Welcome to the launch of the PA Humanities statewide video project, a special collection created in partnership with Emmy-winning video journalist and filmmaker Kelly Dessoye to celebrate our 50th anniversary. In these videos, you’ll see powerful examples of how everyday people across Pennsylvania are using the tools of the humanities to strengthen their lives and communities.
These videos were originally scheduled for release in the spring, but when federal cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities threatened our future, we chose to pause. Their debut now comes at a moment of urgency and shows why the humanities are not optional. They are essential, and they must endure.
Each month, we’ll release a few videos organized around a theme. We begin by showing how the humanities can spark community-building, with spotlights on our partners and work in Cardondale, Erie and Etna. We invite you to watch, reflect, and join us in ensuring that the humanities remain a vibrant force in Pennsylvania by making your gift today.
Community building in Carbondale
After serving as Carbondale’s city clerk for 29 and a half years, Michelle Bannon is now the town’s mayor. Carbondale changed, Bannon said, with the loss of manufacturing and industry, but the PA Heart & Soul process gave residents the chance to share what’s in their hearts and begin to see a future based on their values. The process has not only encouraged residents to make the assets they do have even better, but has also led to a Blueprint Community designation that is helping them to find funders and partners needed to make their hopes a reality.
“I don’t think it’s an accident that we’ve had all these opportunities knocking at our door… those are the fruits that Heart & Soul has planted to get us where we need to go logically, strategically and financially. It’s about a holistic approach to creating a community, and that’s what Heart & Soul has done.” – Michelle Bannon
Entrepreneurship in Erie
Erie has seen its challenges but is also ripe with opportunity. Ben Speggen of The Jefferson Educational Society and Kyra Taylor of Erie’s Black Wall Street discuss the partnership between the two organizations, with support from PA Humanities, and how their work to bring people together, encourage smart growth and offer financial education and entrepreneurship opportunities is making a difference in the lives of Erie residents.
“Economic development can encourage community development, and, likewise, when you start to see a community lifting itself up, feeling a little bit more proud about itself and identifying that its future is brighter than its past, certainly those in the community and others feel like there’s a stake in it, and they might want to invest in that.” – Ben Speggen
Championing PA Heart & Soul
Rick Vilello learned the importance of planning and storytelling in changing the identity of a community and helping it to adapt and thrive as the mayor of Lock Haven. Now the Deputy Secretary for Community Affairs and Development with the PA Department of Community and Economic Development, he champions the PA Heart & Soul process with small towns such as Etna as a tool for communities to change their own stories.
“If something worked here then it might work in Northeast PA or Northwest PA. I want [PA Humanities] to keep growing Heart & Soul … for future growth and impact.”
– Rick Vilello
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