A publication of Mass Humanities Spring 2009 “The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro” Reading Frederick Douglass during the Presidency of Barack Obama Reserve seats early! By Pleun Bouricius Benefit Dinner Featuring “Fellow citizens, why am I called upon to speak challenge leveled by Rachel Maddow here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, Barack Obama at to do with your national independence? Do Constitution Hall in Following our annual public you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me Philadelphia last year: symposium on November 7, Ra- to speak today? What, to the American slave, “I have never been chel Maddow, host of MSNBC’s is your Fourth of July?” Thus began Frederick so naïve as to believe “The Rachel Maddow Show,” Douglass’s fiery July 5, 1852, speech, The Mean- that we can get beyond will speak at our annual benefit ing of the Fourth of July for the Negro, in which our racial divisions in dinner on the symposium’s theme the great orator famously took exception to a single election cycle. of “Soldiers & Citizens: Military being asked to commemorate the signing of the Race is an issue this nation cannot afford to and Civic Culture in America,” at Declaration of Independence. ignore right now. To work for ‘a more perfect Boston College’s Gasson Hall. In- union’ we need to start to understand complexi- dividual seats and sponsorships— This Fourth of July season, community groups, ties that we’ve never really worked through. which include group seating and libraries, towns, organizations, families, and [This] requires a reminder of how we arrived at public recognition—are avail- individuals are invited to read the speech this point.” able. Reserve seats at our Web communally. Mass Humanities has developed site, www.masshumanities.org. a Web resource with everything you need to “What better way to remind ourselves that To enquire about sponsorships, organize your own shared reading: the speech, we aren’t there yet,” asks David Harris of the contact John Sieracki at jsieracki@ discussion materials, supporting articles, and Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race masshumanities.org. A reception PR guidelines, which you can download at and Justice, “than with the speech of a man with symposium www.masshumanities.org. This statewide who was as eloquent as our president on the panelists will project will kick off on Tuesday, June 2 at issue of race and a source of inspiration for take place at noon. You are invited to join us in front of Lincoln himself?” BC’s McMullen the State House, where Massachusetts politi- Museum between cians and residents together will read and Douglass gave his address in 1852, a galvanizing the symposium discuss the speech. Partnering with Mass year in the history of slavery and abolition. That and the dinner. Humanities in this project are Community March, Boston’s Jewett & Company published Change Inc. (where the idea originated), Uncle Tom’s Cabin to national acclaim, out- the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute rage, and general sensation. The book had been for Race and Justice, the Ella Baker House, serialized in 1851 and 1852 in the antislavery Boston African American National Historic weekly, the National Era, which had 15,000 Site, the New Bedford Historical Society, subscribers when it started and 19,000 at the and others. conclusion of the novel.1 As historian David Blight puts it, “If Uncle Tom’s Cabin is the With this program, we mark the bicenten- fictional masterpiece of American abolition- nial year of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, ism … then Douglass’s Fourth of July address is the Great Emancipator, by taking up the abolition’s rhetorical masterpiece ….

Continued on page 5 Mass Humanities Mass Humanities News 66 Bridge Street Northampton, MA 01060 tel (413) 584-8440 fax (413) 584-8454 www.masshumanities.org

STAFF

David Tebaldi Executive Director We fondly bid farewell to Susan Mikula, [email protected] who has done outstanding work as the Mass Pleun Bouricius Humanities fiscal officer for eight years. Susan Program Officer In March we welcomed plans to devote full attention to her art, photog- [email protected] Deepika Fernandes to our raphy. We will miss Susan’s humor and camara- Deepika Fernandes staff as the new fiscal officer. derie in the office, and also her faithful Labrador Fiscal Officer [email protected] A native of Goa, India, retriever, Poppy. Deepika came to us from the Tiffany Lyman-Olszewski Massachusetts Association of Development and Correction: In the winter 2009 edition of Mass Humanities, in the Portuguese Speakers in Cam- Communications Assistant article entitled, “FAIR Launches with a Jingle Jangle,” the song bridge, where she was staff [email protected] that John Porcino played to the families participating in this reading accountant and then manager Kristin O’Connell of finance and operations. program is actually called “All God’s Critters,” not “All Life’s Assistant Director [email protected] Deepika has a bachelor’s begree in accounting from Critters,” as we printed it. Mr. Porcino altered the lyrics of this Mangalore University and a master’s degree in com- well-known folk song by Bill Staines in this way when he performed Anne Rogers merce from Karnatak University, both in India. She in an effort to be inclusive, not knowing the religious beliefs of his Systems Manager [email protected] also has a master’s in business studies from Dublin audience members. Thanks go to reader Joan Sullivan Gray for City University in Dublin, Ireland. Deepika lives in pointing out the error. John Sieracki Longmeadow with her husband, an anesthesiologist Director of Development and Communications at Baystate Medical Center, and two children. Please contact John Sieracki, editor of Mass Humanities, with Editor of mass humanities any questions or comments about this newsletter: jsieracki@ [email protected]

masshumanities.org. Melissa Wheaton Administrative Assistant/GRANTS ADMINISTRATOR [email protected]

Mass Humanities Executive Director Hayley Wood David Tebaldi elected a member of the MassProgra Humanitiesm Officer promotes the use of history,hwood@ literature,masshumanities.org philosophy, and the other American Antiquarian Society hu- One of the nation’s four premier independent research libraries, the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) was founded in 1812 in man- Worcester, Massachusetts (www.americanantiquarian.org). AAS ities members, who now number more than 800 persons from every disci- plines region of the country and from thirty-three foreign countries, are to elected by their colleagues in recognition of scholarship, for sup- deep- en our port of cultural institutions, for manifest interest in bibliographi- under- cal matters, or for distinction as community or national leaders in stand- ing humanistic affairs. Thirteen presidents of the United States have of the been members, and AAS members have been awarded seventy-five Pulitzer Prizes and over fifty Bancroft Prizes for their work. AAS President Ellen Dunlap, former First Lady Laura Bush, and David Tebaldi

Kudos for Mass Moments From a recent e-mail: “Dear Mass Humanities: I teach English and history at Eliot Girls’ Detention Center in Worcester, MA… Every morning, I print out that day’s eMoment on brightly colored paper. Each history class, we read and briefly discuss the historic moment. Every Friday, when we play Jeopardy, it is included as one of our categories. I love your Mass Moments, since it’s a fun an d informative way to begin each history class. Keep up the good work!”

Sign up for “eMoments” and eNews at our Web site: www.masshumanities.org.

2 3 Mass Humanities 66 Bridge Street Northampton, MA 01060 tel (413) 584-8440 Voices from the Port fax (413) 584-8454 By Hayley Wood www.masshumanities.org

STAFF This June, radio listeners in and around knowledge of cultural anthropology to create a variety David Tebaldi Executive Director New Bedford will be able to tune in to of opportunities for people outside of the waterfront [email protected] Bristol County’s WBSM AM to hear a community to have access to what she calls “authentic new series of firsthand accounts of life in experiences learning about the workings of a com- Pleun Bouricius Program Officer the fishing community of New Bedford mercial fishing port.” Recording oral histories at the [email protected] Harbor. The series, festival emerged as a way to “give the fishing industry Deepika Fernandes “Voices from the a chance to tell its own story in its own way.” Above: Amanda Wright, Fiscal Officer Port,” will consist [email protected] sternman on a lobster boat in Narragansett Bay. of four-minute The fact that the commercial fishing industry in the Tiffany Lyman-Olszewski segments, narrated United States faces uncertain prospects underlies the board of directors Below: Galon “Skip” Barlow, Development and inshore coastal fisherman from by WCAI’s Naomi zeal of festival organizers. Laura observes that in spite Communications Assistant President Buzzard’s Bay. [email protected] John Allen Burgess Arenberg, based of a significant rebound in the populations of ground- wilmerhale Photos by Jon Robson on recorded oral fish (which include such bottom-feeding species as Kristin O’Connell Vice President histories of people cod, halibut, yellowtail flounder, and ocean perch) and Assistant Director Susan Winston Leff [email protected] wells fargo bank involved in the scallops in the waters off the coast of Massachusetts, Treasurer Anne Rogers commercial fish- economic indicators for the future of the industry are Cynthia Terwilliger Systems Manager citizens bank of ing industry and related “not encouraging with the current management system.” [email protected] massachusetts shoreside businesses. The She elaborates: Clerk John Sieracki Nancy Netzer project received a Mass Director of Development and mcmullen museum of art Humanities Cultural Because of the restrictive regulations, many small Communications Economic Development family fishermen will [not be able to stay in the Editor of mass humanities Ricardo Barreto [email protected] massachusetts cultural grant in 2008. business]. There is a ripple effect as a community council Melissa Wheaton Ben Birnbaum loses fishing vessels; it cannot sustain its shoreside Administrative Assistant/GRANTS boston college The voices of men and industries (things like ice, fuel, gear, clothing). This ADMINISTRATOR Kathryn Bloom women who fish, fish- has made New Bedford strong in some respects: [email protected] biogen idec foundation David Bryant ing family members because of its size it has become a “hub” port, and Hayley Wood the trustees of reservations and others were re- many fishermen from smaller ports in the region Program Officer Bruce Bullen [email protected] harvard pilgrim health care corded over the past come to New Bedford for services they can no Joseph Carvalho five years at the Working Waterfront Festival, longer get in their own ports. And the economic springfield museums association a project of the Community Economic web is vast. For example, the average vessel spends Frances Jones-Sneed Development Center of Southeastern Mass- $1,700 at a supermarket each time it leaves port massachusetts college of liberal arts achusetts. The free festival, a family-friendly, just to feed its crew. Alexa Boer Kimball, M.D. educational celebration of New England’s harvard medical school commercial fishing industry, features live Regulations—and the threats to the livelihood of fish- Lucia Knoles assumption college maritime and ethnic music, fishermen’s con- ing that they impose—have emerged as major themes Suzanne Maas tests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author read- in the interviews collected so far. On the other hand, maas consulting Madelaine Márquez ings, cooking demonstrations, kids’ activities, it’s important to be aware that commercial fishermen hampshire college and more. It has taken place in New Bedford, (and women) act as harbor stewards and conservation- Bhasker Natarajan ists, particularly since it’s in their best interest that liberty mutual Massachusetts, America’s highest-earning Martin Newhouse fishing port, on the fourth full weekend of species thrive. Regulations that have been designed by new england legal foundation September since 2004; an estimated 15,000 scientists and fishermen have had huge positive impacts Sonia Nieto people attend the festival annually. The festi- on the fishery. According to the Working Waterfront university of massachusetts amherst val features a “narrative stage,” from which Web site, fish populations have tripled since 1995, and Mervan Osborne authors give readings, musicians perform, and scallop stocks are at 450 million pounds. Concurrent beacon academy panelists discuss festival themes. In rooms with this undeniably positive trend, fishing parents John Sedgwick writer on site, festival volunteers record accounts of are discouraging their children from entering the trade Frank Sousa fishing life from anyone who would like to because making a living at it is increasing difficult. university of massachusetts dartmouth contribute to their archive of interviews which Thomas Trimarco capture details of this occupational culture. A related theme that has emerged in the interviews o’neill and associates Suzanne Frazier Wilkins is the role that constantly evolving technologies have the partnership, inc. Laura Orleans, the festival’s founder and played in the industry, the lives of fishermen, and the G. Perry Wu director and a co-producer of the radio health of the catch. In the beginning of the twentieth staples, inc. series, is a trained folklorist. She has used her century, England’s steam-powered trawlers replaced

Continued on page 7 2 3  LJA: Funded through the Mass Humanities initiative, Recent Grants Liberty and Justice for All

Boston Central Massachusetts $5,000 to The Actors’ Shakespeare Project of Somerville for the Roxbury $5,000 to the Worcester Hibernian K-12 Education Residency to support a Cultural Foundation, Inc. for Karski, Detail, Shipwreck Chart of partnership centered on a production of A Man Who Stood Up to Evil in sup- Boston Harbor by Robert Sullivan Much Ado About Nothing at Hibernian port of Marc P. Smith’s new play about The three-masted schooner Mattie Hall involving eight Roxbury schools Polish resistance hero Jan Karski, who Eaton aground on Nantasket Beach, and organizations serving at-risk youth tried to stop the Holocaust by reporting 1888, Courtesy of Mackay Thurston to world leaders on the Warsaw Ghetto $3,000 to the Forest Hills Educational and the Belzec extermination camp Trust to identify and research African Americans buried at Forest Hills and Cape Cod and the Islands incorporate the findings into a walking tour SIR $5,000 to the Aquinnah Cultural Cen- ter to support the installation of Oral $5,000 to the Hull Lifesaving Museum Histories of Aquinnah, a multimedia to create a Web site based on its Boston exhibit featuring a changing selection Harbor Shipwreck Chart and compan- of oral histories of Wampanoag elders ion book, Shipwrecks and Nautical taped during the past twenty years Lore of Boston Harbor, including primary-source documents and images $5,000 to the Falmouth Historical for each wreck Society for development of Understand- ing Daily Life in Early Falmouth, third- $4,000 to the Massachusetts Lafayette and fifth-grade curriculum units that use Society to support public humanities local history materials on colonial life, programming on Lafayette Day, includ- maritime industry, the War of 1812, ing a reenactment of the 1824 welcom- and the life of Katherine Lee Bates ing speech honoring the Revolutionary War hero Gilbert du Motier, marquis $5,000 to the Harwich Jr. Theatre de Lafayette, in the Senate chamber, of West Harwich for the creation of and other ceremonies and reenactments The Minister and Mrs. Satan, and for involving D-Day veterans the creation of an original play about the life of women’s suffrage activist $5,000 to Save the Harbor/Save the Victoria Woodhull, focusing in part on Bay for Sail Massachusetts 2009 Tall the adultery scandal referred to as the Right: Dressing Ships Youth Initiative for educator Beecher-Tilton Affair  LJA the part of a stipends and printed program materials crew member. for Massachusetts youth visiting the $2,750 to the Truro Historical Society Below: Taking Boston waterfront to view the tall ships to research a collection of Native a break in the festival this summer hammocks to American artifacts from the Rose Farm experience how area of Corn Hill in Truro, and provide a sailor slept. $5,000 to the USS Constitution interpretive material for scholars and Museum of Boston for Sailors Speak visitors  SIR Courtesy USS Constitution Promotional Campaign package to sup- Museum port the launch of the museum’s new identity and permanent core exhibit, which will use the words of “Old Iron- sides” crew members to convey life at sea during the War of 1812

$5,000 to the WGBH Educational Foundation for Vietnam: A Televi- sion History Symposium to support a public symposium centered on part of a PBS series on the Vietnam War. The discussion will be filmed and made Save the Date: available on the Web. Saturday, November 7

4 For application procedures CED: Awarded through the thematic initiative,  SIR: Scholar in Residence Cultural Economic Development and deadlines, visit: www.masshumanities.org

Pioneer Valley Southeast $10,000 to Sons and Daughters of $2,862 to the Sunderland Historical Hawley to create a historic site at Commission to support research on $10,000 to the Robbins Museum/ $5,000 to the Scituate Historical So- the location of the old town com- North Sunderland’s relation to the Massachusetts Archaeological Soci- ciety for a pair of traveling exhibits mon by adding paths and signage as natural resources of the Connecticut ety for We, the Peoples, a hands-on, on the history of the Minot Ledge well as stabilizing cellar holes and River, and to incorporate insights primary-source teacher education Lighthouse and the story of the dug wells that surrounded the old from natural and environmental program on Native-American underwater archaeological search meetinghouse CED history in a historic tour  SIR history that utilizes artifacts from for its remains the Robbins Museum, and allows $9,950 to the Springfield Library $5,000 to the Veterans Education participants to design their own cur- $3,000 to the Westport Histori- & Museum Association to support Project of Amherst for 100 Faces of ricula LJA cal Society to support interpretive John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and War Experience, an exhibition of oil planning focused on the Society’s the Civil War an exhibit about the portraits of American soldiers and collection of clothes used by women fight over slavery as it played out in civilians who have returned from in the rural community of Westport Springfield, including the roles of the theaters of war in Iraq and Af- during the nineteenth century SIR the African-American community, ghanistan, at the Springfield Armory John Brown, and the arms industry Museum, and for related program- LJA ming and materials

An artist’s interpretation of John Brown Connecticut veteran meeting with the League of Gileadites. Phil Goreman having his In response to the Fugitive Slave Act of portrait painted by Matthew 1850, John Brown established the League Mitchell as part of 100 Faces of Gileadites, which worked to protect of War Experience. escaped slaves from slave catchers.

Continued from page 1 In style and substance, no 19th-century American ever offered safety from slave catchers by paying off his former master. Upon a more poignant critique of America’s racial condition than his return to the United States two years later, Douglass settled Douglass.” 2 in Rochester, N.Y.

Douglass, in fact, had become so radicalized by the 1850 pas- In Massachusetts, communities became galvanized against the sage of the Fugitive Slave Act—which made it illegal for anyone Fugitive Slave Law on June 2, 1854, when a Boston federal to harbor a person who was technically a slave in states that court ordered escaped slave Anthony Burns to be returned to his recognized slavery—that in this speech, he took to referring to owner. An estimated 50,000 outraged citizens lined the streets of the United States as “your” nation and the Founding Fathers as Boston as an army of soldiers escorted Burns to the waterfront. “your” fathers. Douglass himself had escaped from slavery in “Plenty to chew on during Lincoln’s bicentennial year,” opines 1838, and upon publication of his autobiography in 1845, had Paul Marcus of Community Change. been urged to leave his new home in New Bedford for England to avoid capture. While he was abroad, supporters ensured his Join us this June 2nd at noon in front of the State House for the public reading, or organize an event in your own community.

1  Stephen Railton, ed. Uncle Tom’s Cabin and American Culture. (www.iath.virginia. Soldiers & Citizens: edu/utc/uncletom/utchp.html) Military and Civic Culture in America 2  David W. Blight, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Time, Sunday, June 26, 2005. (www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1077058,00.html) Our annual fall symposium again will take place at the Robsham Theater at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, 12:30–5 pm. The symposium will examine the ways in which military culture and civil society interact over time in the United States. Don’t miss it!

Register at our Web site: www.masshumanities.org 5 Spring 2009 Humanities Calendar

Boston Area Central Northeastern Oral Histories of Aquinnah Massachusetts Massachusetts Exhibit Opening Much Ado About Nothing Opening celebration for the multi- Performance and Post-Play H.M. Francis Walking Tour Gorton’s Seafood Gallery Open- media exhibit of American Indian Discussion and Lecture ing with the Exhibit, Fitting Out oral histories describing Aquinnah A deliciously funny conspiracy Join Fitchburg State College faculty Experience Gloucester’s turn-of-the- Wampanoag lifeways, history and brings about a truce in the “merry members to explore a section of century waterfront and industries culture over the past one hundred war” between Benedick and the Main Street that encompasses some that supported fishing, including years on the island of Martha’s witty Beatrice, but a more serious of H.M. Francis’s finest buildings. skills demonstrations such as net- Vineyard. plot threatens her cousin’s hap- Discover the stories that buildings stripping and sail-making. There When: July 18 piness. Followed by a post-play tell us about the city, its people, will also be storytelling, music, and Where: Aquinnah Cultural Center, discussion with the company, and its history, and find architec- other family activities. 35 Aquinnah Circle moderated by Artistic Director tural details on buildings using the When: Saturday, May 9, Web: www.wampanoagtribe.net Benjamin Evett. architectural primer. Then, enjoy a 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Phone: (508) 645-7900 When: Sundays, May 17, 24, 31 lecture entitled, “Delightful by De- Where: Gloucester Maritime and June 7, 14, Performance: sign: Living in an H.M. Francis.” Heritage Center, 23 Harbor Loop, Women Protecting US 2:00 pm, Discussion: 4:30 pm Francis’s buildings, residential and Gloucester This new permanent exhibit high- Where: Hibernian Hall, 182-186 commercial, are still wonderful to Web: www.gloucestermaritime lights women’s contributions in his- Dudley St., Roxbury live in; historical buildings are also center.org tory, and creates a place of honor as Web: www.actorsshakespeareproject.org challenging to live in. This conver- Phone: (978) 281-0470 a memorial to their service. Women Phone: (413) 545-2511 sation with Fitchburg State faculty Cost: $5 adults, $2 children, $10 Protecting US is located onboard Cost: Play: $24–$48; discussion free scholars will explore these aspects family, members free the USS Massachusetts, a World An open rehearsal, free and open to with the community. War II battleship and site of the the public, will take place Saturday, When: Thursday, May 7, 5:50 pm Southeast, official veterans’ memorial for the May 2, at 11:00 am, followed by a (tour) and 6:45 pm (lecture) Cape Cod and Commonwealth of Massachusetts. discussion with the company. Where: Rollstone Studios, 633 Main Islands When: Ongoing Street, Fitchburg Where: Battleship Cove, 5 Water Web: www.discoverfitchburg.com Craft in America: Street, Fall River Phone: (978) 655-3709 Expanding Traditions Web: www.battleshipcove.org A multi-faceted journey into the Phone: (508) 678-1100 Share Your Collection, origin and continuation of American Cost: Admission to the museum: Share Your Story, Sustain craft traditions, from the Industrial adults $14; seniors and AAA mem- Your Mission Revolution through the Arts and bers $12; veterans (with proof of Primer for Small Museums and Crafts Movement, Depression-era honorable discharge) $12; children Historical Societies—Part 2 WPA works, post-World War II aged 6–12 $8; children under 6 Topics will include: increasing visi- studio craft pioneers, and contem- FREE; active military $6; military in tors and volunteers; raising money porary studio craft artists. The uniform FREE The Life of Galileo through activities, appeals and exhibition features over 185 works grants; Massachusetts non-profit that celebrate three fundamental Western Four hundred years ago, Galileo reporting requirements; and the themes: memory, landscape, and Massachusetts Galilei turned his telescope to the board’s basic responsibilities. community. heavens, changing forever our way When: Saturday, May 9, When: Through May 25 100 Faces of War of seeing our place in the universe. 9:30 am–3:30 pm Where: Fuller Craft Museum, Experience Exhibition Where: Historic Whitin Mill, 455 Oak St., Brockton An exhibition of portraits of Amer- The Mass Humanities community 54 Douglas Road, Whitinsville Web: www.fullercraft.org icans who have gone to the wars in can get $20 tickets (regularly $32) Web: www.nemanet.org/workshops/ Phone: (508) 588-6000 Iraq and Afghanistan. Each portrait to Bertolt Brecht’s master-work of PrimerMA.htm Cost: $8 adults, $5 seniors is accompanied by the words the science theater The Life of Galileo Phone: (781) 641-0013 and students person chose to say to the public through May 17. Use the discount code Cost: $35 for two workshops, Free for members and children about the experience of war. MASSHUMANITIES when purchasing lunch included under 12. Free admission every When: Through June 12 tickets at www.centralsquaretheater.org or by calling (866) 811-4111. Wednesday 5:00–9:00 pm Where: Springfield Armory Museum, One Armory Square, Springfield Web: www.nps.gov/spar/ Phone: (413) 734-8551

6 7 Calendar submissions can be made online at www.masshumanities.org

The Story as a Pathway Home Phone: (781) 641-0013 Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan Cost: $35 for two workshops, pictured in the 100 Faces of War lunch included Experience project discuss the role that telling their story has played in Broken Hearts and Inner Aerial view of Working their return from war and how their Darkness: Confronting the Waterfront Festival, photo by Jennifer Gonsalves understanding of their experience of Spiritual Wounds of War, Continued from page 3 war changes when they are able to Ancient and Modern tak candidly about it. Speakers will This lecture by Dr. Robert schooner fleets and changed the methods for catching include veterans who grew up in the Meagher will examine both arts- groundfish, increasing efficiency dramatically—too dramati- Springfield area and several veterans based and spiritual responses to cally, it turns out. By the 1960s the endangerment of the who now live locally. war and its aftermath. Two vet- targeted fish stock was evident, as international fishing fleets When: Saturday, May 2, erans, including Christ Church’s (using nets with small mesh sizes) had begun to utilize the 3:00 pm Rev. James Munroe, will reflect waters near George’s Bank, an elevated portion of the sea Where: Springfield Armory Museum, on their wartime experiences. floor between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia, depleting the One Armory Square, Springfield Several of artist Matt Mitchell’s groundfish stock. As a result, in 1976 the U.S. Congress Web: www.nps.gov/spar/ 100 Faces of War Experience enacted the Magnuson Act, asserting control and regulato- Phone: (413) 734-8551 paintings will be exhibited. ry power over waters 200 miles from shore. While this act When: Saturday, May 9, eliminated or reduced the threats posed by the internation- Share Your Collection, 3:00 pm al “factory trawlers,” new federal incentives for investors Share Your Story, Sustain Where: Christ Church Episco- to enter the trade resulted in a large increase in the U.S. Your Mission pal Cathedral on the Springfield fleet of fishing vessels using the same waters. The ground- Primer for Small Museums and Museum Quad fish stock did not rebound until 2002, when a fisheries Historical Societies—Part 2 Web: www.nps.gov/spar rebuilding process that included fishermen and scientists Topics will include: increasing visi- Phone: (413) 734-8551 initiated a series of regulations, such as catch limits and tors and volunteers; raising money increased mesh size in fishing nets. through activities, appeals and grants; Massachusetts non-profit And of course—in addition to pressing concerns about reporting requirements; and the the future of the industry—the stories that will be fea- board’s basic responsibilities. tured in “Voices from the Port” include tales of adven- When: Saturday, May 9, ture: close calls, frightening storms, and days at sea 9:30 am–3:30 pm waiting for calmer waters. The transcripts and record- Where: Berkshire Athenaeum, ings that Laura and her colleagues have been working 1 Wendell Ave., Pittsfield mass with reveal something poetic and powerful, too: the call Web: www.nemanet.org/workshops/ history of the sea to many people involved with the trade. These PrimerMA.htm are people who desire contact with water and wind and c onference who develop a unique understanding of the oceanic world, not merely the business side of fishing.

Another industry central to “Voices from the Port” is With Power for All: tourism. The radio broadcasts will be available as MP3 Energy and Social Change in Massachusetts audio files on a variety of New Bedford-based Web sites including those of the Standard Times newspaper, the Join us at a conference for Massachusetts history organizations. A city of New Bedford, the Ocean Explorium at New daylong exploration of the harnessing and uses of energy in the history Bedford Seaport, and the Southeast Massachusetts of Massachusetts—how our forbears used it, how we can save it, how Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. Series producers we can use and save energy simultaneously, how we might exhibit our hope that “Voices from the Port” will attract visitors— collections to address today’s issues. families on vacation and others seeking a maritime experience—to New Bedford. You don’t need to be When: Monday, June 8, 2009, 9:00 am–4:00 pm within broadcast range to listen! Tune in or click Where: Hogan Campus Center, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester on when June arrives for a whiff of sea air and the Web: www.masshumanities.org cadences of those who know the port, its vessels, Phone: (413) 588-1606 and its rhythms of daily life. Cost: $55 including lunch ($25 for students with copy of student ID)

7 Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID 66 Bridge Street, Northampton, MA 01060 Permit #1528 masshumanities.org Spfld, MA

Act Now to Save the Clemente Course

Scenes from the 2008 graduate 2008 Boston Grace Ejiwale Clemente Course graduation Photos by Glenn Kulbako

There are two ways to support this work, which touches and transforms lives throughout these communities. For starters, We anticipate that thirty-two Massachusetts residents will gradu- we accept tax-deductible donations by mail and at our Web site: ate from the Bard College Clemente Course in the Humanities www.masshumanities.org. (Click the Donate tab.) this spring. Mass Humanities presents the program in partnership with community agencies in Boston, Holyoke, and New Bedford. Also, Mass Humanities has received earmarked funding through The graduation ceremonies, which will take place in late May and the MA Department of Education for the program in recent years. June, are heartening and jubilant events where family, friends, and But the promise of an earmark-free state budget could spell peril supporters gather to share in the success of the students. After a for Clemente. At the Web site, you will find a letter that you can year taking introductory courses in American history, art history, mail or e-mail to your local legislators in support of continued literature, moral philosophy, and writing, the graduates will receive funding. Please do so, and encourage others to do so as well! six transferable credits from Bard College.

For more information about the graduation ceremonies, contact Kristin O’Connell at [email protected].

masshumanities.org