As part of Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country: 200 Years of American History, an NEH-funded exhibition, members of the Northwestern Band of Shoshones led a craft workshop. Image courtesy of the Brigham City Library.
With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Brigham City Library has been bringing public humanities programming to its region since 1987. Librarian Sue Hill recalls that her first grant-supported program was the result of an American Library Association-NEH partnership that aimed to promote public poetry readings and discussions. Since then, she has hosted exhibitions and accompanying events focused on Lewis and Clark, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, John Steinbeck, civil rights, and, most recently, a memorial exhibition on the history of World War I. Each year, the library hosts guest speakers—often professors from Utah State University—as well as reading groups, panels, and family activities. And at a recent gala event celebrating the exhibition opening of World War I and America, the library honored local veterans through a flag ceremony. Hill says that the funding “helps us do adult education in a fun way—the events are important for building a community that can understand what is going on in our world.”
