The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities

Media Program

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities

Humanities Feature Bureau Fall 2006

September 2006

O. Winston Link Museum (September 1)

O. Winston Link photographed the world’s most memorable images of steam locomotives in the last years before train engines converted to diesel fuel. Connie Stevens reports from Roanoke 's O. Winston Link Museum, with the story of this engineer-turned-photographer whose ingenuity immortalized the age of steam for future generations.

9-11 Digital Archive (September 8)

George Mason University 's award-winning Center for History and New Media applies technology tools to historical studies. Very recent history - the 9-11 attacks - is the topic of one of the Center's biggest projects so far. 9-11digitalarchive.org is an online archive of over a hundred thousand items related to the September 11th attacks. Nancy Marshall Genzer explains.

Complicit! (September 15)

The current show at the University of Virginia Art Museum is more than just something to look at. Its curator hopes it will make you think – about the place of art in our fast paced popular culture, and about that popular culture, itself. Reporter Martha Woodroof was one of several hundred folks at the recent opening of Complicit!

Vietnam Graffiti (September 22)

When Virginia troops head off to combat today, most travel in military airplanes. Thirty-five years ago, however, during another war, GIs boarded massive troopships for the long voyage across the Pacific to Vietnam . Nancy King reports on messages from a forgotten troopship .

Virginia's Poet Laureate (September 29)

If you’ve ever been tempted to tap into your artistic side, you’ll want to meet the state’s newest poet laureate, who’s made a life and career out of encouraging both children and adults to be creative. Sondra Woodward introduces us to Carolyn Kreiter Foronda.

October 2006

Writing Lasting Words (October 6)

For some newspaper readers, the obituary section-- with so many compelling stories-- is the first place to stop and linger. Eventually, most of us will have to actually write an obituary. And as Connie Stevens reports, if you don’t consider yourself a writer in the first place—the assignment, for a mass audience, on deadline, all in the midst of grieving—can be overwhelming.

Bernie Boston and "Flower Power" (October 13)

During Vietnam War protests, photojournalist Bernie Boston snapped a striking image of a blond youth placing flowers into the raised barrel of a National Guardsman's rifle. This photo - Flower Power - has become one of the signature images of that turbulent time. Martha Woodroof talks with Bernie Boston in his Shenandoah County home.

American Civil War Center (October 20)

A new Civil War museum has opened in Richmond after nearly a decade of planning, fundraising, and construction.  The American Civil War Center in the former capital of the Confederacy is taking a more diverse look at the war.  Reporter Mike MacKenzie attended the October 7th opening and has this report.

Gene Barge Comes Home (October 27)

Gene Barge has worked with some of the most respected names in blues, soul, rock and R&B music over the past half-century. The saxophonist and producer known as "Daddy G" was also a key component in what became known in the early 1960's as "The Norfolk Sound," music made in Virginia that ended up influencing popular musicians from the Beatles to Bruce Springsteen.

November 2006

Adrenaline Film Project (November 3)

Charlottesville 's 2006 Virginia Film Festival drew a record crowd - nearly 15,000 people viewed films selected for their perspectives on religion. A handful of participants, though, came to make movies, not to watch them. The Festival's "Adrenaline Film Project" is an exercise in making a movie under extreme constraints. Teams had 72 hours to develop, write, cast, shoot and edit a five minute film. Martha Woodroof joined an Adrenaline Film Project team and has this report.

Virginia Researcher Curates "Of Gold and Grass" (November 10)

Kazakhstan , a former Soviet Republic , is in the news a lot lately - all thanks to the box office smash "Borat" about a Kazakh journalist touring America . But Kazakhstan has long held the attention of Sweet Briar College Anthropologist Dr. Claudia Chang, who has been researching the area's nomadic culture for 13 years. She is currently curating an exhibit of Kazakh artifacts on display in California. Reporter Mike MacKenzie visited Dr. Chang at her Amherst home and has this report.

The Interstate System Turns 50 (November 17)

Kazakhstan , a former Soviet Republic , is in the news a lot lately - all thanks to the box office smash "Borat" about a Kazakh journalist touring America . But Kazakhstan has long held the attention of Sweet Briar College Anthropologist Dr. Claudia Chang, who has been researching the area's nomadic culture for 13 years. She is currently curating an exhibit of Kazakh artifacts on display in California. Reporter Mike MacKenzie visited Dr. Chang at her Amherst home and has this report.

Our Lady of the Angels (November 24)

Our Lady of Angels Monastery is nestled in the foothills of Central Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Reporter Nancy King recently made a two-day retreat to the monastery to learn more about the Sisters who live there, and what insights this 12 th century way of life may offer us today.