In Our Own Words: Mothers Remembered – Mother’s Day Adoptee Author Reading and Open Mic
Date: May 3, 2011
Time: 6:00-9:00 PM
Location: The Lyric at Carleton Place, 765 Hampden Ave. South, St. Paul, MN 55114
Cost: FREE
Event Photos
With a nod to the annual recognition of mothers on Mother’s Day, Adoptees Have Answers hosted an evening of readings by three Minnesota authors, all adoptees. Kate St. Vincent Vogl, author of a recently released memoir, Lost and Found: A Memoir of Mothers, emceed this event and read from her published work. Deborah Jiang Stein, another published Minnesota writer, read from her short stories and other published pieces. And Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, author and assistant professor of creative writing at St. Olaf College shared from her works.
Following the author readings, adoptees from the community-at-large were invited to the microphone to read from their own writings — poems, short stories, journal entries, etc.
Transracial Adoptees Truth, Healing & Reconciliation Forum
Date: March 26, 2011
Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Location: Metropolitan State University – New Main Building, St. Paul Campus, 700 East 7th St, St. Paul, 55106 – Directions | Campus Map/Parking
Event Photos
WHAT
All-day community forum facilitated by First Nations Repatriation Institute (FNRI)
FOR
Youth and adults adopted or fostered transracially. Birth and adoptive family members were welcome, as were adoption professionals and interested community members.
HISTORY
The Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Forum model was developed by founding members of the First Nations Orphan Association to welcome Native American adoptees and fosterees into their tribal communities and culture. The forums first commenced in 2004 and were so popular that they’ve now been conducted throughout the Midwest and beyond. For the first time at the March 26th forum, FNRI facilitators expanded the audience beyond the Native community to include all people adopted across race. For family members and professionals, this was a unique opportunity to hear first-hand how adoption and foster care impact our families and communities.
Adoptee Meet-Up
Date: March 10, 2011
Time: 6:00-9:00 PM
Location: The Lyric at Carleton Place, 765 Hampden Ave S, St. Paul, MN 55114
Event Photos
WHO
Adoptees Have Answers hosted an informal gathering for adoptees, formerly fostered individuals and local adoptee organizations to get to know one another a little better and learn about one another’s services.
WHAT
The event was held at The Lyric, a restored warehouse building in St. Paul’s up-and-coming loft district. The free evening included food, drink, music and several short films. AHA provided non-alcoholic beverages and hor d’oeuvres. Guests were welcomed to bring beer, wine, business cards and brochures to share with others.
Honoring Minnesota’s Orphan Train Riders
Event Photos
On Saturday, June 19, 2010, Adoptees Have Answers joined the Minnesota History Center and the Minnesota History Theatre in honoring Minnesota’s oldest adoptees, the people who rode orphan train to Minnesota in the early 1900s. AHA was overjoyed that six of the origninal orphan train riders and their families were able to attend the event.
Ron Peluso, Artistic Director of the History Theatre, served as Master of Ceremonies and shared the stage with two of the original performers from the Orphan Train Musical, known to theater-goers in the Twin Cities since 2005. All were accompanied on piano by Robert Thompson. AHA’s own Advisory Group member, Penny Needham, performed a poignant song written by an orphan train rider. The program also included two presentations by middle school History Day participants, excerpts from a video lecture by Sister Justina Bieganek (orphan train rider), and a slide presentation compiled by AHA with photos contributed by the orphan train riders and their family members.
The presentation of a Gubernatorial Proclamation was a highlight of the afternoon’s program:
In tribute to the Minnesota orphan train riders and their families who participated in the AHA event on June 19, and to the train riders now deceased, Governor Tim Pawlenty declared June 19, 2010, ‘Orphan Train Rider Recognition Day in Minnesota.’ The framed document will hang in the central community hall of the Franciscan Sisters Center in Little Falls, MN where the Orphan Train reunions have been held for many years. Below is the wording of the Proclamation:
WHEREAS: Between 1854 and 1929, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 impoverished, orphaned, and abandoned children were placed on trains by the Children’s Aid Society and The New York Foundling Hospital and sent to new family placements; and
WHEREAS: Known as Orphan Trains, this operation facilitated the movement of orphaned New York children across the U.S. and Canada;
WHEREAS: Minnesota welcomed thousands of infants and older children who were transported to the state during the Orphan Train Movement Era, with more than 3,500 children arriving from The New York Foundling Hospital alone; and
WHEREAS: Minnesota is believed to have the largest number of surviving Orphan Train riders of any state; and
WHEREAS: The legacy of the Orphan Train riders adds to the rich history of our state.
Now, therefore, I, Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota, do hereby proclaim Saturday, June 19, 2010, as:
Orphan Train Riders Recognition Day in Minnesota
This Many Miles from Desire: Lee Herrick Author Reading and Open Mic Event
Date: Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 PM CST
Where: The Loft Literary Center 1011 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis 55415
Cost: Free
Adoptees Have Answers (AHA), AK Connection and The Loft are pleased to invite you to an evening of poetry featuring Lee Herrick and followed by an open mic, on November 9th at 7:00 PM, at The Loft in Minneapolis. For those interested in participating in the open mic, please sign up the night of the event. You will have 3-5 minutes to read a short excerpt.
Lee Herrick was born in Daejeon, South Korea and adopted at ten months old. He is the author of This Many Miles from Desire (Word Tech Editions, 2007) and has recently completed his second book manuscript, Gardening Secrets of the Dead. His poems have been published in The Bloomsbury Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, ZYZZYVA, among others, and in anthologies such Highway 99: A Literary Journey through California’s Great Central Valley, 2nd Edition; Seeds from a Silent Tree: Writing by Korean Adoptees; and The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems from the San Francisco Bay Watershed. He is also the editor of New Truths: Writing in the 21st Century by Korean Adoptees. He lives in Fresno, California where he teaches at Fresno City College
