(6) Cultural Heritage Center &     Immigration Museum

11/01/2019

Everyone in this country has ROOTS from another land -- another part of the world.  Most of us aren't OF other lands, but we can TRACE our lineage IF some of our family before us kept logging down the ties that bind.  If you have your Family Tree Record of ancestors, you're very blessed to say the least.  We know that some past relatives have spent years & sometimes many $$$ "Forever Laboring to Discover & Save" their family history.


Some of us ended up in Omaha, Nebraska -- pretty much the middle, the central, the heartbeat, and the  crossroads of the country.  In fact, there are so many "some of us" that in a recent year (about 2021) there were students of 123 different languages in the Omaha K-12 schools.  So who's your next door neighbor? ? ?

                      Identities of Cultures -                        Where in the world . . . ? ? ?

     The purpose for the Cultural Heritage Center & Immigration Museum is a 3-fold mission.  First, it began with the fact of having all these "treasured items" (mementos of memories) from dozens of countries we (the Founder and family) had the chance to visit or live in.  Many items relate to a bit 'n piece of history, & we're always for advancing one's education (if interested-curious, motivated, &/or encouraged).  The question is, as for many of us, what do we now do with all these memento artifacts as our years go on? 

     2nd - We know of a high school social studies teacher who places a very "heavy emphasis on history & travel for cultural & historical education."  He puts biweekly "museum" displays in his classroom.  He keeps reminding people that all in K-12 today have been born after 911!  Also, the current education system now pushes STEM (eliminating history!!!).  Oh, how ignorance becomes a more deeply ingrained enemy!!  With little or no geography ... no civics ... no ethics ... no history being taught as "part of the basics" which was always the foundation of an American public school education through the last century (along with reading by phonics, writing including cursive, 'n memorized 'rithmetic of basic math tables), ... today fewer than 50% of our H.S. graduates can pass the immigrant's citizenship test ... AND THESE are the natural born Americans!  Like President Reagan said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction," & with the past changes in the public school curriculum over the past 20+ years, we've now created that "socialist-minded" generation vs. the "constitutional republic,"  sad to say!

China
China
China
China
Iraq to Afghanistan
Iraq to Afghanistan
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
These 3 displays are a mixture of Cuba,
These 3 displays are a mixture of Cuba,
the Caribbean Islands, and
the Caribbean Islands, and
the Central American countries.
the Central American countries.

   Bread joins people -- it's used as food, economics, knowledge, and spiritual well being.  Let's take those who are 5-to-100 years old, around the world, to teach cultures & the American Republican Constitutional Form of Government (Art. IV, Sec. 4) vs. Socialism & Communism.  Why else did, & still do, so many want to come to this land?  But the hitherto principled foundation of God-given "liberties" upon which they dream is eroding!  Therefore, let's "Travel Culturally" and "Bind with Bread," & share differences to find out how much we all have in common, & honor the immigration heritage of us all.  

          Therefore, the 3rd mission of The National Bread Museum complex is to encourage Americans to help the immigrants from around the world who are at our doorstep, (I mean - children with 123 different languages in the local schools recently!?!).  It's not only their need for "assimilation into Americanization," but our need of a relationship in helping them understand their new home. 

          So let's look at a 2-fold program we can implement to HELP us with this process. 

          One is building a cultural education center & museum of display cases of cultural items of the immigrants who've come to our shores, using items we & they have gathered from their countries, as visuals.  Let's step into their shoes with globes, maps, interactive activities & such for all age groups to increase everyone's knowledge of who our neighbors are next door, where they came from, putting a visual globe inside every person's head (including adults).  You can help create these programs & tell-to-teach the history.  Let's take a look at some representations . . .   

Puerto Rico, one of our 14 U.S. territories;  people are still journeying across borders!
Puerto Rico, one of our 14 U.S. territories; people are still journeying across borders!

And there are so many more cultural identity objects, with almost 200 countries on 7 continents. Let's put our public libraries to more use & travel the world through the appreciation of books, or do a world puzzle / play a world board game as "family time" if children are at home -- reducing their "screen" time!  OR bake a "cookie-a-week" from different countries & then travel there by You Tube!

Two - The Baking Mill will be the hub of sharing the ways of bread & baking around the world and across the globe.  Check out some links & articles on breadculture.net  (begun in 1955 & based in Europe, a continuation of how Bread Museums created the Bread Culture that propagates knowledge, continual learning, & gathering events for enrichment in everyone's lives).  The same emphasis and visions will greatly benefit our multi-cultured "communities & country."   It's important to know your neighbor well enough to find out if they have a loaf of bread or a bag of flour at the start & end of each day!  In every $25 donation, $1.00 will buy a loaf of bread for a donation food program & $1.00 will go toward building clean water wells either nationally or internationally.  All info will be posted.

          But locally, next door, it's important not only to "fish" & "give," but to help empower each person to "know how to fish" for their own food!  This concept will be the established mission through The Baking Mill - to teach baking basics for health & survival, and beyond for pleasure and enjoyment of cultural interchanges - Yummy!

GIVE A GIFT HERE

                                                         

National Festival of Breads, bi-yearly in June of odd years, Manhattan, Kansas
National Festival of Breads, bi-yearly in June of odd years, Manhattan, Kansas
Paris - above & below
Paris - above & below
assorted Mexican sweet breads
assorted Mexican sweet breads

 Identities of BREAD Cultures 

  Where in the world . . . ? ? ?  

You're from where??  And your neighbor??  And your ancestry??

How far back does your family recipe archive go?  To how many great- /  great-great-grandmas can you trace a bread, cake, cookie, or other baked good?  As with many, nothing was written down.  But do you have a hand-written "something?"  It's one reason to know cursive!

The world has now come to our shores & contributed to our vast selection of fabulous grain foods!  We may be a young country, but the Lord has blessed us with a great bounty.  And we're indebted to our ancestors who tilled, milled, filled the bins, & baked.

The United States has become a Melting Pot for all.  It's important to not forget all of our heritages.      (Our lesson in global geography!)

        Our Father, . . . Give us this day our daily bread . . . Amen                                                                                                            (Matthew 6:9-11) 

We thank Thee over and over for Thy bountiful spread.

                                                         My feet may roam the world round,

But my heart remains in the ol' home town.

Home baking memories remain in my heart

And I'm $upporting this museum by doing my part :).