Delaware Humanities Forum Celebrates Its 35th Anniversary!

Thursday, October 23 through Friday, October 24, 2008

Join the Delaware Humanities Forum in celebrating its 35th Anniversary.
The Forum invites you to a dinner celebration on Thursday, October 23rd and
a day-long Picturing Delaware symposium on Friday, October 24th, followed by a
Wine, Cheese, Chocolate, and Jazz reception that same night.

About Our Anniversary

The Delaware Humanities Forum celebrates its 35th anniversary year with statewide celebrations. The anniversary theme is Picturing Delaware: Inside and Outside the Frame and will offer glimpses of Delaware through the humanities, using archival photographs, paintings and other cultural material as the framework for reflecting on Delaware's people, places, and unique character.

Anniversary Events

Kicking off its anniversary year, the DHF has planned a celebratory dinner on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. at Wilmington's University and Whist Club.

The next day, a Picturing Delaware symposium--featuring National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Bruce Cole and more than a dozen other distinguished humanists--will take place at the Delaware Art Museum, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m. The day's agenda includes lectures, community discussions, and a tour of the museum.

To round out the day's activities, a wine, cheese, chocolate and jazz reception will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

This two-day celebration will be the first event in a year-long reflection on the Delaware community, followed up with various events and a symposium in Kent and Sussex Counties during the winter and spring.

Humanists at the Forefront

Our featured guest for the Picturing Delaware symposium is National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Bruce Cole. He is an art historian, the author of fourteen books, an expert on material culture and has spearheaded two major NEH initiatives--We the People and Picturing America (the inspiration for our Anniversary theme). Each initiative uses classic works (literature and art) as a creative way to teach American history and culture, and incorporates the preservation of America's history through digitization.

We are honored to have Bruce Cole join us for our anniversary celebration, says DHF Director Marilyn Whittington. One of his areas of expertise is the art of the Renaissance period, which is the time when people began to reflect on the concept of "self" and "identity." This is the very basis of the humanities: understanding our own experiences as a way to connect with people, cultures and ideas.

Additional scholars and humanists participating in the celebration include David Schrader, Executive Director of the American Philosophical Association; Ellen Rendle, Delaware Historical Society Curator and author of Historic Photos of Delaware; Joyce Schiller, Delaware Art Museum Curator; Ryan Grover, Biggs Museum of American Art Curator; Elizabeth Higginbotham, University of Delaware Professor of Sociology; Jeanne Nutter, Bloomfield College Communications Professor; retired Delaware educator Sharon Moore; Karol Schmiegel, director emerita of the Biggs Museum; photographers Mike Biggs, Kathy Buckalew, Fred Comegys, Kevin Fleming and Lise Monty; The Honorable James M. Baker, Wilmington's Mayor and a jazz scholar; and, trumpeter Gerald Chavis, a devotee of Clifford Brown's compositional work and style.

Picturing Delaware: Inside and Outside the Frame

The Forum recognizes that Delaware's rich and fertile history includes individuals who were both "inside and outside the frame."

Says DHF Chairman Kim Burdick: Through our anniversary celebration, we hope to shine a light not only on prominent figures in Delaware history lessons, but also those who were and are outside the frame of textbook history.

Artists who have "pictured Delaware" through photography, painting, and music will be highlighted alongside the people who ensured the preservation of Delaware's visual history. At the same time, participants will reflect on populations that are often excluded from history's frame: ethnic minorities, women, and laborers.

35 Anniversary Kickoff Events Schedule

All events are open to the public. Travel and lodging packages will be available to Kent and Sussex County participants.

Reservations for DHF's anniversary celebration activities can be made by calling 302-657-0650 or toll free 800-752-2060, ext. 12. You may also email the Forum at info@dhf.org

Click Here for directions to the venues.

Directions to The 35th Anniversary Venues

From Philadelphia and points north:
Coming soon

From Philadelphia and points north:
Coming soon

From New Jersey and points north:
Coming soon

From the Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal:
Coming soon

Approaching Wilmington from Route 1 NORTHBOUND:
Coming soon