Civic Leader
Professor Vanessa Martinez honored for community learning project
Anthropology Professor Vanessa Martinez was one of two Holyoke educators honored March 9 by the city and state for their work engaging students in civic learning.
During a Civics Learning Week ceremony at Wistariahurst Museum, Professor Martinez and Nicholas Cream, an ethnic studies and history teacher at Dean Technical High School, received proclamations recognizing their work from the mayor, the state House of Representatives, and the state Senate.
“We’re here today to honor two civic leaders who have gone far and beyond to inspire their students to think critically, engage respectfully with different perspectives, and understand their roles as active citizens,” said Wistariahurst Director Morgan Seiler. “Civic education is about empowering students to participate, lead, and contribute to the communities they call home. Teachers like Vanessa and Nick make that possible by bringing these lessons to life and showing their students their voices truly matter.”
Martinez, Ph.D., a health anthropologist, is co-founder of the Springfield-based Women of Color Health Equity Collective and coordinator of community-based learning at HCC. In 2023, Martinez’s students began collecting stories from Holyoke residents for two oral history projects, one on the COVID-19 pandemic and another that examines living conditions in the city and their impact on public health. Those interviews have become part of the Wistariahurst Museum’s permanent archives, and those projects continue.
“That was the beginning,” said Martinez. “Even my 100 level classes are now involved. They do interviews, they learn about oral history, they develop research skills. I feel so blessed to be able to continue this project and show students the importance of working in their communities and feeling their work will live beyond them.”
Cream, who lives in Westfield, is president of the Holyoke Teachers Association and an advocate for civic participation and for teachers striving to improve education in Holyoke.
“Our nation’s long-standing audacious experiment in self-governance requires a populace with an understanding of the nation’s laws and government, the skills for discussion and working together across differences, and a commitment to civic strength,” said Mayor Joshua Garcia. “Educators play a central role in the essential daily work to support young people in the development of an informed and empowered civic identity.”
State Rep. Pat Duffy of Holyoke presented Martinez and Cream with proclamations from the House and Senate.
“Being in public office, I know how important it is that we start early to get our kids engaged and really know what’s going on in this way too complicated world,” said Duffy. “That’s why it’s so important that we’re honoring Nick Cream and Vanessa Martinez, because of both how you teach and how you model for your students that civic life is not just what you learn in the classroom but how you engage in the greater community, and Holyoke is all the better for it.”
Martinez holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbus State University, a master’s degree in applied health anthropology from Georgia State University and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Originally from San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, she now makes her home in Holyoke.
“I’m a transplant,” she said, “but this place feels like home. It’s the first place outside of San Sebastian de Pepino, Puerto Rico, that really felt like home. … I hope you know that for the rest of my life I will support this community and do this work, because that’s how meaningful it is. It is who I am.”
PHOTOS: (Thumbnail) HCC Anthropology Professor Vanessa Martinez, center, holds proclamations from the state House and the Senate honoring her promoting civic engagement in her classes, with state Rep. Pat Duffy, left, and a representative from the office of state Sen. John Velis. (Above) Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, left, and state Rep. Patricia Duffy, right, honor Holyoke educators Nicholas Cream and Vanessa Martinez during a March 9 ceremony at Wistariahurst Museum.
