Category: Delaware

This is a new program available from the Delaware Humanities Forum.

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Using a how to approach, this program gives someone interested in exploring their family history step-by-step instructions in getting started on a genealogical research project.  Essential research techniques are introduced, genealogical records are discussed, and research facilities are identified.  Throughout the program there is an emphasis on equipping the participant with the necessary information to carry on with researching and documenting a family’s history.  Based on the groups interest the records of specific ethnic groups will be included in the discussion. 

The program places a strong emphasis on the discussion of how the family’s story fits into the larger context of community and history.

This is a new program that is available from the Delaware Humanities Forum

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Just as families have a past, old houses and the land they are built on have histories.  This practical lecture is designed to show you how to uncover that past and answer questions such as when was the structure built, who lived in it, how has it changed over time, and what are its stories.  The discussion centers on implementing an organized research process, what records are available, where to look for documents, and interpreting the findings.  The discussion concludes by presenting suggestions for creating a history of an old house.  If you know where to look, you may find the clues to the past.

This is a new program that is available through the Delaware Humanities Forum

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Delaware, a state with many densely packed communities filled with old, wooden structures, has seen its share of tragic fires and conflagrations. This grave threat to public safety, from the beginning of colonization, caused people to enact regulations and form fire departments.   This story of firefighting provides an overview of what fire has done to our towns and cities as we rebuilt, implemented new laws, and organized more effective fire protection forces.   The lecture is loaded with stories describing how places throughout the state bravely confronted the “fire fiend” when the dreaded “fire bell in the night” called people them from the slumbers.

I just finished working with an engaged group of young people at the Cab Calloway Summer School for the Arts.  The progra was designed to introduce these scholars to old media, which was largley new to them. “This Just In: When Radio & Television Came of Age” was fun to do as they listened to and analyzed old radio and Televison broadcasts and talked about what media means for them today.  It’s the era of Ipods, texting, podcasts, Youtube, streaming,  and much more for these 21st Century young people. They grasped how central this old media was as a powerful communication medium that shaped so much of our society. For the earlier generation, mass media was broadcast television, newspapers, and radios but as these teenagers moved through their studies mass media is going to be Google.   Cab Calloway is a great school with lots of scholars learning by doing as they look at things holistically.  This program was sponsored by the Delaware Humanities Forum.