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All programs are free, accessible to people with disabilities, and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
~~~~~~~~~~ March ~~~~~~~~~~ Wednesday, March 26 ~ Mark Twain Talks. Long before he had white hair and wore his famous white suit, Mark Twain toured the country – and the world – entertaining packed houses with his wit, wisdom, and musery. Bern Budd's award-winning show, which has entertained aged 10 to 100, is based on those live performances. Twain's humorous, wise, and slightly irreverent counsel is as needed today as it was then. St. Albans Historical Museum, 11:00 a.m. Call John Newton, (802) 524-3447. Friday, March 28 ~ A Vermont Music Sampler. Vermont has a significant and fascinating musical folklore. John Philip Sousa wrote Stars and Stripes Forever in Isle La Motte; Justin Morgan was first a composer and secondly a horse breeder; many Vermont folk songs and ballads were gathered by Helen Flanders; electronic music was discovered at Bennington College; and there's more! This slide presentation by William Tortolano includes listening to music on tape and commentary from musician and scholar William Tortolano. Newport, Goodrich Memorial Library, 7:00 p.m. Call Carol Nicholson, (802) 334-7902. Saturday, March 29 ~ Susan B. Anthony – The Invincible! The feisty activist comes to life –circulating petitions, getting arrested, and challenging legislators, presidents, and newsmen – in Sally Matson's spirited performance. Although Anthony received a marriage proposal from a wealthy Vermont widower, she turned down all proposals and spent her life on the road, campaigning for abolition, women's rights, and woman suffrage. Letters, speeches, and diaries reveal her wit and intellect as she deals with angry mobs, trips through the West, the Civil War, the 15th Amendment and famous contemporaries such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, William Lloyd Garrison, and Horace Greeley. Note how issues then mirror issues now. Springfield Town Library, 1:00 p.m. Call Nancy Tusinski, (802) 885-3108.
Sunday, March 30 ~ New England Fiddle Music: History and Characteristics. Yankee fiddling is one of America's most distinct musical traditions, differing from that of other regions in style, types of tunes, and general musical approach. This program, by poet, musician, and musicologist Burt Porter, presents both an explanation of the definitive characteristics of the music, illustrated with lively fiddling, and a discussion of the geographic, economic and cultural factors that have shaped the music. The various tune categories—jigs, hornpipes, clogs, etc.—are explained, and a consideration of how our hills and rivers, our transportation systems, and the culture of the early settlers affected our fiddle music provides insights into many aspects of our traditions. The relationships with New England fife-and-drum music and with classical violin music are also examined. Castleton State College, Old Chapel, 2:00 p.m. Call Holly Hitchcock, (802) 468-5105.
~~~~~~~~~~ April ~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday, April 2 ~ Suspended Worlds: Vermont's Painted Theater Curtains. Between 1880 and World War II, painted theater curtains were artistic features of most New England villages and towns. In Vermont, painted curtains graced stages in town and grange halls, opera houses, and community theaters. A culture of local variety shows and traveling, professional talent flourished in front of those curtains in some very remote places. A tour of some of the 177 curtains in Vermont provides a glimpse into the world of talented and often sophisticated artists who were part of the rural cultural scene. Focusing on Charles Henry and his family troupe, with their blackface, their assortment of musical instruments, and their comedies, examines the cultural history of small town Vermont before World War I. The speaker is former and founding Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance director Christine Hadsel, who is currently project director for the Painted Theater Curtains of Vermont conservation project. Milton Historical Museum, 7:30 p.m. Call Jane FitzGerald, (802) 893-2340.
Wednesday, April 2 ~ Kitchen Tunks and Parlor Songs. In the 1980s, Mark Greenberg interviewed and recorded old-time, grassroots Vermont musicians and produced both a video documentary, The Unbroken Circle (1985), and a CD anthology, Kitchen Tunks and Parlor Songs (2003). In this presentation, he discusses collecting oral histories in Vermont and examines how earlier music survived in the twentieth century and how it was affected by social and technological developments. Morgan, Morgan Church, 2:00 p.m. Call Betty Hutchins, (802) 766-2995.
Thursday, April 3 ~ The Irish Are Coming! The Irish Are Coming! In this talk, Dan Casey traces the movement of the early Irish into Vermont from Quebec, New York, and the New England corridor. He considers conditions in Ireland, shows probable ports of emigration, and explains motivations for their coming to Vermont. Dane uses prominent historical figures to illustrate Irish influence on the Vermont way of life. He references local surnames and uses maps, slides, and genealogical charts to explain how and why the Irish came to stay in the Green Mountain State. Montpelier, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 7:00 p.m. Call Rachel Senechal, (802) 223-3338.
Sunday, April 6 ~ Civil War Sites in Vermont. The Civil War affected everyone, not just those who carried a gun. In researching a new book on Civil War home sites, historian and author Howard Coffin has found some fascinating places right here in Vermont, including a cave where a man lived for years to avoid the draft, a home where a woman sequestered herself after hearing of her fiancé's death, and an isolated house where soldiers returning with syphilis were quarantined. Come hear about these places and share your stories of Civil War sites in your community. Pittsford, St. Alphonus Parish Hall, 7:00 p.m. Call Anne Pelkey, (802) 483-6178.
Tuesday, April 8 ~ Looking Back at Vermont: Farm Security Administration Photographs in Vermont, 1936-1942. Over seven years, nine photographers working for the Farm Security Administration's Historical Section documented Vermont's rural culture. In this richly illustrated talk, historian Nancy Price Graff examines the impact of this project on Vermont. Hardwick, Memorial Building, 7:00 p.m. Call Lisa Sammet, (802) 472-5948. |
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Speakers Bureau Schedule |
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Office in Montpelier
11 Loomis Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05602 802.262.2626 Fax: 802.262.2620 E-mail: info@vermonthumanities.org |
