 Humanities Happenings
Mass Humanities awards 27 new grants
In the year ahead, our project and discussion grants will fund work in diverse humanities disciplines and important topic areas like race, inequality, migration, and reform. The latest grantees span the state and offer some of the best humanities programming to come in 2017.
FIND OUT WHAT WE FUNDED |
 Enriching the Commonwealth
Mass Humanities Executive Director David Tebaldi recognized for leadership
We are proud to announce that the Massachusetts Cultural Council has chosen to honor Mass Humanities Executive Director David Tebaldi with a 2017 Commonwealth Award for Leadership. As the second longest-serving chief executive of a state humanities council in the country, Tebaldi has demonstrated commitment, vision, and facility in accomplishing major public humanities undertakings. The awards will be presented at the Massachusetts State House during a Wednesday, February 15, 2017 ceremony that is free and open to the public.
REGISTER TO ATTEND THE CEREMONY |
 Open & Honest
Get funded to bring the writings of eminent civil rights leaders to your community
We’re putting a new spin on our series of public readings. Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, we’re launching Open & Honest, an initiative to catalyze public readings of civil rights texts and open conversation on race, rights, and the lasting legacy of American slavery. Our Reading Frederick Douglass program continues as usual; Open & Honest programs can be organized using both our Civil Rights Discussion Grants and our Open Discussion grants.
GET FUNDED FOR A CONVERSATION IN YOUR COMMUNITY |
 Grants to the Rescue
Thanks to a Mass Humanities grant, Hatfield historians mine a trove
Our local history grants enable organizations around the state to inspect the bits of history that might otherwise go unnoticed, like the papers in Hatfield Historical Society’s Porter & McLeod Machine Shop collection. Processing the papers has enabled Hatfield, a town that knows most about its agrarian past, to be seen in a new light. The Daily Hampshire Gazette recently reported on the society’s findings and the value of local history funding by Mass Humanities.
SEE WHAT OUR GRANT UNEARTHED |
 Igniting a Passion for History
Announcing the 2017 Mass History Conference
Public historians are responsible for igniting a passion for history and consciousness of the past, and fostering public dialogue. This year’s conference— to be held at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester on Monday, June 12, 2017—will showcase the ways that public history organizations and institutions large and small to inspire and engage audiences and constituencies. Liz Sevcenko, former founding director of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience and current Director of the Humanities Action Lab, will keynote.
SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2017 MASS HISTORY CONFERENCE |
 Ex Libris
Don’t miss these three author talks co-sponsored by Mass Humanities
Mass Humanities welcomes noted authors to Harvard Book Store this month for three different events. On the 17th, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker will discuss their title "All the Real Indians Died Off": And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans. Pulitzer Prize–winning Harvard historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich will give a talk on her latest, A House Full of Females on the 18th. The following week, on the 27th, local historian and teacher Willian F. Quigley Jr. will present on his first book, Pure Heart, on the North’s experience of the Civil War.
JOIN US FOR THESE EVENTS |
 Moving Image
An opportunity for independent documentary film and video artists from LEF Foundation
Grants of $15,000 and $25,000 are available to New England-based independent documentary filmmakers who apply to LEF Foundation by Friday, January 27th. Emerging, mid-career, and veteran documentary filmmakers are all encouraged to apply for funding toward production and post-production.
GET LEF’S DEADLINE, ELIBILITY, AND FUNDING GUIDELINES |
 Birth of a Movement
Renowned Boston publisher and activist William M. Trotter waged a battle against D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking yet racist 1915 film The Birth of a Nation. A new documentary, Birth of a Movement, captures the fight and its cultural consequences in the ensuing decades. Mass Humanities funded the Boston premiere and a post-screening discussion. Join us on January 30th!
CATCH THE PREMIERE |
 Success in Schooling
A Boston Globe editorial makes a powerful case for include access and participation in arts education in the state’s criteria for what determines a successful school. With state officials promising a new draft accountability system at the end of the month, the time is ripe to advocate for arts education.
READ THE EDITORIAL |
 In the Field
Take a look at the fascinating inner workings of the National Digital Newspaper Program and see how they digitize and archive three centuries worth of US newspapers in the first episode of the new web series In the Field by the National Endowment for the Humanities. In the Field takes a deep dive into NEH-funded projects and products in the field of the humanities. Stay tuned for more!
WATCH THE FIRST EPISODE |
 JFK’s Farewell
John F. Kennedy was bound for the White House on this day in 1961 when he delivered a farewell speech to the people of Massachusetts, reminding them of the state’s unique legacy and contributions to the nation.
READ THE HISTORY |
 NEH Grant Awards
No fewer than 16 Massachusetts-based organizations received National Endowment for the Humanities funding in their last round of awards. The list includes organizations first funded by Mass Humanities.
CONGRATULATE THEM ON FACEBOOK |
 The Long, Brutal History of Fake News
Propaganda isn't a fad, but a long story. The question now is what to do about it.
READ AND DISCUSS ON TWITTER |
 Humanities Calendar
We list the best humanities programming in the Commonwealth on our event calendar. See what is happening this month at Mass Humanities.
FIND EVENTS |