Harry C. Howard, Jr., Lecture
The Harry C. Howard, Jr.., Lecture Series was established in 1994 through the endowment of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Nash, Jr., and Mr. and Mrs. George D. Renfro, all of Asheville, North Carolina. The lecture honors Harry C. Howard, Jr., who earned his bachelor’s degree Vanderbilt in 1951, and allows the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities to bring an outstanding scholar to Vanderbilt annually to deliver a lecture on a significant topic in the humanities.
The 2025-26 Harry C. Howard Jr. Lecture, Threads of change: Ecology, regenerative livelihoods, and textile innovation in Madagascar, will be delivered by wildlife conservationist Rachel Kramer, on Wednesday, April 8th, at 4:10 PM, in the Community Room of the Central Library. Rachel leads the non-profit organization Conservation through Poverty Alleviation International (CPALI.org) that operates at the intersection of science and art. Her work with partners in northeastern Madagascar engages communities on the margins of the island’s largest remaining rainforest to strengthen the economic lives of women, empower regenerative agroforestry, and innovate textiles from renewable materials, including wild silk and raffia.
Traditional and contemporary works produced by local artisans for the organization’s social enterprise, Tanana Madagascar,
have been featured in publications on global textiles and exhibited at the Future Fabrics Expo. They have been featured in museum stores around the United States, from the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art store in Washington, DC to the Asheville Art Museum store. Every textile tells a story of culture, conservation, and resilience.
Prior to leading CPALI, Rachel worked with leading global conservation organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund, TRAFFIC, and the National Wildlife Federation. In her last role, she managed a $30 million United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investment to strengthen capacity for environmental governance. Rachel was a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow at the Yale School of the Environment, where she earned her MESc. She also served in the United States Peace Corps for three years in Madagascar. Raised a nomad in the Foreign Service, she now lives in Maryland.
Custom-designed Madagascar wild silk bookmarks will be available to attendees