Carla Blank

Rediscovering America: The Making of Multicultural America, 1900-2000
NY: Three Rivers Press, 2003
Reclaiming the true history of modern America

REDISCOVERING AMERICA revises what we commonly call history by highlighting and integrating the amazing cultural, political, and artistic contributions of women, African-and-Native Americans, immigrants, radicals, and others normally cast to the margins of history books.

Based on a popular course taught by Carla Blank at U.C. Berkeley, and sponsored by the prestigious Before Columbus Foundation, this multidisciplinary timeline features sidebars, quotes, mini-essays, and more than 100 photos that shed light on fascinating chapters in our nation’s history.

From "Library Journal" (9/15/2003):
"The Before Columbus Foundation, whose 50-plus members include Marie Anderson, Herbert Kohl, and Ishmael Reed, was founded 20 years ago to promote multicultural literature. Here it joins with the writer, artist, and Berkeley professor Blank, on whose course this book is based, to give evidence that American history, life, and culture have always been multicultural. Having published both a poetry and a fiction anthology, the foundation wanted to issue a factual account that addressed 'the need to give evenhanded recognition to the many differences in American experiences and viewpoints from year to year across time.' The text thus showcases Americans of color, women, immigrants, and others who shaped our country's history but have often been marginalized. Organized into chapters by decade, the various data are then arranged year by year in six major categories: arts and literature, politics and government, science and technology, business and industry, culture, and world events (focusing on only those events with significant impact upon the United States). Innovation is the main criterion for selecting entries. Was this a 'first'? Did it mark a significnt change in direction for the country? The contributors' essays are insightful views of the multicultural dynamics of each decade. Also included are at least 100 photogrpahs, a selected bibliography, and, most important, an index that makes the book an effective, valuable historical reference work. A worthwhile acquisition for academic, public, and high school libraries." Charles L. Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State Univ., State College

Live On Stage!
Dale Seymour Publications,
a Pearson education imprint, 1997.
Ecumenical in its approach, "Live on Stage!" mixes performing arts traditions from around the world, making cross disciplinary connections and generally expanding concepts of theater training to include traditional and experimental techniques.

Based on over thirty years of experiences teaching and directing young artists in public and private schools and after school programs, "Live On Stage! fulfills the guidelines of the National Standards for Arts Education. Statewide adoptions for middle-school use, by North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Idaho have occurred to date.