The Only Person of Color in the Room
<p>At 95, Betty Reid Soskin is the oldest active U.S. Park Ranger. Having lived through wars, racial segregation, and other turbulent times in our history, she says empathy and world peace are possible through the humanities.</p>
<p>To celebrate its 40th year anniversary of grant making, programming, and partnerships that connect Californians to each other, California Humanities invited a group of 40 prominent Californians to explore what the humanities mean to them. For more information visit <a href="http://calhum.org/about/we-are-the-humanities" title="California Humanities: We Are the Humanities" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">California Humanities: We Are the Humanities</a>.</p>
California Humanities
Betty Reid Soskin, U.S. National Park Service Ranger
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/static?template=terms">Standard YouTube License</a>
betty-reid-soskin-us-national-park-ranger
Statues and the Shapeshifting of History
As a young girl visiting Vicksburg, Mississippi, Julia Nguyen encountered a Civil War statue. It altered not only the way she understands history, but the way she thinks about that very concept.
Civil War statue in Vicksburg, Mississippi
Julia Nguyen, historian and grant-maker
statues-shapeshifting-history
The Library
Growing up outside Atlanta, Georgia, my dad and I would spend hours at the local library, requesting and checking out the full limit of books allowed. We often had to ask forgiveness for misplacing many books. Fast forward to summer 2020:
Last summer will forever be imprinted in the collective memory. After the lockdown from COVID-19, my university library unlocked its doors once again. I was brought back to a place that can transport us anywhere- through all the multitude of resources within those bounds. The library is an amazing place that provided/s comfort in a troubled time; I remembered a childhood with many hours spent there and am reminded of the power of the humanities. I lost and found my borrowed books once again. The library is a space where I move and look outward, where I cross boundaries. Cataloguing the impact of the humanities is no small task, and the influence is far beyond a lifetime, encompassed well in the beauty of a local library.
The University Library
Summer 2020
Katie Ireland Kuiper, 29, Ph.D. Candidate
the-university-library