It can seem like every town in Vermont once had a pharmacist brewing their own special blend of medicine. Some of these cures were derived from herbal folk remedies. Others were created from a lot of alcohol, some food coloring, and a pinch of carefully honed hokum.
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.
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.
This series starts with the 1893 Columbian Exposition and continues through the Gilded Age. Three novels and a narrative history illustrate that spectacular time period in ways that in turn illuminate our own era.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.