Tell History

I’ve been dipping into What Poetry Brings to Business (University of Michigan Press, 2010) by Clare Morgan with Kirsten Lange and my friend and fellow oral historian Ted Buswick; this promises opportunities to reflect on life, creativity, and work. Paul Tough’s Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America profiles the project that is the model for the U.S. Department of Education’s Promise Neighborhoods initiative. Harlem Children’s Zone was featured this week on NPR. The Dayton Teachers History Book Club will read and discuss Jon Hartley Fox’s King of the Queen City (University of Illinois Press, 2009) about Cincinnati’s King Records this summer. I had the opportunity to interview Fox earlier this month. He and King Records are featured in a piece for Our Ohio on drummer and Ohio Heritage Fellow, Philip Paul.  In a similar vein, I look forward to George Lipsitz’s recent book, Midnight at the Barrel House: the Johnny Otis Story (University of Minnesota Press, 2010); Otis also recorded with King Records. I’ll get started preparing for oral history courses with the Oral History Association’s 2009 Book Award recipient, Joanna Herbert’s Negotiating Boundaries in the City: Migration, Ethnicity, and Gender in Britain and move on to other oral histories of urban life and/or gender studies. I recently downloaded (Kindle on my netbook) New Heritage: New Media and Cultural Heritage by Yehuda Kalay, Thomas Kvan, and Janice Affleck (Routledge). Numerous friends have recommended Michael M. Kaiser, The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations; I plan to read more about the arts, culture, and community development as I work with Culture Builds Community and other projects.

Cityfolk is dedicated to bringing the best of jazz, American roots, ethnic, and World music to the stage in Dayton and the region. Cityfolk extends the reach of performances through year-round educational and community programs including skills based workshops in schools and colleges and cultural programs in schools and neighborhoods.

Culture Builds Community, launched in collaboration with Dayton’s East End Community Services Center in the Twin Towers neighborhood, goes well beyond bringing artist residencies to local schools. Community arts organizer Kelsa Reiger works with community organizers, neighborhood residents, and many other volunteers to set goals and work towards building a rich community life through the arts and cultural heritage. Read more about upcoming Culture Builds Community events in the Cityfolk newsletter at http://www.cityfolk.org/newsletters.htm. (You can read more about me and learn about flamenco quitar, jazz, papermaking and bookmaking in the February 2008 issue.) Sign up to receive the newsletter under the email club link and join us in the East End this spring.