The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
Rosenbach Museum and Library
Interpretation/Implementation
2011 Grantee
$200,000
The Rosenbach Museum & Library will explore the emotional impact of war with Families Affected by War, Then & Now, a program for veterans who have served in active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families. This creative writing program, collaboratively planned by historians, psychologists, social workers, and writers, will give military families the unique opportunity to handle specific materials from the Rosenbach’s collections—documents that speak to the personal side of armed conflict and the hardship of prolonged separation from family and loved ones, such as a letter from Ulysses S. Grant to his sister; Robert E. Lee’s resignation; and correspondence between a mother and son during World War I. Military families (school-aged children and their parents) will work closely with these historic artifacts during a series of writing workshops in June and July of 2012, and will be encouraged to write about their own experiences and “give voice to the events of their lives.” In January 2013, the Rosenbach will create and host an exhibition that features the work produced in these workshops alongside the objects that helped to inspire them. A publication will follow, to be distributed to military families across the country.
