BuildTheDream.org: 42nd Anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's Death

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity"

Those words were spoken by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and this month marks the 42nd anniversary of his death.

Word comes to us from Lowell Dempsey of BuildTheDream.org of efforts underway to commemorate the life and work of Dr. King by creating a memorial in our nation's capital. The Washington, DC, Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial will honor his life and contributions to the world through non violent social change.

Lowell Dempsey has put together this blogger-friendly micro-site to help get the message out featuring videos, photos, banners, and even a web toolbar that, when used, donates money to the creation of the memorial: http://mlkmemorialnews.org

After years of fund raising, the memorial is now $14 million away from its $120 million goal. This will be more than a monument to a great humanitarian. The National Memorial will be a place for visitors from around the world to share the spirit of love, freedom, and peace.

The Foundation Center: Finding Funders and Gaining Knowledge

Established in 1956 and today supported by close to 550 foundations, the Foundation Center is a national nonprofit service organization recognized as the nation’s leading authority on organized philanthropy, connecting nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them to tools they can use and information they can trust. Its audiences include grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public.

The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants; issues a wide variety of print, electronic, and online information resources; conducts and publishes research on trends in foundation growth, giving, and practice; and offers an array of free and affordable educational programs. To learn more about the Foundation Center click here.

We urge Hawaii history educators, historians and even students to avail themselves of the Foundation Center's array of resources.

To find funders go to this link. We also recommend the webinars featured on the web site by clicking this link.

To help you master the world of foundation fundraising, proposal writing, and all that goes into getting the grants you need, The Foundation Center offers short training courses that are free of charge and full-day training courses at reasonable rates. Courses are offered in in its five library/learning centers and in selected other locations across the country. Click here to learn more.

Free Online Conference: Problem Solving with Smithsonian Experts

LearningTimes, a leading producer of online communities and online conferences for education and training, has extended an invitation for participants to register for a free online conference sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.

The Smithsonian Online Conference: Problem Solving with Smithsonian Experts is a free series of interactive workshops taking place throughout April 2010. Register now at this link.

For a list of featured experts go to this link, and for program details click here.

The live online events will be of special interest to educators, entire classrooms of engaged students, and to the general public. Throughout the month, Smithsonian historians, scientists, researchers and other experts share their questions, their methods, and their unique way of thinking in an interactive format that welcomes you to contribute your own ideas.

The sessions span the arts, history, science, and culture, and are organized around four key themes. All events take place live online ˜ you participate and interact directly from your computer in real time. Each session will be recorded and posted after it takes place for on-demand access.

Schedule and Themes

Day One: Understanding the American Experience

Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Day Two: Valuing World Cultures

Wednesday, 14 April 2010

Day Three: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe

Wednesday, 28 April 2010

Day Four: Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet

Thursday, 29 April 2010

To review the complete program and to register please visit this link.

Write to si@learningtimes.net with any questions.

Webcast for Students: What Students Need to Know About War, and Why

On February 25, 2009, the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Wachman Center presented two 45-minute webcasts with one of the world’s most distinguished historians of war and enabled students from the online and live audiences to “interrogate” our guest as well.

How important is technology in war? How important is morale? What were some of the great errors on the battlefield? Who were the greatest commanders? Why were the 13 American colonies able to defeat the British, the world’s greatest power, in America’s Revolutionary War? Why did the U.S. play such a crucial role in World War II?

Alan Luxenberg, director of FPRI’s Wachman Center interviewed Jeremy Black, professor of history at Exeter University (United Kingdom) and a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Prof. Black is author of many books, including Great Military Campaigns and Their Leaders (Thames and Hudson, 2008); America as a Military Power 1775–1882 (Praeger, 2002); War: An Illustrated World History (Sutton, 2003). and World War Two: A Military History (Routledge, 2003).

Go to this link for the webcasts.

Maritime Heritage Conference, Baltimore, September 15-19, 2010

Held every three years, the Maritime Heritage Conference brings together individuals from the numerous naval, military, and maritime history, education and preservation communities to share information and exchange ideas about issues affecting the broader community.

This year Baltimore's historic inner harbor will be the site of the 2010 conference, at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, overlooking USS Constellation in her home berth. Hosts include National Maritime Historical Society, Historic Ships in Baltimore, Maryland Historical Society and the Naval Historical Foundation. The annual meeting of the Historic Naval Ships Association and several other maritime organizational forums will run concurrently with this conference.

CALL FOR PAPERS: The conference theme, "Maritime Nexus," envisions the marine environment- the Earth's oceans, seas, and freshwater great lakes and rivers-as a global meeting place.

Merchant sailors, navy men and women, fishers, and others all share this space. Most of their work is done out of sight of land, invisible to all but the seagull and the albatross. Goods imported and exported find their way to and from the marketplace in ways seemingly mysterious to ordinary citizens. The navies that protect these goods and the nations they represent are also often "out of sight and out of mind." Fishermen perform their valuable, often dangerous, work beyond the horizon, and the products of their labor are brought to market overland, by trucks.

In their introduction to The Way of the Ship (2008), authors Alex Roland, W. Jeffrey Bolster, and Alexander Keyssar expressed it this way: "Never in the nation's history has shipping been so invisible..." Shipping has so far receded from public consciousness in the United States that it is now difficult to recall that the country began as a group of maritime provinces hugging the Atlantic Coast of North America and depending on ships for their way of life, for life itself." This is also true in other countries. It is time to take on the task of reinterpreting the seagoing world to those who can no longer even imagine it, despite the hundreds of histories, novels and films that have done so in the past.

The purpose of this conference will be to stimulate thinking on how history can reawaken the general public's consciousness of what the maritime world means (and meant) to us all.

Given this context, the organizers of the 9th Maritime Heritage Conference see an opportunity for individuals from all segments of the maritime heritage communities to come together to discuss topics of interest, learn from their peers, and consider how to connect our fellow citizens with their seagoing heritage. Conference topics include, but are not limited to:

International Trade
Whaling
Oceanic Immigration
Underwater Archeology
Maritime Law
Shipbuilding
Naval History
War of 1812
Small Craft
Lighthouses & Lifesaving Stations
Mercantile & Naval Ports
Historic Ships and Preservation
Sail Training
Sailors' Life Ashore
African-American Maritime History
Maritime Museums and Organizations
Maritime Literature
Native Maritime Cultures
Maritime Art and Music
Maritime Education
Marine Sanctuaries and Protected Areas
and other topics related to global maritime heritage.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 1 June 2010.

Paper proposals should include an abstract not exceeding 250 words and a one-page vita. Panel proposals are also encouraged and should contain an abstract and vita for each panelist.

Please mail proposals to: Dr. David F. Winkler, c/o Naval Historical Foundation, 1306 Dahlgren Avenue SE, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC 20374-5055. Send inquiries and electronic proposals to dwinkler@navyhistory.org.

It's April at Honolulu's Mission Houses Museum

Historic Bites – Bringing History to Life: Tuesday, April 6, Noon

The first historic house museums in the United States opened to the public in the mid-nineteenth century. Join Senior Curator, Elizabeth Nosek as she discusses the history of these national treasures both on the mainland and here in Hawai‘i.

Keiki Talk Story – Hawaiian Stories by Tammy Yee: Saturday, April 10, 10 am

Join us along with Hawai‘i’s own children’s author and illustrator, Tammy Yee, whose books have locally-based themes. Her book “A is for Aloha” was selected by the Hawai‘i Center for the Book to represent Hawai‘i at the 2006 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

158th HMCS Annual Meeting of the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society

April 17, 2010, 10:00 am Business Meeting, 11 am Roll Call

Everyone is welcome to the traditional meeting of the descendants of the missionaries. Tales, songs, and a roll-call will celebrate the arrival of the first Pioneer Company in 1820. Stay on for lunch, a special lecture, family activities, and our annual open house. See attachment for printable RSVP form.

Pioneer Day: Ships & Trips: Pioneer Day: Ships & Trips – Saturday, April 17, Noon to 3 p.m.

A community day celebrating the 190th anniversary

of the arrival of the Pioneer Company aboard the brig Thaddeus.

Special lecture by historic architect Spencer Leineweber, “First Contact: Making a House a Home” and "First Houses” in the HMCS Library Reading Room at 1:30 p.m.

On the lawn, enter a “Rain Gutter Regatta,” take family photographs in period costumes and more. Please reserve your sailboat ($4 each) by calling Ally McKay at 447-3920.

Mission Houses Museum is located at 553 South King Street, Honolulu, HI 96813. Call the museum at 808-447-3910

New York Times Magazine: Building a Better Teacher

Building a Better Teacher was featured last month in the New York Times Magazine. The author, Elizabeth Green, is a Spencer fellow in education reporting at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the editor of GothamSchools.org.