NORTH ADAMS - Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts will begin a series of humanities workshops next month lead by faculty members.
History professor Frances Jones-Sneed has announced the start of the series, "Of Migrations and Renaissances: Harlem, N.Y., and South Side Chicago, 1915-1975."
The six professional development programs will take place Saturday mornings at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, 10 to noon, on Dec.
1 and in 2008 on Jan. 26, Feb. 23, March 29, May 31 and July 26.
They are free and open to the general public, as well as to college, high school, and middle school teachers interested in exploring the
relationship between the "Great Migration" of black Americans out of the South and the creative expression in the large racial enclaves of Harlem and Chicago during the 20th century.
"Each Saturday morning, visiting scholars will present a lecture on topics of the Harlem Renaissance, African-American music, literature, art and history. In the afternoon, 12 workshop participants - 10 from Berkshire County and two from New York State - will attend a workshop to explore the topic further," Jones-Sneed said. "In addition, workshop participants will complete an independent educational project."
Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and designated as a "We the People" project, workshop topics will focus on the history of the Great Migration; jazz, blues, and gospel music; literature and art of the Harlem Renaissance; social realism in the 1930s and 1940s, and the 1960s black arts movement, according to Jones-Sneed.
A co-director of the project with literature professor Richard Courage of Westchester Community College/State University of New York, Jones-Sneed will lead the first workshop, "African-American Migration from World War I to the 1970s," to be held on Dec. 1, 10 to noon at the Berkshire Museum.
The session will focus on the Reconstruction-era "Old Settlers" of New York and Chicago, the three major lanes of 20th-century migration and movement from rural to urban areas and among cities, and Caribbean migration to the East Coast.
Subsequent sessions are:
● "The Flowering of New Literary Talents after World War I and the Continuing Spirit of Cultural Renewal in Subsequent Decades" on Jan. 26.
● "The Harlem Renaissance as a Political and Cultural Movement" on Feb. 23.
● "Music of the Harlem Renaissance and Beyond" on March 29.
● "Cultural Renaissance of the South Side of Chicago" on May 31.
● "The Black Arts Movement - BAM" on July 26.
Jones-Sneed hopes that, in addition to teachers from Berkshire County,
teachers from Vermont, New York, and Connecticut will be interested in the workshop sessions.
"Of Migrations and Renaissances: Harlem, N.Y., and South Side Chicago,
1915-1975" is being co-sponsored with the Berkshire Museum, the Boston
Symphony Orchestra, Northwestern Connecticut Community College,
Berkshire Community College, Upper Housatonic Valley African-American
Heritage Trail, Berkshire County regional school districts and the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst's W.E.B. Dubois Special Collections and archives.
This is the second NEH grant awarded to MCLA in recent years and the
second to receive designation as a NEH "We the People" project. In March 2005, NEH awarded MCLA a $100,000 grant and a "We the People" designation to support "The Shaping Role of Place in African American Biography," which included black studies curriculum development in local school districts. "We the People" is an initiative that supports the strengthening of the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture.
For more information about the workshop, contact Darlene White of BSO
Berkshire Education Programs at dwhite@bso.org or call 413-637-5274.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
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Pittsfield Council Passes $232.7M Budget
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council unanimously approved a $232.7 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
It is a modest, almost 2.9 percent increase from FY26.
"I do want to give the community kind of a heads up as we move forward on budgets. What we see coming out of the federal government that's trickling down to the states, it's going to be harder and harder for us as a community to meet our needs under the Proposition 2 1/2," Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said.
"We're going to have challenges, as we've seen communities across the state trying to override the Proposition 2 1/2, because we have dwindling amounts of money coming from the state and federal government."
She pointed out that, at the same time, utility bills are going up for both residents and the city, as are the costs of pavement and other items.
The amended budget of $232,777,720, down from the $232,782,090 originally proposed, includes cuts to the Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the restoration of funds for councilors to attend the annual Massachusetts Municipal Association conference.
The Pittsfield Public Schools' $86,855,061 budget includes $68,886,061 in state Chapter 70 funding and $18 million from the city. With $345,000 in school choice and Richmond tuition revenues, it totals $87,200,061 and is an approximately $300,000 increase from the Pittsfield Public Schools' FY26 budget of $86.9 million.
The district's budget will fund 13 schools, as Morningside Community School will retire in the fall, and includes the middle school restructuring.
Councilors also approved the use of $2 million in certified free cash to reduce the tax rate, and appropriated $450,551 for parking-related expenditures.
Cassidy Flynn scattered five hits in a complete-game effort in the circle as Lenox upset top-seeded Hoosac Valley, 3-2, in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament. click for more
Brayden Durant struck out seven and walked one in a complete-game effort on the mound Saturday to pitch the Drury baseball team to a 6-0 win over Keefe Tech in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament at Joe Wolfe Field. click for more
Jason Codey struck out 13, walked two and allowed just an infield single as the Generals earned a 7-1 win over Wahconah to claim their third straight regional title. click for more
Gracelyn Wright struck out eight, and Genevieve Lagess went 3-for-5 with four runs batted in as the Hurricanes beat Monson, 17-3, to claim their first Western Mass title in four years. click for more
For the boys, Ward Bianchi helped lead the way with a win in the shot put and a second place in the javelin as the Mounties finished 16 points ahead of runner-up Pittsfield (pending the results of the pole vault, which were unavailable at 11 p.m. Friday night). click for more
