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A Spring Poem
Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Robert Frost
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
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 | | Thelonious Monk and Howard McGhee, Minton's Playhouse, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947. By William P. Gottlieb. Courtesy Library of Congress. |
First Wednesdays Talks * May 2 * 7:00 pmESSEX JUNCTION -- Beethoven's Sketchbooks with pianist Michael Arnowitt. Location and host: Brownell Library. Learn more...
MANCHESTER -- Welfare Brat with Dr. Mary Childers. Host: Mark Skinner Library. Location: First Congregational Church. Learn more...MIDDLEBURY -- The Life and Times of Thelonious Monk with Artistic director of the Vermont Jazz Center Eugene Uman. Location and host: Ilsley Public Library. Learn more...
 | | Preeminent Lincoln Historian Harold Holzer will speak at Dartmouth College as part of First Wednesdays on May2 at 7:00 pm. Above, Abraham Lincoln, 1861 |
MONTPELIER -- Why Stephen King Still Matters with UVM English Department Chair Tony Magistrale. Location and host: Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Learn more...
NEWPORT -- The History of Magic with Circus Smirkus founder Rob Mermin. Location and host: Goodrich Memorial Library. Learn more...
NORWICH -- Why Lincoln Matters: To Presidents, to History, and to Us with preeminent Lincoln historian Harold Holzer. Presented with the Dartmouth History Department. NOTE LOCATION: Filene Auditorium, Moore Hall, Dartmouth College. Learn more...
RUTLAND -- Horses Like Lightning: A Story of Passage through the Himalayas with Dartmouth anthropologist Sienna Craig. Location and host: Rutland Free Library. Learn more...
ST. JOHNSBURY -- Speak to Me . . . A Program of Words and Chamber Music with a piano quartet from the acclaimed Craftsbury Chamber Players. Host: St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. NOTE LOCATION: South Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury. Learn more...
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Vermont Reads 2012
 BULL RUN by Paul Fleischman and The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane Your community is invited to take part in Vermont Reads 2012 featuring Paul Fleischman's Bull Run, a beautifully written novella that takes place during the Civil War. It is written in the first person from the point of view of sixteen different characters, eight Northerners and eight Southerners -- male, female, black, white, old, young, soldier, and civilian. The award-winning book focuses on the social context of the war, the run-up to the first battle of the war, and its aftermath as well as on the battle itself. Also as part of Vermont Reads 2012, VHC is encouraging communities to read The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane's classic and groundbreaking story of heroism and weakness in the face of war's indifference to the fate of individuals.  Fleischman is the author of the hugely successful Vermont Reads 2005 selection, Seedfolks, which tells through multiple voices how the planting of a garden in a vacant lot creates community. Learn more and apply for Vermont Reads 2012.Application deadline is May 15Underwriter
 
With support from the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation
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Civil War Book of Days, April 27
Laura Towne: Union's Effort to Transition Ex-slaves to Self-sustainability
 | | Laura Towne |
On April 27, 1862, abolitionist Laura Towne (1825-1901) of Philadelphia wrote home from St. Helena Island, South Carolina, describing the frustrations of former slaves. They complained that, "The Yankees preach nothing but cotton." Towne had embarked for the Sea Islands off South Carolina and Georgia to participate in the Port Royal Experiment, the Union's first systematic effort to transition ex-slaves to self-sustainability in occupied territory.
Organized by the National Freedmen's Relief Association in conjunction with the U.S. Treasury, the Port Royal Experiment aimed to inculcate work habits, religious morality, and basic literacy skills. In the process, government agents hoped to cash in on the islands' valuable cotton crop to support the Northern war effort. Yet as Towne observed, the former slaves "can plainly see enough that the proceeds of the cotton will never get into black pockets -- judging from past experience."
Continued . . .
Sign up for the Civil War Book of Days, VHC's weekly e-newsletter marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. It commemorates what happened each week 150 years ago.
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Humanities Commentaries on VPR
 | | Peter Gilbert |
Each month, VHC's Executive Director Peter Gilbert presents commentaries on Vermont Public Radio that examine current and past events from a humanities perspective. Most recently, Peter spoke about:
- Remembering Guernica: Scenes of Syrian civilians being bombed by their own government have reminded commentator and executive director of the Vermont Humanities Council Peter Gilbert of similar events that took place 75 years ago tomorrow -- with far-reaching consequences for both civil society and the arts.
- William and Julian Scott: We're in the midst of the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War, which raged for four years, from April 1861 to April 1865. Here's commentator and Vermont Humanities Council executive director Peter Gilbert with the dramatic stories of two Vermont soldiers who were not related, but who shared the same last name.
- Willie's Story: This President's Day was also the anniversary of an event that caused great sadness in the Lincoln White House. Commentator and Vermont Humanities Council executive director Peter Gilbert has the story -- not of a President, but a President's child.
- The Presidency: Commentator and Vermont Humanities Council executive director Peter Gilbert loves movies about the American presidency, especially thrillers. Recently, he saw two that he'd never seen before.
Read or listen to Peter's commentaries online.
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The Vermont Humanities Council presents nearly 1,100 events every year. Thank you for your interest in lifelong learning!
Sincerely,
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Sylvia Plumb, Director of Communications
Vermont Humanities Council |
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