UNL English professors Maureen Honey, left, and Venetria Patton are co-editors of the recently released Double Take: A Revisionist Harlem Anthology.

Anthology studies breadth of Harlem Renaissance

By Kelly Bartling, University Communications

More than a just a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance was a cultural awakening for African Americans, a time of pride, hope and creativity set against a time of intense racism.

UNL English professors Maureen Honey and Venetria Patton share their expertise on the poetry, fiction, drama, essays and artwork from the era in their new book, Double Take: A Revisionist Harlem Renaissance Anthology, just out from Rutgers University Press. In it, they present an updated offering of the best works of the Harlem Renaissance and a collection of material that reveals the heart of the historic period.

"This is a touchstone period because it is really the birth of modern African-American literature and paved the way for writers today like Toni Morrison," said Honey, co-editor of the anthology. "I think people are grateful for these pioneering voices."

The renaissance, the period from the end of World War I through the mid-1930s, centering in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, marked a time when African Americans produced an important body of literature, art, music and material that featured common themes of alienation from American society, recuperation of African traditions, spirituality, racial-consciousness and pride, protest against discrimination, and empowerment.

"It was a terribly racist time," Honey said. "I think people tend to forget that. In 1919 there were hundreds of race riots across the U.S., with white people attacking black communities, setting fire to houses, beating people and so forth. There were over 3,000 lynchings of black people between 1890 and 1930, and horrendous violence. World War I unleashed a whole set of anxieties on the part of some white people that were taken out on African Americans."

The Harlem Renaissance grew out the fight against white resistance to racial equality, Honey said.

"These people were protesting lynching, protesting segregation, protesting discrimination, racism and violence. And they chose literature as their main weapon."

The poetry, essays, plays and lyrics emerging from the artists of the Harlem Renaissance examine themes of culture, discrimination, marginality and self-identity, which continue to inspire today.

"My favorite poem is Countee Cullen's Heritage," said co-editor Patton. "Actually there are other poems in the anthology with that same title, because it's a popular topic. I think what I like about Cullen's poem is that he's really trying to explore what it means to be an African American and negotiate this African heritage that he knows about in the abstract, and his American identity as well."

While much of the work is political and urban, much also is surprisingly rural, pastoral and spiritual, which may surprise some readers.

"I think that often when people think of the Harlem Renaissance they think of material that is racially specific, but not everything written in that period focused on that, so we wanted to broaden readers' notions," Patton said. "There are pieces that talk about motherhood and nature, that you wouldn't necessarily think about in connection to the renaissance."

It is the first renaissance anthology to include equal numbers of contributions by women and men, as well as the first to highlight gay and lesbian themes.

"We wanted to get multi-genre selections from as many writers as we could to show how versatile they were, to show poetry, fiction and drama," Honey said. "Ours is the first anthology to include drama and original artwork. We wanted to show the diversity of these writers, both in format and in theme. To give a more well-rounded portrait than what has existed before. We also wanted to include pieces that would highlight the new research being done on gay and lesbian and bisexual writers of the Harlem Renaissance. These resources will help open up discussion in the classroom."

Patton and Honey began researching and collecting material for the anthology about three years ago after collaborating on the idea and approach for the text and securing a publisher. Patton's first book, Women in Chains: The Legacy of Black Women in Fiction, and Honey's books Shadowed Dreams: Women's Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance and Bitter Fruit: African American Women in World War II helped the professors discover that a broader anthology on the renaissance was needed.

Patton plans to use the text next fall for her first offering of a course on the Harlem Renaissance. Both editors see the anthology filling a void in materials for women's studies and literature courses.

"I think it also will have some sort of broader readership appeal because a lot of people have heard about the Harlem Renaissance period, even if they don't know the details," Patton said. "I can see a number of people scanning the bookshelves in a bookstore and being intrigued by it because there is a lot of really rich, fun and informative material included."

Book signing A discussion and book signing is scheduled from 5:45-7 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Culture Center.

Cliff Hollestelle, wood carver, front, shows Ron Pike, exhibitions technician, how the finished waterfowl in his hands will be mounted on the pole that Pike is holding. Hollestelle carved six new birds for the diorama and Pike cast them into resin replicas, which Hollestelle then hand-painted. Below left: A resin cast of several waterfowl wait to be painted to go on display in the Platte River diorama at NU State Museum. Below right: Cliff Hollestelle, the artist who carved the birds for the new Platte River diorama, places one of his works.

Diorama replicates Platte River

NU State Museum renovates, corrects features of exhibit

By Kim Hachiya, University Communications

Visitors to the newly renovated Platte River Diorama at the NU State Museum might be inclined to watch where they put their feet. The diorama feels so authentic, viewers might fear the goose droppings on the riverbank are the real deal.

Nope - just resin casts. But it's that authenticity that has museum officials and scientists pleased with the renovation of the nearly 50-year-old diorama.

"I love this diorama," said artist Cliff Hollestelle, who has carved several of the birds that will be part of the hands-on exhibit. "I've loved it since I was a kid."

The original diorama, completed in the late 1950s, was painted by famed museum diorama painter Francis Lee Jaques, who used an actual spot on the Platte River near Ash Hollow as his model. But the diorama was behind glass and was boring and static. And it contained some birds, such as the sandpiper, that wouldn't probably be seen with other birds, such as migratory geese and ducks.

That's where Paul Johnsgard, Foundation Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, helped set the record straight. He spent at least 100 hours helping to review the materials that compose the new diorama, including recordings (what some call a "river chorus"), to make sure they were right for the time and place depicted. Other scientists, zoology curator Trish Freeman and river geologist Norman Smith, ensured the accuracy of the riverbank, plants and animals depicted in the diorama.

Johnsgard, who's been a Nebraska professor for more than 40 years, said the sandpipers had bothered him all that time. And the sex ratio of the ducks was wrong, he said.

"They are depicting the Platte in early March, and by then there would be pairings. They had too many males and not enough females. We've fixed that," he said.

The exhibit is much more authentic after renovation, he said. "It's as if you are surrounded by the Platte. It's touchable, three-dimensional and accessible."

"We really were trying to convey the special ecosystems of Nebraska," said Judy Diamond, associate director for public programs at the museum. "We wanted to create a sense of how complex an environment is and how awesomely beautiful the Platte River is and then introduce that to the campus, miles from the river."

The task of renovating the diorama was a team effort that's taken about a year to complete. Deb Meier, coordinator of public programs, pulled together a team of scientists, artists, fabricators, technical writers and graphic designers to make the walk-in diorama come to life.

"It takes a real collaboration among scientists, fabricators and artists to make an idea visible," she said.

Mark Marcuson, a nationally recognized wildlife artist and former museum employee, was called in to paint the walls of the diorama, which extend forward from the renovated glass exhibit, almost like a room on the river. Marcuson's task was tricky because he needed to paint the walls in a style reminiscent of Jaques' and also be scientifically correct. Hollestelle carved six new waterfowl.

Because the exhibit is hands-on, those carvings were used as the base for rubber or latex molds into which a special resin was poured. When cured, the resin is granite-hard and resists the wear that hundreds of hands can put on an exhibit. Hollestelle then hand-paints each resin bird; when he's finished, the bird is bolted into its space in the diorama.

Exhibits designer Ron Pike poured the molds for each bird and also developed a way to make the sandy river bank look realistic but still stand up to foot traffic. He added sand and pigments to a commercial flooring product not normally used for this purpose to come up with a beach on the 88-square-foot floor.

Adding to the authenticity: molded resin goose droppings, driftwood, crawdads and an emaciated dead fish. All were cast from the real thing in the museum's first-floor workshop (although the fish was cast in someone's garage because of its stinky state of decomposition).

"Hopefully that smell is not incorporated," Johnsgard said. However, the river chorus does bring auditory messages to viewers.

"It sounds like what the Platte sounds like in March, minus the cranes, because unfortunately there are no cranes in the diorama," Johnsgard said. Cornell University has a library of bird sounds, which were purchased and mixed into stereo.

The diorama features geese flying in, so the sound will move from one side of the diorama to the other, as if the birds are flying past, he said. Snow and Canada geese as well as a couple of duck species are in the sound mix.

Johnsgard worked with technical writer Sarah Disbrow, who wrote the explanatory book that accompanies the exhibition. The book and other graphic elements were designed and fabricated by exhibit technician Joel Nielsen.

Diamond said the renovation, funded by the Friends of the UNL State Museum, is part of a long-term program to update and modernize the entire basement floor along a theme of biodiversity and evolution. Two other dioramas in the Hall of Nebraska Wildlife, the Wildcat Hills and a bison diorama, already have been renovated into hands-on walk-in exhibits.

"I think these dioramas are just terrific," Johnsgard said. "It's not like you're seeing a live animal, but few people do, and it's pretty good for a museum setting. The exhibits date from the 1950s and 1960s, so it was time. And Jaques really was the premier museum dioramist, so to preserve his work is a gem."

Modern university museums are more than just archives and repositories of collections, Diamond said. They are an educational place where science and research intersect with the public. The goal is to present scientific research and ideas in ways that are multisensory and allow people of all ages, abilities and knowledge levels to appreciate and learn from the experience.

Meier said the process of building the exhibition was a true "bonding experience." It often took as many as three people to pull the rubber molds from the casts, particularly on the casts for the driftwood log, but also on the waterfowl.

The exhibit's grand opening is March 8 as part of the Center for Great Plains Studies annual symposium. It opens to the public the next day.

Folks can get a sneak preview of the exhibition by just dropping by and watching the work in progress. Meier said that children and others often peak through windows cut into the plywood screens around the construction site to see what's going on.

"I like to invite people in to see what we're doing," Pike said. "It adds to the ongoing history of this place."

Pike said that the demolition undertaken to prepare the space revealed the signature of a carpenter from the 1920s who noted it was 102 degrees the day he worked on the museum.

"That makes it personal," Pike said. "When (the diorama) was behind glass, people had no opportunity to interact. Now, people can be part of the scene. This exhibit will touch people in the future, and I want it to be as important to them as it is to me."

Bessey, Cather professors to be honored

The Charles Bessey and Willa Cather professors will be honored March 27 at a luncheon celebrating their appointments. The new professorships were announced at the end of fall semester.

They are Ruma Banerjee (biochemistry), Peter Dowben (physics and astronomy), Keith Jacobshagen (art and art history), Clinton Jones (veterinary and biomedical sciences), Carole Levin (history), Marjorie Lou (veterinary and biomedical sciences), Svata Louda (biological sciences), Shashi Verma (natural resource sciences), Roger Wiegand (mathematics and statistics) and Xiao Cheng Zeng (chemistry).

"The Bessey and Cather professorships were created last summer to recognize distinguished scholarship and creative activity," said Chancellor Harvey Perlman. Perlman made the final selection after a field of 38 candidates were reviewed by the University Professorships committee.

"The establishment of the Bessey and Cather professorships is an important element in the university's efforts to retain its top faculty. We're very proud of the 10 new Bessey and Cather professors."

Bessey was chair of botany at Nebraska from 1884 until 1915 and made NU one of the nation's leading centers for botanical research. Cather was an 1895 graduate who went on to become one of the outstanding novelists of her generation and one whose work continues to resonate with readers all over the world.

The Bessey and Cather professorships, which will vary in number of appointments from year to year, are open to all full professors who do not already hold another named professorship or chair. The appointments are for five years and are renewable upon review. Each includes a $2,500 annual stipend.

Banerjee, whose research focuses on the structure and function of key enzymes involved in human metabolism, has been a member of the Nebraska faculty since 1991 and has served as acting head of the department of biochemistry since May. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at Delhi University in India and her doctorate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

Dowben's main area of expertise is condensed matter physics, but he is also known for his research in other areas, including surface science and organic materials. A member of the Nebraska faculty since 1995, he earned his bachelor's degree at Haverford (Pa.) College and his doctorate at the University of Cambridge in England.

Jacobshagen is known as one of the "Heartland Painters," artists who revived the idea of American Regionalism, depicting landscapes of the plains. A native of Wichita, Kan., he received his college education at Wichita State University, the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, the Kansas City Art Institute (BFA, 1965) and the University of Kansas (MFA, 1968). He joined the Nebraska faculty in 1968.

Jones, who came to Nebraska from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1989, has performed research in the study of bovine herpesvirus that recently has led him to undertake related work on the human pathogen, herpes simplex virus. Jones earned his bachelor's degree at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan., and his doctorate at the University of Kansas.

Levin has been at the forefront of a revolution in historical research that has incorporated women's history and non-traditional sources into scholarly narratives. Her most-recent book, The Reign of Elizabeth I, was published in 2001. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society and specialist in the late medieval and early modern history of England and Europe, Levin joined the Nebraska faculty in 1998. She earned her bachelor's degree at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and her master's and doctorate at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.

Lou, who came to Nebraska in 1994, has earned a reputation as a leading eye researcher, especially on the formation of cataracts. She earned her bachelor's degree in agricultural chemistry at National Taiwan University, her master's in biochemistry and nutrition at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the her doctorate in biochemistry at the Boston University Medical Center.

Louda's research has revolutionized understanding of the impact of herbivorous insects on plant populations and communities, including the effect of non-native insects that have been released for weed control. A member of the Nebraska faculty since 1983, Louda earned bachelor's degrees in economics at Pomona (Calif.) College and zoology at the University of Washington, a master's degree in biology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a doctorate in ecology in a joint program at the University of California at Riverside and San Diego State University.

Verma, who joined the Nebraska faculty in 1972, has a reputation for excellence in micrometeorology research and has studied the greenhouse gas effect and its potential impact on agriculture. He earned his bachelor's degree at Ranchi University in India, his master's at the University of Colorado in Boulder and his doctorate at Colorado State University.

Wiegand is an acclaimed mathematician and is one of the top five scholars in the world in the areas of commutative algebra and representation theory of orders. A member of the Nebraska faculty since 1972, he earned his bachelor's degree at Princeton University and his master's and doctorate at the University of Washington.

Zeng has produced research in nanoscale ice, creating the first models of two-dimensional and one-dimensional ice, and causing water to shrink and form glass instead of ice when subjected to extremes of pressure, cold and confinement. He joined the Nebraska faculty as an assistant professor in 1993. He earned his bachelor's degree in physics at Peking University and his doctorate at Ohio State University.