Past Grants Awarded

An audience immersion pilot program for about 100 community residents to explore how historical theater is produced-through lenses of dramaturgy, cultural studies, and history.

Scholarly consulting, the creation of informative playbills, and a post-performance discussion of a student production of Peter Pan.

An environmental history project for Auburn Public School students that is led by a humanities scholar and includes lessons, a photography project, an exhibit, and a tour.

Inventory and make public their William Wood collection of photographs, maps, and publications.

Research on and transcription of their Swan Collection of letters, along with two public lectures on the material.

Inventory and processing of the Douglas Historical Society's Coppola Collection.

Digitization of the local Sharon Advocate Newspaper archive and make it available online to patrons.

Inventory and scanning of Wistariahurst Museum's Holyoke and Carlos Vegas/Latino History Collections in order to provide a searchable documentation of Holyoke's black populations.

A film-and-discussion series-with "Hidden Figure", "I Am Not Your Negro", and "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"..

A reading-and-discussion series for Boston-area teachers and librarians focusing on global literature about teenagers' relationships with their bodies.

Two post-production moderated conversations around the history of intolerance and how art from the past can bring up questions from the present.

A project allowing fifth-grade students in New Bedford and Fairhaven to view and discuss a performance about overcoming cultural barriers and the role of exploration and commerce in New Bedford's whaling history.

A panel discussion and public conversation exploring the history of citizenship and protest in America.

A moderated discussion with 2017 Mass History Teacher of the Year Kevin Dua and historian Dan Breen addressing the roles of patriotism, freedom, individuality, and collectivism in the United States both historically and in the present.

Moderated round-table sessions allowing participants to handle historical objects while learning about them and posing their own questions.

Two symposia, one exploring contemporary connections to the history, politics, and meaning of great monuments, and the other exploring dynamics between the disciplines of history and theater.

A six-session reading and discussion series for health professionals to support the social and emotional aspects of patient care.

A panel discussion-on racial justice as it relates to the evolution of American music-at the Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival that will be recorded and presented in local high schools.

A scholar-led discussion of civil rights, especially as reflected in American jazz.

A film screening and discussion event on Worcester's history and the role of public art in community development.

A discussion program-taking place during New Bedford's Seaport Art Walk-on the history and future of sustainable fisheries, questions of ethical responsibility, and the role of art in prompting action.

A one-day public forum on the legacy and contemporary relevance of Jane Addams, social justice advocate and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

An inventory of the papers of Theresa-India Young, noted fiber artist, educator, community organizer, and activist.

Photographing and inventory of 260 eighteenth?century gravestones in Medfield's Vine Lake Cemetery.

Creation and presentation of a web-based exhibition about gender-based segregation in the construction industry, a re-envisioning of the successful 2008 physical exhibition On Equal Terms.

Creation of a Teacher's Guide and three companion short films which tell the stories of Native child removal, forced assimilation, and the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Native Americans in the country. Creation of a curriculum to accompany the documentary film "Our Mockingbird," exploring individual and group identities, American history, jurisprudence, and ethics in Harper Lee's novel.

An original history-based theatre production created and performed by students and residents of Greenfield in the context of a celebration of Greenfield's 19th-century history.

A series of public educational programs for the upcoming all-female production of Julius Caesar.

A revamp of the museum's audio folklore tour with re-recorded content, new content, images, and professional translations in Russian, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

Creation of three permanent low-profile interpretive wayside signs, a self-guided brochure, and a digital online "story map" for the site of the 1874 Williamsburg Reservoir Dam disaster.

Support for an oral history project exploring the importance of the Irish language among Irish immigrants in the Boston area.

Creation of a Teacher's Guide and three companion short films which tell the stories of Native child removal, forced assimilation, and the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Native Americans in the country.

A scripted mock trial and post-performance discussion and the seventh annual communal reading of Douglass's 1852 speech on the Worcester Commons.

A six-session Family Adventures in Reading series using the syllabus on Relationships with storyteller Karen Chace.

The 7th annual communal reading of "What is the Fourth of July to the Slave?" on July 4th. Evening entertainment will include musical and dance performances, spoken word, and fireworks.

A facilitated reading of Douglass's speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" with poet Everett Hoagland as the discussion leader.

Research on the Society's collection of business records, photos, and artifacts from the local machine shop to develop a better understanding of how and why a small precision manufacturing shop, with global connections, grew and prospered in a small agricultural community in western Massachusetts

The third annual public reading and moderated discussion of Douglass's "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

A forum on the role of poetry during times of cultural and political crisis.

Part of the city's Clemente Course in the Humanities to sponsor a public poetry reading and conversation with poet Naomi Shihab Nye on defining the place of immigrants in the American idea.