Vermont Humanities

Migration Pathways: Stories of Yesterday and Today

Two elderly men sit in front of a white door on a red brick house while a dog watches through the window
Fall Festival

Andrew Ingall, creator of the project “Warlé, Yesterday, and Today,” presents a slide talk and storytelling exercise inspired by the lives and legacy of Warren Kronemeyer and Leon Ingall, a Vermont couple who were entrepreneurs and civic leaders in Townshend, VT during the 1980 and 1990s. Leon was a refugee twice: first fleeing the Bolsheviks in 1918 and then again from the Nazis in the late 1930s.

Warren and Leon’s remarkable story of love, adversity, caregiving, and creativity provides a lens to explore similar and divergent experiences of today’s LGBTQ+ elders, asylum-seekers, refugees, and migrants. The afternoon will conclude with a discussion from local organizations that include an overview of various immigration statuses and avenues towards residency; how these underrepresented communities invigorate cultural, economic, and social life; and how citizens can best support newcomers.

This event was recorded at the Brooks Memorial Library on October 20, 2022 by Brattleboro Community Television as part of our 2022 Fall Festival “Where We Land: Storytelling that Propels Us.”

Andrew Ingall sits on a stoop of a red brick house in front of a white door, wearing a purple collared shirt and jeans, smiling.

About Andrew Ingall

Andy Ingall has been working in arts, culture, and community engagement for over twenty years as a curator, scholar, writer, performer, and producer. He received a B.A. from Columbia College and an M.A. in Performance Studies from Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. His collaborators have included cultural workers, artists, scholars, faith leaders, activists, health care professionals, and funeral directors.

 

About Kate Paarlberg-Kvam

Kate Paarlberg-Kvam (she/they) is Executive Director at the Community Asylum Seekers Project (CASP), headquartered in Brattleboro. Kate holds a PhD in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and is a former postdoctoral fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, where she conducted research on gender, displacement, and postwar reconciliation efforts. Kate works with CASP’s team of staff and volunteers to support twenty asylum seekers in Southern Vermont, providing legal aid, housing, advocacy, language learning, and job placement services, and cultivating a supportive community for people fleeing political violence and building new lives in this country.

About Alex Beck

Alex Beck (he/him) is a Brattleboro resident, and holds a MA in Service, Leadership, and Management from SIT Graduate Institute. He has extensive experience in community development, youth engagement, and social entrepreneurism in rural economies in the U.S and abroad. Alex has resided in Windham County since 2012, and has been at BDCC since 2015. He coordinates the Southern Vermont Workforce Center of Excellence, and facilitates the creation, organization, and distribution of regional workforce and education opportunities for Vermonters throughout the Windham region.

About Abdullah

Abdullah was born in Panjshir, Afghanistan, migrated to Pakistan and grew up there, where he studied painting, traditional calligraphy, Persian Miniatures, learned and taught English as a second language and graduated from high school. He moved back to Kabul Afghanistan, completed his bachelors degree in computer science as well as worked as an IT Trainer for three years. He also painted wall murals with themes of social transformation and peace building with the artist collective, Artlords as a part time profession.  When the Taliban took over the control of Kabul, he had to flee and found himself in Brattleboro, Vermont. He’s now rebuilding his life and finding new ways to make cross cultural collaborative murals with different regional artists using different mediums. He is also producing individual personal artwork using oil and acrylic paint on canvas using different genres.

About the Fall Festival 2022

Join us in October during National Arts and Humanities Month for our Where We Land Fall Festival, a remix of our Annual Fall Conference. Attend in-person events in communities around Vermont or join hybrid events online. Many sessions will center around the themes of our Vermont Reads 2022 selection, The Most Costly Journey, a comics collection of stories told by migrant workers in Vermont.

 

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The Making of the Graphic Novel: 1177 BC The Year Civilization Collapsed

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Two elderly men sit in front of a white door on a red brick house while a dog watches through the window

Migration Pathways: Stories of Yesterday and Today

Andrew Ingall, creator of the project “Warlé, Yesterday, and Today,” presents a slide talk and storytelling exercise inspired by the lives and legacy of Warren Kronemeyer and Leon Ingall, a Vermont couple who were entrepreneurs and civic leaders in Townshend, VT during the 1980 and 1990s. Leon was a refugee twice: first fleeing the Bolsheviks in 1918 and then again from the Nazis in the late 1930s.

Illustration of people gathered around a document to discuss civics

Freedom and Unity Launch Party

Hosted by the Center for Cartoon Studies, this lively presentation about the making of Freedom and Unity, A Graphic Guide to Vermont Democracy features the cartoonists and scholars that helped create a comic book about the past, present, and potential of democracy and civics in Vermont.

A drone sits in a hangar looking out on a desert and mountain as a man in a jumpsuit walks towards it.

Dirty Work with Author Eyal Press

In his award-winning Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America, journalist Eyal Press examines the morally troubling jobs that society tacitly condones, and the hidden class of workers who do them. Press, a contributor to The New Yorker and The New York Times, discusses his reporting for the book, which won the 2022 Hillman Prize for book journalism and appeared on numerous “best books of 2021” lists.

Young Mexican man in a gray T-shirt and long brown pants in front of a John Deere tractor and hay bales

Migrant Workers Discuss Life in Vermont

Over 1200 migrant workers from Mexico, Guatemala, and other Latin American countries labor on farms and for businesses in Vermont. Their stories are not often heard. With the help of the Open Door Clinic, we spoke with several of these crucial workers. Some wanted to conceal their identities.

People seated in chairs inside the 118 Elliot gallery space with four panelists at the front behind a table

Vermont Reads 2022 Panel Discussion

Three people central to the creation of The Most Costly Journey discuss migration, farming, mental health, cartooning, and the Latinx farmworker experience in Vermont.

Detail of cover of The Most Costly Journey, showing a drawing of a Mexican man holding a paintbrush and a photo of his family

Introducing Vermont Reads 2022

This video about the making of the pamphlets that became The Most Costly Journey includes a conversation between Vermont farm worker “El Enmigrante” (the immigrant) and cartoonist Marek Bennett about collaborating on his story.

Vermont Humanities*** October 29, 2022