Humanities Feature Bureau Winter 2005-06
A Production of VFH Radio
Archives:
December 2005
Washington Papers (December 2)
Research is usually carried on in the quiet corners of the world. But recently, a project underway at the University of Virginia was feted at the White House.
Brunswick Stew (December 9)
The cooking of Brunswick Stew has become a time-honored tradition, a source of regional pride, and a true Virginia culinary art. Reporter Nancy King spent a morning with a seasoned Brunswick Stew Master.
Folkstreams.net (December 16)
Deep in the foothills of Virginia ’s Blue Ridge Mountains, America ’s folk culture is being kept alive through a Web site of documentaries. Nancy Marshall Genzer explains why an independent filmmaker and Virginia farmer decided to take on the task of preserving the country’s folk traditions.
Restoring Zenda (December 23)
During Reconstruction, freed blacks across Virginia transitioned from being property to owning property. Their property records offer clues about this remarkable period of hard work, self-reliance, and self-improvement among the early African American community. As a case in point, Martha Woodroof visits what is left of Zenda, a community nine miles north of Harrisonburg that came and went in two generations.
Wytheville Polio Epidemic (December 30)
The picturesque Appalachian town of Wytheville is revisting a painful chapter in its history - the Polio epidemic of 1950. That summer, Wythe County was the home of the worst per capita polio outbreak in the country. It was considered an epidimic within an epidemic in the rural area.
January 2006
One Refugee's Story (January 6)
After 9-11, the United States drastically cut back how many refugees could come into this country. Slowly those numbers are rebounding and, last year, 14-hundred refugees escaped from their war-torn homes around the globe to start their lives over again in Virginia . Reporter Nancy King has the story of one man’s journey.
Teaching Tabla (January 13)
The tradition of tabla drumming in India is four hundred years old. It takes a lifetime to master this complex system of drumming. One tabla master has settled in the Washington suburbs of northern Virginia where he’s teaching others the mysteries of the tabla and delighting audiences by mixing his traditional drumming with many different genres of music
Heritage Tourism (January 20)
Architectural remnants of African American history lie scattered about Virginia , most of them having entered the 21st century unheralded and undocumented. Virginia ’s tourism industry, however, is working hard to remedy this situation. As a case in point, Martha Woodroof follows the trail mapped out by new brochure soon to be available in Rockingham County .
Crispus Attucks Theatre (January 27)
The Attucks Theatre in Norfolk, Virginia was once considered to be the Apollo of the South. Then, about 50 years ago, the Attucks started to decline, and with it, the historic Church Street community. That's all changed though. Connie Stevens reports that the curtain has risen again for the newly restored theatre, and for the surrounding community.
February 2006
Virginia's Irish Flutes (February 3)
There’s an artisan living in rural Nelson County who crafts wooden flutes that are revered by Irish musicians. In fact, there’s a seven year waiting list to get one. Nancy King has the story of the Virginia flutes considered to be the best in the world by some pretty tough critics—Irish musicians, themselves.
Coming to the Table Conference (February 10)
In his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, Martin Luther King Junior said he dreamed that, one day, “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners” would “sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” Last week, a small group of descendents of slaves and slave owners gathered in Harrisonburg, Virginia for a conference they called “Coming to the Table,” to take the first steps toward fulfilling Doctor King’s dream. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.
The Scrabble School (February 17)
Julius Rosenwald's support of Booker T. Washington's progressive educational efforts created over 15,000 southern black schools. After school integration finally took place many were torn down, but there's now a movement to preserve both the remaining buildings and the legacy of the Rosenwald Schools. Reporter Martha Woodroof visits with alumnae of Scrabble School, a " Rosenwald School " in Rappahanock County .
Dan River Crossing (February 24)
One of the decisive moments of the Revolutionary War involved neither a battle nor a battlefield. Nathaniel Green's clever maneuvers at the Dan River Crossing delayed Cornwallis's advance on Virginia, providing Washington 's army time to prepare for battle at Yorktown . Residents of Halifax County, Virginia commemorated the event recently, incorporating some clever maneuvers of their own.
