Human Ties
Connecting people with ideas
Welcome to our new book group program, Perspectives!

New Hampshire Humanities is pleased to announce the launch of our new book groups initiative, Perspectives!, which offers facilitated book discussion groups in online or in-person formats. New Hampshire Humanities will provide expert facilitators for book groups and copies of books in multiple formats to qualifying organizations across the Granite State this year. Click the blue button to learn more about hosting a book group, how to apply, and all the tools you'll need!
read
From Barack Obama to Elon Musk, many of the world’s most powerful people say they love to read. Could an hour each day be the secret to success in life? Journalist Zaria Gorvett explores the power of reading.
watch
Reading fiction can educate us emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, says Beth Ann Fennelly, creative writing professor and poet laureate of Mississippi. She makes the case for why we need literature. WATCH
listen
Need some ideas for your next read? Inspiration is just a click away! Listen in as booksellers from the Water Street Bookstore, Gibson's Bookstore, and the Bookery join Laura Knoy for NHPR's annual summer reading program. LISTEN
UPCOMING GRANT-FUNDED EVENTS
Three fascinating programs happening TONIGHT!
Tonight at 5 pm, join the NH Institute for Civics Education for the second lecture in the 2021 William Treat Lecture Series, “A Polarized Country - Can Schools Help Bridge the Divide?” Professors Dianna Gahlsdorf Terrell of Saint Anselm College and Peter Levine of Tufts University will explore how schools can navigate polarization and inequity to help heal divisions in the United States. Register for this virtual Community Project Grant-supported program here.
Join the New Hampshire Boat Museum at 7 pm for Olympic gold medalist Kathy Keeler’s presentation on “Women in Crew Racing.” Keeler is a former competitive rower who was “in the boat” when the American women's eights team won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics, the first women’s crew to win gold in U.S. history. She will share her insights about women in crew racing and Title IX’s transformative impact. This Community Project Grant-supported virtual lecture is free to join. Register here.
At 7 pm, the Museum of the White Mountains will host Mark Thomas, an avid hiker who has hiked all 48 of the 4,000 footers, as he presents “Topography, 3D Art, and the NH 4,000 Footers Club.” Thomas will discuss how he uses his knowledge of map making to build 3D topographic maps that combine science, art, and hiking. Register for this Community Project Grant- supported virtual event here.
On Tuesday, July 27 at 7 pm, join the Museum of the White Mountains for the next talk in the Community Project Grant supported Wayfinding series, "Wayfinding in Their Own Words: Historical Journals, Maps and Hikers of the White Mountains." Appalachian Mountain Club archivist Becky Fullerton will explore the White Mountains through early-20th-century hiker journal excerpts, historical and contemporary photos, and maps. Register for this virtual lecture here.
On August 4 from 11 am to 2 pm the John Hay Estate at The Fells will host a one-day workshop, “Archeology at the Fells.” Dr. Charles Spencer, archaeologist at the American Museum of Natural History, will discuss why early archaeologists found Mayan society so fascinating. Dr. Robert Goodby, Professor of Anthropology at Franklin Pierce University, will discuss the archaeology and Abenaki history of the Lake Sunapee region. Advance registration is required: Call 603-763-4789, ext. 3 or email info@thefells.org. More information
Join speaker Larry Garland and the Museum of the White Mountains on August 4 at 7 pm for a lecture on digital cartography. Garland will examine how satellite and aerial imagery, GPS, Lidar, 3D terrain models, and crowdsourcing on social media have reshaped our understanding of our world. Register for this Community Project Grant-supported virtual program here.
On August 5 at 7 pm, join the Sunapee Historical Society at the Livery in Sunapee for “The Bride Wore Purple,” an exploration of late-19th-century women’s fashion. Costume historian Astrida Shaeffer will discuss the Society’s recently acquired collection of mid-Victorian clothes, including an 1868 deep purple wedding gown, matching hat, and parasol, and place Sunapee women’s historical experience within the wider context of mid-19th-century American society. All are welcome at this free Community Project Grant-supported event. More information
Upcoming Grant Deadlines:

SHARP applications are due August 6! Funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Rescue Plan, these grants provide general operating support up to $20,000 to New Hampshire-based humanities nonprofits. For more information click here or contact Agnes Burt at aburt@nhhumanities.org.
REBECCA BOISVERT, Director of Development
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

This book was shared with me by my mom who insisted it’s a must-read, and it is! Both inspiring and heartbreaking, it is a mesmerizing story of courage, redemption, and patriotism through the telling of the lesser-known stories of women in the Great War.
A work of fiction, it is based on the French secret agent Louise Marie Jeanne Henriette de Bettignies who ran a vast intelligence network during WWI under the pseudonym Alice Dubois. Known as the “Queen of Spies,” the “Alice Network” infiltrated the German front lines in the rural area of Lille, France, saving the lives of more than a thousand British soldiers from spring to September 1915. 
Sometimes small things have the biggest impact...
New Hampshire Humanities creates and funds programs that engender deep questioning, challenge preconceived notions, and encourage the respectful exchange of ideas.
 
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What are we reading this summer, you ask?

Here are some recommendations from NHH staff and Board of Directors:

The Song of Achilles: A Novel, Madeline Miller
Elizabeth Dubrulle

Squeeze Me, Carl Hiaasen
Steve Genest

Here is New York, E.B. White
A Promised Land, Barack Obama 
Bill Glahn

Sooley, John Grisham
Sam Witherspoon

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 
Rebecca Boisvert

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace, Tamar Adler 
Evan Czyzowski

The Overstory: A Novel, Richard Powers
Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam
Snow, John Banville
Monique Lowd

Three O’Clock in the Morning, Gianrico Carofiglio
Marcia Kelly

The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
Agnes Burt

Women Rowing North, Mary Pipher
Charles Finch’s mystery series
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, Laurie R. King
In the Garden of Beasts, Erik Larson
Marcia Schmidt Blaine

Careers for Women, Joanna Scott
Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir, Ashley C. Ford
Erika Janik

The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, Kamala Harris
10 Years in the Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books, Nick Hornby
Becky Kinhan

The Searcher, Tana French
Grant, Ron Chernow
The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice, Scott Ellsworth
Christine Gustafson

Futureproof – 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, Kevin Roose
Homo Deus – A Brief History of Tomorrow, Yuval Noah Harari
Juliana Robinson

Gun, with Occasional Music, Jonathan Lethem
The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut
How I Became a Famous Novelist, Steve Hely
Dennis Badeau

Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
Caste, Isabelle Wilkerson 
Lynn Douillette

The Chosen, Chaim Potuk
Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell
The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich
Gary Bouchard


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