Holyoke Community College & Wistariahurst Museum present
Soul of a People: Voices from the Writers' Project
In 1933 in the middle of the Great Depression, newly-elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to put unemployed Americans to work building roads, bridges, parks, schools and public buildings, and developing arts and literacy projects. One of four arts programs created under the WPA, the Federal Writers' Project employed thousands of unemployed writers, newspaper reporters, former school teachers and others (including Richard Wright, Studs Terkel, Saul Bellow, and John Cheever) to fan out across America, interview its citizens, and produce a portrait of the US in a series of state travel guides. The authors ignited a firestorm of controversy by depicting tragedy and suffering alongside the vitality, resilience, and rich diversity of 1930s Americana.
This fall, the Holyoke Community College Library and Wistariahurst Museum are sponsoring a series of events that tell the story of the Writers' Project. Drawing from the life and work of authors such as Zora Neale Hurston and the recently released film Soul of a People: Telling America's Stories.
The events, part of a national series supported by the American Library Association, National Endowment for the Humanities, Smithsonian Channel, and Spark Media, are free and open to the public.
Launch of Soul of a People: Voices from the Writers’ Project
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 – 1-3 p.m.; 4-7 p.m. at Wistariahurst Museum
The launch of Soul of a People will begin with an open forum by surviving members of the Civilian Conservation Corps who will talk about their experiences. Later, Wistariahurst recreates a 1930s atmosphere with live music, exhibits, food, and displays containing pieces from the museum’s paintings, textiles, manuscripts, and object collections. Live music will be performed by a 1930s-themed band. Attendees will be able to view excerpts of the documentary throughout. HCC Professor Dr. Maura Henry will deliver a presentation on the people, music, life and times.
Voices from the Writers’ Project: Oral Histories
Saturday, September 26, 2009, 1-3 p.m. at Wistariahurst Museum
Join us and experience oral histories from the Writers’ Project Slave Narratives and American Life Histories taken from 1936 to 1938. Listen to Enchanted Circle Theater’s professional actors dramatically read several slave narratives that depict the texture of life that is gone today. They will also read American life histories with a focus on Massachusetts around the themes of Work & Industry and Daily Life during the American Depression. Light refreshments will be served.
Explore the Hampshire Gazette Indexes
Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 6:00 p.m. at Forbes Library
A presentation on the Hampshire Gazette Index of Northampton, MA; this index was completed through the WPA project and includes the years 1786-1937. The Hampshire Gazette Index is one of the few subject indexes with access to eighteenth and nineteenth century newspapers. Presenter: Elise Bernier-Feeley, Local History & Genealogy Librarian.
Documentary Viewing: Soul of a People: Telling America's Stories
Thursday, October 8, 2009, 11 a.m. Kittredge Center, Holyoke Community College
The campus community is invited to view excerpts of the documentary Soul of a People: Telling America's Stories, produced and directed by Andrea Kalin of Spark Media for Smithsonian Networks™ with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Join in a lively discussion with HCC Professor Dr. Maura Henry. Light refreshments will be served.
Thursday, October 8, 2009, 7 p.m. at Wistariahurst Museum
The community is invited to view excerpts of the documentary Soul of a People: Telling America's Stories at Wistariahurst Museum. Join in a lively discussion with HCC Professor Dr. Maura Henry. Light refreshments will be served.
Book Discussion with Lucy Ann Hurston, niece of Zora Neale Hurston
Saturday, October 24, 2009, 2 p.m. at Wistariahurst Museum
Ms. Lucy Ann Hurston will lead a discussion of acclaimed book Their Eyes Were Watching God and other writings by her aunt, Zora Neale Hurston. Join Allia Matta, professor of English at Holyoke Community College, for a discussion of the book. Books by Ms. Hurston and her aunt will be on sale. Light refreshments will be served.
Stage Reading & Book Discussion
Wednesday, November 4, 2009, at the Taber Gallery, Holyoke Community College
Professor Allia Matta will lead a stage reading of the works of Zora Neale Hurston by HCC students, and a discussion/commentary. This event is open to the campus community and the public. Light refreshments will be served.
Library Exhibit by Curator Penni Martorell
November 2-29, 2009, at the Holyoke Community College Library
The library, in collaboration with the Holyoke History Room & Archive, will host an exhibit about the era during the month of November in the display cases in the lobby of the HCC Library. Also during the month of November there will be a table display in the reference area of the HCC Library featuring writers of the WPA.
Scholar-led Discussion of The Soul of a People
Saturday, November 7, 2009, 2pm at Wistariahurst Museum
What was life like in Massachusetts, and specifically the Pioneer Valley, during the Great Depression? How did the people of the Commonwealth and Western Massachusetts rally themselves as well as the state's resources during one of the darkest periods in US History? What typified the character of the state and its people in the 1930s? The answers to these and many more questions come to life in the Federal Writers' Project, a bold and innovative program launched in the depths of the Great Depression as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s mammoth Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Writers' Project's legions created the American Guide Series of travel books for the states and regions, the first in the
history of the United States, which awakened Americans to their local histories, celebrated the nation's diverse cultures, and established the American tourism industry.
Forum on the Depression of the 1930s and Today’s Crisis
TBA Fall, 2009 at Holyoke Community College
David A. Taylor, author of Soul of a People: The Writers’ Project, uncovers depression in America and discusses his work from a local perspective with Christine Bold, author of Writers, Plumbers and Anarchist: The WPA Writers’ Project in Massachusetts. Both authors will provide an analysis of the depression of the 1930s and the current crisis being experienced today.
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