New documentary featuring HMML to be broadcast on TPT

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. -- A new documentary featuring the work of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) will be broadcast on Twin Cities Public Television (tpt) during Holy Week April 17-24. The 28-minute long documentary, titled "Saving the Sacred: Preserving the World's Ancient Libraries," was produced by acclaimed journalists Fred de Sam Lazaro and Nikki See of The Under-Told Stories Project.

It will be broadcast on Twin Cities Public Television on these dates and times: 

• tpt2 5:30 p.m. Sunday, April 17
• MN Channel 8 p.m. Monday, April 18
• MN Channel 2 a.m. Tuesday, April 19
• tpt Life 2 p.m. Sunday, April 24

"HMML has become one of the world's foremost resources for the preservation and study of Christian manuscripts," said the Rev. Columba Stewart, OSB, executive director. "As part of a Benedictine learning community, we believe that manuscripts are the most important primary sources for understanding a people's history and culture. Since our founding in 1965 we have been using the latest technology to preserve the fragile handwritten witnesses to human history and culture across many cultures. 'Saving the Sacred: Preserving the World's Ancient Libraries' helps bring the story of our mission to a much wider audience."

The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minn. is one of the world's leading cultural preservation institutions. Its mission is to identify, digitally photograph, catalog, and archive the contents of endangered manuscripts belonging to threatened communities, and then to make these unique cultural resources available to users around the world. HMML has photographically preserved more than 115,000 manuscript books dating from the ancient to early modern eras, totaling some 40,000,000 handwritten pages.

Locally, HMML provides a rich resource for learning about the history of the book and world literary cultures for the 4,000 students of Saint John's University, Saint John's School of Theology·Seminary and the College of Saint Benedict. Classes in the book arts use HMML's manuscript image and rare books collections to learn about historical approaches to the making of books. Regionally, HMML serves students and faculty from other institutions, as well as the general public, through regular exhibits and programming.

de Sam Lazaro is a senior distinguished fellow at the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership and director of The Under-Told Stories Project at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and a correspondent for PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He is also a correspondent and substitute anchor for Religion and News Ethics Weekly. "The Benedictines are guardians of culture, as Fr. Columba puts it" de Sam Lazaro said. "What really intrigued me about HMML is the duality this enterprise represents: an embrace both of antiquity and the latest technology. That allows us to truly make a distant story relevant to a television audience, a core goal of our Under-Told Stories Project.

"The Under-Told Stories Project works to expand, sustain and improve coverage of the world outside America in broadcast, print and emerging new media outlets," de Sam Lazaro said. "Their documentaries challenge Americans to direct their eyes to the daily concerns of far-away people who increasingly affect our lives." 

For more information about HMML, or to request a DVD copy of the program, please contact Erin Lonergan, HMML development director, at 320-363-2095, or [email protected].