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Explore the Mass Humanities funded projects awarded from 2000 to the present. Browse by grant type, city, region or keyword. Subscribe to our newsletter and receive news when grants are awarded.
Squam: An Intimate HistoryAnnisquam Historical Societymore
Funding to inventory, photograph, and index 39 family albums and scrapbooks made by village residents from pre- civil war time on. Selected albums will be featured in an upcoming exhibit about what life was like for families in the village during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Gloucester, MA, Essex County
project director: Mary Ellen Lepionka
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $1,500
The Philadelphia ElevenDocumentary Educational Resourcesmore
Funding to conduct and film interviews and to perform archival research for the documentary film, "The Philadelphia Eleven," about the women who were ordained as priests in 1974 as an act of civil disobedience within the Episcopal Church.
Watertown, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Margo Guernsey
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
Reclaiming Urban Renewal - Community Efforts and Impacts in Lawrence MALawrence History Center / Immigrant City Archivesmore
Planning and implementation of a one-day symposium on the effects of federal and state urban renewal programs on Lawrence and other industrial cities.
Lawrence, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Susan Grabski
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Olde Colraine: A Musical Hilltown HistoryFractured Atlasmore
Performer Jonathan Mirin's expansion and development of a new version of "Mill, Mountain, River: A Child's Eye View of Older Colraine," a local history theatre piece adapted to different communities which share Coleraine's mill history and to be performed at the SYRUP Festival in Shelburne Falls.
New York, NY, New York County
project director: Jonathan Mirin
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $4,500
Initial filming, research, and the creation of a project website and plan for a documentary that follows prisoners as they work with programs intended to help them establish a foothold in society after being released from incarceration.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Robert Nesson
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
History Theater at the Old State House: Blood on the SnowBostonian Societymore
Educational programming in conjunction with the production of "History Theater at the Old State House: Blood on the Snow," a collaborative theatre project with educational components surrounding the aftermath of the Boston Massacre.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Nathaniel G. Sheidley
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War IICityLoremore
Design and building of an interactive educational website in order to publicize and foster discussion around the feature-length documentary film "GI JEWS: Jewish Americans in WWII."
New York, NY, New York County
project director: Lisa Ades
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
New Rep Spotlight Symposium SeriesNew Repertory Theatremore
A symposium series in conjunction with theatrical productions that explore the connections between religion, science, and identity.
Watertown, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Adrienne Boris
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Belmont World Film's Family Festival & 15th Annual International Film SeriesBelmont World Filmmore
Support for the Family Festival & 15th Annual International Film Series, featuring international film and documentary premiers and focusing on international cultural understanding.
Sudbury, MA, Middlesex County (Metrowest Boston)
project director: Ellen Gitelman
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Spirit Voices: Pacific Northwest Native MythsBerkshire Museummore
A five-month exhibition that explores and dramatizes the cultural heritage of various Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest through myths and stories embodied in art, artifacts, and performances.
Pittsfield, MA, Berkshire County (Berkshire)
project director: Maria Mingalone
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $4,680
Boston's Colonial Religious History Tour AppCongregational Library and Archivesmore
Development of a walking tour mobile application explores Boston's early religious history, with a particular focus on the decision-making practices and contentious issues that characterized life in seventeenth-century Boston.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Carolyn Hewitt
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $7,000
Somerset, Massachusetts: Envisioning Past and PresentSomerset Berkley Regional High Schoolmore
A program for 36 students in the school's Advanced Digital Photography program to create a town-wide large-scale photo installation of the historic places, people, and culture of the town.
Somerset, MA, Bristol County (Southeast)
project director: Virginia Troutman
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Long Road to Justice: The African American Experience in the Massachusetts CourtsGeorge Lewis Ruffin Societymore
Expansion and updating of the exhibit Long Road to Justice: The African American Experience in the Massachusetts Courts, a chronicle of the legal struggle for civil rights of African Americans in Massachusetts.
Somerville, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Julian Houston
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
Boston Live Theater ProjectThe Boston Live Theater Projectmore
A program to introduce 36 high school juniors and seniors from nine public charter schools to live theater through six live shows and post-performance discussions.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Eleanor Devens
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Pre-Teen Reading ProgramFoxborough Regional Charter Schoolmore
A reading and discussion program for pre-teens and their caregivers, particularly focused on participation by male caregivers.
Foxborough, MA, Norfolk County (Southeast)
project director: Karen Harris
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $4,047
From Yokuntown to Lenox: Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of LenoxLenox Library Associationmore
Production of an 80-minute documentary featuring footage from more than 50 oral-history interviews of elderly Lenox residents to mark the town's 250th anniversary.
Lenox, MA, Berkshire County (Berkshire)
project director: Judy Seaman
awarded on: 2015-06-20
amount: $3,542
5th Annual Reading Frederick Douglass at High Rock Tower ParkNew Lynn Coalitionmore
Support for a public reading of Frederick Douglass' famous Fourth of July oratory as part of the Mass Humanities Reading Frederick Douglass program.
Lynn, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Wendy Joseph
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $500
Techung: Bone of the Heart documentary filmDocumentary Educational Resourcesmore
Preproduction work on a documentary covering the role of music in the maintaining of cultural identity among Tibetan exiles.
Watertown, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Marilyn D. Pennell
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $9,310
Nuestras Abuelas - Our GrandmothersWistariahurst Museum Association, Incmore
A bilingual exhibit on Latino heritage created in consultation with Holyoke residents and focused on the relationships of the subjects with their grandmothers.
Holyoke, MA, Hampden County (CT Valley)
project director: Penni Martorell
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $6,200
Hilltowns History Conference and Fair - Hooked on HistoryMary Lyon Foundation, Inc.more
A local history day at Mohawk Trail Regional High School uniting teachers, students, and the public with local history organizations.
Shelburne Falls, MA, Franklin County (CT Valley)
project director: Sheila Damkoehler
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $5,000
Harry H. Dow Legal Case FilesChinese Historical Society of New Englandmore
Inventory, translation, and assessment of client files from the Harry H. Dow papers archived at the Suffolk Law School Library.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Susan Chinsen
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $1,500
Domestic Workers and Employers: Exploring the Realities of Work, Family, Care and CommunityMataHari: Eye of the Daymore
A multimedia oral history project with workers and employers about the MA Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, including two public events.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Moniqe Nguyen
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $10,000
2015 Speaker SeriesSpringfield Public Forummore
Support for the 80th season of the speaker series, consisting of five free public lectures.
Springfield, MA, Hampden County (CT Valley)
project director: Michelle Morash
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $5,000
VIETNAM: Not the War - The Post WarIndochina Arts Partnershipmore
Creation of a trailer, script, and fundraising plan for a one-hour documentary film by Bestor Cram about the post-war realities in Vietnam and American veterans' ongoing involvement there.
Wellesley, MA, Norfolk County (Metrowest Boston)
project director: C. David Thomas
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $10,000
Boston Asian American Film Festival: Home in AmericaAsian American Resource Workshopmore
A four-day themed film festival on intergenerational immigrant experiences.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Susan Chinsen
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $5,000
Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New WorldSilverthorne Theater Company Inc.more
Production of a play by Yussef El Guindi, post-performance talks with the playwright, and a free, public symposium on the role of the arts in challenging stereotypes.
South Hadley, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
project director: J. Lucinda Kidder
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $2,900
The Portuguese KitchenWGBY TV 57more
Creation of a five-to-twelve minute pilot video about Portuguese cuisine and its history hosted by Manny Lopes of "Cooking with Dad TV."
Springfield, MA, Hampden County (CT Valley)
project director: Harold Wolfe
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $5,000
Driving to the American Dream: Citizenship at the WheelWilliam Monroe Trotter Center for Black Culture and Historymore
A reading, discussion, and performance program for Boston cab drivers based on Dmitry Samarov's Where To?
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Barbara Lewis
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $9,848
Stem to Stern: Building CONSTITUTIONUSS Constitution Museummore
A short film featuring an animation of the 1790s building of the USS Constitution, to be shown while Old Ironsides is in dry dock and can be seen in her entirety.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Robert Kiihne
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $5,000
Chair City Oral History Series and Community Art CenterThe Gardner Museum, Inc.more
A community art and discussion project that will engage former chair manufacturing workers in producing 400 copies of eleven oral histories recorded in 2009, after the closing of the city's last chair manufacturer.
Gardner, MA, Worcester County (Central)
project director: Tracie Pouliot
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $4,000
Lowell's Irish Problem: The Town Vote to Establish a School for the IrishTsongas Industrial History Centermore
Production of a 3-minute film that is to provide background for Tsongas Center interactive civic activity that focuses on immigration.
Lowell, MA, Middlesex County (Northeast)
project director: Kristin Gallas
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $5,000
Exploring Effective Interpretation of Northern Slavery and its LegaciesEssex National Heritage Commissionmore
A one-day symposium familiarizing regional historic and cultural resource organizations with the history and legacy of slavery in the north and helping them develop programming and materials.
Salem, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Beth Beringer
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $4,630
1854...a folk operaU.S. Slave Song Projectmore
Writing of the libretto of a "folk opera" about the mid-nineteenth-century African American experience on Martha's Vineyard.
Oak Bluffs, MA, Dukes County (Cape & Islands)
project director: Jack Schimmelman
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $5,000
earth.sky mobile exhibitionMount Auburn Cemeterymore
Creation of two short films by Roberto Mighty featuring historical figures, their monuments, and the cemetery landscape, to be included in a series of twenty shorts that will be the basis of a walking tour mobile app.
Cambridge, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Bree Harvey
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $5,000
Historic Property Research and Plaque ProjectThe Preservation Society of Fall Rivermore
Research and fabrication of six historical plaques, to be awarded to property owners for their efforts in maintaining the historical integrity and condition of their property.
Fall River, MA, Bristol County
project director: Jim Soule
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $2,500
DAWNLAND short filmsCenter For Independent Documentarymore
Short-film social media efforts to support the creation and distribution of the full-length documentary film DAWNLAND, about the Maine Wabanaki-State Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
Walpole, MA, Norfolk County (Southeast)
project director: Adam Mazo
awarded on: 2015-06-19
amount: $10,000
New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center WebsiteNew Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, Inc.more
Development of an educational website about the history of the commercial fishing industry in New Bedford, providing online access to oral histories and other materials gathered by the Working Waterfront Festival.
New Bedford, MA, Bristol County (Southeast)
project director: Laura Orleans
awarded on: 2015-06-16
amount: $5,000
Frederick Douglass Communal ReadingWorcester Roots Projectmore
Support for a public reading of Frederick Douglass' famous Fourth of July oratory as part of the Mass Humanities Reading Frederick Douglass program.
Worcester, MA, Worcester County (Central)
project director: Cedric Arno
awarded on: 2015-06-03
amount: $500
Many Languages, One Collective Voice: We Read Frederick Douglass as One CommunityCity of Brocktonmore
Support for a public reading of Frederick Douglass' famous Fourth of July oratory as part of the Mass Humanities Reading Frederick Douglass program.
Brockton, MA, Plymouth County (Southeast)
project director: Lynn Smith
awarded on: 2015-05-19
amount: $500
Pirates, Shipwrecks and Ghosts of Boston HarborSave the Harbor/Save the Baymore
Training of the summer program staff to engage new audiences in humanities storytelling about Boston Harbor and its historical denizens.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Bruce Berman
awarded on: 2015-03-20
amount: $10,000