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.

Article by Intelligencer Librarian Rayna Polsky

Intelligencer writer Rayna Polsky recently shared a post on her visit to the Pearl Buck Birthplace. She lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and just happened upon the Birthplace while driving through. Bucks County is where Pearl lived out the later years of her life after returning from China. I posted a link to the article below. Also, to learn more about Pearl S. Buck International in Bucks County, PA, you can go here: http://www.psbi.org

THE ARTICLE:

"From the Archives: Serendipity Doo-Dah"
http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/news/intelligencer/from-the-archives-serendipity-doo-dah/

Favorite Photo from this Year's Programs

October 2009 Newsletter

                   

Dear Community Members,

    The October 4 Moon Festival was a great success. Thanks to all who attended and volunteered! I included some photos of the event below, and you can find more on the Pearl Buck House’s Facebook page. After the cider pressing, there were enough apples left over to offer them to the commuity for FREE. We left them in a pony cart at the parking lot of the Pearl Buck House. Get them while they last!

    In other news, the Board of Directors is steadily working toward its goal of raising $100,000 for critical repairs to the historic buildings. The Snowshoe Foundation generously donated the first $5,000, and discussions are underway with the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Division to provide 15%, or $15,000. Only $80,000 to go! ;). For more information or to get a copy of the list of needed repairs contact VISTA Stacie Gilmore at stacie.gilmore@gmail.com or (304) 653-4328.
                                      
    The weekend of October 10-11 the Birthplace Foundation held its annual membership meeting, with elections for president and vice-president. The board elected Visitors and Convention Bureau CEO Abbey Winthrow for president and Hillsboro resident Michael Condon for Treasurer.

    Board member and West Virigina Poet Kirk Judd reported on the Pearl Buck manuscripts stored in a locked room in the rare book section of the library at West Virginia Weslyan.  The collection includes approximately 260 manuscripts, numbered, labeled and stored in protective portfolio boxes.  There have been previous appraisals made but none recently, so the Board voted to look into having another completed.  Judd also noted that there had interest expressed from US Senator Rockefeller’s office to have the collection, or portions of it, digitized for easier access for archival and research purposes.  Members of the Board are following up on that possibility.

    The same weekend, Ms. Cara Seitchek, Foundation Relations Officer for the Woodrow Wilson Center in D.C., visited to complete a peer-review of the museum through the American Association of Museums’ (AAM) Museum Assessment Program (MAP). She toured the Birthplace Museum including the outer buildings and met with several board members. She has written up a confidential peer-review based on her visit, and the museum will soon receive a copy from AAM.

The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Museum, (304) 653-4430, offers guided tours May 1 to Nov. 1 from 9 am to 4:30 pm. Individual memberships are $10 and give you voting rights at the annual membership meeting and unlimited free tours of the house.

Visit the Pearl Buck House on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hillsboro-WV/The-Pearl-Buck-House/109980752939

Official Website:
http://www.pearlsbuckbirthplace.com


                                                            Sincerely,
                                       
                                                            Stacie Gilmore

                                                           AmeriCorps VISTA
                                                           Pearl Buck House
                                                           (304) 653-4328
                                                           stacie.gilmore@gmail.com

Snowshoe Foundation Gives $5,000 Toward Critical Repairs

http://www.snowshoemtn.com

Above (right to left): Brian Ball, Snowshoe Foundation Board of Directors; Lucinda Tyler, Pearl Buck Birthplace Board of Directors; Stacie Gilmore, AmeriCorps VISTA

Community Open House to Celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival

On Sunday October 4 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Museum will host a free community open house to celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival. The Moon Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrates the autumn harvest and corresponds with date of the full harvest moon. It is the second biggest holiday in China after the Lunar New Year. West Virginia writer and Pearl Buck scholar Edwina Pendarvis along with past Pearl Buck Birthplace director David Corcoran will be hosting the festival, which will focus both on local history and special cultural programming on China.

Planned activities include free guided tours of the house, martial arts demonstrations, tasting food from Chinese moon cakes to pumpkin bread, free cider samples form the museum's historic apple press, exhibits of Chinese artifacts, live music from local musicians, and more!

For more information contact Lucinda Tyler, Board Member, gtfarmwv@frontiernet.net, (304) 653-2097, or Stacie Gilmore, VISTA, stacie.gilmore@gmail.com, (304) 653-4328. The Pearl Buck Birthplace Museum, (304) 653-4430, offers guided tours May 1 to Nov. 1 from 9 am to 4:30 pm. The museum is located on U.S. 219, just north of Hillsboro, WV.

Board Becomes More Active, Amends Bylaws

During the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation’s April ’09 meeting, Board Members agreed it was necessary to have more than two meetings a year (April & October). The next board meeting was set for July 26th. In the interim, smaller committees met to: (1) complete a Museum Assessment Program (MAP) to understand how the PSB House can improve its operations; and (2) update the By-Laws.

With a quorum the July 26th meeting changed the By-Laws to: (1) reduce the number of Board Members from 21 to 12; (2) have Board meetings once a month; and (3) reassess the membership criteria as currently set out in the By-Laws.

They also set forth a new mission statement for the Birthplace more consistent with Pearl Buck’s original aims: “To maintain the house and property of the birthplace of Pearl S. Buck and to foster her wish expressed in the book My Mother’s House that it should be a living ‘gateway to new thoughts and dreams and ways of life’ wherein art, music and education are valued and promoted.”

In addition the meeting produced several committees: membership/marketing, human resources, grants, and previously a nominating committee. The Board’s next meeting will be August 9th.

Also notable, the PSB House had a summer intern, Phi Nguyen, who conducted with great success art and cooking classes.

For more information contact Lucinda Tyler, Board Member gtfarmwv@frontiernet.net or (304) 653-2097 and /or Stacie Gilmore, VISTA stacie.gilmore@gmail.com or (304)653-4328. The PB House (304) 653-4430 offers guided tours May 1 to Nov. 1 from 9 am to 4:30 pm.

Vietnamese Student Directs Innovative Summer Program

When Pearl S. Buck toured West Virginia in the 1970s raising money for the West Virginia Women’s Clubs to restore the family farmhouse in Hillsboro, she hoped the house would become “a gateway to new thoughts and dreams and ways of life.” To achieve that goal, the Pearl Buck Birthplace Museum this June and July hosted its first summer series on Asia.

For five weeks, Phi Nguyen, a math and arts major at Berea College from Hanoi, Vietnam, taught Asian arts and crafts to elementary school students at Hillsboro and Marlinton libraries. She also held adult cooking classes, manned tables at local festivals, presented at the Marlinton senior center, and assisted the Pocahontas County Arts Council.

Initially, organizers feared low participation after hearing that summer programs at the Hillsboro Library were lucky to attract two or three students. Upon seeing fourteen kids the first day, librarian Elwood Groves commented that it was the largest turnout he had seen since he started work there. Phi has been similarly impressed, commenting, “I was surprised how interested the students are in Asia.” The Pearl Buck Birthplace Foundation has been working to establish closer connections with a second Pearl Buck museum in Zhenjiang, China, to one day offer further opportunities for local students.

The Pearl Buck House offers guided tours May 1 to Nov. 1 from 9 am to 4:30 pm. Memberships are available for $5 through the Birthplace Foundation at info@pearlsbuckbirthplace.com or (304) 653-4430.

For more information, contact Stacie Gilmore – stacie.gilmore@gmail.com or 304-653-4328.



PHOTO: Berea College student and PSBB summer intern Phi Nguyen and VISTA Stacie Gilmore with students from Hillsboro, WV learning to make paper dragons. (left to right: Charles Hunter Wilfong, Lanty Rose, Phi Nguyen, Emily Henderson, Victoria Rose, Briar Wilfong, Stacie Gilmore)

Mission

The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation, Inc., maintains the house and property of the Birthplace and works to foster Pearl's wish expressed in the book My Mother’s House that the place should become...

    ... a living "gateway to new thoughts and dreams and ways of life" wherein art, music and education are valued and promoted.

Pearl writes:

I hope it will live a new life, not for myself or for my family but for people. I would like it to belong to everyone who cares to go there. From that house there has come so much life that it ought never to die or fall into ruin. For my ancestors it provided shelter and home in a new land, a house where they lived their new lives with traditional dignity and ancient faith in the fine things of life, in beauty of art and music, in the value of education, in the necessity of integrity and goodness. For my mother it provided a home, living forever in her thought and memory, though she made dwelling places in a far country. For me it was a living heart in the country I knew was my own but which was strange to me until I returned to the house where I was born. For me that house was a gateway to America. May it live again, my mother's house, and may it prove for others, too, a gateway to new thoughts and dreams and ways of life! (Pearl S. Buck, My Mother's House, p. 30-31).

The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation engages in educational, business, tourist, and other enterprises as may be suitable and necessary to promote and finance these aims.

Writers' Workshop