The real heart of HBF happens outside of the public eye — in southern Delaware schools.

The HBF tagline, "Find Your Place in History," points to our goal to create a place where all attendees can discover how history connects to them and how the lived experiences of others may differ from their own. The result is that people build understanding and empathy for one another while having fun learning and engaging in civil dialog.

This is especially true for the underserved students reached by our outreach programs in rural Delaware schools. Inland southern Delaware has deep pockets of poverty, outpacing state rates of Latine poverty by 10 points at 27%, with Haitian and African American poverty rates close behind. And contrary to the typical perceptions of abundant wealth at the Delaware beaches, most Cape Henlopen School District students attend Title I elementary or middle schools.

We've heard back from educators since 2016 that the authors that HBF brings to their kids leave powerful and meaningful impressions. Programs have included readings; writing, poetry, and drama workshops; student media interviews; open discussions; and presentations. All encourage Q&A, and HBF provides free books for classrooms, libraries, and/or students, in keeping with each school's preference. Audiences vary from a classroom to an entire grade or school assembly.

This year HBF did 21 author events at 11 schools in seven districts in Sussex and Kent Counties, reaching over 2,000 students. We thank all those who made these visits possible, and we also thank all HBF funding partners who help bring authors to southern Delaware and put books about history into classrooms and public libraries each year.

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