The History Channel awarded the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke with a $9788.00 Save Our History grant. The "Celebrating the History of Puerto Ricans in Holyoke" project will enlist GED-Prep students involved in YouthBuild to research and document the contribution of Puerto Rican migrants to Holyoke. The Wistariahurst Museum is one of 27 history organizations that will receive Save Our History community preservation grants. These will fund innovative, educational projects designed to bring communities together, actively engage children in the preservation of their local history and communicate the importance of saving local history for future generations.

For the project, YouthBuild students in Holyoke, Massachusetts will work with the Wistariahurst Museum to explore the history of the Puerto Rican community in Holyoke. Students will interview Puerto Rican residents of all ages to showcase the contribution of Latinos (who make up about 49% of the community's population) in Holyoke and their larger relationship to the community and nation. Students will contribute to the creation of a new exhibit dedicated to Latino culture within the museum by providing oral histories, documents, photographs, artwork and music. The opening of the exhibit will be incorporated into a month long celebration of the project, with events focusing on a different aspect of Latino culture like cuisine, music and art.

For the past month YouthBuild students have begun researching Puerto Rican migration to Holyoke, thanks to a grant provided by the History Chanel and a partnership with Wistariahurst Museum. The Wistariahurst Museum is one of 27 history organizations that received a Save Our History community preservation grant, which funds innovative, educational projects designed to bring communities together, actively engage children in the preservation of their local history and communicate the importance of saving local history for future generations.

In September, YouthBuild students interviewed participants and workers at the Harvest Festival organized by Nuestras Raices. One individual interviewed was Jaime Iglesias, a resident of Holyoke, who was born in Puerto Rico. He explains, "I integrate my Puerto Rican culture into my life by working with other communities, especially with the Latino Community." He adds, "The Harvest Festival is fantastic! The Harvest Festival is not just an event for Puerto Ricans, but it is meant to share with everyone. I am so proud to see how our culture and people from other cultures are bonding together."

YouthBuild students are participating in all aspects of the process from research gathering and surveys to exhibit installation. Recently, they measured the room in which the exhibit will be installed June 2007. They will work to develop an exhibit floor plan and create drafts of what the exhibit will look like before it is mounted. To continue the project, we would like to enlist some help from the community in filling out surveys. In most exhibit production, surveys are created to gage how much a community knows or understands of the topic being presented in the exhibit. Surveys often rate the ability of the community to answer basic questions about the topic, such as "Could you describe how and when Puerto Rico became part of the United States?" The students have developed survey questions in order to rate their success at the end of the exhibit. This particular survey also asks questions about the exposure of the community to the Puerto Rican culture and in what ways people learn about their culture. At the end of the exhibit, they will hand out surveys that will again rate the level of certainty in which visitors to the exhibit could answer the questions.

Check here for the institutions and dates where the exhibit will travel:

Exhibit Location: Smith College, Northampton, MA
The Arts Lounge in the Campus Center
Exhibit Dates: Sunday November 11th- 26th
Opening Reception Date/Time: Sunday, November 11th,
from 3-5pm.

 

The History Channel, with the counsel of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), created the Save Our History Grant Program as an extension of the Save Our History philanthropic initiative and is committed to inspiring and motivating local communities to learn about and take an active role in the preservation of their past through projects involving artifacts, oral histories, sites, museums or landmarks that exist in their own neighborhoods. Since founding the National Grant Program, The History Channel has received funding requests exceeding $13.4 million from history organizations representing 50 states and the District of Columbia. Now in its fourth year, The History Channel, together with its sponsors, has contributed $1,000,000 in grant funding toward this cause. Save Our History is an Emmy® Award-winning strategic philanthropic initiative of The History Channel that launched in 1998, designed to further historic preservation and history education. The program supplements the teaching of history in America's classrooms, educates the public on the importance of historical preservation and motivates communities across the country to help save endangered local historic treasures. The Save Our History campaign includes original documentaries, special teachers' materials, national promotion on The History Channel, broadband activities in schools, and has worked with The Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, National World War II Memorial, American Rivers and The White House 200th Anniversary. Additional information can also be found at www.saveourhistory.com.

The History Channel® is one of the leading cable television networks featuring compelling original, non-fiction specials and series that bring history to life in a powerful and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. The network provides an inviting place where people experience history in new and exciting ways enabling them to connect their lives today to the great lives and events of the past that provide a blueprint for the future. The History Channel has earned six News and Documentary Emmy® Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History® campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel reaches more than 89 million Nielsen subscribers. The website is located at www.History.com.

Information about the sponsors:
For 2006-2007, Lowe's continues as one of the primary sponsors of Save Our History, as the official home improvement sponsor. American Express joins the Save Our History program this year as the official financial sponsor.