Soul of a People:  Writing America's Story

The Federal Writers’ Project was part of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration, launched by President Roosevelt in the 1930s. Unlike other New Deal projects that paid unemployed workers to build roads and bridges, the Writers' Project hired out-of-work writers to create a portrait in words of something less tangible:  the country’s soul.  Driving along the nation's back roads, these writers wrote the biography of America in the 1930s; they described the nation’s buildings and festivals, detailed its land and its landmarks, and recorded its people’s stories.

Schedule of Events

6, 7 & 14 September, 2009
"Soul of a People" documentary airs on the Smithsonian Channel

15 September, 2009
Soul of a People kickoff at the Portsmouth Public Library
Portsmouth Public Library, Main Branch

10:00 am-8:00 pm - Soul of a People KICKOFF at the Portsmouth Public Library  Young Adult displays will feature comic strips from the 1930s (Superman, Popeye, Dick Tracy and Little Orphan Annie). Enjoy 30’s music  and the Local History photo display.                                                                               

2:00 pm - Local train enthusiast Mark Harris will offer an interesting display of model trains and discuss a brief history of the railroad and its significance to Scioto County in the 1930s.   

4:00 pm - Join Dr. John Lorentz, producer of the highly acclaimed documentary River Voices, for a film discussion about the devastating 1937 Ohio River flood.  River Voices in DVD is available for check out at the Portsmouth Public Library.

10:00 am to 5:00 pm - Film showing of River Voices.

Castle Comics of Portsmouth will provide a display of historical and current comic book materials.

5:30 pm - Dr. Darren Harris-Fain, Shawnee State University faculty, will host an academic discussion on graphic novels and their widespread popularity.  Young adult patrons may participate in a creative writing contest comparing and contrasting the evolution of the graphic novel.

6:30 pm - John Leasure, book reviewer for the Barb Pratt show, will host a discussion on 1930s comic books and comic strips and reveal how early comic books have influenced comic books of today. Leasure will share his extensive comic book collection.                                                                               

Enjoy an Ice Cream Social at the Portsmouth Public Library from 2:00 to 4:00 in “Pop Tate’s Chocklit Shoppe” which is copied from the fictional soda shop created by Bob Montana as a setting for the characters in his Archie comic books and comic strips. Tate's soda fountain was based on real-life locations frequented by teenagers in Haverhill, Massachusetts, during the 1930s.  In the years 1936 to 1939, when Montana went to high school in Haverhill, he would join his friends at the Chocolate Shop counter and make sketches on napkins.

Throughout September, The Portsmouth Public Library will host displays comprised of comic books, model trains, 1937 flood memorabilia and 1930's literature.

Contest Rules & Information:
Guidelines for Young Adult Art Contest
Guidelines for Young Adult Essay Contest
Guidelines for Essay Contest - Studs Terkel's Working

16 September
Book discussion Studs Terkel's Working
Led by Sam McKibben
10:00 am Portsmouth Public Library, Main Branch

Local radio talent, Sam McKibbin, will lead a book discussion about Studs Terkel’s Working.  He will also announce the winner of the essay contest  which is  based on readings from Working. Copies of Working are available for check out beginning August 17^th at the Portsmouth Public Library and contest rules are available online at SSU and PPL’s websites). Readers may also check out the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Studs Terkel and Zora Heale Hurston both participated in the WPA’s Federal Writer’s Project during the 1930s.

16 September, 2009
Music of the WPA
12:00 pm Southern Ohio Museum

Dr. Michael Barnhart will present music and media from the contemporaneous WPA music and composers laboratory projects to help contextualize and enrich the local “Soul of a People” program series.  The presentation will include a discussion of WPA funded concerts, musicians and composers as well as ethnomusicological efforts to catalog the American musical heritage during this period. 

Lunch is provided for $6.00.  Call 740.354.5629 prior to this event to order a lunch.

17 September, 2009
WPA Oral Histories:  Voices of a People
7:00 pm  Kahl Theater, Verne Riffe Center for the Arts

One of the highlights of the Federal Writers Project (FWP) was the gathering of folklore and the recordings of autobiographical material by ex-slaves.  These slave narratives proved to be most successful.  After a brief introductory lecture by lead project scholar, Andrew Lee Feight, Ph.D., local residents will do readings/performances from the WPA “Slave Narratives” and “American Life Histories.”  Following the readings, the project scholar will lead a guided discussion of the WPA oral history projects.   

18 September, 2009
Film showing - "Soul of a People"
10:30 am & 1:30 pm Southern Ohio Museum

Smithsonian documentary, “Soul of a People: Voices from the Writers’ Project.”  The film resonates with today’s economic downturn and brings folks into the conversation about a country’s work force.  It is a celebration of a culture that survived the Great Depression.  

22 September, 2009
Stories of Life & Labor:  Oral Histories from Portsmouth, Ohio
7:00 pm  Massie Auditorium, Massie Hall

Andrew Lee Feight, Ph.D., our lead project scholar, will host a program based upon oral history interviews with residents of Portsmouth and the surrounding community of southern Ohio.  These interviews capture the modern-day "voices of a people." Dr. Feight will select and play segments from interviews conducted by himself and Shawnee State University students. 

23 September, 2009
Author Nick Taylor
10:00 am, Portsmouth Public Library, Main Branch

Nick Taylor talks about "The WPA and the New Deal” and readings from his book American-Made -- The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work.

23 September, 2009
Author Nick Taylor, Distinguished Lecture Series
7:00 pm Flohr Lecture Hall, Clark Memorial Library

Distinguished Lecture Series keynote lecture by author Nick Taylor who will discuss "The WPA and the New Deal” and read excerpts from his book American-Made -- The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work.

24 September, 2009
Voice - Kingdom Builders Praise Team
5:30 pm, Portsmouth Public Library, Main Branch

Voice - The Portsmouth Public Library invites you to join the Kingdom Builders Praise Team, a remarkable community group, for an hour of beautiful voice set to music. September’s celebrated book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, is praised for its unique use of language and voice. Whether written, spoken or joined to music, voice allows us to relate our experiences, views and goals and to share our hopes and dreams.

Copies of Their Eyes Were Watching God are available for check out at the Portsmouth Public Library and for purchase at Shawnee State’s campus bookstore.

24 September, 2009
Zora Neal Hurston: Folklorist, Author, and Writer with the WPA.
7:00 pm Flohr Lecture Hall, Clark Memorial Library 

Dr. Barbara L. Kunkle, Professor of English and American Culture, will present a public lecture in conjunction with a library-sponsored Book Discussion Group focusing on Their Eyes Were Watching God.

25 September, 2009
Film showing - "Soul of a People"
11:00 am, Portsmouth Public Library, Main Branch

Smithsonian documentary, “Soul of a People: Voices from the Writers’ Project.”  The film resonates with today’s economic downturn and brings folks into the conversation about a country’s work force.  It is a celebration of a culture that survived the Great Depression.  

28 September, 2009
Literacy Council sponsored Book discussions 
TBA

28 September, 2009
The Great Dames Book Discussion
7:00 pm, Southern Ohio Museum

Join the Great Dames to discuss Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.  Refreshments will be served and the public is invited to join the discussion. Please use the Museum's 6th Street entrance.                          

29 September, 2009
Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story
7:00 pm Flohr Lecture Hall, Clark Memorial Library

After a public screening of excerpts from the documentary Soul of a People, Dr. Feight, the lead project scholar will facilitate a discussion of the Writers’ Project, its impact, and its legacy.  The film resonates with today’s economic downturn and brings folks into the conversation about a country’s work force.  It is a celebration of a culture that survived the Great Depression.

30 September, 2009
Ohio Guide book discussion
Noon - 1:30 pm, Clark Memorial Library, Alcove

Connie Stoner, Director of Clark Memorial Library, will host a book discussion for the Ohio Guide.  The Ohio Guide, and other state guides, are the product of the many talented writers involved in the Writer's Project.

Soul of a People programs in libraries are sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life.