginia

Peter Blake Ronald L. Heinemann Virginia Community College System Hampden-Sydney College Richmond, Virginia Hampden-Sydney, Virginia

Robert H. Brink Jo Ann M. Hofheimer General Assembly of Virginia Virginia Beach, Virginia Arlington, Virginia Letters About Literature Maurice A. Jones The Virginian-Pilot Randolph Church Norfolk, Virginia Hunton and Williams 2009 Competition McLean, Virginia Anna L. Lawson Daleville, Virginia Audrey Davis The VFH Center for the Book invites young Alexandria Black History Museum James D. Lott Alexandria, Virginia Stuart Hall readers in Virginia in grades 4 through 12 to Staunton, Virginia Rhoda Dreyfus enter Letters About Literature, a national Charlottesville, Virginia Cassandra Newby-Alexander Norfolk State University reading-writing contest. To enter, John P. Fishwick, Jr. Norfolk, Virginia readers write a personal letter to any Lichtenstein, Fishwick & Johnson Roanoke, Virginia Walter Rugaber author in any genre explaining how Meadows of Dan, Virginia Barbara J. Fried the author’s work changed their view Fried Companies, Inc. Robert C. Vaughan, III Crozet, Virginia Virginia Foundation for the Humanities of the world or themselves. Charlottesville, Virginia Lisa Guillermin Gable Guillermin and Gable LLC William C. Wiley For more details, visit Upperville, Virginia Ascential Equity Richmond, Virginia virginiafoundation.org/bookcenter. Michael J. Galgano James Madison University Robin Traywick Williams Harrisonburg, Virginia Crozier, Virginia