annual report 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 virginia foundation for the humanities P L E A S E DISTURB 2006-07 P lease LISTEN V ir G inia F O L K life A pprenti C eship P R OG ra M 2006-2007 Master Flatpick Guitarist Scott Fore and Apprentice Cheryl Lunsford of Radford. Tobacco Auctioneer Master Bob Cage and Apprentice Jim Crawford of Halifax County. Traditional Fiber Arts Master Sandra Bennett and Apprentice Linda Wright of Tazewell County. Bluegrass Singing Master Linda Lay and Apprentice Lea Strickland of Winchester. Hewn Log House Construction and Pioneer Crafts Master Charles McRaven and Apprentices Willy Lehmann and Daniel Malcolm of Albemarle County. Automobile Pinstriping Master Tom VanNortwick and Apprentice Andrew Elder of Henry County. Mandolin Master Herschel Sizemore and Apprentice Spencer Blankenship of Roanoke. Old Regular Baptist Hymn Singing Master Reverend Frank Newsome of Buchanan County. Since its inception in 1988, the Virginia V F H S pe C ial P R OJ E C ts 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 7 Folklife Program American Shakespeare Center Educational program using English literature, history has been one of the and theater. best-loved and most Ash Lawn Opera Festival President’s Letter ......................................................................2 Educational programs. publicly accessible Haitian Studies Association Annual Conference VFH Highlights ...........................................................................5 programs at the Annual conference to promote informed discussions and analyses of the country’s culture, arts, history, economy, VFH Grants ..................................................................................8 Virginia Foundation and politics. VFH Fellows.............................................................................. 17 for the Humanities. The Quest Institute Purchase of 5000 dictionaries for incarcerated men and women VFH Donors .............................................................................. 18 in Virginia prisons. Statement of Financial Position........................................ 27 Virginia Association of Museums Program Support. VFH Board and Staff.............................................................. 28 2 VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES P L E A S E DISTURB 2006-07 Have you ever read a book that changed your stories of native peoples, the Virginia Indians; on their own history and how that history The humanities often cause us to confront life? Have you ever heard a speaker whose of Africans who arrived in 1619 and their is interpreted. The 80-page book includes issues that disturb and unsettle us. That words inspired you to action? Have you ever descendents; of immigrants and refugees who histories of the eight Virginia tribes, an is certainly the case at the VFH Center on written anything that helped you grapple continue to settle here. We focused on the interpretive framework, and guides to Violence and Community (formerly the Hwith some inner issue, or told a story that complex history of the Commonwealth and historical and contemporary sites. Institute on Violence and cried out to be shared? If so, you know the on the issues and questions that continue to Survival) which studies the The Virginia Folklife Program transformative power of the humanities. confront Virginians, questions about identity long-term effects of violent at the VFH also made an and culture, local history and globalization, systems – social arrangements When called upon to define the humanities enormous contribution to the tradition and change. rooted in violence. Among (as my colleagues and I often are), we anniversary by partnering with other Fellows in Residence this frequently list disciplines: history, literature VFH efforts over the past decade have the Smithsonian Institution and year, VFH welcomed David and language, ethics and philosophy, and included targeted grant initiatives; academic Jamestown 2007 to present Niyonzima from Burundi, in the various legal, cultural, religious, and folk symposia on Pre-colonial and Colonial Virginia the Roots of Virginia on the central Africa and culturally traditions – past and present – that define the history and culture; radio programs on National Mall in Washington. similar to Rwanda. One of a few human experience. Virginia Indians and on European and African Many Virginians joined other to survive an assault in 1993 settlement; speakers and panels on colonial visitors from throughout the Somehow, though, that list is never by soldiers at his school, David history; and book and author discussions at United States and around the satisfactory, for it fails to get at the dynamic resolved to work to prevent and the Virginia Festival of the Book. world to experiences treasures nature of the humanities, the engagement treat the effects of violence, first of the Commonwealth. that prompts action on our part, that causes In this, the anniversary year, I am especially by understanding it and then us to investigate, speak, listen, read, reflect, pleased to announce the recent creation of Our efforts in 2007 reached by developing an intercultural, think, and act. the Virginia Indian Heritage Program at the beyond the Jamestown experience, interdisciplinary model of healing and VFH, to become home to ongoing research as well. reconciliation that uses story and history in PRESIDENT’SYet these verbs also seemLETTER inadequate. and a database and website; higher education a continuum of help for those affected by They don’t describe how we experience The VFH African American Heritage Program summits and institutes for teachers; violence. Dr. Niyonzima’s work will inform change through the humanities. We can launched a redesigned database and website, curriculum and tourism guides, and a grant future developments of the VFH Center. vfhbecome open, empathic, understanding, which includes more than 400 heritage sites program to fund tribes, intertribal groups, and compassionate; we may be disturbed, across Virginia; the database is designed to Encyclopedia Virginia (EV) has itself been museums, and other organizations to improve challenged, chastised, or enlightened. By challenge the public to explore Virginia’s transformed this year with the recruitment their interpretation of engaging the humanities, we grow. African American history and culture. The of historians and scholars to fill the “pages” Virginia Indian history. program also entered into partnership with of this rich resource. We expect this digital At the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, In June, VFH hosted the Legacy Museum of Lynchburg and IMLS to powerhouse to provide a transformational we seek to bring this transformational power Beyond Jamestown: create the Central Virginia Museum Network, way of looking at Virginia by using 21st- of the humanities to every program we Virginia Indians Past designed to strengthen programming and century technology to link scholarship and produce. We ask ourselves and our audiences & Present, the first exhibits among a consortium of African user stories, sound and video excerpts, images to question, interpret, observe, preserve, delve, statewide Teachers’ American museums. and maps, exhibits and lesson plans, advanced and explore in order to understand the past, Institute in Virginia to cross-referencing and search functions, and confront issues in the present, and shape a be developed and led In June, VFH hosted a meeting with 21 bibliographies for further research. promising future. by Virginia Indians, members of Virginia’s Latino community only the first of a to generate ideas and opportunities for All VFH programs encourage our constituents This mandate may be nowhere more clear The humanities series of institutes collaboration. Together we began exploring to experience the transformative power of than in the VFH response to the 400th sometimes cause for K-12 teachers on ways that the humanities can help educate the humanities. Please join us as we continue anniversary of the arrival of the English Virginia Indian history. Virginians about the diversity of Latino to explore the past, confront the present and and the establishment of the Jamestown us to confront peoples along side the diversity of Virginia shape the future. colony. Ten years ago, the VFH identified this issues that disturb The landmark traditions. I heard a desire for Latinos to tell event as having major significance, not just publication, The and unsettle us. their story, including the violence of migration for Virginia, but for the nation as a whole. Virginia Indian routes and the difficult and painful journeys Following our mission to help tell the untold Heritage Trail, created this year by the VFH involved in changing identities. They shared Robert C. Vaughan, III stories of Virginia, we sought the stories in partnership with the Virginia Council on their hopes for building community. President that took place beyond Jamestown – the Indians, reflects Virginia Indian perspectives 2 VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES P L E A S E DISTURB 2006-07 P lease READ Jul Y 2 0 0 6 • ROOTS 2006 NEH Summer Seminar for Middle and High School Teachers Teaching the African Dimensions of the History and Culture of the Americas. septe M ber 2 0 0 6 • Visitors from the China Association for International Friendly Contact visit VFH and Virginia. 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 7 • Staff and Board begin Strategic Planning and NEH Self-Assessment. hts • First Encyclopedia Virginia section editors G are hired and content acquisition begins. • VFH African American Program partners hli