• WWII Internment Film Completed


• Boeing Funds Pilot Program


• Key Ingredients—Fully Baked


• NEH News

Happy Holidays! As you consider year-end gifts to charities (or gifts for friends and loved ones), please make a gift to Humanities Washington. Your gift nurtures creativity, promotes dialogue and sparks critical thinking, bringing new perspectives and energy to age-old challenges.

Your gift will be matched 2:1 with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Norcliffe Foundation.

Give online or mail your check to Humanities Washington at 1204 Minor Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. Thank you for creating engaged, informed and impassioned communities!

The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community (BIJAC) and filmmaker Lucy Ostrander recently completed “Fumiko Hayashida: The Woman Behind the Symbol,” a documentary about a Japanese American woman who was interned during World War II. Humanities Washington helped to fund the project.

Hayashida was holding her child and waiting to board a deportation ferry from Bainbridge Island when a reporter snapped her photo. The image became a lasting symbol of the Japanese American internment experience. Hayashida has participated in the film and is a supporter of a new memorial honoring internees.

Click here to watch a short version of the film. The full-length version will soon be available on BIJAC's website, submitted for screening at film festivals and distributed to schools, universities and libraries.

Interested in applying for a Humanities Washington grant in 2010? Deadlines and application information will be posted by December 31 on Humanities Washington's website.

Boeing Funds Pilot Program

The Boeing Company has awarded a $25,000 grant to Humanities Washington to pilot a program promoting civil civic discourse and thoughtful discussions on contemporary issues. Humanities Washington will use the pilot program to explore new formats for its Inquiring Mind Speakers Bureau.

NEH Chair Jim Leach recently noted “Citizenship is hard. It takes a willingness to listen, watch, read and think in ways that allow the imagination to put one person in the shoes of another.” Leach has encouraged state humanities councils to explore new ways of encouraging civil civic dialogue.

The Inquiring Mind Speakers Bureau brings scholars, authors, musicians and actors to communities across Washington for engaging educational programs. If you are interested in becoming a speaker for the 2010-2011 season, please check the Inquiring Mind section of our website in February 2010 to find out how to apply.

Key Ingredients—Fully Baked!

Key Ingredients, Humanities Washington's traveling Smithsonian Exhibition, will wrap up a two-year, 10-town tour at the Cowlitz County Historical Museum on New Year's Eve. Host museums have used the exhibit as inspiration to create new exhibits, reach new audiences and build new skills in managing and displaying collections. Highlights included:

• The Renton Historical Museum hosted celebrity chefs Tom Douglas and Thierry Rautureau's live broadcast of “In the Kitchen with Tom and Thierry” on 97.3 KIRO Radio.
• The Cowlitz County Historical Museum created a “Victory Garden,” pictured left, and grew more than 300 pounds of produce for local food banks.
• The WSU Anthropology Museum teamed up with the University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources to highlight trends in sustainable farming.

NEH News

The NEH will again offer a series of teacher development programs in 2010. The programs will include seminars and institutes for four-year college, community college and K-12 teachers. The application deadline is March 2, 2010. Topics include:

• Landmarks of American history and culture workshops for school teachers
• Summer seminars and institutes for school teachers
• Landmarks of American history and culture workshops for community college teachers
• Summer seminars and institutes for college teachers