The HSHSL, through its Woven Stories Project, invites campus community members to share a photograph of an item or items that represents their personal culture.  Woven Stories aims to capture the diversity of UMB’s campus through photographs of items of cultural significance like a recipe, a book, a piece of art, food, creative work, clothing, a musical piece, an instrument, or a textile, to name just a few.  

The following story highlights Christina Pabon-Buck’s beloved caldero. Christina is a Research and Education Librarian at the Health Sciences and Human Services Library.

When I think about my family, my culture, and significant events, I think about this little well-seasoned caldero, the unsung hero behind so many delicious meals.  From arroz con pollo to carne guisada this little caldero played an important part.  A caldero is a steel pot with a tight lid used for cooking rice, braising meats, and making stews.  The caldero our family used until a few years ago was a gift to my mom in 1972.  I can only imagine how many dishes were cooked in the caldero.  Recently, my mother gave my son his own caldero.  After seasoning it for a month, we made our first batch of arroz con gandules.  Seeing my son measure out rice, water, and add in sofrito to his dish was a full circle moment.  I love that he too can appreciate his Puerto Rican heritage through something that feeds the body and the soul.

To submit your own photographs and memories, go to the Woven Stories page.  Submissions should be in the form of a photograph and a paragraph describing its importance to you.  Photographs should be at least 1200 x 1200 pixels.  Multiple submissions are welcome and can be made anonymously by leaving the name and email fields on the form blank. 

For questions or concerns, contact: diversity@hshsl.umaryland.edu

In recognition of Celebrate Diversity Month in April, the HSHSL Diversity Committee and the Exhibits, Displays and Promotions Committee plans to honor the diversity of our campus with an exhibit called Woven Stories: Out of many, we are one.  To support the exhibit, the HSHSL is seeking photograph submissions of items culturally significant to campus members.  Culture is broadly defined as encompassing the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of individuals.  Photographs for the exhibit should be of one item that represents your culture.  A few examples of submissions could be recipes, books, art, food, creative work, clothing, sheet music, instruments, or textiles. However, you can be as creative as you like. This is an opportunity to display what’s culturally significant to you.

For example, let me introduce myself.  I am Tara Wink, Historical Collections Librarian and Archivist, a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with family roots that run deep in that area so much of my culture is tied to Pennsylvania Dutch traditions.  Baked corn is a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe.  For me, Baked Sweet Corn is always a staple at my family’s holiday celebrations.  It’s a dish that always elicits fond memories and comfort: memories of home and family, laughter and warmth.  My grandma traditionally makes it and while I have tried to follow her recipe and advice it never quite tastes the same. 

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is traditionally known for its Amish and Mennonite populations.  As a child, I was babysat by a Mennonite on her farm, as a result, I am privy to the process of making the dried corn used in Baked Corn.  During the peak summer season corn is abundant, in order to preserve it in ways beyond freezing and canning, my babysitter would cut the corn off the cob and dry it over a series of days on a large flat pan over the stove; as a child I was known to steal a few kernels of corn as it dried.  After several days the corn is hard and can be stored in airtight bags and containers for the winter months.  The baked corn dish served at family events brings with it memories of these summer days as well.

As a representative of the HSHSL Diversity Committee and the Exhibits and Displays Committee, these are just a few of the things that are culturally significant to me, and I am thrilled to see a project that will weave all our diverse experiences into one.

To submit your own photographs and memories, go to the Woven Stories page.  Submissions should be in the form of a photograph and a paragraph describing its importance to you.  Photographs should be at least 1200 x 1200 pixels.  Multiple submissions are welcome and can be made anonymously by leaving the name and email fields on the form blank. 

For questions or concerns, contact: diversity@hshsl.umaryland.edu.