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America Through the Lens of Ken Burns: Little Lecture

WVHC Event

Location/County: Charleston, Kanawha
May 31, 2015

Sunday, May 31 at 2:00 PM

America Through the Lens of Ken Burns: Susan Shumaker

West Virginian Susan Shumaker is a researcher and producer with the Ken Burns film company Florentine Films. She will talk about her work with Burns on such films as The War, The National Parks, The Dust Bowl and the forthcoming Country Music (scheduled for release in 2018) as well as the expanding role of film and media in relating history for future generations.

Shumaker joined the Florentine family in 2002 as an intern on The War. She worked with writer/producer Dayton Duncan on the Emmy award-winning The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, focusing on contributions made to the parks by underserved populations, historically and today. The Dust Bowl, for which Susan served as associate producer, premiered on PBS in November 2012, and sparked a national conversation about water conservation on the southern Plains. She also collaborated with WETA on educational outreach materials for The War, The National Parks, and The Dust Bowl.

Before Florentine, Susan produced digital multimedia, developing award-winning educational CD-ROMS and websites for Harvard, Brown, and Columbia Universities. She left the field in 1996 to indulge her passion for food and travel, writing for national publications and publishing a successful line of vegetarian travel guides. She has served on the boards of Read Aloud, an organization encouraging parents to read to children in the classroom, and the West Virginia Land Trust.

Susan graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia University and received a Masters of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School. She lives on a farm in Monongalia County with her husband and their two children.

Robinson & McElwee PLLC is sponsoring the 2015 Little Lecture Series. Founded in Charleston in 1983, the law firm serves clients throughout West Virginia and Ohio.

Admission to the lecture is $10 and includes a reception after the program. People interested in attending should call the Humanities Council at 304-346-8500.

Little Lecture Series is a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council.