About the Vermont Humanities Council
Because Ideas MatterStories
Read our latest stories below, browse our print newsletters, or join our mailing list.
Vermont Reads book opens “all kinds of possibilities.”
The Waterbury Public Library’s Vermont Reads events have included a field trip to the Flynn Center, a cartooning workshop, a book discussion, and two Speakers Bureau talks from the Vermont Humanities catalogue.
Vermont Humanities Seeks Nominations for 2019 Swenson Humanities Educator Award
The Vermont Humanities Council seeks nominations for the seventeenth annual Victor R. Swenson Humanities Educator Award, given to a Vermont teacher who demonstrates excellence in the teaching of the humanities.
“We wanted to create lifelong learning moments.”
For seventeen years Ali White has been the weaver of the First Wednesdays tapestry. Working with now-retired Executive Director Peter Gilbert, she began a pilot project at one library in 2002 that bloomed into one of our flagship programs.
“The humanities made my small world much bigger”
Longtime Vermont Humanities supporter Lisa Schamberg and board member Liz Fenton discussed the importance of the humanities during an afternoon chat at Lisa’s home.
Aiming High from the Start
Vermont Humanities was founded 45 years ago in 1974. We recently sat down with Victor R. Swenson, the organization’s first Executive Director, to hear his recollections of our early years.
Read with Me Helps Build Skills in Fathers and Children
A storyteller’s visits to the Munt Family Room are supported by our Read with Me program, in which facilitators share the importance and the joy of reading picture books with young children.
Female Veterans Book Group Inspires Deployed Play
Valley News writer Nicola Smith attended two sessions of a Veterans Book Group for women. “I knew there were women in the military, but I hadn’t really met any or listened to them talk about their experiences,” said Smith, who lives in Tunbridge. “I thought the stories were so compelling that they would make a great theater piece.”
Before Your Time: The Power of the Press
A massive wooden printing press made in the mid-17th century has a place of pride in the Vermont History Museum, and not just because it’s old. It represents both the history of written law in the state, and the crucial role that journalism—the press—plays in a democracy.
“Students learn more when they are engaged”
Morgan Moore, a humanities teacher at Burke Town School, received the 2018 Victor R. Swenson Award. Named after the Council’s first Executive Director, the award recognizes a Vermont educator who exemplifies excellence in the teaching of the humanities.
Vermont Humanities Grant Funds Photo Exhibit on People of Color in Vermont
Seven projects received awards from the Vermont Humanities Council in the fall of 2018, including the Root Racial Justice Center’s Visible in Vermont exhibit.
Before Your Time: Built To Last
Plenty of Vermont’s historic buildings are traditional homes, churches, and meeting houses. But as the state changed in the 20th century, its architecture did too. Now experts are looking more closely at buildings that look nothing like what came before.
Before Your Time: Anything for Speed
People have raced cars in the Green Mountains since 1903. There were racetracks in every corner of the state: at fairgrounds, in farmers’ back fields, and finally at dozens of dedicated racetracks. Thousands of Vermonters have been drivers, mechanics, track officials, and spectators at those tracks over the past 115 years.