Culture Lost and Found

Culture Lost and Found

Jack Brighton  //  

 
Feb 21 / 4:08pm

Bethel School at Friends Creek

Posted by email 

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An unusual view here of the Bethel School at the Friends Creek Conservation Area west of Weldon, Illinois. One-room schoolhouses like this were built every two miles to provide public education for farm families across the midwest. All grade levels were given instruction by one teacher, with older students helping to tutor the youngest. A different model of teaching and learning, to be sure. Today, consolidated rural school districts run large schools much like their urban counterparts, in some instances busing students across county lines. The Bethel School remains on the landscape as a ghost only.

Filed under  //  schools   architecture   history   landscape  
 
Nov 14 / 5:52pm

Delta Kings at the Krannert Center

by Jack Brighton
First three songs of the Delta Kings and Friends concert on September 3, 2009. Cody & Co. kicking things off right...

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Nov 9 / 6:35am

River Wall, St. Louis

by Jack Brighton

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Nov 5 / 8:14am

AMIA Conference

by Jack Brighton

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Brewster Kahle from the Internet Archive speaks at the opening of the AMIA Conference.

Posted from St Louis, MO

 
Oct 30 / 8:31pm

Fareed Haque at Krannert

by Jack Brighton

(download)

 
Oct 3 / 4:03pm

Contested Mascots and Social Vectors

Posted by email 
(download)

Twenty years ago a Native American student named Charlene Teters started a movement to dump Chief Illiniwek as the pseudo fancy dancing mascot of Illinois athletics. Many sports fans felt their traditions under assault. What right do Indians have to tell us what to do with their religious and cultural heritage? We stole it fair and square, seemed to be the argument. Two years ago the University of Illinois Board of Trustees voted to retire the Chief, but many sports fans don't respect the authority of the Board in this instance. The Chief, they say, belongs to them. So today we have a new generation of students, many not even born when Charlene Teters took up the cause, who are carrying it forward.

Interesting how long it takes a culture to change. Persistence of vision is required.

 
Sep 22 / 8:08pm

Bruiser Rummenie and Kathy Harden: Romance without Finance

by Jack Brighton
(download)

Well I couldn't stop uploading songs from the Krannert Center Delta Kings and Friends concert (Sept 3, 2009 for you documentarians) without adding this one. Here's a song written by local guitar legend Bruiser Rummenie and sung by universal legend Kathy Harden. I feel the love, but dammit I'm broke!

 
Sep 22 / 8:02pm

I'm Fine

by Jack Brighton
(download)

Here's a song I wrote and performed with the Delta Kings and Friends at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, in the very special event on Sept 3, 2009. Man I love those backup singers. We need to give them some kind of special name at least.

Got lots more audio from the show to post but I'm heading out to Portland for something, very early and need to park this project til next week. Hope you're fine too!

 
Sep 22 / 7:59pm

Andrew Duncanson and Josh Stimmel: The Break Away

by Jack Brighton

(download)

Oh my gawd, these guys (from the award-winning and mucho favorite Champaign-based blues band Killborn Alley) just tear this song up. This is their original blues song The Break Away. Holy...yeah!

 
Sep 22 / 7:50pm

Eleni Moraites: Won't Think About Her Anymore

by Jack Brighton
(download)

Here's Eleni Moraites singing her original song "Won't Think About Her Anymore" from the Delta Kings and Friends concert at Krannert on Sept 3, 2009. This is a great song and again, the singers are fantastic along with Eleni. I'll think about this song for a long time!

Eleni is performing at the Cowboy Monkey on Sunday, October 4th at 5 pm. Don't miss it...it's her latest CD release party.