Jimmy Hall

For the Leader

Two Port Townsend women have joined the ranks of 33 experts who will visit parts of the state for special lectures based on the humanities.

Made up of professors, artists, activists, historians, performers and journalists, Humanities Washington selected Christine Hemp and Tessa Hulls to serve on its Speakers Bureau. As a pair of lecturers for one of the nonprofit group’s largest programs – which is attached to the National Endowment for the Humanities – Hemp and Hulls will bring their voices for those around Washington.

Becoming a speaker is a competitive process, which involves an online application and an in-person audition during a six-month period.

“It requires having significant expertise in your area and being able to foster meaningful conversation with a diverse audience,” said Hannah Schwendeman, Speakers Bureau program manager. “Our speakers have really different things they are passionate about, but they’re very passionate about their subject. That’s what (Hulls and Hemp) brought to the table.”

Humanities Washington is connected with 175 programs statewide. Those programs decide which speakers they’d like to bring to their facilities and apply for funding. This year, 300 events have been conducted in tandem with Humanities Washington’s Speakers Bureau, while more than 1,200 residents were reached through the program last year.

Hemp said a friend, who also is a speaker, knew about her work as a teacher, performer and writer, and believed it would be a good fit.

“You can be invited to any venue, not just libraries, but museums, prisons and retirement homes, where people will have ideas about your subject,” Hemp said. “That’s what intrigues me about it. Humanities is the adhesive of our culture.”

Her plan is to tailor each talk to the geographical setting where she presents. 

“I’m interested in not only how language changes, but how we are changed by language,” Hemp said. 

Her presentation, “From Homer to Hashtags: Our Changing Language,” is designed to illustrate that point.

Hemp said the Homer, the Greek poet, was the first recorded storyteller between the 12th and 8th centuries BC -- a short time ago relative to the history of the planet. 

During her presentation, Hemp goes from Homer throughout time and how it has changed but has stayed the same in how it has affected the popular consciousness, while using Facebook posts, Instagram hashtags, poems and more examples of how language connects humanity.

“What is it about language that touches us and makes us feel and makes us think?” Hemp posed. “(What) I would like my audience to go away with is that language is a living organism. Everybody’s words matter.”

While Hemp focuses on the influence of words throughout history, Hulls will present “She Traveled Solo: Strong Women in the Early 20th Century.” The lecture will feature Hulls’ journey of a 5,000-mile bicycle ride from southern California to Maine. She will talk about other women who tackled challenges such as explorers, mountaineers and circus performers, and she will use historical photographs, primary documents and hand-drawn illustrations.

Hulls is an artist, writer and outdoorswoman whose writing has appeared in the Washington Post and Atlas Obscura’s Kickass Women series. She is a public lecturer and performer, appearing at the Seattle Art Museum, Washington Ensemble Theater and Annex Theater.

Recalling her orientation with the program, Hemp said she was overjoyed about the company, recounting the variety of topics her peers would speak about. Those will range from the history and culture of sugar to the history of hip-hop, Hemp said.