Explore the Mass Humanities funded projects awarded from 2000 to the present. Browse by grant type, city, region or keyword. Subscribe and receive news when grants are awarded. Interact with a state map of grants awarded!
Consolidation of Inventories and Catalogs for Lowell Historical Society
A reorganization of archival documents and electronic inventories to create a searchable, accessible inventory for both scholars and the public.
Lowell, MA, Middlesex County (Northeast)
project director: Anthony Sampas
awarded on: 2018-07-30
amount: $2,000
Literature and the Experience of War
A Literature & Medicine series, led by Scholar Ruth Rhode, at Bedford's local VA facility.
Bedford, MA, Middlesex County (Metrowest Boston)
project director: Mary Cutter
awarded on: 2018-07-30
amount: $1,450
"The History of Immigration and Refugee Settlement in Greater Lowell" Discussion Series
A three-part discussion series, led by Historian Bob Forrant, on immigration in the Lowell area.
Lowell, MA, Middlesex County (Northeast)
project director: Robert Forrant
awarded on: 2018-07-30
amount: $3,500
A Century Later: Norwood's Experience in the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918
A series of discussion-based events on local history and public health, inspired by Norwood's Great Flu Epidemic of 1918 and led by Scholar Patricia Fanning.
Norwood, MA, Norfolk County (Metrowest Boston)
project director: Elizabeth Reed
awarded on: 2018-07-30
amount: $3,000
Who are We? Literature & Medicine at Baystate Health
A Literature & Medicine series, led by Scholar Kent Jacobson, at Baystate Medical Center.
Springfield, MA, Hampden County (CT Valley)
project director: Bridget Gunn
awarded on: 2018-07-30
amount: $1,800
Plymouth Colony in the Collection of Taunton's Old Colony History Museum
Research by Scholar Stephen O'Neill on 17th-century Plymouth Colony artifacts in order to produce a draft manuscript with photos, as well as a monograph and a public lecture.
Hanover, MA, Plymouth County (Southeast)
project director: Bronson Michaud
awarded on: 2018-07-30
amount: $3,500
Shaping the Social Contract - Insights from the Women of Brook Farm
Two public events-moderated by Scholar Kerri Greenidge and held in Cambridge and in Roslindale-based on writings by the women of Brook Farm, a 19th-century transcendentalist community in Boston.
West Roxbury, MA, Suffolk County
project director: Gretchen Dietz
awarded on: 2018-07-30
amount: $1,883
Resistance and Movements: Puerto Ricans in Worcester 1960's to Today
Research and organization of three discussion events for Puerto Rican community members to compare events in Worcester that took place in the 1960s with the current reception of those relocating in Worcester due to Hurricane Maria.
Worcester, MA, Worcester County (Central)
project director: Olga Lopez Hill
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $10,000
Poetry Beyond Walls
Three sections of a twelve-week course on poetry for male inmates at the Hampden County Sheriff's Department Pre-Release Center.
Ludlow, MA, Hampden County (CT Valley)
project director: Susan Goodwin
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $11,198
Road to Tolerance Program Extension
The creation and implementation of in-school post-show workshops to accompany Theatre Espresso's historical plays held each year at the John Adams Courthouse for Boston Public School students.
Jamaica Plain, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Wendy Lement
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $15,000
The Ethics of Public Memory in Boston
A year-long project that asks high school students to consider the ethical and philosophical questions raised by controversial public monuments-including those debated nationally, as well as controversial removals and renamings of Boston-area landmarks.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Nir Eiskovits
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $14,692
North Adams: Discovering a Community at the Crossroads
The development and launch of a digital public history project, combined with an annual History Harvest event, at which community members will share their own artifacts and stories.
North Adams, MA, Berkshire County (Berkshire)
project director: Ely Janis
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $15,000
Mind the Gap: The Power of Shakespeare's Language Then and Now
A series of public programs to complement the fall production of Macbeth that will engage audiences-including Boston Public School students and young people recommended to the program by the Department of Youth Services and the Department of Child and Family Services-in debates about language in productions of Shakespeare's plays.
Somerville, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Mara Sidmore
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $15,000
My Voice, My Community
A project that uses performance and documentary photography to allow middle-school students in Springfield to learn about Puerto-Rican immigrant experiences in their community.
Worcester, MA, Worcester County (Central)
project director: Milagros Martinez
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $10,000
Story of Our Streets Project
A program for young people in Boston that will combine literary discussion, archival research, and community interviews in order for participants to learn and write about Boston as a city, while focusing on the history and community of an individual street.
Somerville, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Cara Solomon
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $7,500
Inside Chinatown - Planning Project
A project that connects experienced scholars with a cohort of Chinatown laborers-who will participate in six workshops on local history, national Chinatown histories, immigration, and documentary photography-to create original materials for a future exhibition.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Cynthia Woo
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $15,000
My Town, My History
An out-of-school digital humanities project to introduce teenagers to local history and archival research, which will result in the creation of a replicable curriculum.
Salem, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Susan Edwards
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $12,250
The Peculiar Patriot: Play Reading Book Club and Public Dialogue
A "Play Reading Book Club" for families with incarcerated members and returning citizens that will lead up to the production of "The Peculiar Patriot."
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: David Howse
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $10,450
The Hurricane Maria Project: Negotiating Diaspora in Western Massachusetts
The creation, by Springfield-area youth producers, of three filmed segments, based in documentary journalism and storytelling, to explore the effects of Hurricane Maria on Springfield-area communities.
Springfield, MA, Hampden County (CT Valley)
project director: Vanessa Pabon-Hernandez
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $15,000
Please Touch the Art
A disability-studies exhibit-to accompany a tactile art exhibit- on the history of accessibility in arts programming and on how both blind and sighted artists and audiences influence and affect the fine arts.
Watertown, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Kimberly Thompson
awarded on: 2018-06-15
amount: $10,000
Denton Family Collection at Wellesley Historical Society
Necessary re-processing of a portion of the Denton Family Collection.
Wellesley Hills, MA, Norfolk County (Metrowest Boston)
project director: Kathleen Fahey
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $2,000
School Violence and Social Responsibility: "The Burials" Play and Panel Discussion
Four moderated discussions to accompany performances of "The Burials", a play addressing gun violence in schools.
Newburyport, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Colleen Cullen
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $3,500
Reading Frederick Douglass and Founding Documents in Plainfield
Plainfield's third annual "Reading Frederick Douglass" event in July as well as an October reading of (parts of) "The Constitution of the United States followed by moderated discussion.
Plainfield, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
project director: Erik Burcroff
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $1,500
Family Adventures in Reading: A Children's Book Discussion Series on Immigration
A six-week reading and discussion series for children and their caregivers intended to provoke conversations on immigration.
Sharon, MA, Norfolk County (Southeast)
project director: Jessica Henderson
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $3,500
Music Mania TV: Honors the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Frederick Douglass
Two events celebrating the work and legacy of Frederick Douglass: a performed mock trial with a community discussion and Worcester's annual Reading Frederick Douglass event.
Worcester, MA, Worcester County (Central)
project director: Cedric Arno
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $3,000
Rediscovering Chester Square: A Lost Park in the South End
Inventory and creation of a finding aid for recently obtained records from the Chester Square Area Neighborhood Association.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Lauren Prescott
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $2,000
The Mastheads
A five-part lecture and discussion series on Pittsfield local history.
Pittsfield, MA, Berkshire County (Berkshire)
project director: Tessa Kelly
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $3,500
Fruitlands Shakers: New Collection/New Audiences
Inventory and processing of the Fruitlands Shaker Collection of journals, church membership logs, sermons, and financial records.
Haverhill, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Alison Bassett
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $2,000
We Read Frederick Douglass as a Community: One Voice, Twelve Languages
Brockton's annual "Reading Frederick Douglass" event offered in twelve languages this year.
Brockton, MA, Plymouth County (Southeast)
project director: Madeline M. Smith
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $500
Why Didn't I Know About This? Women's History Lectures and Discussion
A series of eleven discussion on "forgotten" episodes in women's history.
Falmouth, MA, Barnstable County (Cape & Islands)
project director: Mark Schmidt
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $3,000
A Discussion of Representation of Marginalized Groups in Education and the Media
A public discussion, moderated by popular scholar and speaker Donovan Livingston, on the media's role in how equidty and diversity are understood and addressed in schools.
Lenox, MA, Berkshire County (Berkshire)
project director: Anastasia Whalen
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $3,040
The Women in Frederick Douglass' Life & The Unsung Women of Social Change (You!)
A moderated discussion on Leigh Fought's recently published "Women in the World of Frederick Douglass", as well as Lynn's annual Reading Frederick Douglass event.
Lynn, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Wendy Joseph
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $3,500
Douglass Bicentennial: Visioning Anna Douglass
A book group focused on Anna Douglass, in addition to New Bedford's annual "Reading Frederick Douglass" event.
New Bedford, MA, Bristol County (Southeast)
project director: Lee Blake
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $3,359
We Who Believe in Freedom: Facilitated Readings by Influential Women
A four-part discussion series on influental works by Ella Baker, Lucy Stone, Dolores Huerta, and Ida B. Wells.
Roxbury, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Mary M. Earl
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $3,500
People and Places from Brewster's Past
Inventory and creation of a searchable catalog of the Society's Photographic Collection.
Brewster, MA, Barnstable County (Cape & Islands)
project director: Teresa Lamperti
awarded on: 2018-05-14
amount: $2,000
We Are Here to Honor Liberty and to Denounce Slavery
The development of new mini-courses-regarding the radical social reformers who settled in Florence in the 1840s, and what their stories teach about contemporary issues-for visiting school groups, which will be brought to teachers in a professional development workshop.
Florence, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
project director: Tom Goldscheider
awarded on: 2018-03-16
amount: $7,500
G is for Gun: The Arming of Teachers in America - Interactive Website, MA Distribution
A film distribution project, including the creation of an interactive website and curriculum guide-both focused on constitutional law, ethics, and the history of conflict in the United States-as well as a large, public Massachusetts screening and discussion (preceding the film's broadcast on WGBY).
Dayton, OH, Montgomery County
project director: Kate Way
awarded on: 2018-03-16
amount: $14,850
Left on Pearl
The implementation of an online user interface to promote distribution of the film that will allow organizations and individuals to host screenings and to download a screening guide (with historical context and discussion questions).
Cambridge, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Susan Rivo
awarded on: 2018-03-16
amount: $15,000
"The Day History Marched Down Our Streets" Exhibition Planning Grant
Research and planning for a permanent exhibit about the events based in Arlington on the first day of the American Revolution: April 19, 1775.
Arlington, MA, Middlesex County (Metrowest Boston)
project director: Sara Lundberg
awarded on: 2018-03-16
amount: $7,500
Haul Away Together: History, Diversity and the Sea in Story and Song
The introduction of already-successful humanities-based programs to adults in the Boston area; the organization's programs-originally created for teens and young adults-are based on songs and stories of the sea that include the oft-ignored experiences of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, young people, and women.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Bruce Berman
awarded on: 2018-03-16
amount: $15,000