Spring Newsletter is Here!

Check it out here!

2011 Greenbrier Classic

If you plan on attending this summer's Greenbrier Classic golf tournament, you can support the Pearl Buck Birthplace at the same time! We are a participant in the Badges for Charity program--if you designate us as a recipient while buying tickets, we receive a portion of the proceeds. So make sure to find us when ordering tickets online, or mention us if ordering by phone (1-888-814-1002)!

In other golf-related news, the Birthplace is holding a golf fundraiser at Pocahontas County Country Club on May 1. For more information, email info@pearlsbuckbirthplace.com.

Pearl Buck Meets Pearl Buck

This news item is undated, but probably comes from Pearl Buck's 1970 tour of West Virginia, which raised funds for the construction of the Birthplace. Happy Wednesday!

All Men Are Brothers: Heritage Press Edition

One of my favorite items at the Birthplace, hands down, is this collection of prints from the 1933 Heritage Press edition of the novel All Men Are Brothers. The book, written in the fourteenth century, is known in China as Shui Hu Chuan, and is considered a classic of Chinese literature. The book compiles the adventures of 108 bandits in twelfth-century Shantung province.

Pearl Buck was the first to translate the sprawling novel from Chinese into English. She completed the project over the course of five years; it was her first project published after the stunning success of The Good Earth in 1931. To celebrate the completion of her arduous undertaking, the Heritage Press commissioned the Mexican painter, Miguel Covarrubias, to visit China and study traditional poster art. The illustrations resulting from the trip were used in the book.

Covarrubias also illustrated editions of Typee and Uncle Tom's Cabin; I might be biased, but I think these illustrations are much more interesting!

Read on to see more of the scans.

Fall 2010 Newsletter

To get the picture-filled version, download here.

Our annual New Moon Festival was a day of fun for the Hillsboro community! Although the weather was cold and rainy, a crowd of more than 50 came to watch Tears of Joy Theatre’s puppet show, Little One Inch.

Many of them stayed for home-cooked food, fresh-pressed apple cider, and a set by the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys. Thanks to all who braved the elements to support us, and a special

thanks to all those who volunteered!

Overall, our season was successful. 1152 guests took a tour of the Birthplace, and many more stopped to take in the beautiful scenery of the Little Levels. 20 volunteers were kind enough to assist with our various events around the Birthplace. A special thanks to all of them! If you’d like to volunteer at the Birthplace, please contact VISTA Emily Lassiter at emilyleelassiter@googlemail.com. We could always use a helping hand!

Over the summer, the Birthplace participated in the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Conservation Assessment Program (CAP), which has provided us with direction in determining our repair priorities. Facilities and collections assessors both identified areas of concern, which have been added to our list of critical repairs; our total funding needs top $100,000. Once we raise $100,000 in construction funds, the USDA’s Rural Development division has kindly agreed to match 15%, or $15,000.

Since the museum closed last fall, we’ve raised $22,640 in funds for repairs. This includes:

· $5,000 from the Snowshoe Foundation for regravelling our driveway and walks

· $5,640 in state development grants to repair leaking windows

· $6,000 from state senator Walt Helmick, to match the state development grant

We are also happy to announce that the Snowshoe Foundation has given us $5,000 for repairs during their 2010 funding season. We’ll use this money to install a French drain system, which will ameliorate the moisture problems that have accumulated over the years, including mildew and spalling damage to the brick foundation. Thanks to the Snowshoe Foundation for helping us achieve our renovation goals!

We recently applied for $3,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to apply vinyl UV ray-blocking filters to the windows of the Stulting house; their decision will be announced in the spring.

The Birthplace’s manuscript appraisal project, which was funded by the West Virginia Humanities Council, recently concluded. Willis VanDevanter, an appraiser who has worked with the papers of such luminaries as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Margaret Mead, examined Pearl Buck’s manuscripts. The manuscripts are currently held at West Virginia Wesleyan University. We expect a final report from Mr. VanDevanter soon and excitedly await opportunities to share this invaluable resource with the scholarly world.

In other news, we will be holding a Christmas open house this weekend. Please join us on Saturday, December 4^th, from 1-4 pm. The Stulting home, birthplace of Pearl Buck, will be decorated for Christmas; volunteers will provide free tours. We’ll have refreshments, as well as Christmas crafts and gifts. We hope to see you there!

Over the winter months, if you’d like to contact us, please email info@pearlsbuckbirthplace.com.

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Join us for a celebration of Asian culture and harvest traditions!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

2:00 - 3:15

Journey to Japan: A Puppet Extravaganza!

Tears of Joy Theatre will bring their award-winning puppet show, “Little One Inch,” to the Birthplace! Based on a Japanese folktale, Issun Boushi, the play features Marlinton’s own Emily Newton.

Little One Inch, a miniature boy, proves his strength by defeating a rat and sets off to save Japan from a great ogre. His parents give him a rice bowl to use as a boat, and a chopstick to use as an oar. In his adventures he befriends a kappa, rides a koi through the rapids, and becomes the playmate of a princess before defeating the ogre in a hilarious battle. Performed in the traditional Japanese bunraku style of puppetry, this play will delight audience members of all ages.

3:15 – 4:00

Journey to Japan Workshops

Tears of Joy Theatre will hold three workshops on Japanese Culture, featuring:

                        Japanese Clothing             Japanese Music            Origami

Children and adults are invited to attend any of these events, where they will experience aspects of Japan’s ancient culture firsthand!

4:00 – 5:30

The Stulting and Sydenstricker homes will be open to the public for tours. Tears of Joy puppets will be roaming the grounds; there will also be a raffle, where one lucky person will win a puppet!

We’ll also have free cider pressing demonstrations and mooncakes! For those of you interested in local foods, we’ll be selling soup made from butternut squashes grown at the Birthplace, as well as our own grape jelly! Thai spring rolls will also be for sale.

5:30 – 6:30

Local music legend Richard Hefner will perform on the front lawn of the Birthplace! Pull up a hay bale, grab some apple cider, and join us! 

Good News: Manuscript Grant, Birthday Celebration, etc.

First, thanks to everyone who made the 2010 Pearl S. Buck Birthday Celebration a success!

As part of the Little Levels Heritage Fair, we created the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace's first-ever float for the Saturday parade. To our surprise, the float won second place in the float division, as well as the prize for Director's Choice!

Later in the afternoon came the birthday celebration, which featured instructors from the annual Pearl S. Buck Writer's Workshop. We were treated to a reading by Dr. Laura Bentley, writer-in-residence at Marshall University, who read selections from her 2006 collection of poetry, Lake Effect. Dr. Peter Conn, from the University of Pennsylvania, gave a lecture on Pearl Buck's relevancy today. Dr. Conn was an impressive public speaker, and the lecture was quite enjoyable. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend his biography, Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Biography. Since its publication in 1996, the book has become the most influential portrait of Pearl S. Buck, and provides a detailed and candid look at her life.

In other news, the manuscript grant that was submitted to the Hollowell Foundation in March was accepted! The grant money will go towards appraising our manuscripts, which were originally sold to the Birthplace by Pearl Buck for $1. They are currently housed at West Virginia Wesleyan University. We are excited about the grant, and hope that in the future, the manuscripts will become an integral part of the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace.

Lastly, another review of Hilary Spurling's Pearl in China: The Journey to the Good Earth will appear in this Sunday's (7/4) New York Times Book Review. The review has already been posted on their website and can be found here.

Hilary Spurling Review in the Times

In today's New York Times is a review of Hilary Spurling's new biography, Pearl Buck in China: Journey to the Good Earth. The review also mentions Pearl Buck scholar Peter Conn, who will be the keynote speaker at our upcoming writer's fair and birthday celebration. Also on the New York Times website: an excerpt from Pearl Buck in China.

For any information about the writer's fair and Pearl S. Buck birthday celebration, you can call the Birthplace at (304)653-4430.

Garden Party!

Monday, June 7th, the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace will host a planting party! Local VISTA Amelia Swenson has been planning an herb garden here at the Birthplace, and we’ll begin planting Monday.

Bring any herbs, flowers, or seeds you’d like to plant—right now, we have mint, chives, oregano, comfrey, elecampane, thyme, calendula, hollyhock, and dill. We might even plant an heirloom tomato or two!

Planting starts at 9 am, to be followed by cookies and lemonade. Don’t forget your trowel and gloves, and wear plenty of sunscreen!

Mini Grant Submission for Manuscript Appraisal

In November members of the Pearl S. Buck Board of Directors and staff members worked on a mini grant with the West Virginia Humanities Council. This grant would cover costs associated with appraising the Pearl S. Buck Manuscript Collection that is being housed at West Virginia Wesleyan College. The collection was purchased by the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation in 1970 from Pearl S. Buck for the nominal fee of $1.00. Her wish was the collection could be used to help support the development of her mother's house as a center for education on those topics that are exemplified in her mother's philosophy of life.

This appraisal is the first step in making this great humanities learning resource available for the public. To insure the finest appraisal possible Willis VanDevanter has been asked to perform the assessment. Mr. VanDevanter is highly qualified to perform this appraisal and has appraised manuscripts including Martin Luther King Jr., Gen. Alfred Gruenther, Irving Berlin as well as many other notable individuals.

The grant was submitted December 1 and now the committee is anxiously awaiting a reply.

VISTA's At Pearl Buck

In organizations like the The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Vista's play a vital role in developing new events, grant writing, program administration, along with a wide range of other responsibilities. Over the past year Stacie Gilmore has served as The Pearl Buck Birthplace Vista and has done an excellent job. She has been responsible for many ideas and projects in the public eye as well as behind the scenes. The Birthplace would not be where it is today without her assistance. Sadly, Stacie will be leaving us on December 11 to take a new assignment in the Marshall Islands.

With Stacie's absence the Board of Directors has already started the paper work to receive a new Vista for the 2010 year. The Board of Directors has been in contact with an individual that is very interested in working for the Birthplace in the coming year. We are currently waiting for all of the paper work to be processed so we can move closer to filling our Vista position.

Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Hires New Executive Director

On November 13th The Board of Director's hired Timothy VanReenen to serve as the new Executive Director for the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace. Mr. VanReenen is a graduate of Virginia Tech where he received a Bachelors Degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics and a Master's Degree in Career and Technical Education.

Mr. VanReenen will be responsible for sphere heading fundraising efforts for repairs and new programs and events, serving as a liaison between the Board of Directors and the general public, and assisting with the daily operations of the Museum.