Wilmington, Del. (June 6, 2023) – The Delaware Division of the Arts is pleased to announce that Dr. JoAnn Balingit has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in Literature: Creative Writing to the Philippines for the 2023-2024 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Dr. JoAnn Balingit served as Delaware’s 16th poet laureate from 2008 to 2015. A poet and essayist, her work has been honored as a 2022 Individual Artist Fellow in Creative Nonfiction from the Delaware Division of the Arts and from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation. She received a 2021 Pushcart Prize nomination and was featured in Poetry Magazine’s August 2021 Poetry Podcast. Her poems and essays are published widely. 

As an advocate for arts-in-education and community arts access, JoAnn has directed state-wide programs such the Delaware Writing Region of Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for middle school and high school students; led poetry workshops and writing retreats for adults, and has taught poetry writing at the University of Delaware. Dr. Balingit also teaches creative writing classes at New Castle County Libraries for the Creative Aging program, with an emphasis on storytelling through memory work. She has been a coordinator and teaching artist for Delaware’s Poetry Out Loud program for the past 15 years.

“Dr. Balingit is deserving of this prestigious award,” said Governor John Carney. “Throughout her career — and especially during her time as Delaware’s poet laureate — she has shown a passion for sharing creative storytelling with our community. I want to congratulate Dr. Balingit on this achievement and look forward to seeing her future work.”

“Congratulations to Dr. JoAnn Balingit on being awarded the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Dr. Balingit’s selection for this esteemed honor is a testament to her exceptional talent and dedication to the literary arts. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a deep commitment to storytelling and fostering arts-in-education and community arts access. Her contributions as Delaware’s poet laureate and her extensive work in the field exemplify her passion for nurturing the artistic growth of others. We are thrilled for Dr. Balingit and look forward to the valuable cultural exchange and insights she will bring during her Fulbright journey. Congratulations once again on this well-deserved recognition,” said Jessica Ball, Director of the Delaware Division of the Arts.

Dr. Balingit’s project, entitled WHAT WERE the NAMES of the TREES? A Memoir, is a hybrid-genre lyrical work about growing up bi-racial in the American South, and coming of age in the aftermath of the violent loss of her parents. Separated from her eight younger siblings, the lonely teen enters adulthood desperate to belong. During her stay in Pampanga Province, she will seek an understanding of her Filipino family history and the forces that shaped her father’s education and environment as a U.S. colonial subject before he migrated to the United States.

With archival research, interviews, and a fuller view of race and empire, especially as it relates to erased Filipino American history, and diaspora, the mestiza writer traces her parents’ lives and her own path of survival to becoming a writer. Most compellingly, she traces how her attitude toward her mixed identify and her father’s legacy has changed. As a poet who experiences language as the rishest living tie to a silenced history, during this Fulbright grant she will continue to study in depth her father’s native language and culture, Kapampángan.

Dr. JoAnn Balingit is among over 800 U.S. citizens who will teach or conduct research abroad for the 2023-2024 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Fulbrighters engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs, and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad.

As Fulbright Scholar alumni, their careers are enriched by joining a network of thousands of esteemed scholars, many of whom are leaders in their fields. Notable Fulbright alumni include 62 Nobel Prize laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize recipients, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and 41 who have served as a head of state or government. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants from over 160 countries – chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential – with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to challenges facing our communities and our world.

In addition, over 2,000 U.S. students, artists, and early career professionals from all backgrounds in more than 100 different fields of study receive Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards annually to study, teach English, and conduct research overseas.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program. In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports the implementation of the Fulbright U.S. Student and Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit https://fulbrightprogram.org.

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Contact: Andrew Truscott, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications

302-577-8280, andrew.truscott@delaware.gov

The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.

The Delaware Public Archives & Delaware Heritage Commission are proud to present the installation and unveiling of the “Equal Suffrage Study Club” Historical Marker — the final marker in the series of four Delaware Historical Markers celebrating the centennial of the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing for women’s suffrage.

This Marker salutes the Equal Suffrage Study Club that was founded in 1914 by — and for — African American women and encouraged the public to campaign for women’s voting rights and the inclusion of African American women.

This NEW marker is installed along the Michael N. Castle Trail in close proximity to the location of the original colored schoolhouse that was the location of the 1920 meeting enshrined on this Delaware Historical Marker.

These Delaware Historical Markers have been installed with the support of the Delaware Women’s Suffrage Commission, in cooperation with the Delaware Heritage Commission and the Delaware Public Archives. Regretfully, the installation and presentation of these Historical Markers have been delayed due to the pandemic.

Learn more about the Delaware Centennial – www.archives.delaware.gov/women-vote-100

When/Where:  Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 10:00 AM – Downtown Dover – W. Loockerman Street to Legislative Avenue

When/Where:  Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 12:00 PM – Downtown Dover – Legislative Avenue & Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard

The Delaware General Assembly, the Delaware Department of State, the Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs, the Delaware Heritage Commission, Dover Air Force Base, and the City of Dover will honor Delaware Women Veterans with this year’s ‘Veterans Day Parade.’ The parade will begin at 10:00 A.M. winding through downtown Dover ending at the site of the dedication ceremony.

For more information on the parade, please contact Colinda Marker in Legislative Council at 302-744-4303 or colinda.marker@delaware.gov. Registration to enter the parade is also available with the deadline on Monday, October 29, 2018.

Please help us honor Delaware’s Women Veterans at Legislative Hall. The dedication ceremony will follow the parade starting at 12:00 P.M. Parking is available all around Legislative Hall, which sits on Legislative Avenue between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard North and South. Refreshments will follow the ceremony at the Delaware Public Archives adjacent to Legislative Hall.

For more information on the monument dedication, please call (302) 744-4114 or email: Legislative.Council@delaware.gov

Parade 2018
Monument 2018

Policymakers, Public Join Together for Women’s History Month Celebration and Lecture

DOVER, Del. – Governor John Carney, Delaware’s Office for Women’s Advocacy and Advancement, the Delaware Department of Human Resources, the Delaware Commission for Women, and Delaware Women’s Workforce Council, today hosted the first lecture of its kind titled “Redefining Women in the Workplace” in honor of Senator Margaret Rose Henry and Women’s History Month.

“Senator Margaret Rose Henry is a trailblazer, and we are going to miss her leadership in Dover,” said Governor Carney. “Her commitment to the advancement of women is exactly why we are honoring her at this event today. It’s been a privilege to work with her protecting Delaware’s most vulnerable citizens.”

The Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy, under Delaware’s Department of Human Resources, is responsible for leading the ongoing implementation of women’s rights legislation and evaluating current women’s rights legislation. The Office is run by Melanie Ross Levin, who serves as the Office’s Director.

“Delaware made history when Senator Margaret Rose Henry became the first African American woman to join the Delaware State Senate. And Delaware continues to make history today, by investing in the first state-wide Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy,” said Melanie Ross Levin. “As a new office, we look forward to continuing to work with Senator Margaret Rose Henry and all of the champions for women and girls in the legislature, executive branch and community to move policies forward for women and girls in the first state.”

This lecture focused on issues including sexual harassment in the workplace, equal pay and paid parental leave, bringing together policymakers, business leaders and others concerned with women’s issues for a productive conversation. The lecturer was Lisa Maatz, Former Vice President of Government Relations at the American Association of University Women and leader of several national coalitions working to advance opportunities for women and girls.

“The theme of this event is so relevant to the work of the Department of Human Resources,” said Saundra Ross Johnson, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Human Resources. “We are committed to creating and sustaining an equitable environment for all State employees that is free from discrimination, sexual harassment, and assault.”

Shortly following the lecture, the Governor joined Representative Longhurst, Senator Hansen, Senator Henry, U.S. Senator Coons, Congresswoman Blunt Rochester and many members of the General Assembly for a rally supporting Delaware’s Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). House Bill 399 aims at filing an ERA for the Delaware Constitution to expand and protect women’s rights. This amendment will reduce sex-based disparity and codify Delaware’s value of equality.

More information about the Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy can be found here.

WILMINGTON – The Delaware Commission for Women added four outstanding female leaders to the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women at its annual induction ceremony Wednesday evening.

This year’s inductees have each made substantial and meaningful contributions throughout their careers to improve the lives of countless Delawareans. They are retired Delaware Supreme Court Justice Carolyn Berger; State Representative Debra Heffernan; Dr. Janice Nevin, president and CEO of Christiana Care Health System; and the late Kendall M. Wilson, the first executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware.

Governor John Carney praised each of the inductees during the ceremony at the Christiana Hilton in Newark.

“This year’s Hall of Fame inductees are a diverse group of innovators, freedom fighters, caregivers and public servants, all of whom who made great sacrifices throughout their careers and triumphed through their perseverance,” Gov. Carney said. “Carolyn Berger, Deb Heffernan, Janice Nevin and Kendall Wilson are true role models, and it is our honor to give them the recognition they deserve.”

Chosen from a list of nominees submitted by individuals and organizations from across the state, the inductees were selected based on their remarkable careers and the significance of their work. To date, 142 women have been inducted to this prestigious group.

“It’s an honor to be included among the many outstanding Delaware women who’ve been inducted into the Hall of Fame.” Said Justice Berger, the first woman to sit on Delaware’s Court of Chancery and Supreme Court. “I hope my service will inspire young women to seek judicial careers, and I look forward to the day that one of those women becomes the first female Chief Justice.”

Joan Isken attended the ceremony on behalf of her late mother Kendall McDowell Wilson, who championed the poor, the incarcerated and those who could not afford legal representation as a founder of the Delaware chapter of the ACLU.

“My mother fought hard under great adversity to advocate for others. With her warrior spirit, she never wavered from her quest for justice,” Ms. Isken said. “We remain proud of her and are now thankful for her public recognition as she joins the ranks of Delaware’s significant women.”

Debra Heffernan began her career in public service after 25 years in the private sector as an environmental toxicologist. After serving on the Brandywine School Board, she was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in 2010.

“It is an honor to be among women who have made such exceptional contributions to Delaware. It’s important that we stand together to support women and women’s rights,” said Rep. Heffernan, D-Brandywine Hundred. “I will continue to advocate for those rights in Legislative Hall, as well as in the community, and do not take this honor lightly.”

As the leader of Delaware’s largest health care system, Dr. Janice Nevin has overseen a campaign of innovation at Christiana Care.

“I am deeply honored to be recognized by the Commission for Women, with its legacy of making great strides for the women of Delaware. I’m proud to join past and present recipients whom I respect and admire,” said Dr. Nevin. “I’m grateful for the Commission’s focus on women’s health as part of its core mission. Women’s health is vital for success in our work, in our families and in our society.