Aug. 14, 2002 – The V.I. Humanities Council (VIHC) recently awarded two grants: "The 100th Anniversary of the Queen Louise Home and Lutheran Social Services of the Virgin Islands" from St. Croix and "Nurturing the Soul: A Conversation with Writers and Friends" from St. Thomas.
The $2,000 planning grant awarded to Lutheran Social Services will allow that organization to collect and translate original Danish and other source materials about the historical, socio-economic, and medical conditions in turn-of-the-century St. Croix that prompted the Danish Crown to establish the children’s home and its support organization, the Lutheran Social Services. The ultimate goal of the project is to publish a definitive history of these institutions, highlighting the enormous impact their presence has had, not just for St. Croix but for the Virgin Islands as a whole.
The sponsor of the writers’ forum, "Nurturing the Soul." is The Voice Inside, a literary support group created to provide local writers a community with whom they can share their work and experiences, and to promote the continuing creation of Virgin Islands literature, said a release. The event, held on July 31 at the V.I. Cultural Heritage Institute, featured Althea Romeo-Mark, an internationally-published Caribbean writer/poet, and three local writers in a roundtable discussion about the process and challenges of writing. A grant award of $2,335 from the Council helped to bring Romeo-Mark from Switzerland and unite her with fellow artists in an intense exploration of the nuts and bolts of how to transform words into art.
The council, as the local affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, uses federal funds and diverse creative programs to promote opportunities so that all Virgin Islanders may participate in humanities activities that promote a love of learning, enhance human understanding, broaden thinking and judgment about our community and the world, and encourage dialogue as a people and as individuals. More information on the council and its programs is available by calling the office at 776-4044 or by visiting the new website .
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