The Florida Humanities Council

The Florida Humanities Council The programs of the Florida Humanities Council annually touch Floridians in every region of the state. From our family reading and discussion programs and engaging Speakers Series, to our exhibition partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, and summer seminars for teachers and high school students, we are dedicated to convening Floridians in community conversations that bring us together and deepen our understanding of Florida. Museum on Main Street Museum on Main Street is a partnership program that brings Smithsonian Institution exhibitions, resources, and programming to small towns across the state. Exhibitions are designed to engage communities and become a catalyst for conversation about life in small-town America. PrimeTime Family Reading Time PrimeTime is a six-week reading and discussion program for families with young children. Held in public libraries and community centers, this program demonstrates how literature can enrich one s life, models strategies for continued family bonding through award-winning children s books, and provides families with critical information on library resources. Florida Stories Walking Tour app Our downloadable walking tour app allows users to delve behind the scenes of Florida towns with an emphasis on their respective history, culture and architecture. Connected via a statewide platform, the tours create sustainable cultural tourism products that increase knowledge about and appreciation of local history. 2016 Our Year in Numbers Statewide: $470,500 awarded in funding for 68 local cultural and heritage projects 105,750 people attended public programs 350,000 people viewed our documentary film about Tampa Bay area veterans 71,750 visitors to Smithsonian Institution Museum on Main Street exhibits in 8 small towns 30,000 FORUM magazines reached more than 75,000 readers 11,640 students statewide participated in Poetry Out Loud competition 446 underserved children and families participated in PrimeTime Family Reading Time 263 teachers attended multi-day seminars on topics ranging from Florida agriculture to colonial St. Augustine

THE MAGAZINE OF THE FLORIDA HUMANITIES COUNCIL SPR ING 2016 FLORIDA VETERANS: Bringing war home HOW FLORIDA BECAME THE STATE TO WATCH IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS THE POETRY OF BUGS A VILLAGE THRIVES IN THE EVERGLADES FORUM30_icovers.indd 1 3/18/16 1:36 PM

Florida Humanities Council Our Work 2014 2016 6 District 12 Congressman Gus Bilirakis Museum on Main Street ( MOMS) MOMS is a partnership program with the Smithsonian Institutionn that brings high quality, nationally touring exhibits to small towns and underserved communities across Florida. City of Tarpon Springs (exhibition coming October November 2017) Sulphur Springs Museum and Heritage Center (February March 2017) Pioneer Florida Museum (January March 2017) Palm Harbor Historical Society (January February 2015; over 2,000 people toured the exhibit and attended 11 public programs) Veterans As part of the National Endowment for the Humanities Standingg Together initiative, FHC funds programming for veterans designed to explore war and its aftermath, promote discussion off the experience of military service, and support returning veterans and their families. Programs: Telling: Tampa Bay Seven veterans from Sarasota, Manatee, Pinellas, and Hillsborough counties took to the stage in Spring 2015 to tell their personal stories of life in the military and the challenges they ve faced transitioning back to civilian life. More than 500 people attended five, free public performances at venues across the Tampa Bay area. WEDU Florida West Coast Public Broadcasting FHC awarded a $100,000 grant to WEDU to produce a one hour documentary film, Veterans: Telling Tampa Bay, that chronicles the lives of the veterans featured in Telling: Tampa Bay. The film was the recipient of a 2016 Suncoast Regional Emmy award and can be viewed at www.wedu.or rg/thetellingproject/. Standing Down Using a compilation of short, powerful writings about military service by some of the world s greatest authors, this reading and discussion program allows veterans and their family members to reflect on the experiences of war and the transition back to civilian life. Programs have been held at the Temple Terrace Public Library (Hillsborough) and USFF St. Petersburg. Florida Stories Walking Tour App Downloadable walking tours featuring the history and culture of unique Florida communities. Connected via a statewide platform, the tours provide sustainable cultural tourism products for community partners. Twenty tours statewide will be completed by early 2018. Ybor City Museum (Hillsborough) tour launched spring 2016 Tarpon Springs (Pinellas) tour launching spring 2017 PrimeTime Family Reading Time PrimeTime is a six week reading and discussion program for underserved families with young children. Held in public libraries, this program demonstrates how literature can enrich one s life, models strategies for continued family bonding through children s books, and provides families with critical information about library resources. St. Petersburg Public Library System Twelve PrimeTimee programs have been held in Pinellas County since 2005 serving an average of 40 people weekly. Bruton Memorial Library Seven PrimeTimee programs have been held in Hillsborough County since 2008 serving an average of 43 people weekly. FHC has invested more than $50,000 in PrimeTime programming g in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

Poetry Out Loud A national poetry recitation contest for high school students offered in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. More than 11,000 students participate in local competitions statewide each year. FHC organizes and hosts the annual statewide competition in March with support from the Florida Dept. of State, Division of Cultural Affairs. 2015 16 student participation: Over 1,400 high school students from the district competed in local competitions with one student from each county sent to the statewide competition Programs for High School Students Each summer FHC funds immersive, pre college humanities seminars for rising high school juniors and seniors. Students from across the state spend a week engaged in challenging and interdisciplinary study of the humanities. Seminars combine classroom sessions and relevant field experiences to highlight how a thorough knowledge of the humanities results in a more engaged and informed citizenry. Eckerd College $60,000 in funding provided for seminars in 2014, 2015, 2016 USF St. Petersburg $20,000 in funding provided for a seminar in 2015 Programs for Educators FHC s Teaching Florida program provides K 12 teachers with continuing education seminars that focus on humanities topics relevant to various disciplines and grade levels. Participants leave with strategies and tools for taking new content and ideas back to their classrooms and districts. Teachers served: 79 teachers from the district (2014 2016) Speakers Series Informative and lively lectures and community conversations about Florida s rich history and culture presented by noted scholars, authors and historians. More than 3,400 people attended 37 free public programs in 2014 2016 with additional programs scheduled to occur in 2017. University of South Florida English Dept., Bruton Memorial Library, East Hillsborough Historical Society, Pasco County Schools, West Pasco Historical Society, Dunedin Public Library, St. Petersburg Museum of History, Al Downing Tampa Bay Jazz Association, Largo Public Library, Palm Harbor Historical Society, Gulfport Public Library, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg Historical Society, USF St. Petersburg Florida Studies Program Grants FHC annually provides federal funding for local humanities projects through its grants program. Over $122,000 in grants awarded 2014 2016: $15,000 Alliance for Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education. Navigating Tampa Bay's Maritime Past, a collaborative exhibit featuring videos, brochures, and accompanying lectures about Florida's first saltwater prehistoric canoe. $15,000 Ybor City Museum Society Cuba s Role in Shaping Tampa s Cultural Heritage, a program series exploring the historic relationship between Tampa and Cuba. Included two special exhibitions, a lecture by a Yale University Cuban scholar, an architectural walking tour, and an oral history project. $15,000 Florida Cultural Resources, Tarpon Springs Seminole People of the Cloth: A Patchwork History, a series of public radio programs that explore the modern use and historic traditions of Florida Seminole/Miccosukee patchwork.

$9,300 Saint Petersburg Preservation Boom, Bust and the Built Environment in St. Petersburg, a lecture series that examines the history of the boom bust cycle in real estate and how it will affect St. Petersburg in the future. $7,000 Trail of Florida's Indian Heritage, Inc. Trail of Florida's Indian Heritage Brochure, 7th Edition, an educational brochure with information on 67 sites of significant Indian heritage found across Florida. $5,000 University of South Florida Library Florida Heritage Postcard Digital Exhibit, digitization and creation of an on line exhibition of the Library s Hampton Dunn Collection of more than 16,000 Florida postcards. $5,000 Tempus Projects Tampa Havana Artist Exchange Program, an artist exchange program in partnership with the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts in Havana. $5,000 Tampa Bay History Center Florida Stories Ybor City, creation of supplemental educational materials for the Florida Stories Ybor City walking tour app. $5,000 University of South Florida Crystal River State Archaeological Park Visitor Enhancements, installation of new interpretive signage at Crystal River Archaeological State Park. $5,000 Saint Petersburg Historical Society The Cuba Experience!, an exhibit featuring photographer Clyde Butcher s Cuba, along with accompanying works by various Cuban cultural artists. $5,000 University of South Florida Humanities Institute The Curious Relationship between the Sciences and the Humanities, a lecture by philosopher, novelist, and Pulitzer Prize winner Dr. Rebecca Newberger Goldstein. $5,000 Tampa Bay History Center Newspaper in Education African American History in Tampa, an educational publication exploring the history of the African American community in the city of Tampa printed by the Tampa Bay Times as part of the Newspaper in Education program. $5,000 University of South Florida Humanities Institute Civil War, Civil Rights and Beyond, a series of public lectures that explored the Civil War and its legacy through Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Era, and the modern South. $5,000 Plant City Photo Archives Strawberry Legacies: Field to Festival, enhancement of existing digital collections documenting folklife traditions of the 85 year old Florida Strawberry Festival. $5,000 Studio@620 Yglesias 16, a play adapted from the Jose Yglesias novel, A Wake in Ybor City, to be presented in St. Petersburg and Tampa. $5,000 USF St. Petersburg, Department of Journalism & Media Studies Food for Thought Lecture Series, a four part lecture series that addresses the historic, economic and cultural ways that food shapes our communities and our culture. $4,085 Sulphur Springs Museum and Heritage Center Our Florida, Our History, lecture series featuring noted Florida historians. $1,746 Henry B. Plant Museum Florida Stories: Notables of the Spanish American War, public programming exploring Hillsborough County's role in the Spanish American War.