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Historic Perspectives of Roethke’s Saginaw: From Interview to Art -- (2007)
Grant
Awarded: November
2007
Type of Grant: Michigan People, Michigan Places ... Our Stories, Our Lives
Sponsors: The Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation
Collaborators: Saginaw Township Community Schools, Castle Museum of Saginaw County History, Hoyt Main Library, Saginaw Valley State University, Delta College, Arthur Hill High School
Contact: Annie Ransford, 989-928-0430, aransford@centurytel.net
Award: $14,928
Roethke 100th Birthday Event Includes $14,928 Award for Oral History Project
From left are: Jim Lewis, Asst. to U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee; Jan Fedewa, MHC Executive Director; Dusty Houser, Asst. to U.S. Sen. Carl Levin; Connie Baird, Secretary, Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation; Chris Hennessy, Asst. to U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow; Ann Ransford, President, Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation; and, Jim Baird, Treasurer Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation. Click on image to enlarge. |
(SAGINAW)----The Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) was joined by the Friends of Theordore Roethke Foundation (FTRF) in Saginaw to announce the project, Historic Perspectives of Roethke’s Saginaw: From Interview to Art. The presentation was at the Roethke House in Saginaw as part of a German Open House which included: live music; comments from Poet’s House, a 50,000-volume poet library and literary center in New York City; and, a public presentation about Roethke’s German heritage. The event also recognized the MHC for awarding $14,928 to the FTRF for the project. The award was part of the MHC’s Michigan People, Michigan Places … Our Stories, Our Lives program, which supports community collaboration for public humanities programs. The presentation also included presentations by the offices of U.S. Senator Carl Levin, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, and U.S. Representative Dale Kildee.
“This project demonstrates how many organizations can work together to learn about their communities past and create an educational public program,” stated Jan Fedewa, executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council. “The Michigan Humanities Council is pleased to support the Friends of Theodore Roethke to help preserve the history of Saginaw through a unique intergenerational oral history project.”
The FTRF plans to sponsor oral history workshops that canvas the Saginaw community collecting stories spanning Pullitzer Prize winning poet, Theodore Roethke’s lifetime (1908-1963). Organizations collaborating with the FTRF on this project include: Saginaw Township Community Schools, Castle Museum of Saginaw County History, Hoyt Main Library, Saginaw Valley State University, Delta College, Arthur Hill High School. Student interviewers of middle/high school and college age will be trained to interview elders in the community about Roethke as well as to achieve new historic perspective on the community. Collected stories will be transcribed into poetry illustrated with visual interpretation that will contribute to Saginaw and also to Roethke’s centennial birthday in 2008. Public presentations and exhibits of the works will be presented at key events. Oral history archives will be stored at the Theodore Roethke Home Museum and Saginaw Castle Museum. A community presentation event will be hosted in May 2008 in conjunction with Roethke’s centennial birthday.
“The Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation is so proud and so pleased to be chosen to partner with Michigan Humanities Council,” said Ann Ransford, President of the Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation. “Gathering this collective memory will prepare us for Roethke's Centennial Year and will foster pride in Saginaw's community heritage.”
“Poets House is delighted to support the Friends of Theodore Roethke on their 2008 planning season in celebration of the centennial of Saginaw-born poet Theodore Roethke,” said Stephen Motika, Program Coordinator of Poets House in New York City. “Your project of collecting oral histories sounds very interesting and will be, no doubt, an important addition to the life of the poet but also to your community.”
“Grants from the Michigan Humanities Council help Michigan communities study and preserve the state’s unique culture and heritage,” said U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow. “I am pleased to be able to support funding for the council and for these important local community projects.”
The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is a private, non-profit organization, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. For additional information on the Michigan Humanities Council, please visit: www.michiganhumanities.org or call 517-372-7770.
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